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Donald Trump Jr. Tag

Monday, Donald Trump Jr. published a series of tweets which included screen shots of Twitter private messages between himself and Wikileaks. According to a report in The Atlantic, the messages, along with thousands of documents were turned over by Trump Jr.'s lawyers to the congressional committee investigating Russia's meddling in the 2016 election.

Remember the meeting Donald Trump, Jr. had with the Russian lawyer, Natalia Veselnitskaya? The meeting that Veselnitskaya arranged on the promise of dirt on Hillary Clinton, but which appears to have been just a means of lobbying Trump on the Magnitsky Act. The leak about the meeting set off several news cycles of speculation. It turned out she had a connection to the firm, Fusion GPS, doing oppo research for the Clinton campaign. That put the meeting in an odd light, but it wasn't clear whether this was a Fusion GPS operation. When I covered it on July 13, 2017, I cautioned:

Special Counsel Robert Mueller has launched a grand jury in Washington, D.C., for his investigation into alleged Russian influence into our presidential election. The Wall Street Journal reported:
The grand jury, which began its work in recent weeks, is a sign that Mr. Mueller’s inquiry is ramping up and that it will likely continue for months. Mr. Mueller is investigating Russia’s efforts to influence the 2016 election and whether President Donald Trump’s campaign or associates colluded with the Kremlin as part of that effort.

Glenn Simpson, co-founder of Fusion GPS, is taking the 5th and will not testify to his or his firm's role in the compilation of the discredited Trump-Russia "Dossier." Meanwhile, Paul Manafort and Donald Trump, Jr. have agreed to a closed Q&A with the Senate Judiciary Committee, and Jared Kushner will testify in a closed session before the Senate Intelligence Committee.

Joy Reid has done it again, shutting down on her MSNBC show this morning yet another conservative guest who tried to get in a word edgewise. This time it was former CIA analyst Fred Fleitz in the unenviable position of trying to make the case that the meeting between Trump campaign aides and Russians wasn't the horror the left is making it out to be. Reid first asked him for his comments, but before he could get started, proceeded to cut him off, launching into her own monologue. When Fleitz asked if he could respond, Reid replied "No. No you cannot, until I'm finished answering the question." Rightly retorted Fleitz: "you asked me a question and now you're responding for me."

If there's anything I learned from studying about and in the Soviet Union during college, it was that things were never as they seemed. There always seemed to be a manipulation and deception, whether for a specific purpose or just because they could. Kind of like the Clintons. Which leads me to the Donald Trump, Jr. meeting with Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya. My initial thoughts were in my post, Trump Jr. emails show amateurishness, but not “collusion” or illegality.

The NY Times has an article today about email exchanges between Donald Trump Jr. and a person setting up a meeting with a Russian lawyer promising damaging documents and information about Hillary Clinton's connections to Russia. In a preemptive move, Trump Jr. published the email exchange on Twitter (here and here) just before the Times published its story. The emails are highly embarrassing and politically damaging, but as usual, the media and other Trump opponents are overstating the case. The media overstating the case and popping the champagne corks are probably the best things Trump Jr. and the Trump administration have going for them.