Donald Trump Jr reportedly told senators investigating the controversial Trump Tower meeting, he did not tell the president about it in advance and that he would “never whisper in his father’s ear”.

The president’s eldest son testified behind closed doors on Capitol Hill, to answer further questions about a meeting he and other senior members of the Trump campaign took with a Kremlin-linked lawyer, in the summer of 2016. Mr Trump Jr, along with the president’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, agreed to the meeting after being promised damaging material about Hillary Clinton from a high level Russian source.

Mr Trump Jr told senators he did not tell his father in advance, and that he also paid little attention to a plan to build a Trump Tower in Moscow because it was one of many potential deals being considered, CNN said.

In his report on Russia’s alleged interference in the 2016 election and possible collusion with the Trump campaign, Robert Mueller said the president’s former lawyer, Michael Cohen, had claimed he talked to Mr Trump Jr about the Russian project on numerous occasions.

Cohen, who is currently serving a three-year jail term after pleading guilty charges relating to paying hush money to two women who said they had affairs with Mr Trump, also told Congress he believed he heard Mr Trump Jr whispering to his father about the Trump Tower meeting in the days leading up to it, the channel said.

Mueller investigation: The key figures Show all 12 1 /12 Mueller investigation: The key figures Mueller investigation: The key figures Robert Mueller is the special counsel overseeing the investigation into Russia's meddling in the 2016 election, and potential obstruction of justice by the president. Mr Mueller has a pristine reputation in Washington, where he was previously in charge of the FBI. Throughout his investigation, he and his team have been notoriously tight lipped about what they know and where their investigation has led. REUTERS Mueller investigation: The key figures Former FBI director James Comey was the catalyst that led to the appointment of special counsel Robert Mueller. Mr Comey was fired by the president after Mr Trump reportedly asked him to drop his own Russia investigation. Mr Trump has long maintained that the investigation is a "witch hunt". AFP/Getty Images Mueller investigation: The key figures Deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein had authority over the special counsel investigation for much of the two years it has been active. Mr Rosenstein found himself with that responsibility after then-attorney general Jeff Sessions recused himself from that oversight. AP Mueller investigation: The key figures Attorney general Jeff Sessions's decision to recuse himself from oversight of the special counsel investigation may have cost him his job in the end. Mr Sessions resigned last year, after weathering a contentious relationship with Donald Trump who vocally criticised his attorney general for taking a step back. Mr Sessions recused himself from the oversight citing longstanding Justice Department rules to not be involved in investigations overseeing campaigns that officials were apart of. AP Mueller investigation: The key figures Attorney General William Barr is currently responsible for oversight of the special counsel investigation. Mr Barr's office will be the first to receive the Mueller report when it is finished. His office will then determine what portion or version of that report should be delivered to Congress, and also made public. EPA Mueller investigation: The key figures Michal Cohn is the president's former personal lawyer, who has been helping the special counsel investigation as a part of a plea deal over financial crimes, and campaign finance crimes, he has pleaded guilty to. Among those crimes, Cohen admitted to facilitating $130,000 in hush money payments to adult film actress Stormy Daniels during the 2016 campaign. Cohen has said he did so at the direction of Mr Trump. Cohen has also admitted that he maintained contacts with Russian officials about a potential Trump real estate project in Moscow for months longer than Mr Trump and others admitted. The talks continued well into 2016 during the campaign, he has said. AP Mueller investigation: The key figures Stormy Daniels has alleged that she had an affair with Donald Trump in 2006, soon after Melania Trump gave birth to Baron Trump. The accusation is of particular importance as a result of the $130,000 hush money payment she received to keep quiet about the affair during the 2016 campaign. AP Mueller investigation: The key figures Paul Manafort was Donald Trump's former campaign chairman. Manafort was charged alongside Rick Gates for a slew of financial crimes, and was convicted on several counts in a Virginia court. He then pleaded guilty to separate charges filed in a Washington court. Manafort has been sentenced to just 7.5 years in prison for his crimes — in spite of recommendations from the special counsel's office for a much harsher sentence. AP Mueller investigation: The key figures George Papadopoulos was one of the first individuals associated with the Trump campaign to be charged by the Mueller probe. He ultimately received a 14 day prison sentence for lying to investigators about contacts he had with Russian officials. AP Mueller investigation: The key figures Roger Stone is a well known political fixer and operative, who has made a name for himself for some dirty tactics. He has been charged by the Mueller probe earlier this year, and he has been said to have had prior knowledge that WikiLeaks planned on publishing stolen emails from the Hillary Clinton campaign in 2016. Getty Images Mueller investigation: The key figures Rick Gates was charged alongside former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort for a range of crimes. Gates, who worked alongside Manafort for a pro-Russia Ukrainian political party. The two were charged with conspiracy and financial crimes. Gates pleaded guilty. AP Mueller investigation: The key figures Former national security adviser Michael Flynn was one of the first casualties of the Russia scandal, and was forced out of his position in the White House weeks after Donald Trump took office. Flynn pleaded guilty in 2017 to "willfully" making fraudulent statements about contacts he had with Russian officials including former Russian ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak. Flynn then lied to Vice President Mike Pence about that contact. REUTERS

On Wednesday, speaking before members of the Senate judiciary committee, Mr Trump Jr reportedly dismissed this.

As far back as the summer of 2017 when the New York Times revealed details of the meeting, which many commentators believed was proof of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia, Mr Trump had defended his son’s decision.

Speaking on a visit to France in July, 2017, he said: “I think from a practical standpoint most people would have taken that meeting. Politics isn’t the nicest business in the world, but it’s very standard.”

Eric and Donald Trump Jr pour pints at Irish pub

After he emerged from Wednesday’s meeting, Mr Trump Jr, 41, said he had been glad to clarify matters.

“I don’t think I changed any of what I said because there was nothing to change,” he said, adding that Cohen was “serving time right now for lying to these very investigative bodies”.

Asked if was worried about having committed perjury, Mr Trump Jr said: “Not at all.”

The committee’s Republican chair, Richard Burr, and senior Democrat Mark Warner, both declined to comment on what Mr Trump Jr had told them.

At the White House, Mr Trump said it was a “really a tough situation because my son spent, I guess, over 20 hours testifying about something that Mueller said was 100 per cent O.K and now they want him to testify again”.