The British publicist who set up a meeting between senior Trump campaign figures and a Kremlin-linked Russian lawyer says he exaggerated an email promising damaging information about Hillary Clinton.

Rob Goldstone also said he had accepted invitations to meet federal investigators examining allegations of Russian collusion with Donald Trump’s election team.

In an interview with The Sunday Times, he said he was keen to set the record straight about his role in introducing Mr Trump’s son, Donald Jr, and other officials to a lawyer promising to “incriminate Hillary and her dealings with Russia” with “official documents”.

Mr Goldstone, who is currently writing a book in Thailand, said he was not part of any plot to influence the election.

“If I’m guilty of anything, and I hate the word guilty, it’s hyping the message and going the extra mile for my clients. Using hot-button language to puff up the information I had been given,” he said.