WASHINGTON, U.S. – The U.S. President Donald Trump’s latest outburst against the media on Twitter, may reportedly amount to the President conceding that collusion with Russia, did, in fact, take place.
Irked at reports that appeared over the weekend and stated that Trump’s recent particularly energized bashing of the special counsel Robert Mueller on social media stemmed from worries about possible legal trouble for his eldest son – Trump again took to Twitter to thrash the media.
Responding to the reports that appeared in the Washington Post, CNN and AP – Trump tweeted on Sunday, “Fake News reporting, a complete fabrication, that I am concerned about the meeting my wonderful son, Donald, had in Trump Tower.”
He added, “This was a meeting to get information on an opponent, totally legal and done all the time in politics – and it went nowhere. I did not know about it!”
Then, the following day, Trump quoted a Fox and Friends interview about alleged Democratic collusion with Russia and tweeted, “Collusion with Russia was very real. Hillary Clinton and her team 100% colluded with the Russians, and so did Adam Schiff who is on tape trying to collude with what he thought was Russians to obtain compromising material on DJT. We also know that Hillary Clinton paid through……..a law firm, eventually Kremlin-connected sources, to gather info on Donald Trump. Collusion is very real with Russia, but only with Hillary and the Democrats, and we should demand a full investigation.”
He then wrote, “Dan Bongino on @foxandfriends Looking forward to the new IG Report!”
However, the President’s tweet on Sunday meant that he was directly contradicting previous statements from the Trump campaign about the purpose of the meeting.
Despite previous claims about the controversial June 2016 meeting – Trump has now admitted, through his tweet, that his eldest son, Donald Trump Jr. met the Russian lawyer “to get information on an opponent.”
According to experts, Don Jr’s meeting with Kremlin-linked lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya at Trump Tower could constitute a breach of U.S. campaign rules.
Further, even though Trump has denied collusion several times – even claiming last week that collusion wasn’t a crime – the 2016 meeting is being investigated by Mueller as part of his inquiry into Russia’s alleged role to help Trump win.
In 2017, when the New York Times first reported on the meeting, Donald Trump Jr said in a statement that he and Veselnitskaya had mostly discussed a suspended programme for Americans to adopt Russian children.
Subsequently, he contradicted himself and released an email exchange that brought about the meeting on Twitter.
Don Jr. even admitted that he had agreed to the meeting after being told he would be offered information that would prove detrimental to his father’s rival in the Presidential race, Hillary Clinton.
Soon after, reports claimed that Trump had been involved in the initial statement his son issued on the meeting but while Trump’s team denied this initially – his lawyers later confirmed that he had, in fact, dictated his son’s statement.
On Sunday, Trump again claimed that he did not know about the meeting.
According to experts, when Trump blatantly declared on Twitter, that his son held the meeting to receive dirt on Clinton, he may have conceded that collusion did take place.
Further, experts claim that the President’s tweet on Sunday may have also inadvertently pointed to a motive for his repeated efforts to obstruct the Russia investigation and will possibly strengthen the case that Trump obstructed justice.
Further, many analysts believe that Trump has now flatly conceded to collusion more directly than ever before.
Even as the debate over Trump’s latest acknowledgement and its possible repercussions gripped Washington on Monday, another report appeared in the New York Times.
The report claimed that people close to the president believe that he may be increasing his legal jeopardy by continuing to speak publicly about sensitive matters.
Considering his campaign is already under investigation for possible collusion with Russia and he himself is under scrutiny for possible obstruction of justice, advisers are reportedly urging him to stop commenting on the reported lines of investigation publicly.
Believing that Trump is making Mueller’s case for him, some of his top advisers and several Russians have reportedly urged the President to stop tweeting about the controversial 2016 Trump Tower meeting.
A source familiar with discussions was quoted as saying in a CNN report that the President was advised that his tweeting only gives oxygen to the topic.
Considering that reports claimed last month that Mueller has been reviewing Trump’s tweets as part of his probe into whether the President obstructed justice – Trump’s top advisers might be right in advising the President to hold back on his thoughts, lest they turn into evidence that will be used against him.