The infamous Trump Tower meeting with the Russian lawyer and former Russian spy that included Donald Trump Jr., Jared Kushner and Paul Manafort among others continues to evolve in a way that’s increasingly toxic for the Trump White House.
According to the Washington Post Donald Trump himself was fully involved in dictating his son’s response to the media regarding the meeting, a position that was originally said to have been orchestrated by Trump Jr. and his lawyer.
Flying home from Germany on July 8 aboard Air Force One, Trump personally dictated a statement in which Trump Jr. said that 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 an article, emphasized that the subject of the meeting was “not a campaign issue at the time.”
Trump’s decision to allegedly draft a misleading and false statement regarding the meeting which was described as “unimportant”, about “Russian child adoptions” and initiated by the Russians went against the advice and apparent game plan of Jared Kushner’s lawyers.
The Post further added that it was Kushner’s legal team that concluded transparency would be the best option in this case considering the actual story would emerge at some point. Trump however apparently overruled that plan and drafted the response during the trip back from Germany after attending the G-20 summit.
Advisers fear the statement, and his personal involvement, could put President Trump and others in legal jeopardy https://t.co/vGRpZfFCJx
— Washington Post (@washingtonpost) July 31, 2017
At this point it’s unclear just how much Trump knew about that meeting prior to or if he knew anything at all. However it seems that there’s growing tension in the White House of the President further exposing himself to legal peril, especially when it comes to the Trump Tower meeting that continues to metastasize . Although it’s not illegal to compose a fake response for the media Trump’s alleged involvement could warrant a pattern of obstruction, especially given the circumstances surrounding the James Comey firing earlier this year.
That is if what the Washington Post alleges actually took place.
It’s surely something special counsel Robert Mueller is going add to hist list of items to take a good look at.