Donald Trump Defends His Son’s Russia Emails

After his son tweeted out emails confirming that he thought he would be receiving incriminating information on Hillary Clinton from the Russian government, Donald Trump cheered his son's "transparency" and called him a "high-quality person" in a statement read by Deputy White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders.

The White House has rallied around Trump Jr. and defended him from claims of collusion, with senior adviser Kellyanne Conway saying "there’s no evidence of collusion," and Huckabee Sanders claiming "Don Jr. did not collude with anybody to influence the election."

However, the White House seems to be the only entity defending him. Members of the congressional committees looking into whether or not there was Russian collusion surrounding the 2016 election, including the Senate Intel Committee, have called for Trump Jr. to speak with them, to which he responded that he was "happy to work with the committee to pass on what I know."

When confronted with whether the coordination might be considered treason, as some have suggested, or whether perjury might have been committed, Huckabee Sanders said, "I think those new words are ridiculous." Huckabee Sanders said she did not know when Trump and Trump Jr. had last spoken, and referred additional questions to outside counsel. Trump Jr. recently hired a criminal defense lawyer, Alan Futerfas.

Several have questioned whether Trump Jr. colluded with the Russians, and if it might be illegal. Legal experts are divided on whether or not this constitutes a crime, but the president — and the rest of his White House staff — clearly don't think so.