The Mueller probe is closing in on the Trump family and Donald Trump appears to know it. Will Trump Jr. be indicted soon? Some of his father’s moves in the last week give weight to that speculation. It began when Michael Cohen, Donald Trump’s former attorney said that his then-client knew about the Trump Tower meeting before it happened. Trump Jr. told Congress under oath that his father didn’t know about the meeting in advance and White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said Trump learned about the meeting a year AFTER it happened. If Cohen’s story proves true, that means Trump Jr. could face perjury charges (on top of whatever else he may get slapped with).
His father is clearly on the defensive.
The potential mess his son may have made for himself…
The number of times the story surrounding the Trump Tower has changed…
Remember when it was about adoption?
He is trying every mind trick in the book to try and convince people that he and his son never did anything wrong. Last week he planted the seed that he believes collusion is not a crime and now this.
Fake News reporting, a complete fabrication, that I am concerned about the meeting my wonderful son, Donald, had in Trump Tower. This was a meeting to get information on an opponent, totally legal and done all the time in politics – and it went nowhere. I did not know about it!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 5, 2018
This tweet came a day after The Washington Post wrote:
“Trump has confided to friends and advisers that he is worried the Mueller probe could destroy the lives of what he calls ‘innocent and decent people’ — namely Trump Jr., who is under scrutiny by Mueller for his role organizing a June 2016 meeting at Trump Tower with Russians promising dirt on Hillary Clinton. As one adviser described the president’s thinking, he does not believe his son purposefully broke the law, but is fearful nonetheless that Trump Jr. inadvertently may have wandered into legal jeopardy.”
As I often tell clients, you don’t commit crimes by accident. No one trips walking down the street and commits a felony. Committing serious crimes requires knowledge and intent.
If Trump Jr. committed a felony, it was not an accident. https://t.co/uWQT7ACkKp
— Renato Mariotti (@renato_mariotti) August 4, 2018
“Trump has been concerned for months now that the Mueller probe could reach his family, and potentially his son-in-law Jared Kushner, but his focus has turned to his namesake in recent weeks, one person who speaks with Trump frequently tells CNN. This is one of several reasons Trump has upped his public attacks on Mueller, because he doesn’t want him touching his family, the person adds.”
Based on that, one would surmise the President would be trying to clean up the potential mess his son may have gotten himself into. Instead, this morning’s tweet may have made it worse.
BOOM!
Trump literally just admitted that @DonaldJTrumpJr has committed a criminal conspiracy, in saying "This was a meeting to get information on an opponent."
This is a violation of 52 U.S.C. 30121, 36 U.S.C. 510 – Contributions and donations by foreign nationals (Russians)!
— Ed Krassenstein (@EdKrassen) August 5, 2018
We have to assume at this point Trump actually wants Don Jr. in jail, right?
— Adam Blickstein (@AdamBlickstein) August 5, 2018
Donald Trump’s day so far:
– He’s been melting down for hours
– Admits Trump Tower meeting with Russia was “to get information on an opponent”
– Trump just sent himself and Don Jr to prison
– Trump lawyer Jay Sekulow may go down for obstruction of justice
– It’s still only 10am— Palmer Report (@PalmerReport) August 5, 2018
2/ "…that was active and popular with American families years ago and was since ended by the Russian government, but it was not a campaign issue at the time and there was no follow up…"
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) August 5, 2018
4/ POTUS this morning said: "This was a meeting to get information on an opponent…"
So please feel free to be the judge as to who has been sharing fabrications.
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) August 5, 2018
Trump’s lawyer, Jay Sekulow was also on TV today trying to backtrack on some “bad information.” The amount of times the stories surrounding one meeting have changed is truly astonishing.
“I had bad information in that statement,” Jay Sekulow, Trump’s attorney, says on ABC after falsely denying that Trump had a role in the misleading statement about Don Jr’s Trump Tower meeting. His attorneys have since told Mueller’s team that Trump dictated the statement
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) August 5, 2018
Pres. Trump's attorney Jay Sekulow: "I don't represent Don Jr., but I will tell you I have no knowledge at all of Don Jr. being told that he's a target of any investigation, and I have no knowledge of him being interviewed by the special counsel" https://t.co/P6iz1j1VA4 #ThisWeek pic.twitter.com/5CI6FZGzUZ
— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) August 5, 2018
Mueller has not interviewed Trump Jr. or his dad yet. Trump’s latest attorney, Rudy Giuliani, says a decision should come in the next week as to whether the President will sit down for an interview with Mueller, but you can bet chances are slim to none.