(CNN) Former Rep. Trey Gowdy was working with President Donald Trump's personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani last summer when Giuliani secured a meeting at the Justice Department with Attorney General William Barr and senior Department of Justice officials on behalf of a Venezuelan client, according to newly disclosed documents. The September 2019 meeting at the Justice Department happened one month before Gowdy was briefly named to Trump's impeachment defense, though the South Carolina Republican ultimately did not join Trump's legal team. The new documents also show that Barr's participation in the meeting was planned well in advance when Giuliani met with top criminal prosecutors on behalf of his Venezuelan client. The documents make clear that Barr's office was involved in planning the Giuliani meeting and that the attorney general's presence was not just an incidental drop-by as Justice officials have tried to portray the encounter. Justice officials had sought to distance Barr from Giuliani, and had only initially disclosed that top criminal division officials were in the meeting, until Giuliani later told reporters that Barr had attended.

Source: CNN July 16, 2020 21:33 UTC