Forget about whether Team Trump got 'dirt' at Trump Tower—the Russians found plenty of promise there
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One takeaway of many preliminary reports about some 2,500 pages of sworn testimony released on the key 2016 Trump Tower meeting between Trump campaign officials and Kremlin-linked operatives is that the original promise of game-changing «dirt» oForget about whether Team Trump got 'dirt' at Trump Tower—the Russians found plenty of promise there
One takeaway of many preliminary reports about some 2,500 pages of sworn testimony released on the key 2016 Trump Tower meeting between Trump campaign officials and Kremlin-linked operatives is that the original promise of game-changing «dirt» on Hillary Clinton never quite materialized. In other words, Don Jr. didn't exactly get what he was promised or he was looking for. But people who simply ask, «What did the Trump campaign actually get from the meeting?» are missing a much bigger point about the meeting. An equally important if not more telling question is, «What did the Russians get from the meeting?» Considering that the Russian lawyer and key participant, Natalia Veselnitskaya, admitted last month to being an «informant» for the Russian government, one has to wonder what she informed Russian officials about following the meeting. What's the first thing she told them? We promised Team Trump information that «would incriminate Hillary» and «be very useful» to Donald Trump's candidacy, and three of the campaign's top officials showed up at the meeting: Trump's eldest son, Don Jr.; Trump's son-in-law and director of digital outreach, Jared Kushner; and Trump's campaign manager, Paul Manafort. Veselnitskaya's takeaway: they were eager and open for business with us. In fact, based on the Senate Judiciary transcripts, Don Jr. began the June 9, 2016, meeting with: «So you have some information for us?» Don Jr. also expressed disappointment to the Judiciary panel about what little dirt actually materialized in the meeting: “All else being equal, I wouldn’t have wanted to waste 20 minutes ..." In other words, if they had gotten something good, he would have been psyched about it. But it was supposedly a bust. The Russians also got an opening from Don Jr. on potentially easing sanctions imposed on Russia by the Magnitsky Act, a penalty for human rights violations in the country that greatly embarrassed Vladimir Putin. Veselnitskaya had a track record of lobbying for removal of the sanctions, and Don Jr. closed the meeting by hinting at a quid pro quo. Donald Trump Jr. shut down the June 2016 meeting at Trump Tower by telling his Russian guests perhaps they'd revisit the discussion about lifting sanctions legislation should his father win the election. Read more