Trump Jr. hires lawyer for Russia probes

Donald Trump Jr., the president’s eldest son, has reportedly hired a lawyer to represent him as the Justice Department’s special counsel conducts its probe into Russia’s election meddling and potential ties between Trump campaign staff and the Kremlin.

Reuters reported on Monday that Trump Jr. has hired Alan Futerfas as his attorney.

The hiring comes after two reports emerged from The New York Times over the weekend about Trump Jr.’s meeting with a Russian lawyer after he had been promised harmful information on then-Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton.

{mosads}According to the newspaper, Trump Jr. arranged a meeting with Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya several weeks after his father secured the Republican presidential nomination.

While the reports in the Times described Veselnitskaya as having ties with the Kremlin, a spokesperson for Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday said the Kremlin does not know the lawyer.

Trump Jr. said in a statement to the Times on Sunday that he had met with Veselnitskaya at the request of an acquaintance, but denied that he received any information on Clinton.

Trump Jr. said Monday that he would be “happy” to speak to the Senate Intelligence Committee about the meeting.

“Happy to work with the committee to pass on what I know,” Trump Jr. tweeted Monday.