Want to Know More About … The Trump Tower Meeting

John Avalon: “This Is Foreign Governments And Foreign Folks Interfering And Trying To Influence Our Elections.”

JOHN AVALON: “But just to sort of ground this in history, this is something that the founding fathers explicitly warned about. Washington warning about Foreign governments influencing and  interfering in our elections. Nixon’s campaign, now we know a third party was negotiating with the North Vietnamese on their behalf. Something that Nixon might fear would lead to his impeachment. Of course it was something else 44 years to the day that did that Watergate.  So there is legal something of value campaign finance question. But this is not subtle folks, this is foreign governments and foreign folks interfering and trying to influence our elections.” [New Day, CNN, 8/6/18; Video]

John Berman: “You Do Not Often Have A President Of The United States Who Admits As He Just Did That He Willingly Mislead Or, Yes, Lied To The American People.”

JOHN BERMAN: “The President just did that, he just admitted that the statement he dictated on Air Force One, that his lawyers now admit he dictated is wildly misleading. That statement put side by side with this statement he just put out on Twitter for us to see they directly contradict each other. You do not often have a president of the United States who admits as he just did that he willingly mislead or, yes, lied to the American people.” [New Day, CNN, 8/6/18; Video] Continue reading “Want to Know More About … The Trump Tower Meeting”

Senators demand testimony on Don Jr.’s crumbling Russia cover-up story

The following article by Oliver Willis was posted on the ShareBlue.com website July 28, 2018:

Senators are demanding that Donald Trump Jr. return to testify to the Senate Judiciary Committee after Michael Cohen exposed that his father knew in advance about the meeting between the Trump campaign and Russian operatives.

Donald Trump, Jr., Credit: Alec Tabak, The Daily News via AP, Pool

Senators are demanding that Donald Trump Jr. come back and testify to the Senate Judiciary Committee — this time under oath — after new revelations that his father knew about the clandestine campaign meeting with Russian operatives.

According to Trump’s former personal lawyer and “fixer,” Michael Cohen, the elder Trump knew in advance about the meeting at Trump Tower. At that infamous gathering, Don Jr. was among the senior campaign advisers who met with Russian operatives offering up dirt on Hillary Clinton.

But when he testified in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee as part of the ongoing probe into Russian election interference, Don Jr. reportedly said his father did not know about the event.

View the complete article here.

Michael Cohen claims Trump knew about 2016 Trump Tower meeting ahead of time

The following article was posted on the Axios website July 26, 2018:

Michael Cohen walking down Park Avenue. Credit: Timothy A. Clary, AFP via Getty Images

Michael Cohen, former personal attorney for President Trump, claims Trump approved “going ahead with” the 2016 Trump Tower meeting, in which Donald Trump Jr. and other Trump campaign officials met with Russians to offer the Trump campaign dirt on Hillary Clinton, reports CNN.

Why it matters: Cohen’s claim contradicts denials by Trump, Trump Jr., their lawyers and administration officials who say then-candidate Trump was unaware of the meeting until he was approached about it by the New York Times in July 2017. Cohen said he is willing to testify in the Mueller investigation, but does not have any corroborating evidence other than his claim.

The details: Cohen claims that he, along with several others, was present when Trump was informed of the offer from the Russians and then-candidate Trump approved going ahead with it.

Qatari Investor Confirms Michael Avenatti’s Report He Met with Transition Officials at Trump Tower

The following article byCody Fenwick was posted on the AlterNet website May 15, 2018:

The investor’s spokesperson said he met Trump’s team but not Michael Flynn.

Ahmed Al-Rumaihi, the head of a division of Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund, met with President Donald Trump’s transition team in 2016, according to a statement his spokesperson gave to CNN.

This confirms a report from Michael Avenatti, the lawyer for Stormy Daniels, who asserted that Al-Rumaihi has attended such a meeting. However, the spokesperson denied that Al-Rumaihi met with Michael Flynn, Trump’s former national security adviser who has since pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI, as Avenatti had claimed. A source told CNN that Al-Rumaihi did briefly meet Trump’s lawyer Michael Cohen, one of the people sued in the case Avenatti represents. Continue reading “Qatari Investor Confirms Michael Avenatti’s Report He Met with Transition Officials at Trump Tower”

Turns out Don Jr.’s meeting at Trump Tower was with a Russian agent

The following article by Ryan Koronowski was posted on the ThinkProgress website April 27, 2018:

The Russian lawyer Donald Trump Jr. hosted at Trump Tower just admitted she’s an informant.

Credit: Time Magazine

The Russian lawyer whom Donald Trump Jr. hosted during his infamous meeting at Trump Tower on June 9, 2016 — Natalia Veselnitskaya — has insisted she is not Kremlin spy. The Trump campaign’s allies bought this assertion hook, line, and sinker.

But according to newly-released emails from a Russian watchdog group, as well as Veselnitskaya’s own admission in a forthcoming television interview, she has been an informant for the Russian government for years.

“I am a lawyer, and I am an informant,” she said in an interview with NBC News to be broadcast on Friday, according to the New York Times. “Since 2013, I have been actively communicating with the office of the Russian prosecutor general.” Continue reading “Turns out Don Jr.’s meeting at Trump Tower was with a Russian agent”

Eighth person in Trump Tower meeting is identified

The following article by Rosalind S. Helderman and Tom Hamberger was posted on the Washington Post website July 18, 2017:

Donald Trump Jr. is interviewed by host Sean Hannity last Tuesday. (Richard Drew/AP)

An American-based employee of a Russian real estate company took part in a June 2016 Trump Tower meeting between a Russian lawyer and Donald Trump Jr., bringing to eight the number of known participants at the session that has emerged as a key focus of the investigation of the Trump campaign’s interactions with Russians.

Ike Kaveladze’s presence was confirmed by Scott Balber, an attorney for Emin and Aras Agalarov, the Russian developers who hosted the Trump-owned Miss Universe pageant in 2013. Balber said Kaveladze works for the Agalarovs’ company and attended as their representative.

Balber said Tuesday that he received a phone call from a representative of Special Counsel Robert Mueller over the weekend asking if Kaveladze would agree to be interviewed. Balber said his client would cooperate. The request is the first public indication that Mueller’s team is investigating the meeting. Continue reading “Eighth person in Trump Tower meeting is identified”