President Donald Trump Wednesday morning defended his son Donald Jr. in the swirling controversy over his meeting last year with a Russian lawyer he believed would provide negative information about the campaign of Hillary Clinton, Trump's opponent in the race for the White House.
In a tweet issued before 6:30 a.m., Trump called his son "innocent," and praised his Tuesday night interview on the Fox News Channel show "Hannity," in which he defended himself. The president repeated his mantra on the Russia controversy, again calling it "the greatest Witch Hunt in political history."
According to emails released by Trump Jr., he appeared eager to accept information from the Russian government that would have damaged Democrat Clinton.
Emails posted to Twitter Tuesday by Trump Jr. showed him conversing with a music publicist who wanted him to meet with a "Russian government attorney" who supposedly had dirt on Clinton as "part of Russia and its government's support for Mr. Trump."
The messages reveal that Trump Jr. was told the Russian government had information that could "incriminate" Clinton and her dealings with Russia.
"I love it," Trump Jr. said in one response in the email chain he released.
The incident has raised questions of whether members of Trump's campaign coordinated with Russia to hurt Clinton and help Trump.
The president followed up Wednesday with a second tweet slamming "the Fake Media," accusing journalists of making up sources.
This report contains material from The Associated Press.