(CNN) – There is a web of connections between the Trump campaign, the anti-secrecy website WikiLeaks and the public disclosures it injected into the presidential campaign. Federal investigators are examining some of these relationships and whether any of them were part of an effort to coordinate with Russia’s election-meddling efforts.
On Monday, it was revealed that Donald Trump Jr. exchanged some private messages on Twitter with WikiLeaks during the 2016 presidential campaign. The news was first reported by The Atlantic and later confirmed by Trump Jr., who posted screenshots of the messages.
A source familiar with the matter told CNN that Congress has known about these messages for a while and they came up during Trump Jr.’s closed-door testimony in September.
The messages show that WikiLeaks reached out fairly often to Trump Jr., who is only known to have replied on two occasions. Trump Jr.’s final response to WikiLeaks was in October 2016, though the WikiLeaks account continued its outreach until July 2017, according to the messages he released.
That being said, nothing happens in a vacuum, and while these messages were exchanged, WikiLeaks was busy releasing hacked materials. And all the while, Russian President Vladimir Putin was directing an operation to interfere in the US election, according to the US intelligence community.
Here is a timeline with what we know about Trump Jr.’s exchanges with WikiLeaks, the role WikiLeaks played, relevant public statements from the Trump campaign, and much more.
July 2015 — Russian hackers breach DNC systems
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March 2016 — Another group of Russian hackers breach DNC systems
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March 19, 2016 — Russian hackers gain access to Podesta’s emails
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April 26, 2016 — Papadopoulos learns that Russians have Clinton emails
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June 2016 — Cambridge Analytica CEO emails WikiLeaks
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June 9, 2016 — The Trump Tower meeting
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June 15, 2016 — DNC claims it was hacked by Russian intelligence
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July 22, 2016 — WikiLeaks releases about 20,000 hacked DNC emails
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July 25, 2016 — Trump says it’s a ‘joke’ that Russia hacked the DNC
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July 26, 2016 — NYT reports that the US believes Russia hacked the DNC
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July 27, 2016 — Trump publicly asks Russia to hack Clinton’s deleted emails
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August 8, 2016 — Roger Stone says he was in touch with Assange
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August 14-17, 2016 — Stone exchanges messages with Russian hackers
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August 21, 2016 — Stone predicts upcoming trouble for Podesta
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September 9, 2016 — Stone exchanges more messages with Russian hackers
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September 16, 2016 — Stone predicts WikiLeaks will release Clinton emails
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September 21, 2016 — WikiLeaks and Trump Jr. exchange private messages on Twitter
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September 21, 2016 — Trump Jr. emails senior campaign officials about WikiLeaks
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October 2, 2016 — Stone alludes to future WikiLeaks releases
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October 3, 2016 — Trump Jr. and WikiLeaks exchange more private messages on Twitter
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October 5, 2016 — Stone says “payload coming” from WikiLeaks
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October 7, 2016 — US formally blames Russia for DNC hacks
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October 7, 2016 — WikiLeaks begins releasing Podesta emails
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October 10, 2016 — Trump says “I love WikiLeaks”
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October 11, 2016 — Trump encourages people to read WikiLeaks
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October 11, 2016 — Trump Jr. speaks at dinner for Russia-friendly organization
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October 12, 2016 — WikiLeaks asks Trump Jr. to tweet about their latest releases
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October 12, 2016 — Trump says WikiLeaks isn’t getting enough coverage
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October 14, 2016 — Trump Jr. tweets the link that WikiLeaks gave him
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October 14, 2016 — Pence denies coordination between Trump campaign and WikiLeaks
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October 21, 2016 — WikiLeaks asks Trump Jr. to leak his father’s tax returns
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November 8, 2016 — WikiLeaks tells Trump Jr. that Trump should not concede if he loses
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November 10, 2016 — Hicks denies any campaign contacts with foreign entities
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December 18, 2016 — Conway denies campaign contacts with Russians
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- Discussion
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This timeline by @Marshall_Cohen on Russia-Trump is amazinghttps://t.co/DISUJs1g03
— Chris Cillizza (@CillizzaCNN) November 14, 2017
What bothered me most about the Don Jr./Wikileaks story… pic.twitter.com/Xqqgcx3rdY
— Matt Lewis (@mattklewis) November 14, 2017
Reminder: Don Jr's WL exchanges come two weeks *after* the October 6th IC statement that said this of Wikileaks pic.twitter.com/KMzD6qLOWK
— Pwn ██ ██ ███ (b)(5) (@pwnallthethings) November 14, 2017
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