Why Does Trump Keep Lying About His Dealings With Russia?

[dajoki]

Why Does Trump Keep Lying About His Dealings With Russia?
http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2018/07/trump-knew-about-trump-tower-russian-meeting-keeps-lying.html

Michael Cohen can testify to Robert Mueller that Donald Trump was aware of the June 2016 Trump Tower meeting during which Russian officials promised dirt on Hillary Clinton, reports CNN. The question then becomes whether Cohen’s testimony is reliable, and whether Mueller can prove it. The answer to both questions is almost certainly yes.

Cohen’s apparent testimony merely fleshes the skeleton of a story we already knew. Former Trump aide Sam Nunberg has said, in an interview with Jake Tapper, that Trump knew about the meeting:

Tapper: Do you think that — Donald Trump says that — President Trump says he knew nothing about the meeting. Do you think that that’s true?



Nunberg: No.



Tapper: You don’t think that’s true?



Nunberg: No. It doesn’t — and, Jake, I have watched your news reports. You know it’s not true. He talked about it a week before.



And I don’t know why he did this. All he had to say was, yes, we met with the Russians. The Russians offered us something, and we thought they had something. And that was it.



I don’t know why he went around trying to hide it. And he shouldn’t have.


<<snip>>

One can see the ground already shifting in the defenses of Trump. Now his defenders deny that working cooperatively with Russians to obtain Russian dirt on Clinton amounts to collusion, or that such a thing is bad at all. “Look, I don’t think that it’s bad if campaigns are turning to foreign governments for dirt,” asserts Andrew McCarthy on Fox News, “It’s not collusion. It’s not something that’s impeachable; it’s icky, but that’s what this is.”

But if that’s the case, and Trump faces no legal liability for his secret collaboration with Russia, why didn’t he simply admit it all along? Why tell a series of lies and implicate his subordinates in those lies, exposing them to potential perjury charges? Perhaps because he has more to hide.

[Panich52]

1. Quick answer: narcissism

For a pathological narcissist, admitting his "win" wasn't all his own doing is anathema—the pall of legitimacy keeps him incapable of admitting such illegal help.

Note he's already started his attack on election validity in the wake of a possible Dem takeover of Senate, just as he did in 2016 when all deluded themselves that we couldn't be stupid enough to let him win.

[dajoki]

2. tweet from Ari Melber

Link to tweet

[Orsino]

3. First, because he doesn't know the truth...

...being too lazy and addled to learn what is going on before he gives an order. He may have been told, but he won't remember reliably.

Second, because he will always favor the fiction that sounds most flattering to his fragile ego over anything we might term truth.

[dajoki]

7. he knows the truth...

and not his interpretation of the truth, he knows exactly what happened in 2016 and before, he also knows what's going on right now.

[Orsino]

8. That's giving him credit for mental abilities he's never demonstrated.

When asked any question, he fakes his way through answer that are as noncommittal as possible.

[dajoki]

9. I'm not suggesting...

that he coordinated anything, but he was and remains in the loop.

[Orsino]

11. I wouldn't suggest that he doesn't bear ultimate responsibility...

...but I suspect that his being in the loop doesn't mean that he was paying attention, or that he could recall any details afterward.

And if he can, I'm pretty sure we will never be able to prove it.

[vlyons]

4. His ego is constructed from a web of lies

that he tells himself, and tells us about his view of himself. To tell the truth would destroy the carefully constructed web of lies that is his ego. The death of the ego is not only embarrassing, but also very scary. The irony is that the ego doesn't really exist anyway. It just SEEMS to exist. But to achieve that realization is quite beyond the grasp of Trump -- at least for now.

[pandr32]

10. Well stated!

This really describes how desperate and fragile tRump is. As POTUS he is extremely dangerous.

[meow2u3]

5. Ever heard of a criminal sociopath who admits his crimes?

Neither have I.

[Wounded Bear]

6. Because he can...

Until he suffers some kind of loss for it, he'll continue.