Subpoenas issued on Trump Jr. meeting with Russian lawyer: report

Grand jury subpoenas have reportedly been issued related to the June 2016 meeting between Donald Trump Jr. and a Russian lawyer.

Reports on Thursday indicated that special counsel Robert Mueller has impaneled a grand jury in the ongoing investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election. 

Sources tell Reuters that subpoenas have been issued regarding the meeting between Trump Jr. and Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya, who promised him damaging information on then-Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.

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Trump Jr.’s meeting with Veselnitskaya was also attended by President Trump’s son-in-law and White House senior adviser Jared Kushner, as well as then-Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort.

Trump Jr. initially claimed the meeting was about the issue of Russian adoptions, but emails he later released show otherwise.

The emails, between Trump Jr. and music publicist Rob Goldstone, used the subject line “Russia – Clinton – private and confidential.” The emails indicate that the damaging information on Clinton promised to Trump Jr. was “part of Russia and its government’s support for Mr. Trump.”

Trump Jr.’s initial misleading statement about the meeting — which emphasized that it was “not a campaign issue” — was reportedly dictated by the president while he was en route to the United States following his trip to the G-20 summit.

The news comes after Mueller requested the White House preserve all records related to the meeting, including text messages, notes and voicemails.