Trump dictated sons statement on Russian lawyer meeting
BBC
President Donald Trump personally dictated the statement his son gave on his talks with a Russian lawyer during the election campaign, reports BBC quoting US media.
It said Donald Trump Jr and the lawyer had mostly discussed the adoption of Russian children in June 2016.
Mr Trump Jr later revealed he had agreed to meet her after being told he could receive damaging material on Hillary Clinton.
President Trump has repeatedly denied any collusion with Russia.
The Senate, House of Representatives and a special counsel are all investigating alleged Russian interference in the presidential election which took the form of attempts to undermine Mrs Clinton - a claim denied by the Kremlin.
The reports about Mr Trump Jrs statement came in the midst of further turmoil at the White House.
The former Wall Street financier had drawn criticism after calling a reporter to give a profanity-laced tirade against his colleagues.
Reports that President Trump had himself dictated the statement his son issued about the meeting with lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya first emerged in the Washington Post. It cited multiple sources.
ABC News later quoted two senior-level sources as confirming this claim.
President Trumps advisers initially agreed that Mr Trump Jr would release a statement that couldnt be repudiated later if the full details emerged, the Post says.
But it says that decision was reversed as President Trump was flying home from the G20 summit in Germany on 8 July.
In the statement, Mr Trump Jr said the meeting had primarily discussed a programme about the adoption of Russian children, not campaign issues.
The statement was issued to the New York Times, as it was preparing its story on the meeting.
Mr Trump Jr later acknowledged that he had agreed to meet after being told Kremlin-linked information about Mrs Clinton would be offered during the talks.
