In this Trump Era, it's important to distinguish between the big lies, and the small lies.

An example: The president's claim that he won the popular vote is a small lie. No one believes it, so it's a minor distraction.

But this week, we heard a Big Lie from Jared Kushner about Russia. This one, we need to pay attention to.

In the summer of 2016, with Trump trailing badly, Kushner received an e-mail invitation from Donald Jr., under a message line with the subtlety of a hammer blow: "Russia-Clinton: Private and confidential."

Kushner attended the meeting. He concedes that he received the email, which promised damaging information about Clinton from the Russian government.

But he wants us to believe that he never read the email. He was too busy. He got tons of emails. And what's so special about one that promises dirt from a hostile foreign power?

The e-mail chain is a smoking gun if ever there were one. It does not prove that Trump's team colluded with the Russians; we don't know if the Russians in the meeting offered concrete help, if it was accepted, or even if they were indeed envoys of Putin, as advertised.

But we do know that Trump's team attempted to collude. They heard the offer of Russian help, and they responded with enthusiasm. "I love it," Donald Jr. wrote.

He passed the email to Kushner, and to Paul Manafort, then the campaign manager, and all three men made time in their busy schedules to hear the pitch from the Russians who were promising covert assistance.

The attempted collusion may not be a crime. Legal experts differ on that point.

But it was most certainly a betrayal of this country. Because by attending that meeting, these senior Trump players proved that they were willing to discuss the offer to conspire with Putin to tip the election. On that core point, there is no wiggle room.

Kushner didn't reveal that meeting when he applied for security clearance. He blames a "miscommunication" with his assistant. But he signed the document in four separate places, one under a warning of criminal penalties for withholding just this kind of information.

Even that, though, is a distraction. These incriminating e-mails went to Kushner, under that hammer blow message line. He attended the meeting. It is not remotely plausible that he had no clue what it was about.

That is a Big Lie. And this is no witch hunt.

More: Tom Moran columns

Tom Moran may be reached at tmoran@starledger.com or call (973) 836-4909. Follow him on Twitter @tomamoran. Find NJ.com Opinion on Facebook.