Donald Trump Jr., son of President Donald Trump, has landed himself in hot water. New reports revealed that Trump Jr. was in contact with a "Russian government attorney" in hopes of obtaining damaging information on Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton before the 2016 election.

The bombshell report was first published by the New York Times and later confirmed by Trump Jr. himself. It serves as the most concrete piece of evidence supporting accusations of collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russian government to sway the election in Trump's favor.

FBI and Congressional investigations into the possible collusion are ongoing.

Trump Jr., along with brother-in-law and White House Advisor Jared Kushner and former Trump Campaign Manager Paul Manafort, met with Russian attorney Natalia Veselnitskaya in June 2016 at Trump Tower in New York City. Trump Jr. agreed to meet with Veselnitskaya under the pretext that the Russian government was interested in aiding Trump Sr.'s presidential campaign. Trump Jr. was interested in receiving “very high-level and sensitive information” that would damage Clinton’s campaign efforts.

Trump Jr. receives email

The report, which first surfaced this past weekend, says that Trump Jr. first received an email from publicist and former British tabloid reporter Rob Goldstone.

Goldstone claimed that a "Russian government attorney" had damaging information on Hillary Clinton, and that the Russian government wanted to help advance Trump Sr.'s campaign.

The Trumps first met Goldstone in 2013 at the Miss Universe pageant in Moscow, a pageant co-owned by Trump Sr. for many years. Goldstone is the publicist of Russian pop star Emin Agalarov, with whom the Trumps connected as a result of their interactions with Goldstone.

Agalarov’s father, Aras Agalarov, is a major real estate developer in Russia and appears friendly with the Kremlin, according to the New York Times. Ever since the 2013 pageant, the Trumps and the Agalarovs have maintained a friendly relationship.

At Emin Agalarov's request, Goldstone offered to arrange the meeting with the Russian attorney, claiming the attorney had “very high-level and sensitive information” on Clinton.

Trump Jr. accepted the offer.

Trump meets with Russian attorney

Trump Jr., along with Kushner and Manafort, officially met with Veselnitskaya, on June 9, 2016, in Trump Tower in New York City. However, Veselnitskaya did not have the information the Trump campaign wanted, according to both Trump Jr. and Veselnitskaya. They also both deny that Veselnitskaya has any Kremlin ties.

Trump Jr. changes his story

After the New York Times report surfaced this past weekend, Trump Jr. first claimed that he met with Veselnitskaya to discuss a Russian adoption program ended by Russian President Vladimir Putin in response to the Magnitsky Act, an act passed in 2012 under former President Obama that sought to punish Russian officials responsible for the death of Russian lawyer Sergei Magnitsky.

Not long after, Trump Jr. changed his story. He confirmed that he did in fact agree to meet with the Russian attorney under the pretext that she had information on Clinton and later defended his actions on Twitter.

Trump Jr. tweets email chain

With the new scandal picking up steam, Trump Jr.

tweeted the entire chain of emails earlier today regarding his meeting with Veselnitskaya. He also included a statement explaining his intention "to be totally transparent" with the public about the matter.

Lawmakers’ responses

The reports stunned both Republican and Democratic lawmakers across the country, eliciting strong condemnations of Trump Jr.'s actions.

Democrat and Senate Minority Leader Leader Chuck Schumer said that the new revelation constitutes “the end of the idea pushed by the [Trump] administration and the president that there is absolutely no evidence of intent to coordinate or collude.”

Democratic Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia, Clinton's former running mate in the 2016 election, also condemned the “explosive” emails, saying they were likely treasonous.

Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina told reporters, “Anytime you’re in a campaign, and you get an offer from a foreign government to help your campaign, the answer is no. I don’t know what Mr. Trump Jr.’s version of the facts are, definitely he has to testify, that email was disturbing.”

Not the first email scandal the country has seen

Email scandals are an all-too-familiar topic in U.S. politics. Before the 2016 election, the Trump campaign capitalized immensely off of opponent Hillary Clinton's own email scandal. While Secretary of State, Clinton used her own private email server for communications involving classified information rather than official State Department email accounts on federal servers.

Former FBI Director James Comey announced less than two weeks before the 2016 election that the FBI was reopening the probe to investigate a number of newly discovered emails from Clinton's server. Only two days before the election, Comey reaffirmed the FBI’s initial conclusion that Clinton was not guilty of any criminal wrongdoing. Clinton later suggested that the timing of Comey’s announcement likely cost her the presidency.
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