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Hey you take the meeting. That’s how Trump and his friends attempt to handwave away the shocking story of the Trump Tower Russia meeting of June 2016. If someone offers you oppo research on your opponent you take the meeting regardless of the source-even if the source is the Russian government.
Rudy Giuliani has recently taken that line-it’s totally fine to take oppo on your political opponent regardless of source. It makes no difference if it was from foreign nationals even if they are connected to a hostile foreign government or intelligence agency. Hey you take the meeting.
This is not true-taking oppo from a foreign government or intelligence agency is not the same as any other source. And Donald Jr. Rudy and friends seem to acknowledge this when they add that the info the Kremlin linked lawyer gave Jr wasn’t useful. But if there’s nothing wrong with the meeting why do they have to add that the info was no good. So if it was useful then it would be a problem?
FN: Sadly it seems that Mueller credited this claim of their’s that the info wasn’t useful-one of the two reasons in the Mueller Report for why Jr wasn’t charged was that the oppo offered wasn’t worth $2,000 dollars; the other reason is that ignorance is an excuse at least when your the illegitimate ‘President’s’ son.
End of FN
In any case we now see that there is a clear pattern of the Trump campaign being open to receiving the help of foreign governments.
We now know Donald Jr attended another Trump Tower collusion meeting with a foreign government.
“Three months before the 2016 election, a small group gathered at Trump Tower to meet with Donald Trump Jr., the president’s eldest son. One was an Israeli specialist in social media manipulation. Another was an emissary for two wealthy Arab princes. The third was a Republican donor with a controversial past in the Middle East as a private security contractor.”
“The GOP donor with the controversial past was: Erik Prince of Blackwater fame-also of Trumplandia fame: he was one of a number of at least a few Trump operatives who were talking to the rogue FBI agents leaking info on Hillary Clinton at the time of the Comey letter.”
“The meeting was convened primarily to offer help to the Trump team, and it forged relationships between the men and Trump insiders that would develop over the coming months — past the election and well into President Trump’s first year in office, according to several people with knowledge of their encounters.”
As for Steve Bannon’s buddy Erik Prince, Prince is who convened the meeting-which is not only explosive news, it also opens him up to charges of perjury as he gave Congress a very different story.
“Erik Prince, the private security contractor and the former head of Blackwater, arranged the meeting, which took place on Aug. 3, 2016. The emissary, George Nader, told Donald Trump Jr. that the princes who led Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates were eager to help his father win election as president. The social media specialist, Joel Zamel, extolled his company’s ability to give an edge to a political campaign; by that time, the firm had already drawn up a multimillion-dollar proposal for a social media manipulation effort to help elect Mr. Trump.”
“The company, which employed several Israeli former intelligence officers, specialized in collecting information and shaping opinion through social media.
Donald Jr’s reaction was similar to how he responded to Rob Goldstone’s emails about dirt the Russian government had on Clinton: if it’s as you say I love it.
“It is unclear whether such a proposal was executed, and the details of who commissioned it remain in dispute. But Donald Trump Jr. responded approvingly, according to a person with knowledge of the meeting, and after those initial offers of help, Mr. Nader was quickly embraced as a close ally by Trump campaign advisers — meeting frequently with Jared Kushner, Mr. Trump’s son-in-law, and Michael T. Flynn, who became the president’s first national security adviser. At the time, Mr. Nader was also promoting a secret plan to use private contractors to destabilize Iran, the regional nemesis of Saudi Arabia and the Emirates.”
And despite the refrain of the Trumpsters-‘You take the meeting, it doesn’t matter if it’s with a foreign government’ this is quite false. Giuliani who was once the top lawyer in the Southern District of NY has been parroting this total canard:
“It is illegal for foreign governments or individuals to be involved in American elections, and it is unclear what — if any — direct assistance Saudi Arabia and the Emirates may have provided. But two people familiar with the meetings said that Trump campaign officials did not appear bothered by the idea of cooperation with foreigners.”
FN: I mean if anything is established it’s that Trump and his co-conspirators see nothing wrong with colluding with a foreigners to win an election.
End of FN
The reaction of Don Jr though his lawyer is also very similar to his reaction to the June 2016 Trump Tower meeting-the dirt on Hillary wasn’t useful so there’s nothing to see here.
A lawyer for Donald Trump Jr., Alan Futerfas, said in a statement that “prior to the 2016 election, Donald Trump Jr. recalls a meeting with Erik Prince, George Nader and another individual who may be Joel Zamel. They pitched Mr. Trump Jr. on a social media platform or marketing strategy. He was not interested and that was the end of it.”
It seems the Saudis, just like Putin’s Russia had a clear favorite in the 2016 election: anyone but Hillary.
“News outlets linked to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates fiercely criticized Mrs. Clinton, Mr. Trump’s Democratic opponent, when she was secretary of state, and diplomats familiar with their thinking say both princes hoped for a president who would take a stronger hand in the region against both Iran and groups like the Muslim Brotherhood.”
Fittingly, post election Eric Prince-who has the arrogance of a prince- worked to setup a meeting between the Crown Prince and Putin. After all the two dictatorial leaders have so much in common-starting with the fact Trump runs foreign policy in the interests of their nations rather than his own.
“Mr. Nader also visited Moscow at least twice during the presidential campaign as a confidential emissary from Crown Prince Mohammed of Abu Dhabi, according to people familiar with his travels. After the election, he worked with the crown prince to arrange a meeting in the Seychelles between Mr. Prince and a financier close to President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia.”
“By then, a company connected to Mr. Zamel had been working on a proposal for a covert multimillion-dollar online manipulation campaign to help elect Mr. Trump, according to three people involved and a fourth briefed on the effort. The plan involved using thousands of fake social media accounts to promote Mr. Trump’s candidacy on platforms like Facebook.”
This report of yet another collusion meeting for Team Trump again puts the GOP’s report on Russia in harsh light: they claimed to see no evidence of either collusion or crimes. A major reason for this is they didn’t look for either:
In any case we now have a case of potential collusion with another country other than Russia:
“A bombshell report published Saturday by The New York Times reveals the existence of a second Trump Tower meeting and provides the first indication that a country other than Russia offered to help the Trump campaign in the months leading up to the 2016 presidential election.”
“The report — which details an August 2016 meeting between Donald Trump Jr., Blackwater founder Erik Prince (who is also the brother of Betsy DeVos), an emissary for two Arab princes, and an Israeli social media specialist promising a plan to help Trump win the election — opens up an entire new line of questioning about why Trump associates were so eager to meet with representatives of foreign governments offering assistance to the campaign.”
“It is illegal for foreign governments or individuals to be involved in American elections, and it is unclear what—if any—direct assistance Saudi Arabia and the Emirates may have provided. But two people familiar with the meetings said that Trump campaign officials did not appear bothered by the idea of cooperation with foreigners,” The Times reported.
The Saudis and Emirates DID suggest a campaign of fake Facebook accounts-eerily similar to the one that Russia did in fact run for Team Trump.
“The men met at Trump Tower in New York, according to a report from Mark Mazzetti, Ronen Bergman, and David Kirkpatrick. Nader told Trump Jr. that the princes of Saudi Arabia and UAE were “eager” to help Trump win the White House, saying they believed he was a strong leader who would “fill the power vacuum” they thought President Barack Obama had left in the Middle East. Zamel’s company, Psy-Group, had put together a proposal for an online manipulation program to help elect Trump using thousands of fake accounts to promote him on Facebook.”
“According to the Times, it’s not clear whether the proposal was executed, and it’s not clear who commissioned it in the first place. But Trump Jr. “responded approvingly,” and Nader joined the Trump-world fold, meeting often with Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, his former national security adviser, Michael Flynn, and his former strategist, Steve Bannon.”
Remember when some thought Steven Bannon had no Russia-or Saudia Arabia-exposure?
“There are multiple reasons the report matters. It indicates that it wasn’t just Russia that was offering to help the Trump campaign ahead of the 2016 election. It also raises questions about what sort of repayment the Middle East countries in question might have received for their help. And it demonstrates the Trump campaign’s reckless, if not nefarious, attitude toward campaign laws in the United States.
Alan Futerfas, a lawyer for Trump Jr., told the Times that the younger Trump “recalls” a meeting with Prince, Nader, and someone who “may be” Zamel. “They pitched Mr. Trump Jr. on a social media platform or marketing strategy. He was not interested and that was the end of it,” Futerfas said.
If it’s what you say, then I love it. Hey, you take the meeting.
Back to ShareBlue:
“The revelation of a second Trump Tower meeting during which Donald Trump Jr. received an offer of help from officials representing two other foreign governments — the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia — also blows a huge hole in the already flimsy final report released this month by Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee.”
“House intel Republicans ended their Russia investigation in March, declaring that they found no evidence of wrongdoing, no collusion, and no crimes committed by anyone they interviewed or investigated. They also broke with the intelligence community and said Russia had not attempted to help Trump win the election.”
“When the Majority report was released earlier this month, Republicans effectively declared ‘case closed’ and shut the book on investigating the Trump campaign so they could move on to more important matters — like risking the life of an FBI informant in an attempt to shield Trump from scrutiny.”
The GOP looks terrible here either way-either they closed the investigation with no knowledge of this meeting-which makes their categorical declaration of no collusion even more outrageous-or they knew of and concealed the meeting. This is true for the entire GOP report. Either they were totally uninformed of much other evidence-in that case they made a very strong categorical statement about something they were totally uninformed or they did know about at least some of this other evidence and concealed it to protect so-called President Trump.
This also suggests that Erik Prince-not to speak of Don Jr-lied to Congress when he claimed to have ha no role or contact with the Trump campaign.
“This isn’t the first time Prince’s testimony before the House intel committee has been called into question. Special counsel Robert Mueller reportedly has evidence contradicting Prince’s claim that a meeting he attended in the Seychelles with a Putin ally was an unplanned encounter. Nader, a cooperating witness, reportedly told Mueller’s team that he helped arrange the meeting in advance — undermining what Prince said during his testimony.”
Of course, the House GOP denied the request. It always amazes me how much Jeff Sessions hates marijuana when his party is the Party of Treason P.O.T.
Ok so quid pro quo: what did the Saudis and Emirates get for their trouble? What’s clear is they’ve gotten a great deal of what they wanted under the Trump Administration:
Back to Vox:
“Since entering the White House, Mr. Trump has allied himself closely with Saudi Arabia and the Emirates. His first overseas trip was to Riyadh. He strongly backed Saudi and Emirati efforts to isolate their neighbor Qatar, another American ally, even over apparent disagreement from the State and Defense Departments.”
“This month, Mr. Trump also withdrew from an Obama administration nuclear deal with Iran that both Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates had campaigned against for years, delivering them their biggest victory yet from his administration.”
Regarding what the Trump campaign got from this deal it must be pretty darn good as George Nader paid Joel Zamel $2 million dollars after the election. While Mueller claimed for some reason that the oppo the Trump campaign sought from the Russians on June 9, 2016 wasn’t worth $2000 clearly what ever Zamel and the Saudis did was worth 1000 times $2,000 bucks.
UPDATE: Yet this meeting isn’t even mentioned in the Mueller Report-yet another question for House Dems to ask Mueller next week-did he investigate the August 2016 meeting? Seth Abramson has been the voice in the wilderness calling out the fact that Russian interference isn’t actually only about the Russians-but the Saudis, UAE, etc-ie a five country grand bargain.