Trump Jr and the Russian Government: What the emails say, and what they could mean

What Donald Trump Jr’s explosive emails say about his contact with a Kremlin-linked lawyer, and what they might mean for the Trump administration.

Did Donald Trump Jr just admit to colluding with the Russian Government to influence the outcome of last year’s US presidential election?

That’s the talk of the town in DC after he tweeted an email chain regarding a meeting with a Kremlin-linked lawyer last year.

“To everyone, in order to be totally transparent, I am releasing the entire email chain,” he said in a statement.

In his initial statement on the matter, Mr Trump Jr obfuscated about the details behind the meeting. In eventually releasing the emails, he pre-empted the New York Times, having been warned the paper was about to publish.

“My son is a high-quality person and I applaud his transparency,” was all that the President would say via deputy press secretary Sarah Sanders.

She referred further questions to Mr Trump Jr’s new legal counsel.

So, what do we know? As set out in the emails:

• Mr Trump Jr knowingly had a meeting with a Kremlin-linked lawyer on June 9, 2016
• The intermediary who arranged the meeting offered “information that would incriminate” Hillary Clinton and “her dealings with Russia” that would be “very useful” to the campaign
• The intermediary described the information as “very high-level and sensitive”
• Most importantly it was described as “part of Russia and its government’s support for Mr Trump”

MORE: Donald Trump Jr and the Russian Government: What the emails say, and what they could mean – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)