(CNN) Former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson told lawmakers that Russian President Vladimir Putin was more prepared than President Donald Trump for their meeting in Hamburg, Germany, putting US officials at a disadvantage, a Democratic House Foreign Affairs committee aide told CNN Wednesday. Tillerson told lawmakers during a secretive meeting Tuesday that he was guided by "American values" such as democracy and freedom, but could not or would not offer an assessment as to whether the same could be said for Trump, according to the aide. The source also confirmed that Tillerson said presidential adviser Jared Kushner did not consult with the State Department or other agencies before getting involved in foreign affairs, and that his naïveté put him at risk of being outmaneuvered. Tillerson met Tuesday with the House Foreign Affairs Committee's Democratic Chairman Rep. Eliot Engel and ranking Republican Rep. Michael McCaul for a seven-hour interview centered on his experiences in Trump's Cabinet, a congressional aide with direct knowledge of the discussion told CNN. Discussion topics centered on the White House's relationship with Russia and uncertainty surrounding the role of Kushner, Trump's son-in-law and a senior White House adviser, in dictating foreign policy.

Source: CNN May 23, 2019 02:26 UTC