United States President Donald Trump’s son on Tuesday released emails by a Russian national to prove that he was offered “sensitive information” about Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, reported BBC. Donald Trump Jr released the emails to pre-empt its publication by The New York Times that had reported his meeting with Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya ahead of the presidential election.
In the email, publicist Rob Goldstone wrote that “the crown prosecutor of Russia” was willing to support the Trump campaign with “official documents and information that would incriminate Hillary [Clinton]”, according to The Guardian. Donald Trump Jr had replied to the email, welcoming the offer. “If it’s what you say, I love it,” he had written.
He then forwarded the emails to Trump’s then campaign chairperson Paul Manafort, and the president’s son-in-law Jared Kushner.
On Monday, Donald Trump Jr had admitted to meeting Veselnitskaya, but said that no “meaningful information” was revealed. After the story broke on Saturday, Donald Trump Jr, in a statement, had said that the meeting was a “short and introductory” one.
However, on Sunday, Donald Trump Jr offered a new statement. He said Veselnitskaya’s statements on Clinton were “vague, ambiguous and made no sense”.
The Russian investigation
Trump is being investigated for his alleged role in Russian meddling in the US election in November 2016. He has dismissed claims that his campaign associates had colluded with Moscow. Russia has repeatedly denied the allegation of orchestrating cyber attacks during the polls.
In May, it was reported that Kushner was under Federal Bureau of Investigation scrutiny as part of the Russia investigation. Earlier, former FBI Director James Comey had stated before the US Senate Intelligence Committee that he was certain he was fired because of the president’s concerns about the Russia investigation.
On July 8, a day after the meeting between US President Donald Trump and his counterpart Vladimir Putin, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov had said that the US president had “accepted Putin’s clear statements” about Kremlin’s non-interference with the elections.
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