Donald Trump Jr has had no choice but to release controversial emails revealing he was aware and eager for a Russian government attempt to damage Hillary Clinton during the US Presidential election.
Trump Jr has since said that he did not tell his father of these plans because they were “nothing”, however questions have been raised over whether campaign laws have been broken.
The emails show Rob Goldstone telling Trump Jr that “the crown prosecutor of Russia” had offered “to provide the Trump campaign with some official documents and information that would incriminate Hillary and her dealings with Russia and would be very useful to your father”
“This is obviously very high level and sensitive information but is part of Russia and its government’s support for Mr Trump.”
Trump Jr shortly replied to Goldstone with the message: “If it’s what you say, I love it, especially later in the summer.”
The President’s son told Fox News on Tuesday: “In retrospect, I probably would have done things a little differently. Again this is before the Russia mania, this is before they were building this up in the press.
“It was just a nothing,” he added. “There was nothing to tell. I mean, I wouldn’t have even remembered it until you started scouring through this stuff. It was literally just a wasted 20 minutes, which was a shame.”
Trump spokeswoman read a statement from the President at the regular White House press briefing. “My son is a high-quality person and I applaud his transparency.”
“I think the president is, I would say, frustrated with the process, the fact this continues to be an issue and he would love for us to be focused on issues like the economy, healthcare, tax reform, infrastructure.” she added, when asked about the President’s reaction to the controversy.
In an online statement, Trump Jr said: “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. To put this in context, this occurred before the current Russian fever was in vogue.”