When, as an anti-establishment candidate and then as US President, Donald Trump swore to "drain the swamp" to purge Washington of insiders and vested interests, he neglected to mention he'd refill it with what increasingly appears a conflicted, nepotistic and elitist posse.
Media revelations – triggered by an investigation by The New York Times – that Mr Trump's eldest son, Donald Trump jnr, met with a Russian lawyer said to be associated with the Russian government, in the belief she had information that would damage the presidential tilt of Democrat candidate Hillary Clinton, have reverberated around a world increasingly dismayed by the chaos that has characterised the US President's first months in power.
As with so much involving Mr Trump's scandal-racked administration, the situation is murky and contested, but his son's involvement might have been criminal, and has certainly heightened concerns about the extent of Russia's attempt to influence the election in Mr Trump's favour. The US security agencies have concluded there was interference, and that is being officially investigated, as is Mr Trump's firing of the FBI chief pursuing concerns the (now dumped) national security adviser lied about contacts with Russian officials.
The increasing whiff in Washington is further damaging Mr Trump's credibility and authority, and raising concerns the US might become less reliable as a military and trading partner.
Mr Trump jnr says he has, in the interests of transparency, released the full email exchange that preceded the June 2016 meeting he hosted in his Trump Tower office in New York, which was attended by his brother-in-law Jared Kushner, now one of the most powerful figures in the US administration, and the then head of the campaign. That appears suspicious; he only released the emails after being informed by The New York Times it was poised to publish them. He also claims he was just doing conventional "opposition research".
Both alternative explanations of the overall situation are damning. Either the Trump campaign knowingly sought electoral advantage by colluding with a foreign adversary, or it was reckless and incompetent in enthusiastically meeting with the supposed Russian emissary.
 The President has repeatedly dismissed the Russia story as "fake news", but since his son's complicity or naivety has been revealed, he has admitted in an interview that "something happened" in terms of Russian meddling in the election. It is now up to the special investigation to assess.
Mr Trump has replaced a swamp with a quagmire, into which he seems to be slipping ever deeper.
- A note from the editor – to have Age editor Alex Lavelle's exclusive weekly newsletter delivered to your inbox sign up here: www.theage.com.au/editornote
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