U.S. president defends son after emails over Russian campaign help

[snoop1130]

U.S. president defends son after emails over Russian campaign help

 

FILE PHOTO: Donald Trump Jr. thrusts his fist after speaking at the 2016 Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Ohio U.S. July 19, 2016. REUTERS/Mike Segar/File Photo

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday defended his eldest son as "innocent" following emails that showed Donald Trump Jr. welcomed Russian help against his father's rival in the 2016 presidential election.

 

On Tuesday, Trump Jr. released a series of emails that revealed last year he eagerly agreed to meet a woman he was told was a Russian government lawyer who might have damaging information about Democratic rival Hillary Clinton as part of Moscow's official support for his father.

 

Trump Jr., in a Fox News interview later on Tuesday, said: "In retrospect, I probably would have done things a little differently."

 

The president, after initially releasing a statement on Tuesday calling his son "high-quality," on Wednesday praised the television appearance and repeated his condemnation of investigations and media coverage of the Russia investigations.

 

"He was open, transparent and innocent. This is the greatest Witch Hunt in political history. Sad!" Trump wrote on Twitter.

 

The emails offered the most concrete evidence to date that Trump campaign officials embraced Russian help to win the election, a subject that has cast a cloud over Trump's presidency and spurred investigations by the Justice Department and Congress.

 

Trump Jr.'s correspondence does not appear to provide evidence of illegal activity, but legal experts said he could run into trouble if investigators find he aided a criminal action, such as hacking into Democratic computer networks, or violated campaign finance laws by accepting gifts from foreign entities.

 

The latest developments jarred financial markets as investors worried it was another distraction from the administration's economic agenda.

 

(Reporting by Susan Heavey; Editing by Catherine Evans and Jeffrey Benkoe)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2017-7-12

[stevenl]

No defence at all, only criticism of the investigation and media.

[JHolmesJr]

The only fault I see with don jr in this case is lack of experience.

[dutchisaan]

 

Like father, like son.

 

[Berkshire]

1 hour ago, JHolmesJr said:

The only fault I see with don jr in this case is lack of experience.

Is that how you see it?  Stephen Colbert may have figured it out.  Watch to the end...

 

 

[tonray]

Q: How many Donald Trumps does it take to screw in a light bulb ?

 

A: One to hold the lamp and one to hang himself with the cord..ha ha

[simple1]

Do a search on "Assessing how ‘open’ and ‘transparent’ Donald Trump Jr. was in his Hannity appearance". In conjunction with his father's support. Trump Junior is still providing misleading information, just amazing how some people still support this oligarchy.

[FritsSikkink]

11 hours ago, JHolmesJr said:

The only fault I see with don jr in this case is lack of experience.

Maybe you should take those tinted glasses of? Junior is called Fredo by insiders in the White House, nuff said.

[webfact]

Exclusive - Trump says he does not fault son for meeting Russian lawyer

By Steve Holland

 

FILE PHOTO: Donald Trump Jr. (R) watches his father Republican U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump leave the stage on the night of the Iowa Caucus in Des Moines, Iowa U.S. February 1, 2016. REUTERS/Jim Bourg/File Photo

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he did not fault his son Donald Trump Jr. for meeting with a Russian lawyer during the 2016 presidential election campaign and he was unaware of the meeting until a few days ago.

 

Asked if he knew that his son was meeting with lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya in June last year, the president told Reuters in a White House interview: “No, that I didn’t know until a couple of days ago when I heard about this.”

 

Trump Jr. eagerly agreed to meet the woman he was told was a Russian government lawyer who might have damaging information about Democratic rival Hillary Clinton as part of Moscow's official support for his father's campaign, according to emails the son released on Tuesday.

 

Seated at his Oval Office desk, Trump said he did not fault his son for holding the meeting, writing it off as a decision made in the heat of an upstart, non-traditional campaign.

 

"I think many people would have held that meeting," Trump said.

 

The emails were the most concrete evidence that Trump campaign officials might have been willing to accept Russian help to win the Nov. 8 election, a subject that has cast a cloud over Trump's presidency and prompted investigations by the U.S. Justice Department and Congress.

 

Donald Trump Jr., in an interview with Fox News on Tuesday, said: "In retrospect, I probably would have done things a little differently."

 

TRUST PUTIN?

 

In the White House interview, the president said he directly asked Russian President Vladimir Putin if he was involved in what U.S. intelligence says was Russian meddling in the presidential campaign and that Putin had insisted he was not.

 

Trump said he spent the first 20 or 25 minutes of his more than two-hour meeting with Putin last Friday in Germany on the election meddling subject.

 

"I said, 'Did you do it?' And he said, 'No, I did not. Absolutely not.' I then asked him a second time in a totally different way. He said absolutely not," Trump said.

 

Asked if he believed Putin's denial, Trump paused.

 

“Look. Something happened and we have to find out what it is, because we can’t allow a thing like that to happen to our election process. So something happened and we have to find out what it is," he said.

 

About Putin he added: "Somebody did say if he did do it you wouldn’t have found out about it. Which is a very interesting point."

 

While U.S. intelligence agencies and even members of Trump’s Cabinet have said Russia meddled in the election, Trump has wavered on the subject, at times suggesting that other actors might have been involved.

 

Trump equivocated on whether he felt he could trust Putin. He said Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping both look out for their country's interests, as he looks out for U.S. interests.

 

"I am not a person who goes around trusting lots of people. But he’s the leader of Russia. It is the second most powerful nuclear power on earth. I am the leader of the United States. I love my country. He loves his country," Trump said.

 

As in the past, Trump said there was no collusion between his campaign and Russia.

 

"There was zero coordination. It’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard," he said.

 

A Republican, Trump said Democrats had used the accusations to justify Clinton's loss in November, saying: "The White House is functioning beautifully despite the hoax made up by the Democrats."

 

Although he and Putin were able to forge a ceasefire agreement in part of Syria, Trump said their interests collided over other issues. He said his U.S. military buildup and drive to increase U.S. energy production were in direct conflict with Putin, whose nation is dependent on energy exports.

 

Their differences made him wonder whether Putin really had supported him last year, as many news reports have suggested.

 

"It’s really the one question I wish I would have asked Putin: Were you actually supporting me?"

 

(Additional reporting by Roberta Rampton; Editing by Howard Goller and Peter Cooney)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2017-07-13

[PattayaJames]

1 hour ago, simple1 said:

Do a search on "Assessing how ‘open’ and ‘transparent’ Donald Trump Jr. was in his Hannity appearance". In conjunction with his father's support. Trump Junior is still providing misleading information, just amazing how some people still support this oligarchy.

I did, lot's of different stuff came up.

If you are referring to something specific, why not just post a link?

[esprit]

9 hours ago, tonray said:

Q: How many Donald Trumps does it take to screw in a light bulb ?

 

A: One to hold the lamp and one to hang himself with the cord..ha ha

[simple1]

39 minutes ago, PattayaJames said:

I did, lot's of different stuff came up.

If you are referring to something specific, why not just post a link?

If you've read the article what needs explaining - the ongoing Trump family deflection / misinformation campaign is there to see. As I've posted elsewhere the trio were very fortunate, in this instance, their intent to engage in illegal activity (colluding with a foreign power) did not come to fruition, allegedly due to lack of useful content for the Trump campaign.

 

It's now coming to the surface there were other undeclared contacts with Russians by Trump's people - have to watch the bouncing ball.

Edited July 13, 2017 by simple1

[iReason]

 

"He was open, transparent and innocent"...Trump wrote on Twitter. 

Getting a little nervous there?

 

"calling his son "high-quality"

What does that mean? Like a tool?

 

A tool who along with a senior adviser to his father and a Russian connected soon to be campaign manager,

met with an agent from a hostile foreign adversary in secret?

[klauskunkel]

Here Lies Donald Trump, Jr.

He was open, transparent and innocent

 

[alanrchase]

So ignorance is now a valid defence? Seems to apply to the Trumps, wonder if it will apply to the rest of the population?

[Emster23]

The apple doesn't fall far from the tree....

just a block off the old chip

[jb61]

Here they go again, the left getting their panties in a wad. No crime has been committed according to two democrat Hillary voting  law professors.

Harvard Law School professor emeritus Alan Dershowitz  (Democrate and stated proudly voted for Hillary)told Newsmax TV on Tuesday that "I don't see a crime" in Donald Trump Jr.'s meeting last year with a lawyer with ties to the Russian government.

https://www.newsmax.com/Newsmax-Tv/crime-meeting-lawyer-collusion/2017/07/11/id/801123/?ns_mail_uid=264962&ns_mail_job=1741329_07122017&s=al&dkt_nbr=uzyibjbb

 

Prof. Jonathan Turley, constitutional  law prof. at George Washington Univ. school of law, and self described liberal democrat states;

http://legalinsurrection.com/2017/07/for-the-love-of-god-treason-is-defined-in-the-constitution-this-is-not-treason/

Prof. Jonathan Turley, liberal law prof at GWU.

“There is no crime in listening to people who say that they have incriminating information on a political opponent, even a foreigner.”

http://www.liberalforum.org/index.php?/topic/215636-georgetown-law-professor-says-no-collusion/

As this continues to play out, one thing is clear to constitutional law professor and expert Jonathan Turley: Nothing that’s being reported involving Don Jr. and associates is illegal, nor does it prove “collusion.” It’s just more media smoke and mirrors.

 

[simple1]

32 minutes ago, jb61 said:

Here they go again, the left getting their panties in a wad. No crime has been committed according to two democrat Hillary voting law professors.<snip>

Both of the people you reference are now in the Trump camp. As with others, they are apologists for Trump Jnr and associates intended illegal activity. Today would be a very different story if the Russian lobbyist / lawyer actually had usable content to attack the Clinton campaign.

Edited July 13, 2017 by simple1

[Dumbastheycome]

*OP edited out*

when asked Putin said  "No,  > I personally< absolutely  did  not."

No different  to Trump  also denying  "personally " having  any involvement.

Quite  likely true and  honest  answers  both.

This  ongoing  debacle  is like  an underground peat  fire.

Eventually  someone  will  step in a  hot spot!

 

Edited July 13, 2017 by Scott
OP edited out

[Neurath]

What else didn't the President know, and when else didn't he know it?

 

Nixon defended the integrity and honor of Erlichman, Hadleman and Colson to the last also. He defended their honor at the same time he was throwing them under the bus. Trump will do same with all but his blood and spawn.

[Redline]

21 hours ago, JHolmesJr said:

The only fault I see with don jr in this case is lack of experience.

Or dumb as a rock

[Redline]

10 hours ago, webfact said:

"I am not a person who goes around trusting lots of people. But he’s the leader of Russia. It is the second most powerful nuclear power on earth

Oh, good reasoning!

 

"There was zero coordination. It’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard," he said.

That's exactly what a lair would say

 

"It’s really the one question I wish I would have asked Putin: Were you actually supporting me?"

Call him up dunce!  Or, are you afraid he won't take your call, and you will be balling all night and miss Fox and Friends?

[iReason]

[ballpoint]

12 hours ago, FritsSikkink said:

Maybe you should take those tinted glasses of? Junior is called Fredo by insiders in the White House, nuff said.

And Jared is Harpo. Anyone heard him talk?

[Andaman Al]

23 hours ago, JHolmesJr said:

The only fault I see with don jr in this case is lack of experience.

He has committed what is potentially a federal crime, and you give him a free pass for 'lack of experience'. If I bed your underage daughter will you give me a free pass if I say I have a lack of experience judging whether a girl is 17 or 18? You see what you are doing!! Any other story on Thai Visa concerning someone potentially committing a federal crime, YOU would be of the opinion - ignorance is no excuse, let the courts decide, BUT here you are giving Trump Jr a free pass. It is wrong on so many counts. The only person to judge the arguments of 'reason' is a judge if required, end let the judicial system decide.

[boomerangutang]

From the updated OP: 

Asked if he knew that his son was meeting with lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya in June last year, the president told Reuters in a White House interview: “No, that I didn’t know until a couple of days ago when I heard about this.”

 

 

There are so many hundreds of lies emanating from Trump and his deplorables, that it's hard to know which 20 lies are the most grievous.  The big fat blatant lie above is a contender.  

 

And for those thinking this Don Jr. thing is a big deal....  I still say, 'we ain't seen nothing yet.'   If Mueller and legal team are doing there jobs as we hope they should - heaps of big ugly revelations are yet to come forth.  It will be an very interesting day when Mueller and his team publish their report.  They may have to take several days to publish all their findings, because there's so much material to deal with.   Roughly 50 people went to jail while the dust from Watergate was settling.  With the Trump-Russia thing, who knows (?), it could be twice that many.

 

I just hope President Ryan won't pardon everyone.

[Jingthing]

trumpists -- so sorry. The jig is up.

When Krauthammer says this is getting real, it's getting real:

 

The fatal words -- I LOVE IT! 

 

 

[JHolmesJr]

There's too much noise at the moment…most of it being made by the anti trump brigade here.

 

I'ma let the dust settle…..already I'm hearing that there are no grounds for treasonous behaviour.

Edited July 13, 2017 by JHolmesJr

[Jingthing]

John Oliver: The Don Jr. Scandal Is Something (If Something Means Anything)

 

 

[dutchisaan]

12 minutes ago, JHolmesJr said:

There's too much noise at the moment…most of it being made by the anti trump brigade here.

 

I'ma let the dust settle…..already I'm hearing that there ate no grounds for treasonous behaviour

and all that nonsense.

Offcourse you like the dust to settle, but it will not. This is just the start of a sandstorm in the Sahara, btw, a good place for the Trump family.