President Trump calls son a 'high-quality person' and applauds 'transparency'

WASHINGTON — Donald Trump Jr. released a series of emails Tuesday sent between him and Rob Goldstone, the man who told The Associated Press that he set up a June 2016 meeting between Trump and Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya.

We'll have coverage as this story continues to develop on Channel 2 Action News starting at 4 p.m. 

Trump, the president's eldest son, said in a statement that he released the back-and-forth "in order to be totally transparent."

In the first email of the chain, dated June 3, 2016, Goldstone writes that "the crown prosecutor of Russia met with his father Aras this morning and in their meeting offered to provide the Trump campaign with some official documents and information that would incriminate Hillary (Clilnton) and her dealings with Russia."

Goldstein said that the information "would be very useful for your father."

"This is obviously very high level and sensitive information, but (it) is part of Russia and its government's support for Mr. Trump," Goldstone wrote.

The Latest on the ongoing investigations into possible collusion between Trump campaign associates and Russia (all times local):

2:30 p.m.

President Donald Trump says he his eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., is “a high-quality person,” and he applauds “his transparency.”

White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders read a brief statement from the president Tuesday in response to revelations that Trump Jr. agreed to hear damaging information on Hillary Clinton as part of the Russian government’s effort to help his father.

Trump Jr. posted his emails with publicist Rob Goldstone on Twitter Tuesday. The emails with Goldstone show that Trump Jr. was told that the Russian government had information that could “incriminate” Clinton and her dealings with Russia.

2 p.m.

The top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee says emails by President Donald Trump’s eldest son show that a congressional investigation into Russian election meddling is “all that more important.”

On Tuesday, Donald Trump Jr. released an email exchange in which he showed interest in what was described as a Russian government effort to aid his father’s campaign with damaging information about Hillary Clinton.

Virginia Sen. Mark Warner dismissed that Trump Jr.’s eager acceptance of help could just be naiveté: He said: “Lying is not a rookie mistake.”

Warner also noted that Trump said in the exchange that the information could be good “especially later in the summer,” and that Clinton’s hacked emails were released around that time.

1:10 p.m.

Republican senators are downplaying revelations that the president’s son agreed to hear damaging information on Hillary Clinton as part of the Russian government’s effort to help his father.

Senior Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah calls the matter “overblown,” describing Donald Trump Jr. as “a very nice young man.”

Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina appeared at a news conference with seven other GOP senators, insisting that Republicans should not be “distracted” by the latest reports on Russia and instead stay focused on their agenda. None of the other attendees at the press conference responded to a question on the new emails released by Trump Jr.

Sen. David Perdue of Georgia says several congressional committees are already looking at the matter.

1:05 p.m.

Hillary Clinton’s former campaign manager says the U.S. is facing a “serious national security crisis.”

Robby Mook was responding to the latest revelation that Trump’s eldest son met with a Russian lawyer after being promised damaging information on Clinton supplied by the Kremlin.

He told The Associated Press Tuesday: “They called us liars; They called us disgusting for suggesting Russians were behind this. Then they met the Russians and talked about information about Hillary Clinton.”

1 p.m.

Vice President Mike Pence’s office says the vice president was not aware of a meeting between Donald Trump Jr. and a Russian attorney who purportedly had dirt on then-Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.

Pence’s spokesman Marc Lotter said Tuesday in a statement that the vice president wasn’t focused “on stories about the campaign, especially those pertaining to the time before he joined the campaign.”

Pence was named President Donald Trump’s running mate in mid-July 2016, several weeks after the June meeting involving the president’s son.

Pence’s office says the vice president is “working every day to advance the president’s agenda.”

11:15 a.m.

President Donald Trump's son told a person promising him damaging information about Hillary Clinton: "If it's what you say I love it."

Donald Trump Jr. posted his emails with publicist Rob Goldstone on Twitter Tuesday. The emails with Goldstone show that Trump Jr. was told that the Russian government had information that could "incriminate" Clinton and her dealings with Russia.

Trump Jr. says in a statement that he released the exchanges "in order to be totally transparent."
The Trump Organization confirmed the authenticity of the posts.

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11:10 a.m.

Donald Trump Jr. has released an email chain that shows him discussing plans to hear damaging information on Hillary Clinton.

In a statement Tuesday, Trump's eldest son said he was posting the emails "in order to be totally transparent."

The emails with music publicist Rob Goldstone show that Trump Jr. was told that the Russian government had information that could "incriminate" Clinton and her dealings with Russia.

8:30 a.m.

The top Democrat on the House Intelligence committee says the report that Donald Trump Jr. met with a Russian lawyer last year in the expectation of getting damaging information on Hillary Clinton during the 2016 presidential campaign is "a very big deal."

Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., told CNN Tuesday that his committee, which is investigating possible collusion between the Trump presidential campaign and Russia, would summon the meeting participants "to get to the bottom of it."

The New York Times reported late Monday that Trump Jr. was told ahead of time that the source of the information was the Russian government. Schiff said the report, if true, represents "an offer by the Russian government to help interfere in the American election on behalf of one of the candidates" and the first time "the inner circle of the Trump family...have direct contact with the Russians promising" information on Clinton.

In a statement, Trump Jr.'s New York-based attorney Alan Futerfas called the Times report "much ado about nothing."

7:30 a.m.

A Russian lawyer tells NBC's "Today" show that she was summoned to Trump Tower during last year's presidential campaign to meet with Donald Trump Jr. and asked if she had information on the Clinton campaign. The lawyer, Natalia Veselnitskaya, told NBC she received a phone call from a man she didn't know and was told to meet with the Trump campaign. She says she didn't have information on the Clinton campaign and has never worked for the Russian government.

NBC's "Today" and MSNBC aired an interview of the lawyer on Tuesday. It's her first public comment since Donald Trump Jr. acknowledged that he made time for the meeting hoping to get information on Clinton, his father's Democratic presidential opponent.

Veselnitskaya says Jared Kushner, Donald Trump's son-in-law, attended the meeting but left after a few minutes. Paul Manafort, then Trump's campaign chairman, also attended but never participated and spent much of the meeting on his phone. It wasn't clear from the NBC report who in the meeting asked her for information.

On Clinton, she says through a translator: "It's quite possible they were looking for information. They wanted it so badly."

3:30 a.m.

The man who organized a meeting between Donald Trump Jr. and a Russian lawyer during the presidential campaign says it occurred at the behest of a Moscow-based singer with family ties to Trump's businesses.
Trump Jr. acknowledges he made time for the meeting, organized by music publicist Rob Goldstone, hoping to get information about Hillary Clinton.

Meanwhile, The New York Times reports that Goldstone told Trump Jr. in an email ahead of the meeting that the Russian government was behind the information on Clinton. The Times cites three unnamed people with knowledge of the email.

Goldstone spoke to The Associated Press earlier Monday to confirm he had set up the meeting on behalf of his client, but he did not disclose the contents of the email described by The Times.

Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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