Trump

[ShockingButTrue]

[jdshock]

I'm blown away by Jr's admissions over the last few days. It's truly incredible what he's putting out there.

He just released the full email chain that he received setting up the meeting with the Russian attorney. Per the email chain, "Emin asked that I schedule a meeting with you and The Russian government attorney who is flying over from Moscow for this Thursday." "This is obviously very high level and sensitive information but is part of Russia and its government's support for Mr. Trump."

Per these emails and his own admissions, Jr set up the meeting with the specific purpose of getting damaging information against his opponent (the former Secretary of State) from "Russia and its government."

I would bet dollars to donuts that the criminal attorney he just hired did not know he was going to release this information.

[pinstripers]

For over 200 years, the United States Justice system has operated the same way.....when a crime has been committed, try to find out who did it and bring them to account. Nowadays it is........here is a guy, go find out something, anything, he did.

[ShockCrazy]

I'm blown away by Jr's admissions over the last few days. It's truly incredible what he's putting out there.

He just released the full email chain that he received setting up the meeting with the Russian attorney. Per the email chain, "Emin asked that I schedule a meeting with you and The Russian government attorney who is flying over from Moscow for this Thursday." "This is obviously very high level and sensitive information but is part of Russia and its government's support for Mr. Trump."

Per these emails and his own admissions, Jr set up the meeting with the specific purpose of getting damaging information against his opponent (the former Secretary of State) from "Russia and its government."

I would bet dollars to donuts that the criminal attorney he just hired did not know he was going to release this information.

I'm not sure what he thought he was going to accomplish with these emails. It clearly shows that Jr was informed of the situation, and also that it clearly shows that they at least believed they were going to receive support from Russian Government sources. Pretty damning, regardless of what was actually gained, it's pretty clear they were hoping to gain from Russian information. Information that both sides already considered "sensitive".

[jdmee]

I thought Mitt Romney's chief strategist, Stuart Stevens, had a good analysis of the Don Jr. stuff. He basically pointed out that when the Gore team received private Bush docs that had been stolen, they called the FBI. If the Russians claim to have stolen damaging info on your opponent, who is also a former Sec of State, you don't meet with them. You call the FBI.

I'm struggling to see why this is controversial. No, I don't think the Trumps worked with the Russians nearly as thoroughly or strategically as many on the left claim, but I also don't think they had any problems being unethical when opportunities arose. And now, they are being exposed for the umpteenth time as the horrible liars that they are.

"... some official documents and information that would incriminate Hillary and her dealings with Russia... This is obviously very high level and sensitive information but is part of Russia and its government's support for Mr. Trump."

This does not sound like the Russians claiming to have stolen damaging info on your opponent.

[ShockCrazy]

This does not sound like the Russians claiming to have stolen damaging info on your opponent.

Be careful of moving bars around, one day you might find that it supports your opposition. See: How Democrats feel about destroying filibusters now.

[Jamar Howard 4 President]

This does not sound like the Russians claiming to have stolen damaging info on your opponent.

You are correct that "stolen" is not explicitly outlined, and that is a worthwhile point, but "incriminate Hillary" = "damaging info on your opponent".

Are we really ok with our political candidates sitting down with foreign adversaries to discuss incriminating information on former U.S. government officials who are also running for office?

[Jamar Howard 4 President]

July 24, 2016
Don Jr.
Asked about Clinton campaign claiming Russians were helping Trump.

"It's disgusting. It's so phony."

https://twitter.com/kylegriffin1/status/884798058881576960

[ShockCrazy]

As a side note, can people stop saying anything done with Russia was treasonous? It's driving me batty, could it have been illegal? Yes. Treasonous, absolutely not. We are not at war with Russia, nor did what they do involve waging war against the United States.

[Aargh]

For over 200 years, the United States Justice system has operated the same way.....when a crime has been committed, try to find out who did it and bring them to account. Nowadays it is........here is a guy, go find out something, anything, he did.

When I was in the military, I was assigned the duty of making ID cards. To do that, I was required to have a top secret security clearance. The military did a background check that included "here is a guy, go find out something, anything, he did". As it turned out I hadn't "done" anything, so I was granted the clearance. Even with the top clearance the military offered at that time (Nam era - remember Daniel Ellsberg? - that was when I got my clearance), everything I saw was limited to a "need to know" basis.

I would hope that those entrusted with our nation's most delicate and sensitive information, and whose "need to know" is determined by their father, would be subjected to something more rigorous and stringent than what a guy typing and laminating military ID's goes through.

I am 100% behind "here is a guy, go find out something, anything, he did" for those in power in the White House. If they haven't "done" anything, there is nothing to find.

[Aargh]

Nowadays, it seems that some people think it's worse to report the crime than to have committed the crime. If it's "your guy" who committed the crime, then it is traitorous to be disloyal and report that the crime was committed, if you have knowledge of that fact.

[RoyalShock]

You are correct that "stolen" is not explicitly outlined, and that is a worthwhile point, but "incriminate Hillary" = "damaging info on your opponent".

Are we really ok with our political candidates sitting down with foreign adversaries to discuss incriminating information on former U.S. government officials who are also running for office?

Definitely not OK with it.

What I suspect is that this is an uncovering of what may be common practice during presidential campaigns (getting damaging info on an opponent, regardless of the source). But no one until now, thanks to the constant pressure being applied from media and an investigation, was willing to admit.

If this is common practice, hopefully it's the first step to cleaning it up.

[ShockCrazy]

Definitely not OK with it.

What I suspect is that this is an uncovering of what may be common practice during presidential campaigns (getting damaging info on an opponent, regardless of the source). But no one until now, thanks to the constant pressure being applied from media and an investigation, was willing to admit.

If this is common practice, hopefully it's the first step to cleaning it up.

Digging up dirt is certainly a part of the current process. Could that occasionally involve foreign governments possibly, but probably not very often. The damning part is this process never directly involves higher ups in the campaign or administration. It's insane to me that Jr willingly and knowingly not only got in the muck of potentially illegal behavior but seemed to seek it out.

[Rocky Mountain Shock]

Good for Don Jr. for coming out with information and being transparent and forthcoming. It is a refreshing change in the midst of an administration that seems to be clamoring to get behind the bushes as fast as it can.

With that said, the press and Democrats are going to have a field day with this. He just poured gasoline on the fire. Nobody needs to go looking for the smoking gun anymore.

[jdshock]

Digging up dirt is certainly a part of the current process. Could that occasionally involve foreign governments possibly, but probably not very often. The damning part is this process never directly involves higher ups in the campaign or administration. It's insane to me that Jr willingly and knowingly not only got in the muck of potentially illegal behavior but seemed to seek it out.

And then he forwards the whole chain to Kushner and Manafort so that they were fully aware of what the meeting was supposed to be.

There's zero percent chance that an acceptable defense to this for Trump is "I had no idea that Kushner, Jr, and Manafort were meeting with Russians."