Mike Pence distances himself from Trump campaign as Don Jr's emails threaten several insiders

Vice President Mike Pence distanced himself from the president and his campaign team after Donald Trump Jr. released emails showing he accepted an offer of help from a "Russian government lawyer."

Pence has repeatedly denied that any Trump campaign associates had met with Russians -- but the president's son revealed that he scheduled a June 9, 2016 meeting, along with Jared Kushner and Paul Manafort, with a Kremlin-linked lawyer who had damaging information about Hillary Clinton.

The emails show he knew the information came from the Russian government, and that the Kremlin favored Donald Trump in the election -- and Pence put some distance between himself and the chief executive.

"The vice president is working every day to advance the president's agenda," Pence said in a statement. "He was not aware of the meeting. He is also not focusing on stories about the campaign -- especially those pertaining to the time before he joined the campaign."

The former Indiana governor joined the campaign July 15, 2016, and he oversaw the presidential transition starting three days after the election.