"It was such a nothing, there was nothing to tell."
-Donald Trump Jr.
Even a casual follower of the Trump Administration and the Russian investigation could tell you that there is no way that Donald Trump Jr. didn't tell his father about the Trump Tower meeting with Russian operatives. It's the impossibility of nothingness.
The Wall Street Journal's Peggy Noonan asked that if Mr. Trump (senior) did know then what does it mean? Surprising that she couldn't come up with an answer so this column will provide one, and that is that Mr. Trump Jr. perjured himself to Congress. He did state in a Senate hearing that he had no told his father about it, but if this statement is proven false then that's a criminal act, not to mention that it does speak to then candidate Trump participating in collusion with a foreign government.
On the matter of proof, NBC's Andrea Mitchell mentioned the Mr. Trump Jr.'s blocked phones during the scheduling of the meeting, which Don Jr. does not remember. Special Counsel Robert Mueller knows exactly who was one the other end of those calls despite the blocked numbers. If you've read his last indictment of 12 Russians and the detail encompassed in it, then investigating who's blocked number that was probably only took half a morning.
As all this pertains to Michael Cohen, the president's lawyer/fixer, he's come to the realization that he's not going to be bailed out by the president and is therefore using the information (recordings and documents) that he has to save himself, but not only that there is an apparent tinge of vindictiveness to Mr. Cohen's actions - punitive repercussions so to speak for the president. And because of the recording, the Trump Organization's chief accountant Allen Weisselberg is being called before a grand jury, a man who has unrivaled knowledge of Mr. Trump's finances during the campaign and going back decades.
Sam Nunberg, on today's program, said that given that Mr. Cohen recorded conversations, that he's inclined to believe the president over Mr. Cohen. Honestly, this column doesn't understand why you would even want to talk to Mr. Nunberg at this point simply for the fact that he has no credibility at all. Really his opinion means nothing and he's not going to say anything that would draw additional attention to himself.
The vastly more informative interview, as you can imagine, came from the one with Michael Isikoff of Yahoo News who outlined a broader Russian infiltration of the the United States' conservative establishment through it's most powerful lobby, that National Rifle Association. The infiltration must be significant in terms of money laundered through the NRA then donated to Republican candidates because oddly, the NRA has been silent on this. It's unheard of that when this organization is attacked that it stays silent, but right now it has nothing to say, which would obviously lead someone to believe that there's something there. Mr. Isikoff also mentioned the dereliction of duty on the part of Congressional Republicans for not calling hearings and having individuals like Michael Cohen and Maria Butina, now in jail for allegedly being an unregistered Russian operative, testify in public. The explanation of this, in terms of House Republicans, is that a minority of Republicans in the form of the Freedom Caucus lead by Congressmen Jim Jordan (R-OH) and Mark Meadows (R-NC) want power so badly and they're holding the rest of the majority hostage.
Finally, Senator Rob Portman (R-OH) said that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo did a fine job in his Senatorial testimony this week on what was discussed during Mr. Trump's two-hour closed door one-on-one meeting with Vladimir Putin, followed by what Ms. Noonan said was an embarrassing press conference with the Russian president. It was a fine job depending on how you look at it, but the panel seemed to come to the conclusion that Mr. Pompeo doesn't really know what was said and all he could do was confirm that U.S. policies toward Russia haven't changed (e.g. sanctions because of Crimea, Syria policy, and the hot war in eastern Ukraine). Mr. Pompeo during the hearing did confirm that what the president says is U.S. policy. But therein lies the rub because the public pronouncements of the president and actual policy are distinctly at odds with one another.
The president this week in front of Veterans of Foreign Wars said, "Just remember, what you are seeing and what you are reading is not
what's happening," Trump said. "Just stick with us, don't believe the
crap you see from these people, the fake news."
For a president who supposedly doesn't read, he sure does have George Orwell's writing down pat.
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