President Donald Trump continued to defend his son, Donald Trump Jr., on Monday morning for attending a meeting with a Russian lawyer who promised to deliver damaging information on then-candidate Hillary Clinton last June.
“Most politicians would have gone to a meeting like the one Don jr attended in order to get info on an opponent. That’s politics!” Trump tweeted.
Most politicians would have gone to a meeting like the one Don jr attended in order to get info on an opponent. That's politics!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 17, 2017
Trump presumably is conflating the meeting with the Russian lawyer to opposition research—something that is routinely done during campaigns.
The Monday tweet echoed sentiments Trump gave during a joint press conference with French President Emmanuel Macron last week.
“I think from a practical standpoint, most people would have taken that meeting. It’s called opposition research,” Trump said, according to Huff Post.
This also isn’t the first time Trump has come out swinging on Twitter in defense of his son’s decision to meet with the Russian lawyer, Natalia Veselnitskaya. Over the weekend, Trump dug deep by blasting the media and bringing up Clinton’s emails.
“Hillary Clinton can illegally get the questions to the Debate & delete 33,000 emails but my son Don is being scorned by the Fake News Media?” Trump tweeted on Sunday.
The meeting—which Trump Jr. confirmed by releasing a transcript of emails—is considered the first evidence that members of Trump’s campaign were at least willing to consider getting help from Russians during the campaign.
The meeting was orchestrated by Rob Goldstone, a British publicist, who wrote in an email to Trump Jr. that Veselnitskaya—whom Goldstone described as a “Russian government lawyer”—““offered to provide the Trump campaign with some official documents and information that would incriminate Hillary and her dealings with Russia and would be very useful to your father.”
“This is obviously very high level and sensitive information but is part of Russia and its government’s support for Mr. Trump,” Goldstone added.
Trump Jr. responded in part, “if it’s what you say I love it especially later in the summer.”
The meeting was also attended by Paul Manafort, Trump’s former campaign manager, and son-in-law Jared Kushner, who now serves as a White House advisor with high-level security clearance.
Trump Jr.’s decision to hold the meeting has been roundly criticized as foolish if not criminal.