Donald Trump Jr. has changed his story about collusion with Russia yet again, this time in testimony to investigators from the Senate Judiciary Committee. He can be charged with a crime if he’s found to have lied to congressional investigators.
It’s clear Trump Jr. must be counting on congressional investigators, Special Counsel Robert Mueller, and the American people to suspend their disbelief and blindly accept his conflicting explanations. Unfortunately for Trump Jr. and his father, however, that’s simply not going to happen.
Here are the three most likely lies from Trump Jr.’s testimony today:
1. Trump Jr. now says he doesn’t remember if the White House helped craft his initial misleading response to reports about the June 9, 2016 meeting in Trump Tower with Jared Kushner, Paul Manafort, and Russian officials.
- FACT CHECK: The President dictated his son’s response on-board Air Force One.
2. Trump Jr. now says he had reservations about taking the meeting with the Russian officials.
- FACT CHECK: He responded to an email promising dirt on Hillary Clinton from Rob Goldstone, an emissary of Russian billionaire Aras Agalarov, in mere minutes saying “If it’s what you say I love it.”
3. Trump Jr. maintains he did not tell his father about the Trump Tower meeting at the time.
- FACT CHECK: The timeline and Trump’s behavior in the immediate aftermath of the infamous email exchange and the meeting itself make this impossible to believe.
- June 3, 2016: Trump, Jr. excitedly agrees to meeting with the “Russia government lawyer” to discuss information that could damage Hillary Clinton. The email also said the information was acquired by the Russian government in support of Trump and his campaign.
- June 7, 2016: Trump promises dirt on Clinton in his acceptance speech after clinching the nomination — just hours after the meeting was confirmed.
- June 9, 2016: Trump Jr., Paul Manafort, and Jared Kushner attend the meeting Russian officials, hoping to obtain dirt on Clinton.
- June 13, 2016: Trump again promises a “big speech” to share dirt on Clinton.
- June 15, 2016: DNC announced that its email system was hacked by two Russian government-backed groups.
