Trump dictated son's misleading statement on meeting with Russian lawyer

[Eugene]

Source: Washington Post

Trump dictated son’s misleading statement on meeting with Russian lawyer

By Ashley Parker, Carol D. Leonnig, Philip Rucker and Tom Hamburger July 31 at 7:46 PM

On the sidelines of the Group of 20 summit in Germany last month, President Trump’s advisers discussed how to respond to a new revelation that Trump’s oldest son had met with a Russian lawyer during the 2016 campaign — a disclosure the advisers knew carried political and potentially legal peril.

The strategy, the advisers agreed, should be for Donald Trump Jr. to release a statement to get ahead of the story. They wanted to be truthful, so their account couldn’t be repudiated later if the full details emerged.

But within hours, at the president’s direction, the plan changed.

Flying home from Germany on July 8 aboard Air Force One, Trump personally dictated a statement in which Trump Jr. said he and the Russian lawyer had “primarily discussed a program about the adoption of Russian children” when they met in June 2016, according to multiple people with knowledge of the deliberations. The statement, issued to the New York Times as it prepared a story, emphasized that the subject of the meeting was “not a campaign issue at the time.”

The claims were later shown to be misleading.

-snip-

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-dictated-sons-misleading-statement-on-meeting-with-russian-lawyer/2017/07/31/04c94f96-73ae-11e7-8f39-eeb7d3a2d304_story.html

[procon]

1. There's the cover up, next comes the reveal to see what Trump is hiding. nt

[Thinkingabout]

2. We knew Trump was involved. Trump is the most experienced liar in the team so it is

understandable Trump would share in the effort.

[Chasstev365]

3. Witness Tampering?

Add another article of impeachment!

[Gothmog]

4. This is just further evidence of collusion and evidence of guilt

[cyclonefence]

5. Was Reince Priebus on Air Force One

coming back from Germany, when this was apparently written? Is this leak Reince's Revenge?

[Ruby the Liberal]

6. If not, it provides perfect cover for whoever did leak it.