Story highlights Trump Jr. said in a statement to CNN that the meeting was set up by an acquaintance he knew from the 2013 Miss Universe pageant

The Kremlin's spokesman said they didn't know who the Russian lawyer is

Washington (CNN) The Kremlin said Monday it was not aware of a meeting between President Donald Trump's eldest son and Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya that took place during the 2016 presidential campaign.

Donald Trump Jr. said Sunday he met with an individual he had been told "might have information helpful to the campaign" in June 2016.

His statements come in response to The New York Times' reporting that he "was promised damaging information about Hillary Clinton before agreeing to meet with a Kremlin-connected Russian lawyer during the 2016 campaign." The New York Times attributed their reporting to three unnamed advisers to the White House briefed on the meeting, and two other sources with knowledge of it.

The revelations underscore the fundamental issue for federal investigators as they probe Russia's interference in last year's election: Did the Trump campaign collude with Russians in an effort to hurt Clinton and win the White House?

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