Exclusive: Email shows effort to give Trump campaign WikiLeaks documents - CNN Politics

Exclusive: Email shows effort to give Trump campaign WikiLeaks documents

CNN Digital Expansion DC Manu RajuJeremy Herb

By Manu Raju and Jeremy Herb, CNN

Updated 1404 GMT (2204 HKT) December 8, 2017

Email to Trump Jr. offered WikiLeaks documents

WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 20: Retired Army Lt. General Michael Flynn arrives for the Presidential Inauguration of Donald Trump at the US Capitol on January 20, 2017 in Washington, DC. Flynn is appointed National Security Advisor to Trump. Donald J. Trump will become the 45th president of the United States today. (Photo by Saul Loeb - Pool/Getty Images)

Source: Trump told in January Flynn misled FBI

Trump over twitter screenshot

Cooper: Can the President obstruct justice?

Mueller removed agent over anti-Trump texts

Warner: I believe Comey on Flynn investigation

WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 20: Retired Army Lt. General Michael Flynn arrives for the Presidential Inauguration of Donald Trump at the US Capitol on January 20, 2017 in Washington, DC. Flynn is appointed National Security Advisor to Trump. Donald J. Trump will become the 45th president of the United States today. (Photo by Saul Loeb - Pool/Getty Images)

Michael Flynn charged with lying to FBI

Senior Advisor Jared Kushner waits for a meeting with Prime Minister of Malaysia Najib Razak, US President Donald Trump and others in the Cabinet Room of the White House September 12, 2017 in Washington, DC. / AFP PHOTO / Brendan Smialowski

Kushner met with special counsel about Flynn

Lieutenant General Michael Flynn (ret.), National Security Advisor Designate speaks during a conference on the transition of the US Presidency from Barack Obama to Donald Trump at the US Institute Of Peace in Washington DC, January 10, 2017. / AFP / CHRIS KLEPONIS (Photo credit should read CHRIS KLEPONIS/AFP/Getty Images)

Toobin: Flynn guilty plea appears certain

Paul Manafort walks outside the William B. Bryant US Courthouse Annex on October 30, 2017 in Washington,DC.

President Donald Trump's former campaign chairman Paul Manafort pleaded not guilty Monday to charges of conspiracy and money laundering after the Justice Department unveiled the first indictments in the probe into Russian election interference. Manafort, 68, and business partner Rick Gates, 45, both entered not guilty pleas in a Washington court after being read charges that they hid millions of dollars they earned working for former Ukrainian politician Viktor Yanukovych and his pro-Moscow political party.

Manafort, Gates remain under house arrest

Diane Feinstein Trump emails Russia no evidence sotu_

Feinstein: No evidence Trump campaign received 'dirt' on Clinton

Donald Trump Jr. talks with reporters during the 139th Easter Egg Roll on the South Lawn of the White House April 17, 2017 in Washington, DC. NOW PLAYING

Email to Trump Jr. offered WikiLeaks documents

NEW YORK, NY - JANUARY 18: Donald Trump Jr. arrives at Trump Tower on January 18, 2017 in New York City. President-elect Donald Trump is to be sworn in as the 45th President of the United States on January 20. (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)

Emails show Trump Tower meeting follow-up

Donald Trump Jr. speaks before an appearance by his father, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, during the Outdoor Channel and Sportsman Channel's 16th annual Outdoor Sportsman Awards at The Venetian Las Vegas during the 2016 National Shooting Sports Foundation's Shooting, Hunting, Outdoor Trade (SHOT) Show on January 21, 2016 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Trump Jr. invokes attorney-client privilege

Coons rejects Trump's obstruction defense

WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 27: Paul Manafort, advisor to Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump's campaign, checks the teleprompters before Trump's speech at the Mayflower Hotel April 27, 2016 in Washington, DC. A real estate billionaire and reality television star, Trump beat his GOP challengers by double digits in Tuesday's presidential primaries in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Deleware, Rhode Island and Connecticut. "I consider myself the presumptive nominee, absolutely," Trump told supporters at the Trump Tower following yesterday's wins. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Prosecutors want Manafort bail deal pulled

KT McFarland, President-elect Donald Trump's selection to be deputy national security adviser, steps off the elevator after meetings at Trump Tower on December 5, 2016 in New York.

Flynn deputy contradicts herself in testimony

Rep. jackie Speier TSR 12-4-17

Speier on Manafort: 'Stunningly stupid'

WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 20: Retired Army Lt. General Michael Flynn arrives for the Presidential Inauguration of Donald Trump at the US Capitol on January 20, 2017 in Washington, DC. Flynn is appointed National Security Advisor to Trump. Donald J. Trump will become the 45th president of the United States today. (Photo by Saul Loeb - Pool/Getty Images)

Source: Trump told in January Flynn misled FBI

Trump over twitter screenshot

Cooper: Can the President obstruct justice?

NEW YORK, NY - AUGUST 08: Robert S. Mueller III, Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), speaks at the International Conference on Cyber Security (ICCS) on August 8, 2013 in New York City. The ICCS, which is co-hosted by Fordham University and the FBI, is held every 18 months; more than 25 countries are represented at this year's conference. (Photo by Andrew Burton/Getty Images)

Mueller removed agent over anti-Trump texts

Warner: I believe Comey on Flynn investigation

WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 20: Retired Army Lt. General Michael Flynn arrives for the Presidential Inauguration of Donald Trump at the US Capitol on January 20, 2017 in Washington, DC. Flynn is appointed National Security Advisor to Trump. Donald J. Trump will become the 45th president of the United States today. (Photo by Saul Loeb - Pool/Getty Images)

Michael Flynn charged with lying to FBI

Senior Advisor Jared Kushner waits for a meeting with Prime Minister of Malaysia Najib Razak, US President Donald Trump and others in the Cabinet Room of the White House September 12, 2017 in Washington, DC. / AFP PHOTO / Brendan Smialowski (Photo credit should read BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/Getty Images)

Kushner met with special counsel about Flynn

Lieutenant General Michael Flynn (ret.), National Security Advisor Designate speaks during a conference on the transition of the US Presidency from Barack Obama to Donald Trump at the US Institute Of Peace in Washington DC, January 10, 2017. / AFP / CHRIS KLEPONIS (Photo credit should read CHRIS KLEPONIS/AFP/Getty Images)

Toobin: Flynn guilty plea appears certain

Paul Manafort walks outside the William B. Bryant US Courthouse Annex on October 30, 2017 in Washington,DC.

President Donald Trump's former campaign chairman Paul Manafort pleaded not guilty Monday to charges of conspiracy and money laundering after the Justice Department unveiled the first indictments in the probe into Russian election interference. Manafort, 68, and business partner Rick Gates, 45, both entered not guilty pleas in a Washington court after being read charges that they hid millions of dollars they earned working for former Ukrainian politician Viktor Yanukovych and his pro-Moscow political party.

Manafort, Gates remain under house arrest

Diane Feinstein Trump emails Russia no evidence sotu_

Feinstein: No evidence Trump campaign received 'dirt' on Clinton

Donald Trump Jr. talks with reporters during the 139th Easter Egg Roll on the South Lawn of the White House April 17, 2017 in Washington, DC.

Email to Trump Jr. offered WikiLeaks documents

Emails show Trump Tower meeting follow-up

Donald Trump Jr. speaks before an appearance by his father, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, during the Outdoor Channel and Sportsman Channel's 16th annual Outdoor Sportsman Awards at The Venetian Las Vegas during the 2016 National Shooting Sports Foundation's Shooting, Hunting, Outdoor Trade (SHOT) Show on January 21, 2016 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Trump Jr. invokes attorney-client privilege

Coons rejects Trump's obstruction defense

WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 27: Paul Manafort, advisor to Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump's campaign, checks the teleprompters before Trump's speech at the Mayflower Hotel April 27, 2016 in Washington, DC. A real estate billionaire and reality television star, Trump beat his GOP challengers by double digits in Tuesday's presidential primaries in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Deleware, Rhode Island and Connecticut. "I consider myself the presumptive nominee, absolutely," Trump told supporters at the Trump Tower following yesterday's wins. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Prosecutors want Manafort bail deal pulled

KT McFarland, President-elect Donald Trump's selection to be deputy national security adviser, steps off the elevator after meetings at Trump Tower on December 5, 2016 in New York.

Flynn deputy contradicts herself in testimony

Rep. jackie Speier TSR 12-4-17

Speier on Manafort: 'Stunningly stupid'

Source: Trump told in January Flynn misled FBI

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

The September 4 email was sent during the final stretch of the 2016 race

Congressional investigators are uncertain who the sender is

Washington (CNN)Candidate Donald Trump, his son Donald Trump Jr. and others in the Trump Organization received an email in September 2016 offering a decryption key and website address for hacked WikiLeaks documents, according to an email provided to congressional investigators.

The September 4 email was sent during the final stretch of the 2016 presidential race -- two months after the hacked emails of the Democratic National Committee were made public and one month before WikiLeaks began leaking the contents of Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta's hacked emails.

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The email came less than three weeks before WikiLeaks itself messaged Trump Jr. and began an exchange of direct messages on Twitter. Trump Jr. told investigators he had no recollection of the September email.

Congressional investigators are trying to ascertain whether the individual who sent the September email is legitimate and whether it shows additional efforts by WikiLeaks to connect with Trump's son and others on the Trump campaign. The email also indicated that the Trump campaign could access records from former Secretary of State Colin Powell, whose hacked emails were made public by a Russian front group 10 days later.

Ethics Committee clears Intelligence Chairman Devin Nunes

Ethics Committee clears Intelligence Chairman Devin Nunes

The email, which was described to CNN by multiple sources and verified by Trump Jr.'s attorney, came from someone who listed his name as "Mike Erickson." It was addressed to Trump, Trump Jr., Trump Jr.'s personal assistant and others, and turned over to Congress as part of the documents provided by the Trump Organization.

Congressional investigators are uncertain who the sender is, and CNN was unable to make contact with the individual. It's not clear whether the email was a legitimate effort to provide the hacked documents to the Trump campaign.

The individual was able to obtain the email addresses for Trump Jr. and his personal assistant, as well as an email that congressional investigators believe was for then-candidate Trump, although he rarely uses email.

Manafort says Ukraine op-ed shouldn't impact bail deal

Manafort says Ukraine op-ed shouldn't impact bail deal

Trump Jr. was asked about the WikiLeaks email Wednesday when he was questioned in the House Intelligence Committee behind closed doors, several sources familiar with the exchange told CNN.

Trump Jr.'s attorney, Alan Futerfas, told CNN that his client said he had no recollection of the email and took no action on it. The White House did not respond to requests for comment, and efforts to reach WikiLeaks for comment were unsuccessful.

The use of a website and decryption key as a means to provide information aligns with past WikiLeaks practices. The idea is that WikiLeaks posts a data file on the Internet, but it is encrypted and impossible to open without the key.

Trump Jr. says he communicated first with Hope Hicks, not his father, about Trump Tower response

Trump Jr. says he communicated first with Hope Hicks, not his father, about Trump Tower response

In 2010, for instance, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange posted a "poison pill" on the Internet in the form of a 1.4-gigabyte file that contained damaging information, possibly about the US government. The file was encrypted, but Assange said a few trusted associates had the key to unlock it in the event that he was imprisoned or WikiLeaks was destroyed.

Last month, Trump Jr. released messages he exchanged on Twitter with WikiLeaks starting in September 2016, including about an anti-Trump PAC's password and a request from Trump Jr. and his father to push out links about the WikiLeaks' Podesta email release.

It's unclear whether the September 4 email has any links to the younger Trump's direct message exchanges.

In Wednesday's hearing, Trump Jr. downplayed his message exchanges with WikiLeaks over Twitter. He claimed that talking to WikiLeaks was equivalent to speaking with news organizations like CNN or NBC, according to multiple sources familiar with the testimony.

CNN's Pamela Brown, Jose Pagliery and Liz Stark contributed to this report.

The disturbing reason why evangelical Christians want Jerusalem to be Israel's capital - Independent

7/12/2017

The disturbing reason why evangelical Christians want Jerusalem to be Israel's capital

Posted about 21 hours ago by Joe Vesey-Byrne in news

UPVOTE

Some evangelical Christians believe that recognising Jerusalem as the capital of Israel will bring on the end of the world.

On Wednesday President Donald Trump announced that the US will recognise Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, and the US embassy - which is currently based in Tel Aviv - will move there.

When the UN partitioned Palestine in 1947 the city of Jerusalem was given a special status, distinct from either a state of Palestine or a state of Israel, to be administered by an international council of the UN.

The US and many other nations currently have their embassies in the Israeli city of Tel Aviv.

Jerusalem came under the control of Israel in 1967, yet Israeli sovereignty has never been truly recognised internationally.

In April 2017 Russia's Foreign Ministry released a statement saying it considered western Jerusalem to be the capital of Israel - and eastern Jerusalem the capital of a ('future') Palestine, yet Russia's embassy to Israel is also located in Tel Aviv.

Donald Trump and evangelical Christians

In 2016, during the race for the Republican nomination, it was thought Donald Trump could not win over the religious right, who seemed to have been locked up by his rival Senator Ted Cruz.

His eventual win of that group, and later the country, was in part made possible due to Trump's pledge to move the US embassy to Jerusalem.

According to the Pew Research Centre; during the general election 80 per cent of self-identified white, born-again and evangelical Christians claimed they had voted for Trump, while just 16 per cent voted for Hillary Clinton.

Evangelicals and Jerusalem

In response to President Trump's announcement theological scholar Dr Diana Butler Bass tweeted her explanation of the link between the recognition of Jerusalem, evangelical Christians, and the apocalypse.

7 Dec

@dianabutlerbass

Replying to @dianabutlerbass

I suspect that most secular commentators do not understand the religious dimensions of this story.

@dianabutlerbass

For decades, conservative evangelicals have been longing for this recognition. They believe it is necessary in order to regain control of the Temple mount.

2:07 AM - Dec 7, 2017

@dianabutlerbass

Replying to @dianabutlerbass

That is important because rebuilding the Temple is the event that will spark the events of the Book of Revelation and the End Times.

2:09 AM - Dec 7, 2017

@dianabutlerbass

Replying to @dianabutlerbass

Yes, of course, there are all sorts of political and secular motives for Trump's action. But you can't discount those evangelical advisors. Almost all of whom take these End Times prophecies literally.

2:10 AM - Dec 7, 2017

@dianabutlerbass

Replying to @dianabutlerbass

Of all the possible theological dog-whistles to his evangelical base, this is the biggest. Trump is reminding them that he is carrying out God's will to these Last Days.

2:11 AM - Dec 7, 2017

@dianabutlerbass

Replying to @dianabutlerbass

They've been waiting for this, praying for this. They want war in the Middle East. The Battle of Armageddon, at which time Jesus Christ will return to the Earth and vanquish all God's enemies.

2:13 AM - Dec 7, 2017

Diana Butler Bass

@dianabutlerbass

Replying to @dianabutlerbass

For certain evangelicals, this is the climax of history.

2:14 AM - Dec 7, 2017

For anyone sceptical that evangelicals would really believe this, or welcome the apocalypse, Bass added:

7 Dec

@dianabutlerbass

Replying to @dianabutlerbass

People believe this. Really believe this. Have given their lives to these ideas, sing about them in their churches, evangelize others, teach them in Sunday schools.

@dianabutlerbass

And, this morning, with the news of Jerusalem, these people are ecstatic. This is the fulfillment of biblical prophecy. And Donald Trump is not only acting on a campaign promise, but enacting a theological one.

2:17 AM - Dec 7, 2017

Bass was joined in her analysis by Professor Matthew Gabriele, an expert in religious violence at Virginia Tech, who tweeted in support of a comment made by Anna Merlan, a reporter with Gizmodo.

@annamerlan

Just a super quick reminder that Trump's evangelical supporters want him to declare Jerusalem the capital because they believe it well help advance THE LITERAL APOCALYPSE AND THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST

5:43 AM - Dec 7, 2017

@prof_gabriele

I am a professor in a religion department. I study apocalyptic thought. This is 100% true. Left out is simply that they also believe that when Jesus returns, the remaining Jews will either convert or be damned forever. #twitterstorians https://twitter.com/annamerlan/status/938478985025064960 …

5:44 AM - Dec 7, 2017

The significance of Jerusalem and Israel to evangelicals concerns the 'Third Temple' prophecy.

Since 70 AD when the Romans tore down the 'Second Temple', there has been no Jewish Temple on the site of the Temple Mount.

Prophecies of a Third Temple are made in the books of Daniel, Matthew, and Revelation, and in the Second epistle to the Thessalonians.

These have been interpreted by some to suggest that the building of a Third Temple, known as the 'Tribulation Temple', will occur during the period of the Antichrist and bring on the apocalypse.

This is said to be followed by 1000 years of rule on earth by Christ himself, which some evangelical Christians are in favour of seeing happen.

Of course, not all evangelicals welcomed Mr Trump's decision, including New Testament scholar Gary M. Burge who wrote in The Atlantic:

Numerous evangelicals like me are less enamoured of the recent romance between the church and Republican politics, and worry about moving the U.S. embassy. For us, peacemaking and the pursuit of justice are very high virtues.

Moreover, an open letter, signed by 13 patriarchs from the Christian community in Jerusalem, and sent to the President on Wednesday, argued;

We are certain that such steps will yield increased hatred, conflict, violence and suffering in Jerusalem and the Holy Land, moving us farther from the goal of unity and deeper toward destructive division.