Donald Trump's eldest son was told a Russian lawyer he met during the presidential campaign had information from the Russian government, the New York Times says.

The paper said Donald Trump Jr received an email from music publicist Rob Goldstone indicating that Natalia Veselnitskaya had information damaging to his father's rival Hillary Clinton.

It cited three separate sources who said they had knowledge of the email, although it did not reprint the message.

The allegations have prompted calls for Mr Trump Jr to stand before a congressional committee investigating Russian involvement in the 2016 election.

Handshakes and smiles for Trump and Putin

Mr Trump Jr has confirmed the 9 June meeting took place and that he attended in the belief that it would impart information useful to the Trump bid.


He initially said the meeting had been concerned with a US-Russia adoption law and he later said that he believed the claim about information on Ms Clinton's campaign was a ruse to discuss this issue.

The Kremlin said in a statement on Monday that it had no connection with Ms Veselnitskaya.

Although no direct link with the Russian government has been found, the lawyer represented the son of a vice president of state-owned Russian Railways in a New York money-laundering case settled in May before a trial.

Image: Jared Kushner (L) and Donald Trump Jr were both in attendance at the June 2016 meeting

Mr Goldstone has confirmed he had set up the meeting on behalf of his client, Emin Agalarov, a Moscow-based singer who recorded a music video with the elder Mr Trump.

He did not, however, disclose the contents of the email he sent.

Senator Mark Warner, the Senate Intelligence Committee's top Democrat, said he expected "more to come" in the panel's investigation into Russian meddling.

"This is the first time that the public has seen clear evidence of senior-level members of the Trump campaign meeting with Russians," he said.

Mr Trump Jr tweeted on Monday he was "happy to work with the committee to pass on what I know".

Does Putin need Trump?

His lawyer, Alan Futerfas, has dismissed the allegations as "much ado about nothing".

He said Mr Trump Jr was not told the specifics of the information and nothing came of the meeting.

"The bottom line is that Don Jr did nothing wrong," Mr Futerfas said.

Jared Kushner, Donald Trump's son-in-law, and Paul Manafort, campaign chief at the time, were also present at the meeting, which took place at Trump Tower.

A spokesman for President Donald Trump's legal team said he was not aware of the meeting and did not attend.