On Tuesday, Donald trump Jr. tweeted images of an email exchange between himself and Rob Goldstone in which the two arranged a meeting with Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya in June 2016. Trump Jr.'s brother-in-law Jared Kushner and Trump campaign chief Paul Manafort were also in attendance at the meeting.
What happened at the meeting?
Veselnitskaya claimed to have information that would harm Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign, but Trump Jr. denies receiving any such information. In an interview with Sean Hannity, the president's son states that the meeting was "a nothing." He later said, "I wouldn’t have even remembered it until [the media] started scouring through this stuff.
It was literally just a wasted 20 minutes, which was a shame." Some reports claim that the meeting actually centered around a discussion about a program allowing Americans to adopt Russian babies, but these claims have not been sufficiently verified.
Republicans become concerned over the meeting
However, many Republicans wouldn't describe the meeting as "nothing." Iowa evangelical leader Bob Vander Plaats, when asked how he and other conservatives felt about the newly revealed emails, stated that much of the news coverage about Russia "seems to be a lot of he-said, she-said -- and [Trump Jr.'s tweet] is the first time where it's like, 'No, this meeting happened, here's the email.'" Vander Plaats went on to say that "[Republicans are] not rushing to any sort of judgment, but their suspicion is heightened."
These new emails come at a time when many Republicans in Congress are trying to capture Democrat-held Senate seats and maintain their House majority in the upcoming midterm elections.
One Republican involved in the midterms, speaking to CNN on the condition of anonymity, stated that although Trump Jr.'s meeting is troubling, it will not negatively impact the party. "Health care is something that the donor community cares more about, to be honest with you. This is something that we've been talking about for a while now, the Russia stuff, and it's not making a dent," the Republican said.
Despite such statements, many people are debating whether or not Trump Jr. committed a crime by meeting with a Russian lawyer during the 2016 presidential campaign. Some argue that the meeting yielded no information against Hillary Clinton, and thus Trump Jr. is innocent. Others, however, claim that because the purpose of the meeting was to gather information that would undermine the Clinton campaign, the president's son is indeed guilty of a federal crime.
Reactions from the White House
President Trump said that he was unaware of the meeting until his son's tweet, but couldn't fault Trump Jr. for taking the meeting. In a statement to Reuters, the president said: “It was a 20-minute meeting, I guess, from what I’m hearing. Many people, and many political pros, said everybody would do that.”
Trump later released a tweet stating that the White House was “functioning perfectly, focused on HealthCare, Tax Cuts/Reform & many other things. I have very little time for watching T.V.”
