Trump Lies: “Piles of Deceit, Distraction, Deception and Public Distrust”

Both in Deep Doo-Doo (Honestly-speaking)

Major update here from the Washington Post, plus more information on this stunning story about President Donald J. Trump’s personal response to this the Post’s expose about how the Trump team responded to the NY Times article wherein they learned about the Donald J. Trump, Jr’s meeting in June 2016 in Trump Tower with the Russian lawyer.

That part is inserted here for reference: Donald J. Trump Jr. admitted that he met with Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya on the pretense of “receiving dirt on Hillary Clinton” then he blatantly lied about the events three different times.

That meeting in June 2016 also included Jared Kushner and Paul Manafort and now apparently a growing number of other Russians, who were not disclosed originally, but then turned out to be at least one or two former Russian intelligence operatives. 

(Note: Jr. said he only met with the lawyer and one other person in the room).

That meeting arranged by music publicist Rob Goldstone (from the UK who holds US/UK citizenships) who had strong ties to Russia. In an email exchange released by Trump Jr. on twitter (but only after the NY Times alerted him to their intention to update his previous denials) he wrote back to Goldstone: “I love it” when told about possibly “getting his hands on material potentially damaging to the Clinton campaign and helping his father win.”

In Goldstone’s words, he told Trump Jr. that the meeting would be with a “Russian government attorney and that the information was part of Russia and its government's support for Mr. Trump.”

Trump Jr. responded enthusiastically, writing: “If it's what you say I love it especially later in the summer.”

Dear old Dad in defending his son's decision to meet with Veselnitskaya, said in part publicly: “Most people would have taken that meeting.”

Then in France the president said in a full statement: “My son is a wonderful young man. He took a meeting with a Russian lawyer, not a government lawyer but a Russian lawyer. From a practical standpoint most people would have taken that meeting. It's called opposition research or research into your opponent.”

First major update from NBC news and the AP: Veselnitskaya was accompanied by a Russian-American lobbyist who happens to be a former Russian counter-intelligence officer who is suspected by some U.S. officials of having ongoing ties to Russian intelligence. 

Veselnitskaya acknowledged to NBC News that she was accompanied by at least one other man, though she declined to identify him. NBC News is not naming the lobbyist, who denies any current ties to Russian spy agencies. He is a Russian-born American lobbyist served in the Soviet military and emigrated to the U.S., where he holds dual citizenship.

Contacted by NBC News, representatives for Kushner and Manafort declined to comment. A lawyer for Trump Jr. did not respond to multiple requests for comment. Veselnitskaya, in an exclusive interview with NBC News, denied having any connection to the Kremlin and insisted the meeting was to discuss sanctions, not the presidential campaign. 

The Russian lawyer who met with the Trump team after a promise of compromising material on Hillary Clinton was accompanied by a Russian-American lobbyist — a former Soviet counter intelligence officer who is suspected by some U.S. officials of having ongoing ties to Russian intelligence.

Noteworthy: That meeting of a Russian-American with former Russian intelligence ties is likely to be of interest to special counsel Robert Mueller who of course would handle any criminal aspect that the two congressional committees do not.

My Note: Astonishing is perhaps an understatement … the problem here with the Trumps – all them is simple: They are not used to being challenged or questioned on anything they say or do or attempt to do … they simply lie and deny in the face of solid proof otherwise. That is the Trump MO (Modus Operandi).

This event with Trump Jr. and the reactions from Pop and people around the Trumps, mostly die-hard loyalists and others buy unto it as the gospel of sorts or so it seems.

Now this new update: “Anonymous W/H advisers” said they had settled on a plan to be transparent about the meeting, only to have the president come in at the 11th hour and decide to try and withhold the whole truth.

The result of that presidential decision, at his personal direction, was the “statement that claimed the meeting was about adoption,” when in fact “the stated purpose of it was opposition research (proven by a series of emails) and supposedly from the Russian government about “dirt” on Hillary Clinton.

The Timeline Key Points on July 8^th as AF-1 was returning from the G-20:

1.  W/H director of strategic communications Hope Hicks spoke by phone with Trump Jr. about the meeting say people familiar with the conversations.

2.  Jared Kushner’s team concluded that the best strategy would be to err on the side of transparency, because they believed the complete story would eventually emerge.

3.  The discussions among the president’s advisers consumed much of the day as they returned home from the recent G20 conference in Germany. They continued as they prepared to board Air Force One that evening for the flight home.

4.  But before everyone boarded the plane, Trump had overruled their consensus, according to people with knowledge of the events.

(Note: It still remains unclear exactly how much the president knew at the time of the flight about Trump Jr.’s meeting).

5.  The president directed that Trump Jr.’s statement to the Times describe the meeting as unimportant.

6.  Trump wanted the statement to say that the meeting had been initiated by the Russian lawyer and primarily was about her pet issue — the adoption of Russian children.

This 2-minute video from the Washington Post offers more clarity:

The whole article continues here and original post follows below. This is surely a stunning story to say the least – raises tons of legal issue, but as with other cases involving this president and his methods, who will do anything about the damaging facts?

1.  The public?  Angry for the most part, but basically incapable collectively to do much. 

2.  The two congressional committees? They have no legal power to press charges only investigative about Russian hacking in 2016.

3.  Special Counsel Robert Mueller? Perhaps, and surely he has a ton of materials and evidence. However, whether it rises to the level of being is criminal remains to be seen. 

However, simply common sense and logic say: Yes, there is criminal intent and blatant obstruction of justice. Whatever route to justice is to be pursued and dished with any clarification by proper authorities’ vis-à-vis Donald J. Trump remains to be seen.

Simply stay tuned.