There’s more to meet the eye when it comes to Natalia Veselnitskaya, the Russian lawyer who met with Donald Trump Jr. in June—with new evidence tying her to top-level appointees within the Obama Administration.
Just five days after Veselnitskaya met with the President’s son, she was a guest of the Obama Administration at a House of Representatives hearing about Russia.
Veselnitskaya was pictured sitting directly behind former U.S. Ambassador to Russia, Michael McFaul, an Obama appointee, who had personally invited her to the event. McFaul, who served as ambassador between 2012 and 2014, was a noted anti-Putin critic—Russia’s state TV accused him of attempting to “overthrow” Putin on his second day in office, after he hosted opposition activists at the U.S. Embassy.
It’s unclear what McFaul’s relationship with Veselnitskaya was, or why she was invited to a House hearing about Russia, but the timeline raises a number of red flags.
The same day Veselnitskaya was slated to meet with Trump Jr. in New York, she ran into a problem: she was denied a U.S. entry visa. Veselnitskaya appealed her situation to the U.S. District Court of New York, and she was granted a parole letter that allowed her to enter the country.
The parole letter was granted U.S. District Judge Preet Bharara—an Obama appointee who has emerged as a vocal Trump critic. Bharara was fired by the new President shortly after he came to office, and he has been especially pointed in his criticism of Donald Trump Jr. over the last two days.
After being granted entry by Bharara, Veselnitskaya arrived at Trump Tower—but it’s unclear why, exactly, she had chosen to meet with Donald Trump Jr. Veselnitskaya herself appears to be a vocal anti-Trump activist—her personal Facebook is littered with anti-Trump posts, including one photo of her participating in an anti-Trump rally at Trump Tower.
Her name was not mentioned in the initial email sent to Donald Trump Jr.—he didn’t know who he would be meeting with when he agreed to take the meeting—and it’s unclear why she, considering her strong opposition to the then-Republican nominee, would even be willing to offer secrets that could assist their campaign.
While no concrete details have emerged to confirm the innuendo, it’s clear that there may be more to Veselnitskaya than meets the eyes—especially regarding her relationship to the Obama Administration, and why she as an anti-Trump activist would want to meet with Donald Trump Jr.
