Donald Trump Jr. purposefully scooped the New York Times by publishing his own Russia bombshell emails

Donald Trump Jr. apparently attempted to blunt a New York Times story by releasing his own correspondence before the paper could publish its story.

On Tuesday, the president's son tweeted out a series of emails that showed he was informed that a Kremlin-connected lawyer was attempting to pass him information as part of a Russian government effort to boost his father's presidential campaign.

"In order to be totally transparent, I am releasing the entire email chain of my emails with Rob Goldstone about the meeting on June 9, 2016," Trump Jr. said in a statement.

But there also appeared to be another motive compelling Trump Jr. to release the emails: An imminent New York Times story containing the exchange.

The New York Times was set to publish Trump Jr.'s emails, and reporters reached out for comment with an 11 a.m. deadline for a response.

Instead, at 11 a.m., Trump Jr. preempted the paper by tweeting out the emails himself.

"After being told that The Times was about to publish the content of the emails, instead of responding to a request for comment, Donald Trump Jr. tweeted out images of them himself on Tuesday," the Times stated.

The Times wasn't alone.

Freelance political reporter Jared Yates Sexton also declared after the story was published that he had spent some time seeking the emails.

The email release came several days after the Times first reported that Trump Jr. met with a Kremlin-connected lawyer, a story that has unfolded in the pages of the paper over the past several days.

Trump Jr.'s public disclosure of the meeting's contents have evolved significantly since the Times first reported the meeting.

In his first statement, Trump Jr. claimed that the meeting "primarily discussed a program about the adoption of Russian children," but did not make any mention that he knew he was meeting a Kremlin-connected source who had damaging information on Clinton.

In his second statement, Trump Jr. confirmed that in the meeting, the Russian lawyer, Natalia Veselnitskaya, said she "had information that individuals connected to Russia were funding the Democratic National Committee and supporting Ms. Clinton."

Trump Jr. said her statements "were vague, ambiguous, and made no sense."

"No details or supporting information was provided or even offered. It quickly became clear that she had no meaningful information," he said.

"She then changed subjects and began discussing the adoption of Russian children and mentioned the Magnitsky Act," he continued. "It became clear to be that this was the true agenda all along and that the claims of potentially helpful information were a pretext for the meeting. I interrupted and advised her that my father was not an elected official, but rather a private citizen, and that her comments and concerns were better addressed if and when he held public office."

Donald Trump Jr. purposefully scooped the New York Times by publishing his own Russia bombshell emails

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