Russian lawyer who met with Trump campaign denies Kremlin connection, having dirt on Clinton

The Russian lawyer who met with Donald Trump Jr. and other high-level members of the Trump campaign last summer denied in an interview this week having a connection to the Russian government and possessing “dirt” on then-Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton.

Speaking to NBC News on Tuesday, Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya simply replied “nyet” — the Russian word for “no” — when asked if she had any connection to the Russia government or if she possessed damaging information about Clinton.

WATCH: Have you ever worked for the Russian government? @keirsimmons asks Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya pic.twitter.com/EYi3v5wPPy

— TODAY (@TODAYshow) July 11, 2017

"I never had any damaging or sensitive information about Hillary Clinton. It was never my intention to have that,” Veselnitskaya explained, speaking through a translator.

When asked why Trump Jr. believed that she did, Veselnitskaya said that perhaps the Trump campaign wanted some damaging information “so badly” that they couldn’t see the true motive of her meeting.

"It is quite possible that maybe they were longing for such an information,” she said. “They wanted it so badly that they could only hear the thought that they wanted."

Natalia Veselnitskaya says it's possible Trump Jr. was "longing" for info on the DNC. "They wanted it so badly." https://t.co/VApY0cLIo4

— NBC News (@NBCNews) July 11, 2017

The New York Times broke the story over the weekend when it first reported on Saturday that Trump Jr., Jared Kushner and then-Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort met with Veselnitskaya on June 9 just two weeks after then-Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump secured the Republican nomination.

Trump Jr. initially claimed that he met with Veselnitskaya to talk about American-Russian adoption policy, but then the Times reported on Sunday that the two actually met because Veselnitskaya wanted to offer the Trump campaign some potentially damaging information on Clinton or the Democratic National Committee.

In a subsequent statement, Trump Jr. said the meeting between him, Veselnitskaya, along with Kushner and Manafort, was short and when Veselnitskaya tried to offer information, he denied it because “her statements were vague, ambiguous and made no sense."

"No details or supporting information was provided or even offered. It quickly became clear that she had no meaningful information,” Trump Jr. said. "That was the end of it and there was no further contact or follow-up of any kind. My father knew nothing of the meeting or these events."

The story is significant because of Russian interference in last year’s election, and allegations that Trump’s campaign had unsavory contacts with the Russian government. However, there is no concrete evidence to suggest the Trump campaign colluded with the Russian government, though many are trying to offer the Times’ recent stories on Trump Jr. as evidence.

Veselnitskaya’s interview came after the Times released another story late Monday revealing that prior to his meeting with Veselnitskaya, Trump Jr. was informed via email by an associate that the Russian government wanted to provide damaging information on Clinton in order to aid his father’s campaign.

Trump Jr. confirmed the existence of the email early Tuesday afternoon.