The terrified British PR man at the center of the Russian White house scandal has cut short his luxury European tour to hold urgent meetings with his lawyer in LA, MailOnline has learnt.

Rob Goldstone, 56, has been on an extended holiday that he referred to as his ‘gap year’ with his partner, David Wilson, documenting their travels on social media.

But amid fears that he would be assassinated for setting up a meeting with Donald Trump Jr and some Russians – one of whom had worked in counterintelligence – Goldstone caught an emergency flight from Athens to Los Angeles where he has been locked in talks with his attorney.

‘He has found himself in the middle of an international scandal and he is terrified,’ a friend of the British-born publicist told MailOnline.

Rob Goldstone, the PR executive at the center of the White House Russia scandal, has ended his holiday to fly to the US where he is seeking legal help. He is pictured above in Azerbaijan on July 10, before deciding to cut short his luxury 'gap year'

‘He doesn’t know whether he will carry on with his holidays in a few weeks or if he will have to remain underground. All of his friends are worried.’

The flamboyant PR executive, known for his formidable girth and passion for silly hats, has spent recent weeks indulging his habit of posting selfies with young men he has met on his travels on social media.

Referring to the men as ‘Muppets’, he has posed with them in a range of exotic locations from Croatia to Turkey. Last year, he posted a selfie with the caption, ‘packing for Russia – it’s almost Muppet time’.

In recent weeks he has been on a luxury cruise around the Greek islands where he partied with young men working on the ship, posting selfies all the way.

Disembarking in Athens, he dined on moussaka at his favourite rooftop restaurant, Café Avissinia, which offers stunning nighttime views of the Acropolis.

Goldstone had been documenting his trip on social media. He is pictured on June 16 in Hawaii, before he jetted to Europe

Goldstone checked out of the Athernaeum Intercontinental in Athens as the scandal gained momentum

Goldstone had planned to spend the year traveling but decided to cut his trip short as his involvement in the scandal became known last week. He is pictured above in Athens before (right) and at the start of his trip (left) in June

One of the waiters who served Goldstone told MailOnline: ‘He was a very friendly, happy guy who wanted to be everyone’s friend. He seemed to love the dishes here and ate many of them. He didn’t seem troubled at all.’

But Goldstone’s attempts to shake off the scandal failed as it gained momentum, forcing him to cancel arrangements he had made with several young men in Athens to travel back to the States.

He told friends he had checked out of the exclusive Athenaeum Intercontinental hotel, which boasts a gourmet restaurant, spa and rooftop bar.

It comes as revelations intensify that Donald Trump's campaign sought damaging information from Russia about his opponent, Hillary Clinton, with Goldstone acting as a go-between.

The meeting Donald Trump Jr. held with Russians last year came just days before a Russian hacker named ‘Guccifer 2.0’ dumped thousands of Democrat documents online.

Goldstone set up a meeting between Russian lawyers and Donald Trump Jr. last year. He also promised the support of his clients, Moscow-based pop star Emin Agalarov who he said wanted to 'help' the Trumps. Goldstone is pictured with Agalarov and Donald Trump in 2012

Key passage: Goldstone offered official information from a Russia 'crown prosecutor' - a British term equivalent to a United States attorney - which would incriminate Hillary Clinton. Trump Jr responded: 'I love it.'

Donald Trump Jr. (left, addressing the scandal on Hannity last week) and Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya (right) who he met with

The president has defended his son since news of the meeting emerged

Russian-American lobbyist Rinat Akhmetshin, who is known to have worked in counterintelligence and is suspected of being a spy, sparked outrage last week when he said he was also at the meeting.

Akhmetshin claimed that Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya attended the meeting with a plastic folder full of documents on the Democratic National Committee and presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.

She left the dossier at Trump Tower after the meeting, Akhmetshin added. This directly contradicted Trump Jr's claim that no information had been received from the visiting Russians.

It is unclear if the documents were directly linked to the ones that Guccifer 2.0 leaked to WikiLeaks several days later, which are thought to have been hacked from DNC servers.

In emails sent shortly after Trump secured the GOP nomination last year, Goldstone is seen offering to connect Donald Trump Jr to lawyer Veselnitskaya, telling Trump that a Russian prosecutor had offered to provide sensitive information on Clinton to the campaign.

He also claimed that his clients, Moscow-based real estate developer Aras Agalarov and his pop star son Emin Agalarov, had ‘helped along’ the Russian government's support for Donald Trump.

The revelations over the past week underscore the White House’s inability to shake off the Russia story and close the book on a narrative that casts a shadow over Trump's presidency.

Trump Jr’s account of his Trump Tower meeting has changed on an almost daily basis. At first, the meeting was said to be about a Russian adoption program. Then, it was to hear information about campaign rival Hillary Clinton.

Finally, Trump Jr was forced to release emails – mere moments before The New York Times planned to do so – that revealed he said he would ‘love’ Russia's help with the campaign.