Donald Trump dictated a "misleading" statement about his son’s 2016 meeting with a Russian lawyer while flying home from the G20 summit in Hamburg, the Washington Post claims.
Advisers had said Donald Trump Jr should issue a truthful account so it "couldn’t be repudiated later if the full details emerged", adds the paper.
But, it claims, Trump changed the plan and "personally dictated a statement in which Trump Jr. said he and the Russian lawyer [Natalia Veselnitskaya] had 'primarily discussed a program about the adoption of Russian children’".
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
This later turned out to be "misleading", the Post continues, citing unnamed people with knowledge of the deliberations.
Multiple accounts of Trump Jr's meeting at Trump Tower in New York were issued before he finally released emails showing he had agreed to it with the hope of obtaining damaging information about Hillary Clinton. Nor was he alone - Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner and former campaign manager Paul Manafort were also present.
"The extent of the president's personal intervention in his son’s response, the details of which have not previously been reported, adds to a series of actions that Trump has taken that some advisers fear could place him and some members of his inner circle in legal jeopardy," the Washington Post says.
The "revelations draw president closer into tangled web over June 2016 meeting", The Guardian reports, and "has the potential to cause political, and even legal, trouble for the White House because it draws Trump himself much closer into the fray over the Trump Tower meeting, which has become a lightning rod in the Russian affair".
There are now so many inquiries, "it's become genuinely difficult to keep up with all the different government investigations related to his presidential campaign’s ties to Russia and its attempts to sway the 2016 election", Vox reports.
It is a complicated affair, but here is a breakdown of some of the key people involved.
THE AMERICANS: Trump’s inner circle
US President Donald Trump
While he denies any wrongdoing, Trump is under investigation for possible obstruction of justice by special counsel Robert Mueller, who is examining Russia's role in the 2016 US presidential election.
Donald Trump Jr
According to his emails, Trumps oldest son arranged a meeting in June 2016 with someone he believed to be a Russian government official who had sensitive information that would incriminate Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton.
Jared Kushner
Kushner, the President’s son-in-law and adviser, also attended the meeting with Trump Jr. In addition, he also met four Russian officials, including Sergey Kislyak, Moscow's ambassador to the US, during and after the election.
Jeff Sessions
US Attorney General Sessions recused himself from involvement in the investigation for failing to disclose his conversations with Kislyak during the campaign.
Michael Flynn
The President's former security adviser gave contradictory statements to Vice President Mike Pence about his contact with Kislyak and their conversations about sanctions placed on Russia in December 2016 by the Obama administration. He was subsequently fired by Trump.
US INVESTIGATORS
James Comey, former FBI director
Trump fired the former FBI director in May, while Comey was leading an investigation into possible Russian interference with the US election. The move led to comparisons with Watergate.
Robert Mueller
The former FBI director, who served up to 2013, was appointed to head the Russia investigation after Comey. He is also examining allegations that individuals with ties to Trump or his campaign colluded with Russia.
THE BRITISH CONNECTION
Rob Goldstone
Goldstone, a British publicist for Russian pop star Emin Agalarov, helped set up the meeting at Trump Tower.
THE RUSSIANS
President Vladimir Putin
Putin has been accused of many things during his 17 years in power, including meddling in the 2016 US elections. He met Trump at the G-20 summit in Hamburg on 7 July. It later emerged the two men also held a private talk during the event.
Natalia Veselnitskaya
Veselnitskaya is a Kremlin-linked attorney who met Trump Jr, Kushner, Manafort and others in June 2016. She reportedly didn’t provide the anticipated information about Clinton and instead wanted to discuss Russian adoption.
Explore More
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Amazon's 'James Bond' deal could mean a new future for 007
Why are Republicans suddenly panicking about DOGE?
What is JD Vance's Net Worth?
'It also means the start of a virtuous ecological cycle'
Mitch McConnell won't seek reelection
Trump reportedly wants to take over US Postal Service
New FBI Director Kash Patel could profit heavily from foreign interests
Trump's Ukraine about-face puts GOP hawks in the hot seat
Trump seeks to end New York's congestion pricing
