President Donald Trump defended his eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., on Tuesday as a "high-quality person" and praised his "transparency."
As controversy continued to spread over a meeting Trump Jr. had with a lawyer reportedly connected to the Russian government during the 2016 election, Trump Jr. decided to publicly release the email chain that led to the meeting.
White House deputy press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders read the president's statement to reporters at a press gaggle, the Hill reports.
"My son is a high-quality person and I applaud his transparency," Trump's statement said.
Trump's eldest son released four pages of his emails with former British tabloid reporter Rob Goldstone, who helped broker the meeting with Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya last June, the Washington Free Beacon reported.
President Donald Trump's eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., on Tuesday morning released four pages of his email correspondence with former British tabloid reporter Robert Goldstone, who helped broker a meeting between Trump Jr. and Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya last June.
The meeting was predicated on Trump Jr. receiving compromising information against Hillary Clinton as part of Russian government efforts to help his father's candidacy during the 2016 presidential election.
Trump Jr. received an email in early June 2016 from one of his father's former Russian business partners, who said that he had been contacted by a senior Russian official offering to provide the Trump campaign with compromising information on Clinton, the New York Times reported.
The documents "would incriminate Hillary and her dealings with Russia and would be very useful to your father," read the email, written by a trusted intermediary, who added, "This is obviously very high level and sensitive information but is part of Russia and its government’s support for Mr. Trump."