In the halls of the US capitol, many Republicans are keeping a cool demeanour when asked if they are concerned with emails released by Donald Trump Jr that show him facilitating a meeting with a Kremlin-connected lawyer who said she had dirt on Hillary Clinton.

The White House, similarly, has swatted away concerns publicly. Mr Trump Jr did not do anything wrong, they said hours after the emails were released. He’s simply being transparent. He’s a high-quality person.

But a contrasting picture of the state of affairs in the West Wing has emerged from White House officials, who say they feel blind-sided, and liken the revelations within the emails to a major storm hitting land at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

One adviser to Donald Trump told Politico they felt “essentially helpless” following the revelations, because the exchange occurred amid a chaotic, “anything goes” campaign with few rules.

The same individual said they and several other people in the White House they had spoken to had no idea about the meetings, even though Mr Trump’s son-in-law and top adviser, Jared Kushner, was also at the meeting.

While the President has not made any public appearances since he returned to Washington from his trip to the G20 summit in Germany, people who have spoken to him in the past several days say the commander-in-chief is furious.

Mr Trump is fuming and blaming the news media he frequently spars with, according to the Associated Press, but his anger is not directed at his son. He is also reportedly questioning the quality of the advice he has received from his senior staff.

Other reports indicate that staffers have turned on one another, pointing fingers to place blame on colleagues in an effort to avoid the President's ire.

The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Show all 17 1 /17 The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Paul Manafort Mr Manafort is a Republican strategist and former Trump campaign manager. He resigned from that post over questions about his extensive lobbying overseas, including in Ukraine where he represented pro-Russian interests. Mr Manafort turned himself in at FBI headquarters to special counsel Robert Mueller’s team on Oct 30, 2017, after he was indicted under seal on charges that include conspiracy against the United States, conspiracy to launder money, unregistered agent of a foreign principal, false and misleading US Foreign Agents Registration Act statements, false statements, and seven counts of failure to file reports of foreign bank and financial accounts. Getty The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Rick Gates Mr Gates joined the Trump team in spring 2016, and served as a top aide until he left to work at the Republican National Committee after the departure of former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort. Mr Gates' had previously worked on several presidential campaigns, on international political campaigns in Europe and Africa, and had 15 years of political or financial experience with multinational firms, according to his bio. Mr Gates was indicted alongside Mr Manafort by special counsel Robert Mueller's team on charges that include conspiracy against the United States, conspiracy to launder money, unregistered agent of a foreign principal, false and misleading US Foreign Agents Registration Act statements, false statements, and seven counts of failure to file reports of foreign bank and financial accounts. AP The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation George Papadopoulos George Papadopoulos was a former foreign policy adviser for the Trump campaign, having joined around March 2016. Mr Papadopoulos plead guilty to federal charges for lying to the FBI as a part of a cooperation agreement with Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation. Mr Papadopoulos claimed in an interview with the FBI that he had made contacts with Russian sources before joining the Trump campaign, but he actually began working with them after joining the team. Mr Papadopoulos allegedly took a meeting with a professor in London who reportedly told him that Russians had "dirt" on Hillary Clinton. The professor also allegedly introduced Mr Papadopoulos to a Russian who was said to have close ties to officials at the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Mr Papadopoulos also allegedly was in contact with a woman whom he incorrectly described in one email to others in the campaign as the "niece" to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Twitter The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Donald Trump Jr The President's eldest son met with a Russian lawyer - Natalia Veselnitskaya - on 9 June 2016 at Trump Tower in New York. He said in an initial statement that the meeting was about Russia halting adoptions of its children by US citizens. Then, he said it was regarding the Magnitsky Act, a US law blacklisting Russian human rights abusers. In a final statement, Mr Trump Jr released a chain of emails that revealed he took the meeting in hopes of getting information Ms Veselnitskaya had about Hillary Clinton's alleged financial ties to Russia. He and the President called it standard "opposition research" in the course of campaigning and that no information came from the meeting. The meeting was set up by an intermediary, Rob Goldstone. Jared Kushner and Paul Manafort were also at the same meeting. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Jared Kushner Mr Kushner is President Donald Trump's son-in-law and a key adviser to the White House. He met with a Russian banker appointed by Russian President Vladimir Putin in December. Mr Kushner has said he did so in his role as an adviser to Mr Trump while the bank says he did so as a private developer. Mr Kushner has also volunteered to testify in the Senate about his role helping to arrange meetings between Trump advisers and Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Rob Goldstone Former tabloid journalist and now music publicist Rob Goldstone is a contact of the Trump family through the previously Trump-owned 2013 Miss Universe pageant, which took place in Moscow. In June 2016, he wrote to Donald Trump Jr offering a meeting with a Russian lawyer, Natalya Veselnitskaya, who had information about Hillary Clinton. Mr Goldstone was the intermediary for Russian pop star Emin Agalaraov and his father, real estate magnate Aras, who played a role in putting on the 2013 pageant. In an email chain released by Mr Trump Jr, Mr Goldstone seemed to indicate Russian government's support of Donald Trump's campaign. AP images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Aras and Emin Agalarov Aras Agalarov (R) is a wealthy Moscow-based real estate magnate and son Emin (L) is a pop star. Both played a role in putting on the previously Trump-owned 2013 Miss Universe pageant in Moscow. They allegedly had information about Hillary Clinton and offered that information to the Trump campaign through a lawyer with whom they had worked with, Natalia Veselnitskaya, and music publicist Rob Goldstone. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Natalia Veselnitskaya Natalia Veselnitskaya is a Russian lawyer with ties to the Kremlin. She has worked on real estate issues and reportedly counted the FSB as a client in the past. She has ties to a Trump family connection, real estate magnate Aras Agalarov, who had helped set up the Trump-owned 2013 Miss Universe pageant which took place in Moscow. Ms Veselnitskaya met with Donald Trump Jr, Jared Kushner, and Paul Manafort in Trump Tower on 9 June 2016 but denies the allegation that she went there promising information on Hillary Clinton's alleged financial ties to Russia. She contends that the meeting was about the US adoptions of Russian children being stopped by Moscow as a reaction to the Magnitsky Act, a US law blacklisting Russian human rights abusers. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Mike Flynn Mr Flynn was named as Trump's national security adviser but was forced to resign from his post for inappropriate communication with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak. He had misrepresented a conversation he had with Mr Kislyak to Vice President Mike Pence, telling him wrongly that he had not discussed sanctions with the Russian. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Sergey Kislyak Mr Kislyak, the former longtime Russian ambassador to the US, is at the centre of the web said to connect President Donald Trump's campaign with Russia. Reuters The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Roger Stone Mr Stone is a former Trump adviser who worked on the political campaigns of Richard Nixon, George HW Bush, and Ronald Reagan. Mr Stone claimed repeatedly in the final months of the campaign that he had backchannel communications with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and that he knew the group was going to dump damaging documents to the campaign of Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton - which did happen. Mr Stone also had contacts with the hacker Guccier 2.0 on Twitter, who claimed to have hacked the DNC and is linked to Russian intelligence services. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Jeff Sessions The US attorney general was forced to recuse himself from the Trump-Russia investigation after it was learned that he had lied about meeting with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Carter Page Mr Page is a former advisor to the Trump campaign and has a background working as an investment banker at Merrill Lynch. Mr Page met with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak during the 2016 Republican National Convention in Cleveland. Mr Page had invested in oil companies connected to Russia and had admitted that US Russia sanctions had hurt his bottom line. Reuters The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Jeffrey "JD" Gorden Mr Gordon met with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak during the 2016 Republian National Convention to discuss how the US and Russia could work together to combat Islamist extremism should then-Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump win the election. The meeting came days before a massive leak of DNC emails that has been connected to Russia. Creative Commons The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation James Comey Mr Comey was fired from his post as head of the FBI by President Donald Trump. The timing of Mr Comey's firing raised questions around whether or not the FBI's investigation into the Trump campaign may have played a role in the decision. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Preet Bharara Mr Bahara refused, alongside 46 other US district attorney's across the country, to resign once President Donald Trump took office after previous assurances from Mr Trump that he would keep his job. Mr Bahara had been heading up several investigations including one into one of President Donald Trump's favorite cable television channels Fox News. Several investigations would lead back to that district, too, including those into Mr Trump's campaign ties to Russia, and Mr Trump's assertion that Trump Tower was wiretapped on orders from his predecessor. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Sally Yates Ms Yates, a former Deputy Attorney General, was running the Justice Department while President Donald Trump's pick for attorney general awaited confirmation. Ms Yates was later fired by Mr Trump from her temporary post over her refusal to implement Mr Trump's first travel ban. She had also warned the White House about potential ties former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn to Russia after discovering those ties during the FBI's investigation into the Trump campaign's connections to Russia. Getty Images

The President bit back at the media on Twitter amid chaos, urging his followers to disregard media reports with anonymous sources, and insisting that his White House is running efficiently, and that they’re focused on policy issues.

Outside allies who contend that Mr Trump Jr won’t face legal percussions, also noted that the emails story is a disaster for the White House’s public image. It’s a “Category 5 hurricane” for the West Wing, one outside ally told the Washington Post. Another told that paper that CNN graphics showing the web of connections between the Trump campaign and Russia resembles the sinister Netflix series “House of Cards” in which, yes, the Presidency is stolen through less than savoury means.

The emails have once again thrust questions surrounding the Trump campaign’s ties to Russia into the national spotlight just as the White House and congressional Republicans hoped to pull together a healthcare overhaul bill this summer that the GOP could coalesce around.

Mr Trump Jr posted on Twitter in what he said was an attempt at transparency in good faith. The emails show him corresponding with a British music publicist who indicated that he was working to connect the Trump campaign with a source connected to the Russian government who could provide damaging information about Ms Clinton’s ties to Russia. The liaison also noted that the Russian government has an interest in helping Mr Trump to beat Ms Clinton.

Mr Trump’s eldest son said that the meeting had proved unfruitful, and said that the Russian lawyer had “no information to provide”. He also noted that he could have handled the meeting better.

But critics say there are several problematic elements to the meeting, which included Mr Trump Jr, Mr Kushner, ad former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort.

Mr Kushner, for instance, failed to note in federal filings that he had met with Russian sources during the campaign.

Another claim is that the emails show the Trump campaign at least attempted to collude with the Russian government to influence the 2016 US presidential election.

Another concern is surrounding US campaign finance law, which prohibits campaigns from accepting foreign donations or gifts of value — like information — from foreign sources.

Mr Trump Jr has reportedly had a changing mood regarding the emails story. When the first stories were published by the New York Times over the weekend, he was reportedly worried about their implications. Since then, however, his perspective has shifted and he has become steeled to fight back against an issue he has indicated he thinks the media is blowing out of proportion.

Still, the White House has struggled to mount a strong defence of the meeting. Vice President Mike Pence has sought to distance himself from the scandal, saying he hadn’t joined the campaign at that point. Meanwhile, the West Wing’s communications team has stated that there’s no distance between Mr Pence and Mr Trump on the issue.

White House Principal Deputy White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders called the whole thing “ridiculous” during a daily press briefing.