According to the Times, Kushner, Trump Jr., and Manafort met with attorney Natalia Veselnitskaya, a Russian lawyer well-known for her work against the Magnitsky Act, a US law that enables the government to withhold visas and freeze financial assets of Russians suspected of being involved in human rights abuses.

On Sunday, the Times reported that the younger Trump had been promised compromising information about Hillary Clinton before the meeting. The report — which the paper attributes to five people close to the situation — indicates for the first time that members of Trump's inner circle may have been willing to accept information about Clinton specifically from the Russians.

A small inner circle of Donald Trump's close confidants — including his son Donald Trump Jr., son-in-law Jared Kushner and then-campaign chairman Paul Manafort —met with a Russian lawyer connected to the Kremlin two weeks after Trump won the Republican presidential nomination, the New York Times reported Saturday.

In a statement to BuzzFeed News on Saturday, Donald Trump Jr. confirmed the June 9, 2016 meeting, which took place at New York's Trump Tower.

"It was a short introductory meeting," Trump Jr.'s statement read. "I asked Jared and Paul to stop by."

He added that the meeting was not about the campaign.

"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 that time and there was no follow up."

An attorney for Kushner also confirmed the meeting took place. The attorney, Jamie Gorelick, did not respond to questions about whether campaign issues were discussed with the Russian lawyer.

But in a new statement on Sunday, Trump Jr., told BuzzFeed News that the meeting had been set up by an acquaintance who said he knew of an individual with information about the Clinton campaign.

"I was asked to have a meeting by an acquaintance I knew from the 2013 Miss Universe pageant with 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 and Paul to attend, but told them nothing of the substance. We had a meeting in June 2016. After pleasantries were exchanged, the woman stated that she had information that individuals connected to Russia were funding the Democratic National Committee and supporting Ms. 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. She then changed subjects and began discussing the adoption of Russian children and mentioned the Magnitsky Act. 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. I interrupted and advised her that my father was not an elected official, but rather a private citizen, and that her comments and concerns were better addressed if and when he held public office. The meeting lasted approximately 20 to 30 minutes. As it ended, my acquaintance apologized for taking up our time. That was the end of it and there was no further contact or follow-up of any kind. My father knew nothing of the meeting or these events."

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Monday.

Trump Jr.'s statement did not address claims made by a spokesperson for President Trump's outside legal team Saturday, suggesting that the meeting might have been setup by political operatives hired by Democrats to conduct opposition research on the Trump campaign.



"We have learned from both our own investigation and public reports that the participants in the meeting misrepresented who they were and who they worked for," the spokesperson, Mark Corallo, said in a statement provided to NBC News and confirmed by BuzzFeed News late Saturday.

"Specifically," Corallo added, "we have learned that the person who sought the meeting is associated with Fusion GPS, a firm which according to public reports, was retained by Democratic operatives to develop opposition research on the President and which commissioned the phony Steele dossier."

"These developments raise serious issues as to exactly who authorized and participated in any effort by Russian nationals to influence our election in any manner," he said.



On Sunday, the Washington Post identified Rob Goldstone, a music publicist friendly with Trump Jr., as the acquaintance who arranged the meeting. Goldstone, who has been involved with the Miss Universe pageant, told the Post that he set up the encounter at the request of a Russian client, and attended the meeting with the Russian lawyer.