Jared Kushner was part of a June 2016 meeting in Trump Tower with Natalya Veselnitskaya. Image by Getty

By Ari Feldman April 27, 2018

Jared Kushner was part of a June 2016 meeting with a Russian lawyer at which the lawyer offered documents that she said would incriminate Hillary Clinton. Now, the New York Times is reporting that the lawyer, Natalia V. Veselnitskaya, has much closer ties to the Kremlin than previously disclosed.

The revelations are renewing attention on the meeting — a focus of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election. Along with Kushner, Donald Trump, Jr. and Trump’s campaign chairman Paul Manafort were also present.

At the time and after the meeting was disclosed (when Trump, Jr., released emails about it on Twitter), Veselitskaya maintained that she was a private lawyer interested in meeting about adoption law. “I operate independently of any governmental bodies,” she wrote in a statement to the Senate Judiciary Committee in November.

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

Now, Veselnitskaya is admitting that she has worked closely as an “informant” for the Russian government.

“I am a lawyer, and I am an informant,” she said in an interview with NBC News broadcast Friday. “Since 2013, I have been actively communicating with the office of the Russian prosecutor general.”

Contact Ari Feldman at feldman@forward.com or on Twitter @aefeldman

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

$36 $500

$120 $180 Other amount