U.S. official: Special counsel examining Trump Jr.'s recently disclosed meeting and emails
Special Counsel Robert Mueller and his investigators will be taking a close look at the meeting Donald Trump Jr. had last year with a Kremlin-connected lawyer and the email exchange he had with the publicist who brokered it, as part of the probe into Russian meddling during the 2016 presidential election, an official told CNN Tuesday.
On Tuesday morning, Trump Jr. shared the email chain from June 2016 on Twitter, right before The New York Times reported on the content of the messages. The emails between Trump Jr. and publicist Rob Goldstone show Trump Jr. agreeing to meet with the "Russian government attorney," and Goldstone saying there was "very high level and sensitive information" that would "incriminate" his father's Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton; this information, he added, was "part of Russia and its government's support for Mr. Trump."
Three U.S. officials told CNN federal investigators have already been looking at some of Trump Jr.'s business dealings and meetings as part of its probe into Russian interference during the election, but they did not find out about the interactions between Trump Jr., Goldstone, and the Russian attorney, Natalia Veselnitskaya, until recently, and the meeting and email exchanges are now part of the investigation. A spokesman for the special counsel declined to comment to CNN.
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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
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