MOSCOW. Jan 9 (Interfax) - Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya, who, according to media reports, has been charged with obstructing justice in the United States, says the charges are aimed at stopping her from presenting facts proving that the U.S. justice system and Congress were bribed when adopting the Magnitsky Act.
"Without knowing the essence and the circumstances [of the charges], I believe this is aimed at preventing me from doing my professional job in a manner that is very painful to the United States of America, namely, that related to the Magnitsky Act and the purchase of the justice system and Congress, regarding which we can speak on the basis of facts in our work," Veselnitskaya said on Rossiya 24 (VGTRK) television on Wednesday.
Veselnitskaya described the criminal investigation against her as an attempt "to prevent these facts from becoming public."
It has been reported that the U.S. attorney's office for the Southern District of New York charged Veselnitskaya with obstructing justice.
The company Prevezon Holdings, whose interests Veselnitskaya represented, was suspected of laundering proceeds stolen from the Russian budget. Prosecutors demanded that all assets the company owned in the U.S. be confiscated. However, U.S. authorities and Prevezon Holdings settled the lawsuit in May 2018, and no charges were pressed.
There have been reports that Veselnitskaya was among the participants in a meeting with officials from the campaign of then-presidential candidate Donald Trump, including his son, Donald Trump Jr., on June 9, 2016. She allegedly promised to share damaging information about Hillary Clinton, though this has not been confirmed.