Harry Dunn: Family lawyer says Trump 'henchmen' tired to force meeting with Anne Sacoolas
Atmosphere was 'threatening and intimidating', Radd Steiger says
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Donald Trump's staff acted like "henchmen" towards the parents of a British teenager who died in a car crash that involved the wife of a US diplomat.
Tim Dunn and Charlotte Charles visited the White House earlier this week to discuss Harry Dunn's death with the US president.
It later emerged that Anne Sacoolas, who was questioned by officers at the accident scene outside RAF Croughton in Northamptonshire, had been another room during the meeting.
Ms Sacoolas flew back to the US after the accident and has refused to return to the UK for further questioning. It has suggested that she was driving on the wrong side of the road when she hit the 19-year-old.
Mr Dunn and Ms Charles declined to meet her, insisting they would prefer her to return to the UK to face justice.
Their lawyer Radd Seiger, told The Independent that "henchmen", including national security adviser Robert O’Brien and a number of Secret Service agents were also in the room.
Describing them as "threatening and intimidating," he added that there was "at least one photographer in the room who took photos of us with Trump".
He said they were "obviously there to grab that money shot", of the aborted meeting between the grieving parents and Ms Sacoolas.
In a separate interview with CNN he said that Mr O'Brien had "snarled" at them as he informed them that Ms Sacoolas would never return to the UK.
“I used to look up to that institution,” he said. “But it’s a bunch of henchmen trying to make him look good.”
The British government has indicated that Ms Sacoolas, who is married to an American intelligence official, does not enjoy diplomatic immunity.
After the meeting, Mr Trump claimed that Boris Johnson had asked him to try and set up the meeting between the Dunn family and Ms Sacoolas.
But a Number 10 spokesperson said on Thursday: “The PM and the president spoke last Wednesday and the PM asked the president to do all he could to resolve the issue. During the conversation, the president raised a possibility of a meeting with Anne Sacoolas at the White House but at that stage we weren’t aware of any plans for the family to go [to the US] so it wasn’t discussed further.”
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments