Donald Trump Jr. got an email two months before the election offering a link to a WikiLeaks web page and a special encryption key, according to a new report.
The Sept. 4, 2016 email also went to Donald Trump, who seldom uses email and sometimes dictates his tweets to staff, as well as a personal assistant to the president’s eldest son.
It isn’t known conclusively whether Trump Jr. responded or if anything came of the overture, but Trump Jr. got asked about it when he met with the House Intelligence Committee this week, CNN reported.
WikiLeaks exchanged text messages with Trump Jr. just three weeks later, in messages that Trump Jr. posted after they were first revealed.
Donald Trump Jr. got an email two months before the election offering a link to a WikiLeaks web page and a special encryption key, according to a new report, that says his father Donald Trump and his personal assistant also received it
In those exchanges, WikiLeaks founder asked Trump Jr. to tweet out a link to a web site featuring a cache of emails believed to be hacked from Democrats, which he did after it was put out publicly. Trump Jr. didn’t respond to many of texts.
The sender was listed as ‘Mike Erickson’ and identified by congressional sources, although the network was unable to verify his identity or reach him.
Trump Jr.’s attorney, Alan Futerfas, said Trump Jr. couldn’t recall the email and took no action after he got it.
He was quizzed about it during his closed-door appearance with House Intelligence panel members on Wednesday.
The email also mentioned that Trump Jr. and other recipients could use the key to see hacked emails from former Secretary of State Colin Powell.
Trump Jr. spoke to the House Intelligence Committee this week. He is under scrutiny for his contacts with WikiLeaks
Julian Assange tweeted in response to the CNN story: ‘It’s not clear what this has to do with @WikiLeaks. Many enthusiastic readers emailed around archives of our publications during the election.’
The outreach came following the release of hacked Democratic emails and before Clinton campaign chair John Podesta’s emails got posted.
Just ten days later, the Powell emails appeared on the site DCLeaks, which has been linked to Russian hackers who also obtained Democratic emails. They featured Powell musing online that Trump was a ‘national disgrace’ and calling Hillary Clinton ‘greedy,’ Politico reported at the time.
The Trump Organization turned over the emails to Congress in compliance with a document request.
Trump Jr. is also under scrutiny for a June 2016 meeting he had at Trump tower with a Kremlin-linked lawyer. The meeting occurred after the offer of dirt on Hillary Clinton.
Trump Jr. brushed off his contacts with WikiLeaks, reportedly saying it was on par with contacting media outlets such as CNN or NBC, sources familiar with his testimony told the network.