MOSCOW (AP) – The Russian lawyer who met Donald Trump Jr. during the 2016 campaign has represented a military unit operated by Russia’s intelligence agency, according to court filings obtained by The Associated Press on Friday.
The filings from 2011 and 2012 show that Natalia Veselnitskaya represented Military Unit 55002, which is run by the FSB, Russia’s main intelligence agency, in a court case. In the case involving property rights, the state-run Federal Property Agency sought to regain ownership of a building occupied by the military unit from two private companies. The court ruled in the FPA’s favor.
Veselnitskaya did not reply to messages seeking comment, but issued a Facebook post late Friday saying she had represented many sorts of clients, including U.S. citizens and people who were defending themselves against the government.
President Donald Trump’s eldest son, his son-in-law and then-campaign manager met with Veselnitskaya in June 2016 after being told that she could provide potentially incriminating information about Trump’s Democratic rival Hillary Clinton. The meeting has been billed by many as part of a Russian government effort to help the Republican’s White House campaign.
Veselnitskaya denied having any ties to the Russian government, although the man who arranged the meeting said she got the information from Russia’s prosecutor general.