By — Elizabeth Flock Elizabeth Flock Leave your feedback Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/rep-adam-schiff-calls-trump-jr-emails-significant-deeply-disturbing Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Rep. Adam Schiff calls Trump Jr. emails ‘very significant, deeply disturbing’ Politics Jul 11, 2017 5:42 PM EDT At a press conference Tuesday afternoon, Rep. Adam Schiff, D- Calif., addressed the email chain Donald Trump Jr. released Tuesday about his meeting with a Kremlin-linked lawyer to discuss damaging information on Hillary Clinton. The top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee called the emails “very significant, deeply disturbing new public information about direct contacts between Russia and the very center of the Trump family, campaign and organization.” Schiff also said that the meeting may have been a “testing of the waters by the Russians to see if the campaign would be receptive to their engagement and involvement” in the election. The emails, he said, “I think, made quite clear that the Russian government had possession of damaging information” about Clinton, and that they approached Trump Jr. “to test whether Donald Trump wanted this information.” Schiff said that, when approached by a foreign government offering to interfere with the presidential election, Trump Jr. should have reported it to the FBI. Watch the full news conference below: [READ MORE: Read Donald Trump Jr.’s just released email chain on Russia meeting] [READ MORE: Why Donald Trump Jr.’s meeting to discuss damaging Clinton info matters] By — Elizabeth Flock Elizabeth Flock Elizabeth Flock is an independent journalist who reports on justice and gender. She can be reached at elizabethflock@gmail.com @lizflock
At a press conference Tuesday afternoon, Rep. Adam Schiff, D- Calif., addressed the email chain Donald Trump Jr. released Tuesday about his meeting with a Kremlin-linked lawyer to discuss damaging information on Hillary Clinton. The top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee called the emails “very significant, deeply disturbing new public information about direct contacts between Russia and the very center of the Trump family, campaign and organization.” Schiff also said that the meeting may have been a “testing of the waters by the Russians to see if the campaign would be receptive to their engagement and involvement” in the election. The emails, he said, “I think, made quite clear that the Russian government had possession of damaging information” about Clinton, and that they approached Trump Jr. “to test whether Donald Trump wanted this information.” Schiff said that, when approached by a foreign government offering to interfere with the presidential election, Trump Jr. should have reported it to the FBI. Watch the full news conference below: [READ MORE: Read Donald Trump Jr.’s just released email chain on Russia meeting] [READ MORE: Why Donald Trump Jr.’s meeting to discuss damaging Clinton info matters]