Restaurant manager has ‘friend’ in Trump nephew
Man facing deportation won high praise from former Palm Beacher.
President Donald Trump’s nephew, former Palm Beach resident David Desmond, considered a prominent restaurant manager facing the risk of deportation an “old friend,” saying Francisco Javier Gonzalez made the Pizza Al Fresco eatery his favorite dining spot on the island.
In a 2011 column for the Palm Beach Daily News, Desmond said he became friends with Gonzalez during a weekly pickup soccer game at the Palm Beach Recreation Center. Like Gonzalez, who is known in the community by his middle name, many of the players were from Mexico and South and Central America and worked in nearby restaurants.
get into anything that went on at that meeting, and he was at that meeting,” Grassley told Iowa reporters. have agreed to try to bring A person close to Manafort Manafort before the panel for said he had not yet received questioning about the gova letter from the Senate Judiernment’s enforcement of a ciary Committee about a poslaw requiring registration of sible interview. foreign lobbyists. A spokesman for Grass
Manafort will certainly also ley said Wednesday after- be asked about his participa- noon that Grassley was work- tion in a Trump Tower meet- ing with Mueller to ensure ing last summer with Presithat any plans to question dent Donald Trump’s eldest Manafort don’t conflict with son and son-in-law, where the any criminal investigation, purpose was to hear poten- and that if conflicts do exist, tially damaging information the senator will “work to find about Hillary Clinton from a way for the committee to a Russian lawyer. proceed with its oversight
Manafort disclosed the responsibility.” meeting in a package of inforSeparately, Rep. Adam mation he provided to the Schiff of California, the top Senate and House intelli- Democrat on the House Intel- gence committees, who have ligence Committee, said his been investigating potential panel wants to look at the coordination between Russia use of Russian social media and the Trump campaign, as “trolls” and whether they is Robert Mueller, the former were connected to the Trump FBI director appointed by election campaign. the Justice Department as That concern is “cer- the special counsel. tainly something we want
“Obviously it would be to explore,” along with the appropriate for anybody to Trump campaign’s data ana-
“I love it,” Trump Jr. said in one email response.
In an interview before departing Wednesday evening for France, his father told Reuters that he didn’t know about the meeting “until a couple of days ago lytics, as part of a broader when I heard about this.” committee investigation into He also said that he didn’t Russian meddling, Schiff fault his son for attending. said. Trump’s son-in-law, “I think many people would Jared Kushner, ran digital have held that meeting,” strategy for the campaign. he said.
The lawmakers spoke one Trump also said in a tweet day after Donald Trump Jr. that his son was “open, transdisclosed on Twitter a series parent and innocent” and of emails that revealed his again dismissed the ongoeagerness to hear negative ing Russia investigation as material on Clinton from a the “greatest Witch Hunt in Russian lawyer. political history.”
The exchange showed The president’s attorney, Trump Jr. conversing with Jay Sekulow, said in an intera music publicist who wanted view with NBC’s “Today” him to meet with a “Russian that Trump Jr. did not viogovernment attorney” who late any laws by accepting the supposedly had dirt on Clinmeeting. He said the presiton as “part of Russia and its dent had not been aware of government’s support for Mr. Trump Jr.’s June 2016 meetTrump.” He was told the Rusing and didn’t find out about sian government had infor- his son’s email exchange mation that could “incrimuntil “very recently.” inate” Clinton in dealings Sekulow said the presiwith Russia. dent was not being investi- gated by Mueller. it because there was “noth
“I would know a little bit ing to tell.” about it. I’m one of the law“In retrospect I probably yers,” he told ABC’s “Good would have done things a Morning America.” little differently,” Trump
As the emails reverberJr. said. ated across the political Investigations into possiworld, Trump Jr. defended ble collusion between Rushis actions in an interview sia and the Trump campaign with Fox News, blaming the have shadowed the White decision to hold the meet- House for months. In an ing on the “million miles per interview taped Wedneshour” pace of a presidenday, Trump told Christian tial campaign and his suspibroadcast station CBN that cion that the lawyer might he believes he and Russian have information about President Vladimir Putin “underreported” scandals “get along very, very well.” involving Clinton. Trump But he said Putin will always Jr. said the meeting “really want “what’s good for Ruswent nowhere” and that he sia, and I want what’s good never told his father about for the United States.”