Trump rages in defence of ‘innocent’ son
President puts blame on media as aides fret
WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump took to Twitter yesterday to defend his eldest son, saying the man was “innocent” amid a furore over emails that further fuel speculation over Moscow’s role in the 2016 White House election.
Donald Trump Jr released emails on Tuesday showing he embraced Russia’s efforts to support his father’s presidential campaign, admitting he would “love” to get dirt from Moscow on Hillary Clinton.
“My son Donald did a good job last night,” the president tweeted, referring to his son’s interview late on Tuesday on Fox News. “He was open, transparent and innocent. This is the greatest Witch Hunt in political history. Sad!”
According to the emails, Mr Trump Jr was told by an interlocutor that he could get “very high level and sensitive information” that was “part of Russia and its government’s support for Mr Trump”.
He said on Fox that his meeting with a woman who was identified in the emails as a “Russian government attorney” ended with nothing to tell, adding that he didn’t tell his father about the conversation because it failed to yield compromising information about Ms Clinton.
The elder Trump also bashed the media yesterday. “Remember, when you hear the words ‘sources say’ from the Fake Media, often times those sources are made up and do not exist,” he tweeted.
It was not clear which reports he was referring to specifically, since news reports about Mr Trump Jr’s meeting with the Russian lawyer were confirmed by his own emails.
The snowballing revelations about Mr Trump Jr’s meeting with a Russian lawyer during last year’s presidential campaign have broadsided the White House, distracting from its agenda as aides grapple with a crisis involving the president’s family.
In private, Mr Trump has raged against the latest Russia development, with most of his ire directed at the media, not his son, according to people who have spoken to him in recent days.
The revelation that Mr Trump Jr was eager to accept information from the Russian government landed hard on weary White House aides. While staff are accustomed to a good news cycle being overshadowed by the Russia investigations, Trump aides and outside advisers privately acknowledged that this week’s developments felt more serious.
The president, in conversations with confidants, has questioned the quality of advice he has received from senior staff, including chief of staff Reince Priebus. But Mr Priebus has been a frequent target of criticism and even those taking aim at him said it did not appear a shakeup was on the horizon. There has also been a difference of opinion within the West Wing as to how to handle the crisis, with some aides favouring more transparency than others.