The bombshell 20-page letter written by Donald Trump’s attorneys to special counsel Robert Mueller early this year and obtained by The New York Times Saturday includes an intriguing revelation. Trump “dictated” the misleading statement about Donald Trump Jr.’s controversial meeting with a Russian representative during the presidential election, the letter states unequivocally.
Donald Trump Jr. met at Trump Tower in Manhattan in June 2016 with Kremlin-linked attorney Natalia Veselnitskaya, who said she could deliver damaging information on Hillary Clinton.
After the Times reported on the Trump Tower meeting last summer, “The president dictated a short but accurate response ... on behalf of his son,” stated the newly obtained letter, written by Trump’s attorneys Jay Sekulow and John Dowd (who has since left the Trump legal team).
The president’s response stated that the meeting “primarily discussed a program about the adoption of Russian children.” It omitted any mention of Clinton.
Veselnitskaya did mention the Magnitsky Act that deals with Russian adoptions, but the focus of the meeting was Clinton, according to Trump’s son.
The misleading statement could cause problems for Trump if it’s seen as an attempt to obstruct Mueller’s investigation into possible Russia collusion with his campaign.
It could also cause problems for Trump’s son, who testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee last September that he didn’t have a clear idea who was responsible for the misleading statement about Russian adoptions.