Donald Trump Jr. has told Senate Judiciary Committee staff that he didn't inform his father, President Donald Trump, about a 2016 meeting that he and others on the Trump campaign held with a Russian lawyer.
That's according to a person with knowledge of what was said in Thursday's staff interview. The person declined to be identified because the meeting was private.
Trump Jr. said he didn't know or didn't recall the details of White House involvement in his response to the first reports of the 2016 meeting, the source said. The Washington Post reported in July that the president dictated a statement saying the meeting primarily concerned a Russian adoption program.
Emails released later by Trump Jr. show he was told that he would receive damaging information about Hillary Clinton.
Trump Jr. became a focal point for congressional investigators and the media after he admitted to a meeting with a Russian lawyer who, according to him, was purported to have damaging information Clinton that could help his father's presidential campaign. Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner and then-campaign chairman Paul Manafort were also present at the meeting. Emails Trump Jr. released this summer show he was told the information was a "part of Russia and its government's support for Mr. Trump."
Officially, the Senate Intelligence Committee and House Intelligence Committee are the ones investigating Russian election meddling and any ties to Trump associates, but the Senate Judiciary is also probing related issues. The Senate Judiciary Committee had issued a subpoena for Trump Jr. to testify about foreign lobbyist registration and the Trump dossier, but settled for a private interview and documents instead.
(The Associated Press, CBS News contributed to this report.)
