This creates a problem for Sessions. Because unlike a lot of other people who have said that there was no discussions, ever, in the campaign about contacting Russiaā¦Sessions said it under oath.
No, no , noā¦CNN. He didnāt say yes, nor did he say no to the creamer. That āexcellent guyā was merely the coffee boyā¦letās keep our story straight here, shall we?
Besides, as we all recall, the āI love itā part came a bit later, with Trump Jr.
Based on Sanders veracity standards, I would say this means the group met weekly for 90 minutes each time.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions, then the chairman of Trumpās national security team and a Republican senator, firmly rejected the idea [of Trump meeting with Putin].
Why? Did Sessions think it would attract too much attention to the collusion and Russian cyber attack interference in the campaign and election?
Iām too indecisive to be a crook.
The main purpose of the Foreign Affairs Advisory Group was to pursue a different relationship with Russia and the mitigation or removal of sanctions on Russia. The group also obtained the RNC platform change on Russia. Donalt Trump probably said nothing because he already had a channel of communication with Putin through the Putin cronies funelling him millions of dollars for years.
Agreed. I think in the end this will all turn out to be about Russian money financing the Trump real estate āempire.ā Follow the moneyā¦and Director Mueller has already exceeded my highest expectations of his professionalism and ability to prevent leaks. Perhaps someone in the White House could learn something from him?
White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders told CNN on Wednesday that Trump did not recall what specifically took place in the meeting.
For one fleeting moment, I find the White House press secretary to be credible and honest.
CNN reported, citing an unnamed source in the room when Trump met with foreign policy advisers in March 2016, that Trump ādidnāt say yes and he didnāt say noā when his former campaign adviser George Papadopoulos floated the idea.
The skeptic in me cautions that, if the source was in the room, then he or she was a Trumpista. Such a one would naturally try to put themselves and their co-conspirators in the best possible light. How do we know, without corroboration, that Trump didnāt say, āYeah, Putin says nice things about me, Iād love to meet him.ā And Sesdions said, āYes, thatās a great idea.ā
Sorry, just hearsay. Iāll wait for Mueller to weigh in.
White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders told CNN on Wednesday that Trump did not recall what specifically took place in the meeting.
First signs that this is going to be his playbook when confronted. Please, pretty please, with sugar on top, have this shithead on tape admitting he was tickled pink to accept an invitation to meet Putin. Thatāll help him focus the mindā¦or whatās left of it.
Nonsense, Sarah Huckabee Sanders! Trump has one of the greatest memories of all time. Iām sure he can give us a detailed, word for word transcription of the entire discussion.
Soā¦definitely maybe??? :-/
Couldnāt Papadopolous be the source?
Iād thought about that, but Iāll bet Mueller has him on a tight leash, re talking to the press. No. I think it was the āsticky-bun boyā, not the coffee boy.
I also think the strategy will be turn to this into a āhe said, they saidā situation. The Trumpsters are still trying to pull this off as a mere public relations snafu. They have no idea how much Mueller knows. They still think that they can wage the battle on Fox News and win.
Trump ādidnāt say yes and he didnāt say noā
Thatās a slight misinterpretation. First DT said āyes,ā then he said āno.ā At the end of the meeting he focused his thoughts and told his advisers āWeāll see. Iāll be making a big decision on this over the next two weeks. I might do it right away, maybe early this week. Weāll see.ā
And we know who was the major consumer of the sticky buns on that committeeā¦by pure deductive reasoningā¦
This opens Sessions up to charges of perjury and concealment. He clearly concealed this meeting from the Congressional committees and never reported a thing to the FBI or to Mueller. He has been covering up the frequency and nature of attempted and actual contacts between the Trump campaign and Russia (either govāt officials or extensions/agents of the RU govāt). He attended the Mayflower Hotel meeting on 4/27/16 and met with Kislyak at least one other time (early Sept). He also mustāve heard Papadopoulosā info that the Russians had hacked HRC emails. He never informed the FBI. This is in addition to Sessionsā role in the Comey firing, so he has a lot to answer for.
Clearly, the Russians thought Sessions an important contact within the Trump campaign. Sessions went from Russia hawk to pro-Russia in a very short time. But hereās the thing: so did everyone else who joined and stuck around the campaign: From Flynn to Clovis to Sessions to Dearborn to JD Gordon and then the entire GOP: Russia became cool.
Up until now there has been a yawning gap to explain the Russia presence in the Trump campaign to cover the 1st quarter of 2016 (Jan-March). Weāre starting to see it fill in. The guy who has the best read on this period of the Trump-Russia story is Seth Abramson. In his view (with which I mostly concur) essentially boils down to the following:
Trump never expected to win the Presidency and always worked a Plan B to use the campaign to launch an expansion into Russia. Sater/Cohen worked the Trump Tower Moscow project for him from the fall of 2015 until the paper trail runs dry in January 2016. But during this time, Putin begins to praise Trump. Trump praises Putin. Putin hosts a big RT Gala dinner with Flynn and Jill Stein in attendance (at his table) in December 2015.
As Trump got traction in the campaign in early 2016, he seems to have used his new found success to launch this FP advisory group and use it to continue to kindle Russian interests. Flynn effectively joined the campaign in February '16 after shopping around for a while. He came in at this time with a pretty strong pro-Russia tilt, arguing that an alliance with Russia was necessary to fight Islam. However, it was really about grift and revenge for Flynn, which is why he and Trump get along so well. But I believe Flynn was effectively planted by Putin into the Trump camp. Vladimir doesnāt have you sit at his table for love. Heās doing it for a reason.
Papado got on this committee in March 2016 and seemed to have been immediately tasked by Clovis and others to begin outreach. It bore fruit. Manafort also joins the campaign (another Putin plant). Following that we have a series of logistical interactions resulting in the Mayflower Hotel meeting on 4/27/16. But Papado is also getting more and more info from Russians and seems confident that he can arrange meetings and that Russia will provide the campaign ādirtā on HRC. Then Russia opens up another angle through the Agalarov relationship to reach Trump Tower on the 6/9/16 meeting. That night, Trump excitedly declares that heās going to reveal some dirt on HRC. We now know he has known about the existence of this Russian held/hacked dirt since April. Heās banking on it.
Itās at this point that the Steele Dossier kicks in with its discussion of Page. Papado and Page spoke about their RU outreach. Page is the guy who gets sent to Russia and meets with the head of Rosneft - Igor Sechin (did RU offer Trump to get a cut of the proposed Rosneft sale?). A few weeks later, Russia delivers on its promise to disclose HRC dirt, using Wikileaks as a release point. Wikileaks and the holy grail of additional HRC missing emails become central facets of the Trump campaign.