He wasn’t involved. He knew, but he didn’t write it. He weighed in, but he didn’t dictate it. He dictated it. "I swear to God, it was a mistake."
On Monday, Trump attorney Rudy Giulani told CNN that the statement regarding Donald Trump’s involvement in dictating an excuse for why his campaign staff met with Russian operatives in Trump Tower was “a mistake.”
What Giuliani appears to be claiming is not that Trump made a mistake in dictating the letter, or that previous White House officials and Trump surrogates made a mistake in covering up Trump’s connection to the statement. What Giuliani is disavowing is a statement included in the letter sent by Trump’s legal team to special counsel Robert Mueller.
That letter, contents from which were released by the New York Times over the weekend, included an admission that Donald Trump had dictated, while on Air Force One, the excuse that Donald Trump Jr. provided when the story broke. But Guiliani didn’t just deny that Trump was involved in drafting the statement originally released by his son. Giuliani denied the letter drafted by the members of Trump’s legal team—a team to which he supposedly belongs.
Giuliani also said he only agreed with "about 70, 80%" of the letter from Trump's team in January, before Giuliani was brought on.
There’s a reason why the Trump Tower meeting between the top tier of Trump’s campaign officials and a set of Russian operatives remains a focus of the Mueller investigation. And a reason why even Rudy Giuliani, whose first appearance as Donald Trump’s lawyer included an admission that Trump had “funneled” money through Michael Cohen’s shadow corporation to pay off Stormy Daniels, feels compelled to continue covering up Trump’s involvement with the Trump Tower statement.
Not only do the actions of Donald Trump Jr. Paul Manafort, and Jared Kushner represent a textbook case of conspiring with a foreign power to interfere in a U.S. election (regardless of whether or not the meeting led to further action), but the letter covering up the purpose of that meeting is textbook obstruction. And as many times as Trump’s team may say he’s immune to any charge, they’re in no great hurry to fight Robert Mueller in court.
The original story of the meeting at Trump Tower broke on July 8, 2017. Contacted on that same day, Donald Trump Jr. provided a response to reporters from the New York Times. Trump Jr. called his father on Air Force One, where multiple sources report that advisers told Trump to enter a “complete” and “truthful” statement. But Trump ignored them.
July 8, 2017: Trump Jr. issues initial response to story
Donald Trump Jr: It was a short introductory meeting. I asked Jared and Paul to stop by. We primarily discussed a program about the adoption of Russian children that was active and popular with American families years ago and was since ended by the Russian government, but it was not a campaign issue at the time and there was no follow up.
July 9, 2017: Trump Jr. issues a revised statement
But on Sunday, presented with The Times’s findings, he offered a new account. In a statement, he said he had met with the Russian lawyer at the request of an acquaintance from the 2013 Miss Universe pageant, which his father took to Moscow. “After pleasantries were exchanged,” he said, “the woman stated that she had information that individuals connected to Russia were funding the Democratic National Committee and supporting Mrs. Clinton. Her statements were vague, ambiguous and made no sense. No details or supporting information was provided or even offered. It quickly became clear that she had no meaningful information.”
He said she then turned the conversation to adoption of Russian children and the Magnitsky Act, an American law that blacklists suspected Russian human rights abusers. The 2012 law so enraged President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia that he halted American adoptions of Russian children.
July 12, 2017: Trump Attorney Jay Sekulow on CNN
Reporter: So he didn’t have anything to do with the statement that Donald Trump Jr. put out, that was being worked on with his team?
Sekulow: No, that’s … the statement that Don Jr. put out … Are you talking about yesterday?
Reporter: The one over the weekend, that the president’s team was helping with.
Sekulow: No, that was written by Donald Trump Jr., and I’m sure in consultation with his lawyer.
Reporter: Because the New York Times has reporting that the president okay’d the statement.
Sekulow: Well, they’re incorrect.
Reporter: The New York Times is wrong?
Sekulow: Yeah, is that shocking? That sometimes they make a mistake? I don’t want to be disparaging, but the president is coming back from the G20, this situation is developed, the information about the meeting, and what happens? Donald Trump Jr., who had the meeting, which by the way is not a violation of the law, and you had a lot of experts on CNN say that it’s not a violation of the law, and he issues a statement. That statement and … and by the way, I wasn’t involved in the statement drafting at all, nor was the president. I’m assuming that was between Mr. Donald Trump Jr. … between Don Jr. and his lawyer.
July 12, 2017: Sekulow on ABC
Sekulow: The president didn't sign off on anything. He was coming back from the G-20. The statement that was released on Saturday was released by Donald Trump Jr. and, I'm sure, in consultation with his lawyers. The president wasn't involved in that.
July 16, 2017: Sekulow on NBC
Sekulow: I can't say whether the president was told the statement was going to be coming from his son. The president was not involved in the drafting of the statement and did not issue the statement. It came from Donald Trump Jr.
July 31, 2017: ABC and Washington Post report that Trump personally dictated memo
Reporter: ABC News confirming that President Trump personally dictated a statement released from his son to the media, claiming that pre-election meeting with Don Jr., Jared Kushner, and former campaign chairman Paul Manafort was primarily about Russian adoption, and was not a campaign issue at the time. That statement later shown to be misleading, with Don Jr. later admitting it actually was a campaign-related meeting, and that he agreed to see the lawyer after being promised ‘dirt’ on Hilary Clinton. ...
August 1, 2017: White House Press Conference
Reporter: According to the Washington Post, the president tried to change the narrative about what went down in Don Jr.’s meeting with the Russian lawyer. Can you address that story and tell us, did the president really try to do that?
Sanders: The statement that Don Jr. issued is true. There’s no inaccuracy in the statement. The president weighed in, as any father would, based on the limited information that he had. This is all discussion, frankly, of no consequence. There was no follow-up. It was disclosed to the proper parties, which is how the New York Times found out about it to begin with. The Democrats want to continue to use this as a PR stunt, and are doing everything they can to keep this story alive and in the papers every single day. The president, the American people, they voted America first, not Russia first, and that’s the focus of our administration.
Reporter: Can you clarify the degree to which the president weighed in?
Sanders: Ahh, he certainly didn’t dictate, but he, like I said, weighed in, offered some suggestions, like any father would do.
Reporter: Was he aware at the time, that Don Jr. had had a meeting that was based on the pretext that he would be promised information that would be negative about Hilary Clinton, when he suggested that the statement only say that the meeting was primarily about Russian adoption policy?
Sanders: Like I said, the statement that was issued was true, and there were no inaccuracies in the statement.
September 7, 2017: Donald Trump Jr. tells Senate that his father wasn’t involved
Mr. Trump said he did not speak to his father about the draft statement because he did not want to involve him in something he “knew nothing about,” according to one person briefed about parts of his testimony. Lawmakers have wanted to know what, if anything, President Trump knew about the June 2016 meeting and whether he was involved in preparing the draft statement to The Times.
January 29, 2018: COnfidential memo from Trump’s attorneys to Robert Mueller
You have received all of the notes, communications and testimony indicating that the President dictated a short but accurate response to the New York Times article on behalf of his son, Donald Trump, Jr.
June 5, 2018: GIULIANI claims statement in memo was a mistake
Giuliani: It was a mistake. I swear to God, it was a mistake.
…
Giuliani: I don't think anybody's lying. I think a mistake was made.
For another timeline of lies, check this set of statements around Michael Cohen, and Stormy Daniels.