Before agreeing to meet a Kremlin-linked lawyer, Donald Trump Jr. was told in an email that the attorney had damaging information about Hillary Clinton that was part of a Russian effort to help the presidential candidacy of his father, according to a report Monday night.
The New York Times reported that an email sent by Rob Goldstone, a publicist and former British tabloid reporter who helped facilitate the meeting, indicated that the Russian government was the source of the information that Trump Jr. sought. The Times said it was described the contents of the email from three people familiar with it.
The email reportedly does not specifically describe the broader effort by Russia to assist the Trump campaign, and there isn’t any evidence the promised information was related to Russian hacking that led to the release of Democratic National Committee emails.
President Trump’s eldest son acknowledged he met with Russian attorney Natalia Veselnitskaya in June 2016 after she had offered to turn over damaging information about Clinton, the Democratic presidential nominee.
The meeting with Veselnitskaya between the younger Trump, Jared Kushner and campaign chairman Paul Manafort took place soon after Trump effectively wrapped up the Republican nomination.
Alan Futerfas, Donald Trump Jr.’s lawyer, denied wrongdoing by his client on Monday.
“In my view, this is much ado about nothing,” he told the Times. “During this busy period, Robert Goldstone contacted Don Jr. in an email and suggested that people had information concerning alleged wrongdoing by Democratic Party front-runner, Hillary Clinton, in her dealings with Russia. Don Jr.’s takeaway from this communication was that someone had information potentially helpful to the campaign and it was coming from someone he knew. Don Jr. had no knowledge as to what specific information, if any, would be discussed.”
White House deputy press secretary Sarah Sanders also denied allegations of collusion during a briefing for reporters Monday.
“The president’s campaign did not collude in any way,” she said. “Don Jr. did not collude with anybody to influence the election.”
Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., said Monday his panel “absolutely” wants to speak with Trump Jr. as part of its investigation into Russia’s election interference, and possible collusion with the Trump campaign.
Trump Jr. wrote on Twitter Monday that he would be “happy to work with the committee to pass on what I know.”
Special counsel Robert Mueller and the House and Senate intelligence committees are all investigating Russian meddling in the election, and whether the Trump campaign colluded with them.
