FRIGHT HOUSE
Trump ‘in chaos’ over email leak
THE White House was last night in chaos as Donald Trump defended his embattled son after he secretly met with a Russian lawyer he hoped would smear Hillary Clinton.
The president doubled down on his support for Donald Trump Jr, saying attacks on his boy and the administration were the “greatest witch hunt in political history”.
One insider said the fallout from the meeting with Natalia Veselnitskaya, a lawyer described as having links to the Kremlin, has created a “category five hurricane” in the White House.
Trump had moved to distance himself from the scandal, saying he had no knowledge of his son’s meeting that was set up by Brit Rob Goldstone.
But yesterday it emerged the Manchester-born publicist had offered to send the information to Trump Sr via his personal assistant Rhona Graff. In an email, while arranging the meeting, he told Trump Jr: “I can also send this info to your father via Rhona but it is ultrasensitive so wanted to send to you first.”
Trump’s personal lawyer Joe Sekulow moved to distance Graff from the president, saying she works for the Trump Organisation business empire.
The president, who has been hidden from public view since returning from the G20 summit, is enraged his leadership is still dogged by his team’s link to Moscow.
Yesterday, he defended Donald Jr saying he had been “open, transparent and innocent” about the meeting in an interview with Fox News during which he attempted to explain his actions. “My son Donald did a good job last night,” Trump tweeted.
“He was open, transparent and innocent. This is the greatest witch hunt in political history. Sad!”
Trump Jr chose Fox, owned by his dad’s friend Rupert Murdoch, to downplay the meeting while his dad was campaigning last June.
Interviewed by Sean Hannity, the 39-year-old reflected on the meeting arranged by Goldstone, and said: “I probably would have done things a little differently.”
The president also hit out at rumours the White House was in turmoil, tweeting: “The White House is functioning perfectly.” Yesterday, it emerged federal investigators might have reason to examine whether Trump Jr broke campaign finance law when he met Veselnitskaya, believing she would offer damaging information about Clinton. He may have violated a federal statute that says a political campaign cannot “knowingly solicit, accept, or receive” any “contribution or donation” from a foreign national”.