Donald Trump Jr. knew of Russian election meddling: Report

U.S. President Donald Trump's eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., is now at the centre of the controversy surrounding Russian meddling in 2016 election after reports emerged saying he was told before his meeting with a Russian lawyer that he would be offered compromising information about Hillary Clinton.

According to a report by the New York Times, Donald Trump Jr. was informed in an email that the material was part of a Russian government effort to aid his father's candidacy.

The email was sent by Rob Goldstone, a publicist and former British tabloid reporter who helped broker the June 2016 meeting.

The meeting took place less than a week before it was widely reported that Russian hackers had infiltrated the DNC's servers.

Meanwhile, Trump Jr.'s newly-appointed lawyer dismissed the report in a statement saying his client had no knowledge as to what specific information would be conveyed to him and from what people.

Trump Jr. said in a Sunday statement that he had met Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya at the request of an acquaintance, but denied that he received any information on Clinton at that time.

Trump and his administration are facing multiple investigations focussing on the Kremlin's role in the 2016 election meddling and whether members of his campaign possibly sought to collude with Russia.

A special counsel and several congressional committees are now looking into the issue.