Donald Trump Jr has admitted meeting a Kremlin-linked lawyer to gather information on Hillary Clinton, but legal experts and the media are split over whether he is guilty of collusion, treason, or even if a law was broken.
Trump Jr confirms a report in the New York Times saying he met Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya at Trump Tower in June 2016, accompanied by Paul Manafort, chairman of the campaign to get Donald Trump elected, and Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law and now one of his senior advisers.
The President's eldest son downplays the significance of the encounter, calling it an "introductory meeting" and to discuss a Russian adoption program that had been suspended after the US imposed sanctions.
He adds he did not know the lawyer's name until the meeting.
Veselnitskaya, who counts state-owned businesses among her clients, backs up his claims. "Nothing at all was discussed about the presidential campaign," she said.
9 July 2017
A very different picture emerges the next day. Confronted with new information uncovered by the New York Times, Trump Jr releases a revised version of the encounter.
He says: "After pleasantries were exchanged, the woman stated that she had information that individuals connected to Russia were funding the Democratic National Committee and supporting Mrs [Hillary] Clinton."
The promised information turned out to be "vague" and "made no sense", he adds.
11 July 2017
After the New York Times reports that emails prove Trump Jr knew prior to the meeting that the information was part of the Russian government's efforts to help his father, Trump Jr astonishes political commentators and posts the 2016 email chain to Twitter.
In the messages, the British publicist who set up the meeting, Ron Goldstone, tells Trump Jr the "crown prosecutor of Russia" is willing to provide "official documents" relating to Clinton's dealings with Russia that would incriminate her.
The information is "part of Russia and its government's support for Mr Trump", continues Goldstone, who also describes Veselnitskaya as a "Russian government attorney".
In response to the offer of information, Trump Jr says: "If it's what you say, I love it," and later forwards the chain to Manafort and Kushner.
The email chain is "the first direct acknowledgement that close associates of Trump privately welcomed Russian help in the 2016 election", says FiveThirtyEight.
The White House categorically denies any wrongdoing, either by President Trump - who, it says, knew nothing about the meeting - or his campaign staffers.
"The President's campaign did not collude in any way," White House deputy press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders says. "Don Jr did not collude with anybody to influence the election. No one within the Trump campaign colluded in order to influence the election."
Collusion, conspiracy or coincidence?
Far from dampening speculation, the White House denials and Trump Jr's explanations have fuelled it. Eugene Robinson, associate editor of the Washington Post, called Trump Jr's statement a "legal-game changer", writing: "After months of categorical denials, we now have an admission of attempted collusion, at least, involving three top-ranking figures in the Trump campaign."
However, Amy Jeffress, a Justice Department national security lawyer in the Obama administration, told NBC proving an actual crime was committed would be far harder. "Collusion is wrong, but I'm not sure it's a crime," she said.
However, while collusion may not be defined as a criminal offence, soliciting or accepting "anything of value" from a foreign national as part of an election campaign violates federal election laws.
Samuel Buell, a former federal prosecutor, told the Financial Times Trump Jr's emails were "very damning" and could be used to argue he was willing to violate election laws.
However, those claiming the President's son committed treason - such as Richard W Painter, a former ethics lawyer under George W Bush - may be going a step too far, say legal experts.
Treason, as defined in the US constitution, includes aiding the nation's "enemies", which is traditionally understood to mean nations with whom the US is at war. "I think it's absurd to call it treason," says CNN's senior legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin.
Ultimately, the legality of the encounter will be a matter for special counsel Robert Mueller, whose Department of Justice inquiry into the election will examine a "dizzying array" of meetings between Trump staffers and Russian officials and intermediaries, says Rolling Stone.
All the President's men?
The investigation is unlikely to end with the emails.Trump Jr's brief reference to "[asking] Jared and Paul to stop by" the Veselnitskaya meeting may belie the significance of their attendance.
Trump Jr initially claimed neither Manafort nor Kushner knew the purpose of the meeting, but the emails show he forwarded his conversation on to both men before it took place.
The Trump administration has already sought to distance itself from Manafort, who resigned as campaign chief last August, amid controversy surrounding his previous career as an adviser to Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych.
It may be harder for Trump to distance himself from the actions of his son and son-in-law.
Kushner failed to disclose his attendance at the Veselnitskaya meeting on his application for top-level security clearance, although his lawyer told the New York Times he has now done so.
He also previously failed to disclose a meeting with Russian ambassador Sergei Kislyak, while his financial dealings with Russia have attracted the attention of the Department of Justice investigation.
Meanwhile, Trump Jr will face further scrutiny over his role in his father's campaign. Senator Mark Warner, vice chairman of the Senate intelligence committee, told CNN "Donald Trump Jr will be someone that we want to talk to".
The President is on course to face a "difficult choice", The Atlantic wrote shortly before Trump Jr released his email exchange. Either he cuts his son and son-in-law loose or stands by them as the Russia inquiry creeps ever-closer to home.
For a man who "values both his status as President and his family", it adds, "that is a nearly impossible dilemma".
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