Donald Trump Jr. agreed to a meeting last summer with Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya because he believed she might have information from the Russian government that could assist his father's presidential campaign, newly released emails show. The information, Russia-connected PR man Rob Goldstone told Trump Jr. in an email before the meeting, "is part of Russia and its government's support for Mr. Trump."

Trump Jr.'s meeting with an agent of a hostile foreign country, undertaken allegedly to gain advantage in a U.S. election, has potentially put President Donald Trump's oldest son in legal jeopardy. Former Obama Administration White House ethics counsel Norm Eisen tweeted that it "clearly violates campaign finance law and likely implicates Don Jr. and campaign under conspiracy statute."

The news of the 2016 meeting, which initially came from a New York Times report this week, is the talk of Washington, D.C. Among the Beltway movers and shakers who have weighed in: Oregon's Democratic U.S. senators.

"Based on the emails that Donald Trump Jr. released, the highest levels of the Trump campaign walked, eyes open, into a meeting designed to advance the Russian government's support for Donald Trump," Sen. Ron Wyden said in a statement. "These emails show there is no longer a question of whether this campaign sought to collude with a hostile foreign power to subvert America's democracy. The question is how far the coordination goes. It is now up to elected officials of both parties to stand up and do their duty: protect and defend the constitution."

Oregon's junior senator, Jeff Merkley, clearly agrees. Merkley took to Twitter to declare that Trump Jr.'s email chain "sure looks like an effort to communicate, cooperate, and collude with the Russian government."

This sure looks like an effort to communicate, cooperate, and collude with the Russian government. RT if you agree. pic.twitter.com/F115bBbi4Y — Senator Jeff Merkley (@SenJeffMerkley) July 11, 2017

Special Counsel Robert Mueller is investigating whether the Trump campaign conspired with Russian officials or hackers during the 2016 presidential campaign. The special counsel's office has declined to comment on Trump Jr.'s emails or his meeting with Veselnitskaya.

-- Douglas Perry