Trump campaign emails arranging meeting with Putin revealed

Newly discovered emails show Trump campaign managers tried to arrange a meeting with the Russian president last year.

US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin at their first meeting on the sidelines of the G20 summit on July 7. Photo: AFP.

Congressional investigators looking into allegations of Russian interference in the 2016 US presidential election have obtained an email from Rick Dearborn, a campaign adviser to Mr. Trump in the race for the White House, according to CNN.

Dearborn is now the deputy chief of staff of the White House. An email Dearborn sent to campaign officials last June mentioned an individual who was trying to connect the Trump team with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Citing unnamed sources “with direct knowledge of the matter,” CNN said the individual was referred to only by his initials “WV.” According to congressional sources, Dearborn was skeptical at the time about the possibility of a meeting with the Russians.

Rick Dearborn, former Trump campaign adviser, is now deputy chief of staff at the White House. Photo: ABC News.

The New York Times also reported in early July that Donald Trump Jr., son of US President Donald Trump, Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law, and Paul Manafort, his campaign chairman, met with Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya during the election. Ms. Veselnitskaya is described as having ties to the Kremlin and possessing damaging information about Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton. Trump Jr. has admitted to meeting with the Russian lawyer but insists they did not discuss the election.

Information about meetings between Mr. Trump's team and Russia during the US presidential election has raised suspicions that Moscow colluded with Mr. Trump's campaign to interfere in the race for the White House.

According to VNE