In an apparent effort to preempt the New York Times , President Donald Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr., released on Twitter on Tuesday the chain of damming emails he received on June of 2016 in which music promoter Rob Goldstone offered “high level and sensitive information” from the Russian government about the Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.
“To everyone, in order to be totally transparent, I am releasing the entire email chain of my emails with Rob Goldstone about the meeting on June 9, 2016,” Trump Jr. explained in a statement posted to Twitter.
The emails show that Trump Jr. had knowingly accepted an offer of information from the Russian government that would incriminate Hillary Clinton and harm her campaign efforts. In the first email that Trump Jr. received on June 3, 2016, Goldstone informed Trump Jr. that the “crown prosecutor of Russia” (there is no official position as the “crown prosecutor of Russia”) was offering to “provide the Trump campaign with official documents and information that would incriminate Hillary and her dealings with Russia and would be very useful to your father.”
The June 3, 2016, email also informed Trump Jr. that the information was “high level and sensitive information” and that it was part of the Russian government’s efforts to support the candidacy of his father, Donald Trump.
“This is obviously very high level and sensitive information but is part of Russia and its government’s support for Mr Trump.”
Trump Jr.’s reply to the email, about a quarter of an hour after he received it, was an enthusiastic “I love it.”
“If it’s what you say, I love it, especially later in the summer.”
Here is page 4 (which did not post due to space constraints). pic.twitter.com/z1Xi4nr2gq
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) July 11, 2017
Here’s my statement and the full email chain pic.twitter.com/x050r5n5LQ
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) July 11, 2017
In a subsequent email, Goldstone referred to Natalia Veselnitskaya, the Russian lawyer who would deliver the information, as a “Russian government attorney.”
Trump Jr. appeared to have forwarded the email chain to Paul Manafort, who was then Trump’s campaign chairman, according to the Guardian . He also appeared to have forwarded it to Jared Kushner, his brother-in-law who was later appointed as special adviser to President Donald Trump. The email chain was forwarded to Kushner and Manafort before the meeting with Veselnitskaya that took place on June 9, 2016, at Trump Tower in New York.
Sen. Lindsey Graham says the email chain released by Donald Trump Jr. is “disturbing” https://t.co/V2xFUS9ENx https://t.co/KGrOqI8IqF
— CNN (@CNN) July 11, 2017
The New York Times was the first to break the news that Trump Jr. had met last June with a Kremlin-linked Russian lawyer who had promised to provide “highly sensitive” information damaging to Clinton. The New York Times later reported that Trump Jr. had been told before the meeting that the information he would receive was part of efforts by the Russian government to help his father’s campaign.
Donald Trump Jr. tweets email chain that he says is about his meeting with a Russian lawyer https://t.co/0avtcgcqe2 pic.twitter.com/Ld8wGVSr15
— CNN (@CNN) July 11, 2017
JUST IN: Email chain shows Trump Jr. was offered info on Clinton as part of Kremlin’s support for Trump https://t.co/0y9RHPEJvf pic.twitter.com/4y7foWNkWS
— The Hill (@thehill) July 11, 2017
After admitting that he had met Veselnitskaya on June 9, 2016, to receive damaging material on Clinton, Trump Jr. tried to downplay the significance of the incident, saying that although Veselnitskaya had promised to provide compromising information on Clinton, she failed to deliver, but rather wanted to talk about U.S. sanctions against certain individuals in Russia.
Trump Jr. continues to insist that he did no wrong.
“Media and Dems are extremely invested in the Russia story. If this nonsense meeting is all they have after a year, I understand the desperation!”
Media & Dems are extremely invested in the Russia story. If this nonsense meeting is all they have after a yr, I understand the desperation!
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) July 11, 2017
His tweet was followed by a flurry of hostile responses.
Are you really willing to take the fall for your criminal father? Will he finally love you as much as he loves Jared? #tuesdaymotivation pic.twitter.com/A8YYHxiE1z
— Holly Figueroa O’Reilly (@AynRandPaulRyan) July 11, 2017
Your dad is going down in history as being the worst president America has ever known. #tuesdaymotivation pic.twitter.com/w0AfbefBq4
— Holly Figueroa O’Reilly (@AynRandPaulRyan) July 11, 2017
Meanwhile, Veselnitskaya said that she never had information for Trump Jr. that could have been damaging to Hillary Clinton. She said, however, that Trump Jr. and Kushner might have met her because they wanted such information.
The latest revelation comes after the U.S. Department of Justice appointed ex-FBI director Robert Mueller as special counsel to investigate allegations that have dogged Trump and his campaign since he entered office that he and his aides colluded with Russian agents working to sabotage Hillary Clinton’s campaign.
The House and Senate Intelligence Committees are also investigating Trump Campaign’s alleged collusion with Russian agents who interfered in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.
[Featured Image by Kathy Willen/AP Images]