Trump is still a dictator (of statements), what with all those witnesses to his obstruction. And with 35 potential witnesses for the Manafort case announced, the Mueller pursuit of #TrumpRussia continues.
President Donald Trump on Friday denied having prior knowledge of his son’s highly scrutinized 2016 meeting with a Kremlin-linked lawyer, the latest in a string of conflicting explanations for what and when he knew about the encounter.
Though Trump has repeatedly sought to distance him from the problematic meeting, his and his team’s statements on what he knew have morphed considerably over time.
The discrepancies have drawn increased attention as special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into whether or not the Trump campaign colluded with Russia during the 2016 campaign heats up.
Here’s how the president’s claims have evolved over the past year.
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Trump said he didn’t draft his son’s initial statement about the meeting
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He was involved in drafting the statement but didn’t personally dictate it
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Trump’s legal team said that he personally dictated the statement
The cache of documents largely includes emails and memos about campaign strategy and activities on behalf of former Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych, Manafort's former client.
The memos provide the first evidence of Manafort discussing the Hapsburg group's US plans, which would be relevant to the obstruction of justice charges Manafort faces in his case in the US District Court for the District of Columbia. (A previously released 2012 memo that was sent to Manafort by a person working for him referenced the Hapsburg group's formation, but not any US plans.)
In the DC case, Mueller's office has alleged that Manafort corruptly intended to "influence, delay, and prevent the testimony" of two individuals who have knowledge of the Hapsburg group's work. In one message earlier this year submitted in court by Mueller's office, Manafort wrote, "We should talk. I have made clear that they worked in Europe." Konstantin Kilimnik, a longtime colleague of Manafort's who now faces obstruction charges along with Manafort, wrote in a message to the other individual, "Basically P[aul Manafort] wants to give him a quick summary that he says to everybody (which is true) that our friends never lobbied in the US, and the purpose of the program was EU."
