"Donald Trump, Jr. was not a protectee of the USSS in June, 2016," Secret Service spokesman Mason Brayman said in a statement to Reuters. | AP Photo Secret Service: Trump Jr. not under protection during meeting with Russian lawyer

The U.S. Secret Service on Sunday said Donald Trump Jr. was not under protection during his meeting with a Russian attorney in June 2016, adding that they would not have screened any of his meetings.

"Donald Trump, Jr. was not a protectee of the USSS in June, 2016. Thus we would not have screened anyone he was meeting with at that time," Secret Service spokesman Mason Brayman said in a statement to Reuters.


On Sunday morning, Jay Sekulow, a member of Trump's legal team, questioned on ABC News' "This Week" why the Secret Service allowed Trump Jr. to meet Kremlin-linked Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya.

"Well, I wonder why the Secret Service, if this was nefarious, why the Secret Service allowed these people in. The president had Secret Service protection at that point, and that raised a question with me," he said.

Trump Jr., along with, then-campaign chairman Paul Manafort and adviser Jared Kushner, met with Veselnitskaya, who said she had damaging information on Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton.