'Russian-American lobbyist was also in Trump Jr meeting'

The man at the June 2016 meeting with Donald Trump Jr, Jared Kushner and Paul Manafort is a Russian-born American lobbyist who also served in the Soviet military, NBC News reported. The lobbyist, Rinat Akhmetshin, has been reported to have ties with Russian intelligence, though he denies the connections. Some US officials suspect otherwise, NBC said.

Akhmetshin told The Associated Press the meeting was "not substantive" and he "actually expected more serious" discussion. The AP reported that Akhmetshin said the younger Trump asked Veselnitskaya for "evidence of illicit money flowing to the Democratic National Committee, but Veselnitskaya said she didn't have that information." Akhmetshin added that Trump Jr. lost interest after that, the AP reported, and "they couldn't wait for the meeting to end."

"I never thought this would be such a big deal to be honest," he told AP. Trump Jr agreed to the meeting after being offered compromising material on then-candidate Hillary Clinton, according to emails the released this week by the president's son. Veselnitskaya told NBC News she had at least one other guest with her in the meeting, but declined to say who he was.

The revelation adds a new layer to the meeting, which has drawn the attention of congressional and possibly federal investigators. Congressional committees and a special counsel appointed by the Justice Department are looking into Russian attempts to influence the 2016 election and whether the Trump campaign coordinated with the Kremlin.