'In Retrospect...' Trump Jr.'s Russia Meeting Doesn't Look Good, but Was It Legal?

Heather Sells
07-12-2017

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One of President Donald Trump's lawyers says the president's son did not violate any laws in his meeting with a Russian lawyer during last year's presidential campaign.

American Center for Law and Justice Chief Counsel and Trump attorney Jay Sekulow also says the president didn't know about the meeting until very recently.

But investigators who are looking into Russian interference in last year's election will still want to interview Donald Trump, Jr.

Washington is abuzz with the news about Trump Jr.'s campaign meeting. The president's son released an email chain about the event and now Justice Department investigators say they plan to examine the meeting.

Donald Trump, Jr.'s lengthy email chain shows what happened. Emails from publicist Rob Goldstone last summer indicated that a Russian lawyer had damaging information about Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. Trump Jr. replied, "I love it" and agreed to the meeting.

Last night on Sean Hannity's show he expressed regret about the incident and said the meeting went nowhere.
 
But he also said, "In retrospect, I probably would have done things a little differently."

The Russian lawyer told NBC News she had no connection to the Kremlin, although Trump Jr. was reportedly told before the meeting the Russian government had information that could help his father.

The revelation about the meeting, which included Trump Jr. along with Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner and campaign official Paul Manafort, has caught Washington by surprise and now a race has begun to see who gets the first crack at questioning him.

Three different congressional committees are investigating Russia's interference in last year's election, and they each want to talk with Trump Jr. who says he's willing to talk to Congress.

And CNN reports Special Counsel Robert Mueller's team will also examine the meeting and emails as part of its Russia investigation.

Lawmakers were quick to respond to the story with some Democrats taking a very hard line.

"This is moving into perjury, false statements an even potentially treason," said Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., Hillary Clinton's running mate against candidate Trump.

The White House called such language "ridiculous."

But a few Republicans openly criticized the president's son too.
 
"His characterization of the meeting has changed which creates suspicion," said Sen. Lindsay Graham, R-S.C.

Other Republicans are defending Trump Jr. or keeping quiet.

The president applauded his son's transparency Tuesday and called him a "high quality person."
   

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About The Author

Heather
Sells

Heather Sells covers wide-ranging stories for CBN News that include religious liberty, ministry trends, immigration, and education. She’s known for telling personal stories that capture the issues of the day, from the border sheriff who rescues migrants in the desert to the parents struggling with a child that identifies as transgender. In the last year, she has reported on immigration at the Texas border, from Washington, D.C., in advance of the Dobbs abortion case, at crisis pregnancy centers in Massachusetts, and on sexual abuse reform at the annual Southern Baptist meeting in Anaheim
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