WHAT DO WE KNOW ABOUT THE MEETING?
Details of the June 9, 2016, meeting between Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya, Trump Jr, Jared Kushner and Paul Manafort emerged at the weekend. Kushner, who is Trump's son-in-law and was a key figure in the campaign, and Manafort, a campaign chief, attended at Trump Jr's request.
An email exchange Trump Jr posted to Twitter on Tuesday gives more details about why the meeting was arranged. A music publicist friendly with the Trump family said in those emails that Russia was supportive of the Trump campaign and a "Russian government lawyer" had dirt on Clinton.
The emails included a message from the publicist, Rob Goldstone, the lawyer had "some official documents and information" to provide but Trump Jr said he received nothing.
DOES THIS SHOW THE CAMPAIGN COLLUDED WITH THE RUSSIANS?
There is no US law against "collusion" but some lawyers say the events described in the emails could amount to a conspiracy to break campaign finance law.
Jeffrey Jacobovitz, who represented White House officials during the investigation of president Bill Clinton, says Trump Jr and others in the meeting are "exposed to the conspiracy to commit election fraud". He says they appeared to be working together to illegally solicit a foreign campaign contribution in the form of opposition research.
WAIT, DON'T ALL CAMPAIGNS SEEK OPPOSITION RESEARCH?
Indeed, presidential campaigns typically have entire teams of employees devoted to digging up dirt on their opponents.
SO WHAT MAKES THIS DIFFERENT?
No one has stepped forward to say they experienced anything quite like the Trump Jr interaction with the Russian lawyer at Trump Tower. Campaigns tend to be timid about handling materials that could have been obtained illegally.
WHAT ABOUT THE INTERACTIONS COULD BE ILLEGAL?
Foreign nationals are prohibited from providing "anything of value" to campaigns and solicitation of such assistance is also barred.
Larry Noble, a former general counsel to the Federal Election Commission, says the emails "put meat on the bones" of a possible criminal campaign finance violation. They show the younger Trump knew Moscow was offering the information and "give a clear indication he was soliciting it".
DOES EVERYONE AGREE ON THAT?
Tom Fitton, president of the conservative Judicial Watch, says "it would be an absurdist interpretation of the law" to consider what Trump Jr did a crime. "The law does not cover talking politics," he said. "If it did, pretty much every political meeting would be considered an in-kind contribution that needs to be reported."
Bradley A Smith, a former Republican Federal Election Commission member, says "a meeting does not a conspiracy make".
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?
There are multiple probes into the Trump campaign and its interactions with Russia during the 2016 election, led by Special Counsel Robert Mueller and by Senate and House committees.
Trump Jr said on Monday he was "happy to work with the committee to pass on what I know". Kushner and Manafort agreed weeks ago to co-operate with the congressional probes.
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