CNN was not able to confirm the identity of the business associates Trump was reportedly speaking with, nor the content of the conversations.
So why report it?
Trump is always really talking about himself. So when he said during the DNC/Podesta email releases in 2016 that you shouldnât use email, you should send info by courier, it seemed ridiculous at the time.
But what he was really saying was: I had Don Jr. walk up one floor to brief me in person on the meeting with the Russians.
Don Jr. Calls Ahead Of 2016 Trump Tower Meeting Were Not With His Dad
Doesnât mean that he did not discuss this with Big Daddy. Just means it may not have been not via a call.
No doubt there will be a No Collusion!!! tweet in 3âŚ2âŚ1âŚ
When will these creeps be gone?
âThree sources âwith knowledge of the matterâ told CNN that records provided to the Senate Intelligence Committee establish that the calls to blocked numbers were actually between Trump Jr. and two unnamed business associates.â
and they are?
It could have been. The question now is, who were the mysterious receipents?
So, we are supposed to believe that Trump, Jr. just did this all on his own initiative to show his father that he could do something? I doubt that is how it actually happened, but it might just be stupid enough to be plausible.
It would be very interesting if it were affirmatively shown that this call was made to this person. Itâs obviously a lot less interesting if it is shown that this call was not made to this person. Don Jr. has obviously made many phone calls in his life, and (presumably) has even been known to speak to his father in person!
So, itâs worth reporting, but itâs not exactly a torpedo in the side of a theory of conspiracy. Just some additional context for flavor. Who were these other business associates? Thatâs an interesting question.
You know, Baron has been awfully quiet throughout this entire ordeal.
âbusiness associatesâ
like Eric and Ivanka?
So what? All Trump Jr. had to do was walk upstairs (I know, I know, he took the elevator), and talk to his dad. No need to call him on the phone.
There is a particular odor that weâve all learned to detect, like the tiny bit of hydrogen sulfide they add to natural gas so we can detect a leak. Itâs the smell of CNN once again being played by Congressional Republicans telling them documents they have but wonât let them see totally say a thing that furthers their agenda. Itâs the smell of a reporter who thinks he or she is being a smart, savvy insidery operator being paddled like a sub in a BDSM clown sex club.
ââŚwho were sitting on either side of his father â with their phones on speaker â upstairs.â
(Suppose Mueller has the GPS coordinates of those two phones at the time, along with that of Dadâs?)
Information is coming from the Senate investigation. Take it with a grain of salt.
Plausible deniability
His fatherâs personal assistant? Rhona Graf? Hope Hicks? Ivanka?
Is the sourcing solid enough that we can discount these kind of semantic games?
I think CNN should have held off until they could either say who was on the other end of the line, or get someone from senate intel on record. The Senate intel committee is not as transparently awful as the house one under Nunes, but my suspicions still rise if the source is a republican committee staffer.
Honestly, I am skeptical that Junior would scheme up this level of opsec 
No worries, Manafort showed him how.
âquiteâ?