Analysis After lots of smoke, finally some fire - and at the centre of it is Donald Trump Jnr

The US President’s son connected the dots.

Until Tuesday, the questions about whether Donald Trump’s campaign colluded with Russia have largely centred on revelations from secret sources and suspicious connections that may ultimately be just eyebrow-raising coincidences. There’s been plenty of smoke, but no fire.

Then suddenly – there in black and white — was the president’s son eagerly accepting a meeting with a purported Russian government lawyer who dangled the promise of damaging information about Democrat Hillary Clinton, coming from the Russian government. The type of co-ordination with Russia that Trump has long denied, the emails seem to show, was being embraced by his namesake.

“If it’s what you say I love it,” Donald Trump Jnr wrote in a June 2016 email to a music publicist who was acting as an intermediary with the Russian attorney.

In the four pages of emails published Tuesday, Trump Jnr also appeared unfazed when his associate stated that the information “is part of Russia and its government’s support for Mr Trump.” The meeting took place in New York’s Trump Tower a few days later.

It’s unclear if the meeting breaches election laws barring campaigns from receiving “anything of value” from foreign nationals. Nor does it clarify whether there was broader cooperation between the Trump team and the Russian government. Sorting through those questions will fall to special counsel Robert Mueller and congressional investigators, and an answer may not be known for months, or even years.