Report: Mueller's Investigation Focusing on Trump Jr.

By John Bowden, The Hill

19 August 17

ederal prosecutors working for the office of special counsel Robert Mueller are focusing their efforts on President Trump's eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., according to a Friday report.

They are seeking to determine his intent in taking a meeting with a Kremlin-linked lawyer last year, Buzzfeed reported.

The 16 prosecutors working for the special counsel office are reportedly trying to determine if Trump Jr. obtained any information from his meeting with Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya, which was also attended by senior White House adviser Jared Kushner and former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort.

The meeting, which occurred just weeks after President Trump clinched the Republican nomination, has become a focal point in the federal investigation into whether the Trump campaign colluded with Russia in order to defeat Hillary Clinton last year.

In a statement in June, Trump Jr. downplayed the value of the meeting.

"It was a short introductory meeting. I asked Jared and Paul to stop by. We primarily discussed a program about the adoption of Russian children that was active and popular with American families years ago and was since ended by the Russian government, but it was not a campaign issue at the time and there was no follow up," Trump Jr. said in June.

Music producer Rob Goldstone, who set up the meeting via email with Trump Jr., said Veselnitskaya had "sensitive information" that was "part of Russia and its government's support for Mr. Trump." The emails released by Trump Jr. revealed that Trump Jr. said he would "love" to receive the information.