Hours before he confirmed the report by releasing the emails in question, Donald Trump Jr. on Tuesday responded to the report that he was told a meeting to obtain information damaging to his father’s presidential campaign rival Hillary Clinton was part of a Russian government effort to help his father’s candidacy.
Trump Jr.’s tweet followed a bombshell New York Times article published Monday evening reporting President Donald Trump’s eldest son was told in an email that a June 2016 meeting with a Kremlin-linked lawyer related to intelligence gathered by the Russian government to aid his father.
Later Tuesday morning, Trump Jr. released the emails confirming the report. Read more on that here.
U.S. intelligence agencies have concluded the Russian government meddled in the election to benefit Trump. A special counsel appointed by the Justice Department and congressional committees are investigating whether the Trump campaign colluded in the effort.
Monday’s revelations followed reporting on Saturday that Trump Jr. had met in June 2016 with Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya. The meeting was also attended by Trump Jr.’s brother-in-law, Jared Kushner, and then-campaign manager Paul Manafort. Trump Jr. over the weekend admitted that he had agreed to the meeting after being promised compromising information on Hillary Clinton, but said Veselnitskaya had little to offer.
He defended his decision Monday on Twitter, arguing he wouldn’t be the first person on a campaign to attend a meeting to hear opposition research.
Trump Jr. on Monday hired New York criminal lawyer Alan Futerfas to represent him in Russia-related investigations.
This article has been updated with information about Donald Trump Jr. releasing emails associated with the report that he met with a Russian lawyer.