Trump Jr. Tells Senate He Met With Russian Lawyer To Get Dirt On Clinton
Junior admits colluding with the Russians in Senate interview.
Donald Trump Jr. told Senate investigators on Thursday morning that he attended a meeting with a Russian lawyer in order to get dirt on Hilary Clinton. Trump Jr. says he wanted to determine if Clinton was fit for office, according to the New York Times.
Trump Jr.’s admission to Senate investigators of seeking to collude with the Russian government in the 2016 election is the latest in the slowly unfolding Trump-Russia saga.
“To the extent they had information concerning the fitness, character or qualifications of a presidential candidate, I believed that I should at least hear them out,” he said. “Depending on what, if any, information they had, I could then consult with counsel to make an informed decision as to whether to give it further consideration.”
One wonders why Trump Jr. wouldn’t seek advice from counsel in advance of the meeting.
Paul Manafort and Jared Kushner also attended the June 2016 Trump Tower meeting with the Russia lawyer.
Explanations for the meeting have changed several times and it has become clear early statements were intentionally false and misleading.
It has also been reported that President Trump dictated the initial public response that his son released. Special Counsel Mueller is now looking at whether that false statement was an attempt to obstruct justice by the president.
Read the full New York Times report here.