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.
Sponsor Content
Transforming fan experience at the Tour de France
You only need to look at the 2016 Rio Summer Olympics to see how digital technology is
transforming the way we watch and consume sports.
Content provided by Dimension Data
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.
No comments:
Post a Comment