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A big no-no': Another Republican lawmaker decries Donald Trump Jr.'s Russian meeting
Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-N.Y.) said in a tweet on Tuesday that Donald Trump Jr.'s meeting with a Russian lawyer in June 2016 was a "big no-no." (Jewel Samad/AFP/Getty Images)

A big no-no': Another Republican lawmaker decries Donald Trump Jr.'s Russian meeting

Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-N.Y.) joined a bipartisan chorus of voices condemning Donald Trump Jr.'s newly revealed decision to meet with a Russian lawyer in 2016.

Trump Jr. met with attorney Natalia Veselnitskaya just months before the 2016 presidential election after being told by publicist Rob Goldstone that he would receive politically damaging information about then-Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton.

The New York Times obtained the email chain between Trump Jr. and Goldstone. Trump Jr. later released his email conversations with Goldstone in an effort to try to get ahead of the story.

In the email, Goldstone wrote to Trump Jr.:

[Russian pop star] Emin Agalarov just called and asked me to contact you with something very interesting. The crown prosecutor of Russia met with his father Aras this morning and in their meeting offered to provide the Trump campaign with some official documents and information that would incriminate Hillary and her dealings with Russia and would be very useful to your father. This is obviously very high level and sensitive information but is part of Russia and its government’s support for Mr. Trump — helped along by Aras and Emin.

The Trumps know Emin Agalarov through their involvement in the Miss Universe pageant.

According to the emails, the president's eldest son replied, “Thanks Rob, I appreciate that. I am on the road at the moment but perhaps I just speak to Emin first. Seems we have some time and if it’s what you say I love it especially later in the summer.”

A number of Democrats have pointed to the part in which Trump Jr. said "if it's what you say I love it" as potential evidence for collusion with the Russian government.

Veselnitskaya denied having any connection to the Kremlin during an interview with NBC News on Tuesday.

While Trump Jr. has said that the meeting with Veselnitskaya yielded "no meaningful information," critics have said it's not necessarily what Trump Jr. learned from the meeting, but the fact that he was willing to meet with Veselnitskaya in the first place.

Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham (S.C.) called the revelation Tuesday "disturbing."

"Anytime you're in a campaign and you get an offer from a foreign government to help your campaign, the answer is no," Graham said.

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said Tuesday that "this is a serious situation and one that is a long way from over.”

Both Graham and McCain were outspoken critics of Trump throughout the campaign and even into the new administration. Graham never endorsed Trump, despite the fact that the two are from the same political party. McCain vowed during the Republican primaries to support whoever the party's nominee was, Politico reported.

But it's not just more moderate lawmakers who are speaking out against Trump Jr.'s meeting with the Russian lawyer.

Zeldin, who fully endorsed Trump in May 2016 and voted for Trump in the November general election, called the move a "big no-no."

"I voted for @POTUS last Nov. & want him & USA to succeed, but that meeting, given that email chain just released, is a big no-no," Zeldin tweeted Tuesday.

Zeldin did not elaborate as to whether he believes the meeting was illegal. Zeldin's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Democratic lawmakers, like former Democratic vice presidential nominee Sen. Tim Kaine (Va.), said the ongoing investigation into Russia's meddling in the 2016 U.S. election and the Trump campaign's alleged collusion with the Kremlin is no longer merely a probe into possible obstruction of justice.

"This is moving into perjury, false statements, and even into potentially treason," Kaine told NBC News reporter Kasie Hunt.

In an off-camera press briefing on Tuesday, White House deputy press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders declined to comment specifically. Instead, she offered a brief statement from the president, in which Trump praised his eldest son as a "high quality" person. The president, in his statement, also praised Trump Jr. for his "transparency." Huckabee Sanders referred all other questions to Trump Jr.'s legal counsel.

According to multiple outlets, Trump Jr. hired criminal defense attorney Alan Futerfas following initial reports of his meeting over the weekend.

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