Donald Trump Jr. was in communication during the 2016 campaign with WikiLeaks, the online operation that last year published a trove of damaging Democratic emails that the U.S. intelligence community concluded were stolen by Russian hackers, according to an email obtained by The Wall Street Journal.

On Sept. 20, 2016, WikiLeaks contacted the son of President Donald Trump through a direct message on Twitter to advise him about the pending launch of a website that would highlight ties between the elder Mr. Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to the email.

The exchange marks the first evidence of direct contact between senior Trump campaign officials and the Sweden-based WikiLeaks.

See More Coverage »