Democratic Rep. Ted Lieu (Calif.) said Thursday that "the apple doesn't fall far from the tree" when it comes to Donald Trump Jr., who he claimed "lies just about as much" as President Trump Donald John TrumpOmar fires back at Trump over rally remarks: 'This is my country' Pelosi: Trump hurrying to fill SCOTUS seat so he can repeal ObamaCare Trump mocks Biden appearance, mask use ahead of first debate MORE.

In a discussion with CNN's Don Lemon, Lieu said the president's son was clearly not telling the truth when he said there was no follow-up after the infamous 2016 Trump Tower meeting with a Russian lawyer who the Trump campaign had been told could offer dirt on Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham ClintonButtigieg stands in as Pence for Harris's debate practice Senate GOP sees early Supreme Court vote as political booster shot Poll: 51 percent of voters want to abolish the electoral college MORE.

"The apple doesn't fall far from the tree," Leiu said. "It's pretty clear now that Trump Jr. lies just about as much as his father."

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Emails released this week by congressional investigators reveal that a British publicist who helped arrange the meeting sent follow-up emails to a top Trump campaign associate and the Russian who attended, emails which suggested that Donald Trump appeal to Russian-American voters on a Russian social media site.

"We know now that Trump Jr. has lied multiple times about what happened in this meeting," Leiu said, adding, "we know now that they were intentionally lying to the American people when they did that."

While the publicist said in the emails that Trump Jr. was behind the social media plan, the president's son did not appear to receive any of the messages or to respond to the claims.

In testimony before Congress on Wednesday, Trump Jr. did not answer questions about what he and his father discussed after the initial reports surfaced about the meeting.