Donald Trump Jr. struck an unapologetic tone during hours of congressional questioning last year, saying he didn't think there was anything wrong with meeting a Russian lawyer at Trump Tower ahead of the 2016 presidential election or that the get-together might have been part of a Russian government effort to aid his father, according to transcripts released Wednesday

The president's eldest son also deflected multiple questions from the Senate Judiciary Committee, responding to dozens of queries by saying he could not recall or remember or remember the answer.

The committee released more than 1,800 pages of transcripts of interviews with Trump Jr. and others who attended a June 9, 2016, meeting at which they expected to receive dirt about Trump's opponent, Democrat Hillary Clinton.

The Judiciary Committee transcripts reveal new details about how the Trump Tower meeting — central to special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into potential collusion between Trump aides and the Kremlin — came to be arranged and efforts afterward to mitigate the political damage arising from its disclosure.

AP Justice reporter Eric Tucker explains that the transcripts show the dissatisfaction of Trump Jr. and other campaign aides, including brother-in-law Jared Kushner, when the meeting failed to yield the harmful Clinton information they thought they'd get — as well as the increasing panic of one of the meeting participants who feared his reputation would be ruined by his role in having set it up.

In addition, the transcripts reflect an aggressive Russian outreach to Trump both before and after the June 2016 meeting, including an effort to arrange a follow-up get-together that November with members of his transition team.

Trump Jr. answered "No, I don't recall" when asked if he had spoken with his father about the Russia investigation, and he could not recall if he had spoken with him the day the Trump Tower meeting was arranged. But he insisted he had never discussed the meeting with him.

Asked if he thought it was problematic to take a meeting described to him as part of a Russian government effort to aid his father's campaign, Trump Jr. said no.

Tucker says Mueller will be interested in the transcripts as he works to uncover "what it is that Don Jr. had in his mind" when he agreed to take the meeting with a Russian lawyer.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Washington, DC - 16 May 2018

1. SOUNDBITE (English) Eric Tucker, Associated Press:

"So the Senate Judiciary Committee today released over 1800 pages of transcripts of interviews that were done with the president's oldest son Donald Trump Jr. and other participants in a June 9, 2016 meeting at Trump Tower."

ASSOCIATED PRESS

New York - September 2014

2. Exterior shot of Trump Tower

ASSOCIATED PRESS

3. Graphic of Donald Trump Jr., Jared Kushner and Paul Manafort

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Raleigh, North Carolina - 7 November 2018

4. Hillary Clinton speaking at a campaign rally on the eve of the 2016 election

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Washington, DC - 16 May 2018

5. SOUNDBITE (English) Eric Tucker, Associated Press:

"The meeting is really significant because it was sort of the first known encounter during the course of the campaign involving members of the president's inner circle, in this case, his son, his son in law and his campaign chairman and Russians. And this particular meeting in advance of it, Donald Trump Jr. was told that he was going to be receiving dirt during the course of this meeting and that the information he was going to receive about Hillary Clinton was part of the Russian government's effort, ongoing effort, to aid his father and the presidential campaign."

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Vancouver - 28 February 2017

6. Shots of Donald Trump, Jr. entering room with Eric Trump

POOL

Philadelphia - 7 November 2016

7. Hillary Clinton waving to crowd as she walks off stage at campaign rally

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Washington, DC - 16 May 2018

SOUNDBITE (English) Eric Tucker, Associated Press:

8. "It is interesting that Don Trump Jr. basically struck a defiant and unapologetic tone about having taken the meeting in the first place. He says, 'look identical to be problematic or an issue for me to receive information about my father's opponent that could speak to her judgment, her character, her ethics,' and so he didn't get a sense before the meeting that that would be an issue or problematic. And so that's that's sort of striking. Another thing that we learned from the transcript is sort of how bad or disappointing the meeting was for the people who were involved. So the Americans who were there, including Don Jr., Paul Manafort and Jared Kushner, were sort of disgruntled during the course of the meeting about the information not being what they thought it was going to be. They came in expecting dirt and apparently during the course of the meeting it was mostly about adoptions and not about what they thought it was going to be, not about Hillary Clinton herself, so they were frustrated by that."

ASSOCIATED PRESS

New Delhi - 23 February 2018

9. Donald Trump Jr. walking off stage after an event in India

ASSOCIATED PRESS

New York - July 2016

10. Paul Manafort walking outside Trump Tower

POOL

Jerusalem - 14 May 2018

11. Jared Kushner walking up to speak at embassy opening in Jerusalem

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Washington, DC - 16 May 2018

12. SOUNDBITE (English) Eric Tucker, Associated Press:

"It is true that Donald Trump Jr. in this transcript says, 'I never told my father before I took the meeting and I didn't discuss it after the fact.' And he says, 'I didn't talk to him about the statement that he was preparing on Air Force One as the story was about to break because he wasn't part of the meeting and I didn't want to drag him in.' There's one interesting moment though, of a phone call that he handles and takes the evening of June 6, 2016, which is when the meeting was finalized and set up, and it's a phone call involving a blocked phone number. And he's asked quite a bit about that. Who did you call? Does your father have a blocked phone number? And he says, 'I don't recall to all of those questions.' So we're sort of left in the dark as to whether he was speaking with his father then about the fact that he was going to have the meeting."

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Washington, DC - 2 April 2018

13. STILL photo of Donald Trump talking to Don Jr. on White House South Lawn

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Washington, DC - 16 May 2018

14. SOUNDBITE (English) Eric Tucker, Associated Press:

"Special Counsel Robert Muller is definitely investigating the meeting. He's taking grand jury testimony from at least one of the participants and it's important for multiple reasons. One is,what is this dirt that Donald Trump Jr. thought he was going to be receiving?"

POOL

Washington DC - 13 June 2013

15. Then FBI Director Robert Mueller being sworn in before giving evidence to committee, sitting down

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Washington, DC - 16 May 2018

16. SOUNDBITE (English) Eric Tucker, Associated Press:

"I think one of the real questions is why did Don Jr. instead of saying, 'What Russian government effort to help my father? I don't know what you're talking about,' seemed to be sort of already aware that there was something under way, some sort of effort that preexisted, predated the meeting to help his dad. That's interesting that you know you would think that he might say, 'I really have no idea what you're talking about.' But he didn't say that in the e-mail. So if you're Mueller, you sort of want to understand what is it that Don Jr. had in his mind?"

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Vancouver - 28 February 2017

17. Donald Trump, Jr. speaking at an event in Canada

ASSOCIATED PRESS

DesMoines, Iowa - 2016

18. Donald Trump walking into a campaign event in Iowa

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Tempe, Arizona - 27 October 2016

19. Donald Trump, Jr. speaking to crowd at Trump campaign rally

Donald Trump Jr. struck an unapologetic tone during hours of congressional questioning last year, saying he didn't think there was anything wrong with meeting a Russian lawyer at Trump Tower ahead of the 2016 presidential election or that the get-together might have been part of a Russian government effort to aid his father, according to transcripts released Wednesday

The president's eldest son also deflected multiple questions from the Senate Judiciary Committee, responding to dozens of queries by saying he could not recall or remember or remember the answer.

The committee released more than 1,800 pages of transcripts of interviews with Trump Jr. and others who attended a June 9, 2016, meeting at which they expected to receive dirt about Trump's opponent, Democrat Hillary Clinton.

The Judiciary Committee transcripts reveal new details about how the Trump Tower meeting — central to special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into potential collusion between Trump aides and the Kremlin — came to be arranged and efforts afterward to mitigate the political damage arising from its disclosure.

AP Justice reporter Eric Tucker explains that the transcripts show the dissatisfaction of Trump Jr. and other campaign aides, including brother-in-law Jared Kushner, when the meeting failed to yield the harmful Clinton information they thought they'd get — as well as the increasing panic of one of the meeting participants who feared his reputation would be ruined by his role in having set it up.

In addition, the transcripts reflect an aggressive Russian outreach to Trump both before and after the June 2016 meeting, including an effort to arrange a follow-up get-together that November with members of his transition team.

Trump Jr. answered "No, I don't recall" when asked if he had spoken with his father about the Russia investigation, and he could not recall if he had spoken with him the day the Trump Tower meeting was arranged. But he insisted he had never discussed the meeting with him.

Asked if he thought it was problematic to take a meeting described to him as part of a Russian government effort to aid his father's campaign, Trump Jr. said no.

Tucker says Mueller will be interested in the transcripts as he works to uncover "what it is that Don Jr. had in his mind" when he agreed to take the meeting with a Russian lawyer.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Washington, DC - 16 May 2018

1. SOUNDBITE (English) Eric Tucker, Associated Press:

"So the Senate Judiciary Committee today released over 1800 pages of transcripts of interviews that were done with the president's oldest son Donald Trump Jr. and other participants in a June 9, 2016 meeting at Trump Tower."

ASSOCIATED PRESS

New York - September 2014

2. Exterior shot of Trump Tower

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Vancouver - 28 February 2017

3. Donald Trump, Jr. entering room with Eric Trump

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Washington, DC - 16 May 2018

4. SOUNDBITE (English) Eric Tucker, Associated Press:

"The meeting is really significant because it was sort of the first known encounter during the course of the campaign involving members of the president's inner circle, in this case, his son, his son-in-law and his campaign chairman and Russians. And this particular meeting in advance of it, Donald Trump Jr. was told that he was going to be receiving dirt during the course of this meeting and that the information he was

going to receive about Hillary Clinton was part of the Russian government's effort, ongoing effort, to aid his father and the presidential campaign."

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Tempe, Arizona - 27 October 2016

5. Donald Trump, Jr. speaking to crowd at Trump campaign rally

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Moscow - 8 November 2016

6. STILL photo of Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya talking to a journalist in Moscow

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Washington, DC - 16 May 2018

7. SOUNDBITE (English) Eric Tucker, Associated Press:

"It is interesting that Don Trump Jr. basically struck a defiant and unapologetic tone about having taken the meeting in the first place. He says, 'look I didn't think it would be problematic or an issue for me to receive information about my father's opponent that could speak to her judgment, her character, her ethics,' and so he didn't get a sense before the meeting that that would be an issue or problematic. And so that's, that's sort of striking. Another thing that we learned from the transcript is sort of how bad or disappointing the meeting was for the people who were involved. So the Americans who were there, including Don Jr., Paul Manafort and Jared Kushner, were sort of disgruntled during the course of the meeting about the information not being what they thought it was going to be. They came in expecting dirt and apparently during the course of the meeting it was mostly about adoptions and not about what they thought it was going to be, not about Hillary Clinton herself, so they were frustrated by that."

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Raleigh, North Carolina - 7 November 2018

8. Hillary Clinton speaking at a campaign rally on the eve of the 2016 election

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Washington, DC - 16 May 2018

9. SOUNDBITE (English) Eric Tucker, Associated Press:

"It is true that Donald Trump Jr. in this transcript says, 'I never told my father before I took the meeting and I didn't discuss it after the fact.' And he says, 'I didn't talk to him about the statement that he was preparing on Air Force One as the story was about to break because he wasn't part of the meeting and I didn't want to drag him in.' There's one interesting moment though, of a phone call that he handles and takes the evening of June 6, 2016, which is when the meeting was finalized and set up, and it's a phone call involving a blocked phone number. And he's asked quite a bit about that. Who did you call? Does your father have a blocked phone number? And he says, 'I don't recall to all of those questions.' So we're sort of left in the dark as to whether he was speaking with his father then about the fact that he was going to have the meeting."

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Washington, DC - 2 April 2018

10. STILL photo of Donald Trump talking to Don Jr. on White House South Lawn

POOL

Washington DC - 13 June 2013

11. Then FBI Director Robert Mueller being sworn in before giving evidence to committee, sitting down

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Washington, DC - 16 May 2018

12. SOUNDBITE (English) Eric Tucker, Associated Press:

"Special Counsel Robert Muller is definitely investigating the meeting. He's taking grand jury testimony from at least one of the participants and it's important for multiple reasons. One is,what is this dirt that Donald Trump Jr. thought he was going to be receiving?"

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Vancouver - 28 February 2017

13. Donald Trump, Jr. speaking

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Washington, DC - 16 May 2018

14. SOUNDBITE (English) Eric Tucker, Associated Press:

"I think one of the real questions is why did Don Jr. instead of saying, 'What Russian government effort to help my father? I don't know what you're talking about,' seemed to be sort of already aware that there was something under way, some sort of effort that pre-existed, predated the meeting to help his dad. That's interesting that you know you would think that he might say, 'I really have no idea what you're talking about.' But he didn't say that in the e-mail. So if you're Mueller, you sort of want to understand what is it that Don Jr. had in his mind?"

++ENDS ON A SOUNDBITE++

Donald Trump Jr. struck an unapologetic tone during hours of congressional questioning last year, saying he didn't think there was anything wrong with meeting a Russian lawyer at Trump Tower ahead of the 2016 presidential election or that the get-together might have been part of a Russian government effort to aid his father, according to transcripts released Wednesday

The president's eldest son also deflected multiple questions from the Senate Judiciary Committee, responding to dozens of queries by saying he could not recall or remember or remember the answer.

The committee released more than 1,800 pages of transcripts of interviews with Trump Jr. and others who attended a June 9, 2016, meeting at which they expected to receive dirt about Trump's opponent, Democrat Hillary Clinton.

The Judiciary Committee transcripts reveal new details about how the Trump Tower meeting — central to special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into potential collusion between Trump aides and the Kremlin — came to be arranged and efforts afterward to mitigate the political damage arising from its disclosure.

AP Justice reporter Eric Tucker explains that the transcripts show the dissatisfaction of Trump Jr. and other campaign aides, including brother-in-law Jared Kushner, when the meeting failed to yield the harmful Clinton information they thought they'd get — as well as the increasing panic of one of the meeting participants who feared his reputation would be ruined by his role in having set it up.

In addition, the transcripts reflect an aggressive Russian outreach to Trump both before and after the June 2016 meeting, including an effort to arrange a follow-up get-together that November with members of his transition team.

Trump Jr. answered "No, I don't recall" when asked if he had spoken with his father about the Russia investigation, and he could not recall if he had spoken with him the day the Trump Tower meeting was arranged. But he insisted he had never discussed the meeting with him.

Asked if he thought it was problematic to take a meeting described to him as part of a Russian government effort to aid his father's campaign, Trump Jr. said no.

Tucker says Mueller will be interested in the transcripts as he works to uncover "what it is that Don Jr. had in his mind" when he agreed to take the meeting with a Russian lawyer.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Washington, DC - 16 May 2018

1. SOUNDBITE (English) Eric Tucker, Associated Press:

"So the Senate Judiciary Committee today released over 1800 pages of transcripts of interviews that were done with the president's oldest son Donald Trump Jr. and other participants in a June 9, 2016 meeting at Trump Tower."

ASSOCIATED PRESS

New York - September 2014

2. Exterior shot of Trump Tower

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Vancouver - 28 February 2017

3. Donald Trump, Jr. entering room with Eric Trump

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Washington, DC - 16 May 2018

4. SOUNDBITE (English) Eric Tucker, Associated Press:

"The meeting is really significant because it was sort of the first known encounter during the course of the campaign involving members of the president's inner circle, in this case, his son, his son-in-law and his campaign chairman and Russians. And this particular meeting in advance of it, Donald Trump Jr. was told that he was going to be receiving dirt during the course of this meeting and that the information he was

going to receive about Hillary Clinton was part of the Russian government's effort, ongoing effort, to aid his father and the presidential campaign."

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Tempe, Arizona - 27 October 2016

5. Donald Trump, Jr. speaking to crowd at Trump campaign rally

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Moscow - 8 November 2016

6. STILL photo of Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya talking to a journalist in Moscow

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Washington, DC - 16 May 2018

7. SOUNDBITE (English) Eric Tucker, Associated Press:

"It is interesting that Don Trump Jr. basically struck a defiant and unapologetic tone about having taken the meeting in the first place. He says, 'look I didn't think it would be problematic or an issue for me to receive information about my father's opponent that could speak to her judgment, her character, her ethics,' and so he didn't get a sense before the meeting that that would be an issue or problematic. And so that's, that's sort of striking. Another thing that we learned from the transcript is sort of how bad or disappointing the meeting was for the people who were involved. So the Americans who were there, including Don Jr., Paul Manafort and Jared Kushner, were sort of disgruntled during the course of the meeting about the information not being what they thought it was going to be. They came in expecting dirt and apparently during the course of the meeting it was mostly about adoptions and not about what they thought it was going to be, not about Hillary Clinton herself, so they were frustrated by that."

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Raleigh, North Carolina - 7 November 2018

8. Hillary Clinton speaking at a campaign rally on the eve of the 2016 election

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Washington, DC - 16 May 2018

9. SOUNDBITE (English) Eric Tucker, Associated Press:

"It is true that Donald Trump Jr. in this transcript says, 'I never told my father before I took the meeting and I didn't discuss it after the fact.' And he says, 'I didn't talk to him about the statement that he was preparing on Air Force One as the story was about to break because he wasn't part of the meeting and I didn't want to drag him in.' There's one interesting moment though, of a phone call that he handles and takes the evening of June 6, 2016, which is when the meeting was finalized and set up, and it's a phone call involving a blocked phone number. And he's asked quite a bit about that. Who did you call? Does your father have a blocked phone number? And he says, 'I don't recall to all of those questions.' So we're sort of left in the dark as to whether he was speaking with his father then about the fact that he was going to have the meeting."

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Washington, DC - 2 April 2018

10. STILL photo of Donald Trump talking to Don Jr. on White House South Lawn

POOL

Washington DC - 13 June 2013

11. Then FBI Director Robert Mueller being sworn in before giving evidence to committee, sitting down

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Washington, DC - 16 May 2018

12. SOUNDBITE (English) Eric Tucker, Associated Press:

"Special Counsel Robert Muller is definitely investigating the meeting. He's taking grand jury testimony from at least one of the participants and it's important for multiple reasons. One is,what is this dirt that Donald Trump Jr. thought he was going to be receiving?"

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Vancouver - 28 February 2017

13. Donald Trump, Jr. speaking

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Washington, DC - 16 May 2018

14. SOUNDBITE (English) Eric Tucker, Associated Press:

"I think one of the real questions is why did Don Jr. instead of saying, 'What Russian government effort to help my father? I don't know what you're talking about,' seemed to be sort of already aware that there was something under way, some sort of effort that pre-existed, predated the meeting to help his dad. That's interesting that you know you would think that he might say, 'I really have no idea what you're talking about.' But he didn't say that in the e-mail. So if you're Mueller, you sort of want to understand what is it that Don Jr. had in his mind?"

++ENDS ON A SOUNDBITE++