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Senate Judiciary Committee to Call Ex-Trump Aide Manafort to Testify - Senator

© AP Photo / J. Scott ApplewhiteTrump Campaign Chairman Paul Manafort is surrounded by reporters on the floor of the Republican National Convention in Cleveland. (File)
Trump Campaign Chairman Paul Manafort is surrounded by reporters on the floor of the Republican National Convention in Cleveland. (File) - Sputnik International
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Paul Manafort, former campaign manager for President Donald Trump, will be called to testify before the US Senate Judiciary Committee, Senator and Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley said on Wednesday.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — Grassley noted he intends to question Manafort on the Foreign Agent Registration Act, including on his role in the meeting between Donald Trump Jr. and Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya in June 2016.

"We’re working very closely on this and we’ve already agreed that we’re going to bring Manafort before our committee," Grassley said as quoted by the Des Moines Register.

Trump Campaign Chairman Paul Manafort is surrounded by reporters on the floor of the Republican National Convention in Cleveland. (File) - Sputnik International
Ex-Trump Aide Manafort Discloses Information to US on Ukraine-Related Lobbying
The senator from the US state of Iowa added that if necessary, he will subpoena Manafort.

House of Representatives Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi claimed on Tuesday that the meeting between Trump Jr., Jared Kushner, Manafort and Veselnitskaya is a "grave development" in the investigation of possible collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign.

On Tuesday, Trump Jr. released an email chain with UK-born publicist Rob Goldstone about a meeting with Natalia Veselnitskaya to allegedly discuss compromising information on then-presidential nominee and Trump rival Hillary Clinton.

On Monday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said he did not know who Veselnitskaya is. Veselnitskaya herself denied any connection to the Kremlin, said she did not request a meeting with Trump Jr. during the 2016 presidential campaign, and noted that she has no information damaging Clinton.

Donald Trump Jr. Stands in an elevator at Trump Tower in the Manhattan borough of New York City, U.S., November 17, 2016 - Sputnik International
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Over the weekend, The New York Times reported that Donald Trump Jr. had held an unreported meeting with Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya. The Russian lawyer has claimed that the 30-minute meeting focused on the Magnitsky Act and the issue of Russian adoptions by US citizens. On Sunday, Trump Jr. issued a statement, in which he said it had become clear during the meeting that Veselnitskaya had no meaningful information on the Democratic National Committee’s links with Russia-connected individuals.

In a different part of the article, The New York Times states that three people claimed email of Robert Glodstone, a music publicist representing Russian pop star Emin Agalarov, indicated the Russian government as the source of the information offered to Donald Trump Jr.

Manafort resigned from Trump's campaign in August, long before the presidential election in November. He had been accused of previously accepting millions of dollars in off-the-books payments from deposed Ukrainian President Victor Yanukovych's Party of Regions while working as an adviser to the former head of state.

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