Trump Jr. Says He Wanted Russian Dirt to Determine Clinton's 'Fitness' for Office

[DonViejo]

Source: New York Times




By MAGGIE HABERMAN and MATT APUZZOSEPT. 7, 2017

WASHINGTON — Donald Trump Jr. told Senate investigators on Thursday that he set up a June 2016 meeting with a Russian lawyer because he was intrigued that she might have damaging information about Hillary Clinton, saying it was important to learn about Mrs. Clinton’s “fitness” to be president. But nothing came of the Trump Tower meeting, he said, and he was adamant that he never colluded with the Russian government’s campaign to disrupt last year’s presidential election.

In a prepared statement during an interview with Senate Judiciary Committee investigators, the younger Mr. Trump said he was initially conflicted when he heard that the lawyer, Natalia Veselnitskaya, might have damaging information about Mrs. Clinton. Despite his interest, he said, he always intended to consult with his own lawyers about the propriety of using any information that Ms. Veselnitskaya, who has ties to the Kremlin, gave him at the meeting.

A copy of Mr. Trump’s statement was obtained by The New York Times.

The acknowledgment by the president’s eldest son that he intended to seek legal counsel after the meeting suggests that he knew, or at least suspected, that accepting potentially damaging information about a rival campaign from a foreign country raised thorny legal issues.

Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/07/us/politics/trump-russia-investigation.html?referer=https://t.co/Ib4QKWtdD6?amp=1

[DetlefK]

1. So... He was meeting them because he was looking for dirt.

[PatSeg]

9. Or perhaps

He was just being a good citizen, wanting to be sure that Hillary was "fit for office". Is that really the best lie he could come up with? He would have probably been better off just pleading the fifth.

[DetlefK]

23. Whatever happened to the adoption-story???

[PatSeg]

32. I believe he managed to work

it into the narrative, but it ended up not being the primary reason for the meeting from his perspective. Apparently the Russians did bring it up in relationship to the Magnitsky Act, but we have no idea what was really said in that meeting.

[solara]

68. Jr probably felt safe with the talk of adoption

most likely figuring no one would ever connect the Magnitsky Act ( which has a lot to do with the adoption of Russian children) to him or to that "clandestine" meeting; until Bill Browder's Testimony to the Senate Judiciary, which brought the enormous Magnitsky scheme into focus.

Now Jr. is most likely copping to the "I wanted dirt on Hillary" as the lesser of several evils. Talking a quid pro quo deal with the Russians in relation to the Magnitsky Act, i.e. agreeing to lift the sanction that is keeping Putin from making his billions, might possibly be seen as treason.

[PatSeg]

72. With Junior,

we don't know if he is coming up with this crap himself, or if he is reciting his father's words. We all know that Trump has no problem contradicting what he said a month ago or even an hour ago. Plus he likes controlling his boys.

[Eyeball_Kid]

76. Hah!

Manafort's phone was hot-miked. The Feds have everything, even Trumpy's call-in to the meeting. All of the Russians at the meeting were hot- miked.

[PatSeg]

78. Are you serious?

[Eyeball_Kid]

79. Not joking.

If you think that the IC is not capable of hot-miking cell phones, you've been buying into Trumpy's arrogance and naïveté. They hot-miked Kislyak's phone for over a year.

[PatSeg]

80. Okay

That does make sense then. Wouldn't you love to know what they know?

[Scarsdale]

41. Fit for office!

Hillary has served in different government capacities most of her adult life. What a stupid comment. He should have tried to convince his daddy not to run, since most people knew HE was not fit for office. He could not even run a business without filing for bankruptcy. Brains are few and far between in the tRump family of grifters.

[PatSeg]

52. I get the feeling watching Don Jr.

that his father is lurking over his shoulder and Jr. is always searching for the words that his father would approve of. I don't think the man/boy has had a thought of his own his entire life. Always trying to please and appease Big Orange Daddy.

[Scarsdale]

75. If he had been female

he could have taken the Ivanka route, lap dances and many hugs.

[flibbitygiblets]

64. yes, colluding with Russia "for patriotic reasons "

You can't make this shit up.

[PatSeg]

71. The sacrifices that some people

make for their country, astounding.

[PatSeg]

2. Oh my god

That is the funniest thing I've read all day! Such a terrible liar. Evidently it doesn't come as naturally to him, as it does to his father.

[Botany]

13. I thought it was all about adoption of kids.

n/t

[PatSeg]

28. Evidently no one taught him

the first rule of Liars 101, don't alter your original lie.

Watching clips of his interview with Sean Hannity, he appears to be one of the first liars I've ever seen.

[Beartracks]

44. No, it was about Russia adopting a US President. n/t

[Iliyah]

51. That made my day!

LOL

[Purrfessor]

57. Hillary was born in Moscow and adopted by an American family...

Putin has the records.

[onetexan]

25. they're both bad liars

this rotten apple doesn't fall far from the rotting tree

[PatSeg]

31. Daddy might be a bad liar,

as his lies are often far-fetched and not always consistent, but he is so comfortable and at ease when he lies. He speaks it fluently, without hesitation or regret. Junior looks like he expects a thunder bolt to come through the ceiling. Gulp, gulp, twitch, blink.

[onetexan]

73. " He speaks it fluently, without hesitation or regret"

[iluvtennis]

3. So Donald Jr merely reads a prepared statement...what about the committee members doing Q&A?

[George II]

7. There will be staff members asking questions, no committee members are permitted to speak.

[iluvtennis]

14. Thanks for the reply back. SO, who are these staff members asking questions. Not understanding...

...I recall from the televised sessions that the senators on the committee got to ask questions of the person giving testimony.

[George II]

15. It's a preliminary meeting, closed doors (but not secret) Your scenario will follow in the future.

[iluvtennis]

22. OK, thanks so much for taking the time to clarify

[Me.]

4. He Was Going To Judge Her Fitness?

[Zoonart]

27. Yeah...

HE was going to judge Her fitness? OMFG!
Is that all they've got? I just hate it when these abject bastards insult our intelligence.

[PatSeg]

35. Well, in all fairness

Look at Trump's base.

[Scarsdale]

42. Jr. is uniquely qualified

to judge ANYONE, because - WHY? His vast experience in politics? His weak tRump chin matches his weak spine.

[George II]

5. Maybe he should have been worried about his OWN candidate's fitness for office?

[sharp_stick]

6. They've finally given up on the

whole "it was all about adoptions for kids" line of bullshit I see. I hope this little shit spends decades in Federal prison for this.

[NastyRiffraff]

8. He's certainly his father's son

He's lying through his teeth. There's this hilarious statement from the same article:

In an email response to Mr. Goldstone, Mr. Trump wrote that if the promised information about Mrs. Clinton was as advertised, “I love it.”

“As much as some have made of my using the phrase ‘I love it,’ it was simply a colloquial way of saying that I appreciated Rob’s gesture,” he said in his statement on Thursday.

Yeah, right, Junior. We'd believe that if we were complete idiots.

[titaniumsalute]

10. funny...just yesterday we learned more than $100k in ads from Russia were on Facebook

Wow what a coincidence!

[underpants]

11. Mr. Trump entered the Capitol under cover

Yeah but a guy like that, you can just sense the dumbass coming from him.

[dchill]

12. Still pretty much a textbook example...

of collusion. Even the ridiculous lies would be collusion, if true. Chip. Block.

[George II]

18. He's asking Russians to determine Clinton's fitness. Collusion 100%.

[turbinetree]

16. Mr. Trump

Do you swear to tell the "whole" truth " and nothing but the truth, so help you "god"

Well you failed, your e-mail says something else..........................traitor

And the question I would ask, is "why didn't you notify the FBI that you had been contacted by an agent(s) from the Russian government?

You are toast.................

[FakeNoose]

26. Perhaps you're addressing Donald Trump Senior?

Yes Senior did take the oath of office. Junior never took any oath so he's free to tell any bullshit lie he thinks he can get away with.

On second thought, so is Senior except if we catch him lying we can impeach him.

[Botany]

17. story #4

1) the meeting never happened
2) it was about adoptions
3) it was to get dirt on HRC
4) Jr. was just looking for information to see if HRC was fit for office


March 2017: Trump Jr. denies setting up any meetings with Russian nationals for campaign purposes

In an interview with the New York Times, Trump Jr. denied that he had participated in any meetings with Russians relating to the presidential campaign.

“Did I meet with people that were Russian? I’m sure, I’m sure I did,” he told the Times. “But none that were set up. None that I can think of at the moment. And certainly none that I was representing the campaign in any way, shape or form.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/fact-checker/wp/2017/07/21/timeline-donald-trump-jr-s-contradictory-statements-about-the-russia-meeting/?utm_term=.a373404302bc

[dchill]

20. Throwing spaghetti at the wall...

Nope. Still not done.

[Botany]

24. real purpose for the meeting was to make deals

Russia would help to rig the election for Trump and the Republicans and in
return Trump and company would still let the Putin/Russian Mob group
launder their money through NYC real estate (and other places) and the DoJ
would drop their investigation into Prevezon Holdings (Jeff Sessions did this
last May).

[dchill]

49. Yes. The money laundering charges WILL stick.

[Autumn]

19. He should have been worried about his Daddy's fitness.

[bucolic_frolic]

21. Justify commission of a crime for a higher purpose

Straight from the Radical Right

I mean, we could all do this. Go to the super and steal a box of ice cream bars.

"Why did you steal them?"

"Out of my concern for the public, I wanted to make sure they were safe for human consumption."

Follow the money?

Follow the logic!

[truthisfreedom]

29. That's like meeting with Martians to determine Earthings' fitness

to inhabit this planet.

[usaf-vet]

30. Fitness for the Oval Office. Jebus H Keyrice.......

he knows the most UNFIT person to ever be in the Oval Office for at least the last 100 years.

That gene pool is seriously damaged.

[Bleacher Creature]

33. Even someone as dumb as him should know how lame that sounds.

And if the information showed her to be fit for office, would he have voted for her?

Because if he wanted that information for anything other than his own personal vote, it's campaigning - pure and simple.

[Frustratedlady]

34. Obviously, he doesn't understand what the meaning of "fit for office" is.

His old man is the perfect example and he worked hard to get him in that Oval Office.

Do any of those Trump family members think before they speak?

Why did I just post the above sentence? Of COURSE they don't.

[dixiegrrrrl]

62. one must remember the underlying assumptions they have.

They have gotten so used to being treated like golden gods, because of the perception of being ultra rich.
Ivanka's tone deaf utterances are a perfect example. Not used to being seriously poked at.

daddy lies so smoothly, you would think the kids had some of that talent, but they don't. They just know to lie, but badly.

[Achilleaze]

36. Like father (R) like son (R)

lie lie lie lie lie lie lie lie lie

[TeapotInATempest]

37. Sure, Junior. Whatever you say.

That family is absolutely beyond the pale.

[C_U_L8R]

38. But... but what about teh orphans ???

This guys is a liar. He's been lying at every opportunity.
And there is absolutely no reason to believe a thing he has to say.

[SunSeeker]

39. Then why would he "love it" if receipt was timed "later in the summer" as he said in his email?

Why not right now, asap? Why play politics with this info? And why is he looking to our foreign adversary to inform him on whether one of our presidential candidates is "qualified."

And since the Russians clearly intimated it was damaging dirt, why would he be giddy about an American presidential candidate being unqualified for the office?

[meadowlander]

61. He was conflicted for seven minutes.

Then he replied that he loved it.

That's the kind of robust decision making process we've come to know and love from the Trumps.

[SunSeeker]

67. He was never conflicted or hesitant about conspiring with Russia.

He responded to that email within 7 minutes of receipt, even though it was the height of the campaign. That's immediate, considering how long that dimwit would take to read it and type out that reply.

Trump had already begun his conspiracy with Russia well before that email. That's why they got that email and responded to it immediately.

[Bradical79]

40. I'm glad he's so chatty

Dude doesn't know when to keep his mouth shut lol. Worst conspirator ever Should search his homes, he probably took notes on the whole thing.

[Gothmog]

43. Don Jr. is just as big of an idiot as his dad

[raven mad]

45. There is so much skepticism I can afford................

[RedSpartan]

46. This is pretty much the textbook definition of collusion.

Thanks, Dolt 45 Jr.

[Mr.Bill]

47. And what do you want to bet

that the meeting took a bit longer than 20 minutes, too.

[ananda]

48. Such a super widdle patwiot!

He woved his countwy so much that he
just had to turn to Wussia to make sure
Clinton wasn't unfit to be pwesident.

Now just ask him about all the lies and
fake news that painted her to be something
entirely different from what she really
was.

[Thunderbeast]

50. So weak it is laughable....

This sounds like the concocted story an eight year old might make up if he had several weeks to plan his defense. Did his lawyers think this one up? Does Donald Trump Jr. assume it was HIS responsibility to protect us from the treacherous Ms. Clinton?

Another implausible story to follow in 3....2....1....

Oh wait!....Adoption.

[cyclonefence]

53. So he felt qualified to judge HRC's fitness for office

Reminds me of OJ's detective qualifications when he was trying to find Nicole's real killer.

[WhoWoodaKnew]

54. LOL

[MFM008]

55. Awwwww

Daddy's little LIAR.

[jmowreader]

56. I saw this in a movie once

It's the scene in The Blues Brothers where Jake is telling Carrie Fisher why he stood her up at the altar.

[Paladin]

58. "Fitness" as compared to whom---his old man's?

Fuck you, Fredo. Disappear, and take the rest of your NY street trash family with you.

[procon]

59. Keep digging, Junior, you're smarter than any of 'em!

[Vinca]

60. Sez the son of the man most unfit to be POTUS than anyone in history.

[packman]

63. Oh, come on...

[padah513]

69. HA!

Good one!

[Red Pest]

65. So, Little Donny's latest excuse is...

Don Jr. wants us to believe that he was too inexperienced and too incompetent and too stupid to do some basic background checking to see who he would be meeting with and what could the possible legal consequences be from such a meeting. This is the best he can come up with after how many other excuses that have been discarded?

[samnsara]

66. that little weasle thinking HE had the authority or knowledge to...

...determinee if HRC was 'fit' makes me hate that family even more. Hes not even fit to utter her name! None of them are!

[JDC]

70. He's a Patriot!

His REAL concern was for America.

I honestly don't know how we got to this place where such obvious lies upon lies and empty excuse after excuse are accepted in any way.

It's a bizarro world.

[Mr. Ected]

74. Junior's attorney is Alan Futerfas

He undoubtedly wrote this statement.

This is the best they've got.

Let that sink in for a minute.

This is the best they've got.

[Mike Nelson]

77. Hillary's fitness for office is...

...not a good lie. He has an enemy within his team of lawyers.

[Sunlei]

81. Republicans ordered the PI expert dossier on Donald. Why didn't they order one on Hillary?

excuses, excuses.