US President Donald Trump’s son has admitted meeting a Russian lawyer last year who had promised damaging information on Hillary Clinton.
But Donald Trump Jr said that Natalia Veselnitskaya had provided “no meaningful information” on Mrs Clinton.
Also at the meeting, first reported in the New York Times, were the president’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and then-campaign head Paul J Manafort.
US officials are investigating alleged Russian meddling in the US election.
The FBI and Congress are both looking at whether Trump campaign officials colluded with an alleged Kremlin plot to undermine Mrs Clinton’s campaign. The inquiries have yet to show evidence of collusion.
The meeting with the Kremlin-linked Ms Veselnitskaya took place on 9 June 2016 at New York’s Trump Tower, just two weeks after Donald Trump secured the Republican nomination.
It is thought to be the first confirmed private meeting between a Russian national and a member of President Trump’s inner circle.
After the New York Times first reported the meeting on Saturday, both Mr Trump Jr and Ms Veselnitskaya confirmed it had taken place but said the US presidential campaign was not discussed.
On Sunday, the Times said that Mr Trump Jr had agreed to the meeting after being offered information that would potentially prove detrimental to Mrs Clinton, who was Democratic presidential candidate at the time.
The paper cited three White House advisers briefed on the meeting, and two others with knowledge for it, as its sources.
In a statement on Sunday, Mr Trump Jr said an acquaintance had asked him to meet “an individual who I was told might have information helpful to the campaign”.
“I was not told her name prior to the meeting. I asked Jared [Kushner] and Paul [Manafort] to attend, but told them nothing of the substance.
“After pleasantries were exchanged, the woman stated that she had information that individuals connected to Russia were funding the Democratic National Committee and supporting Mrs Clinton.
“Her statements were vague, ambiguous and made no sense. No details or supporting information was provided or even offered. It quickly became clear that she had no meaningful information,” he added.
Mr Trump Jr said Ms Veselnitskaya then moved the conversation to a suspended programme for Americans to adopt Russian children.
“It became clear to me that this was the true agenda all along and that the claims of potentially helpful information were a pretext for the meeting.”
The Times said Mr Trump Jr had told the paper in March that he had not met any Russian nationals to discuss campaign-related matters.
BBC
