The BuzzFeed news report that reverberated around Washington on Friday received some pushback from the office of Special Counsel Robert Mueller, but one section of the article wasn’t challenged by anyone (including the White House) and that’s bad news for Donald Trump Jr.
Here’s the relevant paragraph:
“And even as Trump told the public he had no business deals with Russia, the sources said Trump and his children Ivanka and Donald Trump Jr. received regular, detailed updates about the real estate development from Cohen, whom they put in charge of the project.”
In other words, Don Jr. and Ivanka were in the loop, and former Trump attorney Michael Cohen can testify that he regularly updated them in the Trump Tower Moscow project.
On Sept. 7, 2017, Don Jr. testified to the Senate Intelligence Committee that he knew “very little” about the Moscow Trump Tower project, even going so far as to claim he was only “peripherally aware” of it.
But the BuzzFeed report directly contradicts Junior’s claim. And that means that Don Jr. lied to Congress, the very same charge that Michael Cohen pleaded guilty to in 2018.
There have been reports that President Trump is “fearful” his oldest son “inadvertently may have wandered into legal jeopardy.”
Enormous legal jeopardy. And as Axios notes, we already know the following facts about Donald Trump Jr. and Russia:
- In 2008, Trump Jr. told a real-estate conference: “In terms of high-end product influx into the U.S., Russians make up a pretty disproportionate cross-section of a lot of our assets.”
- In March 2017, Trump Jr. told the New York Times: “Did I meet with people that were Russian? I’m sure, I’m sure I did. … But none that were set up. None that I can think of at the moment.”
- In October 2016, Trump Jr. exchanged Twitter DMs with WikiLeaks asking about the rumored release of hacked emails from Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta.
- In October 2016, Trump Jr. was paid at least $50,000 to give a speech at a pro-Russian think tank that has nominated Russian President Vladimir Putin for the Nobel Peace Prize.
That’s a whole lot of Russian connections and Russian money. And it’s also a lot of lies that Junior has told, which are now coming home to roost.
Donald Trump Jr. is in deep legal shit. And the more Michael Cohen talks, the deeper that pile of feces gets.