President Trump used Twitter Friday morning to deny claims that he knew in advance about a meeting in June 2016 where Russians were expected to offer him dirt on his then opponent, Hillary Clinton.
Trump’s personal attorney, Michael Cohen, says that he and others were present when Trump was notified of the meeting and its intent by Donald Trump Jr. Cohen says Trump then decided to go ahead with the meeting. President Trump has said that he knew nothing about the sit-down, which was held at Trump Tower, until he was approached about it by The New York Times in July of last year.
“I did NOT know of the meeting with my son, Don jr. Sounds to me like someone is trying to make up stories in order to get himself out of an unrelated jam (Taxi cabs maybe?). He even retained Bill and Crooked Hillary’s lawyer. Gee, I wonder if they helped him make the choice!” Trump tweeted.
…..I did NOT know of the meeting with my son, Don jr. Sounds to me like someone is trying to make up stories in order to get himself out of an unrelated jam (Taxi cabs maybe?). He even retained Bill and Crooked Hillary’s lawyer. Gee, I wonder if they helped him make the choice!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 27, 2018
Trump Jr. had previously confirmed the meeting by tweeting out an email exchange between himself and publicist Rob Goldstone. The exchange makes it very clear that he was expecting to receive damaging information about Clinton as part of the Russian government’s support for Trump as a candidate. Jared Kushner and Paul Manafort were also present at the meeting.