When it was first reported that Donald Trump Jr., Jared Kushner, and former Trump campaign chairman had a meeting at Trump Tower in June of 2016 with Russian nationals who have connections to the Kremlin — including a former Russian intelligence officer — the White House tried to downplay the entire matter, suggesting the meeting had been about adoption.

Later, however, it was revealed that the meeting had actually been scheduled because the Russians had promised to provide “dirt” on Trump’s Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton, and the president asserted that any campaign would have done the same thing in order to obtain information that would benefit them.

Now, however, thanks to a new interview with Rob Goldstone, the British publicist who arranged the now infamous get-together, it seems that one of the main reasons for the meeting which has placed members of the Trump family in legal jeopardy with Special Counsel Robert Mueller is because two sons of rich fathers wanted to impress their daddies.

In an extensive and wide-ranging with NBC News, Goldstone said:

“It’s like they [Don Jr. and Emin Agalarov] did it for daddy, both of them.”

It should be noted that Goldstone has been questioned extensively by investigators from the Mueller team and also appeared before a federal grand jury.

Goldstone also blew a giant hole in the president’s claim of not knowing about the meeting, commenting:

“It was taking place in his conference room and it was taking place with his campaign chair sitting and attending the meeting, as well as his son and his son-in-law. So, you know, the publicist in me would say, ‘It’s a bit of a stretch if he’s a floor or two above to believe that he doesn’t know it’s going on.'”

Whatever the motivation was for the meeting, Goldstone also revealed what Mueller’s grand jury wanted to know, and the details will be particularly alarming to the White House and members of the Trump family:

“They asked a lot of questions about my connection to the Trumps, Trump’s connection to the Agalarovs, [Russian oligarch Aras] Agalarov’s connection to the Kremlin, Trump’s connection the Kremlin, to the Agalarovs.

“They seemed most interested in why this meeting may have come about and why the Agalarovs may have wanted it, [and] also two follow-up requests for meetings.”

So when it’s all said and done, when all the indictments have been unsealed by Robert Muller and a report issued to Congress, one of the main reasons the entire scandal began may well wind up being because Donald Trump Jr. was trying desperately to earn his father’s approval. How pathetic is that?