Skip to main content

Trump 'weighed in' on son's statement about meeting with Russian lawyer: White House - ABC News

posted onAugust 2, 2017
>

Article snippet: White House press secretary Sarah Sanders downplayed a report on Monday that President Donald Trump crafted a statement issued by Donald Trump Jr. in response to the revelation that the younger Trump met with a Russian attorney during the presidential campaign. "The president weighed in, as any father would, based on the limited information that he had," said Sanders at Tuesday's press briefing after stating that the statement was "true" and contained no "inaccuracy." On July 8, Trump Jr. responded to a New York Times story about the meeting by explaining that those in attendance "primarily discussed a program about the adoption of Russian children" and that before the encounter, he was not aware of the identity of the person he would be meeting. Later statements and additional reporting on the meeting provided additional context, including that Trump Jr. was told that the unnamed Russian attorney had incriminating information to share about Hillary Clinton. Two senior-level sources confirmed to ABC News a Washington Post story on Monday that Trump personally dictated the July 8 statement on his son's behalf while returning to the U.S. from the G-20 summit in Germany aboard Air Force One. The New York Times reported earlier in July that the president signed off on the initial statement from his son. One of Trump Sr.'s personal attorneys, Jay Sekulow, told ABC News on July 12 that the president "wasn't involved" in the formulation of the statement and "did... Link to the full article to read more

Emotional score for this article