Trump on Don Jr. meeting with Russian lawyer: “Most people would’ve taken that meeting. It’s called opposition research.”
In a press conference with French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday, President Donald Trump defended his son’s decision to meet with a Russian lawyer who claimed to have damaging information on Hillary Clinton coming from the Russian government.
The president today said that nothing came of Donald Trump Jr.’s short meeting in Russia and that he was not in the wrong to take it.
“I do think from a practical standpoint most people would have taken that meeting,” Trump said. “It’s called opposition research, or even research into your opponent.”
Trump went on to say that it’s very common in politics to be contacted by people who have information on an opponent.
“I’ve had many people call up, ‘Oh gee, we have information on this factor, or this person, or frankly Hillary,'” Trump said. “That’s very standard in politics. Politics is not the nicest business in the world, but it’s very standard, where they have information and you take the information.””
President Trump also said that the lawyer that his son met with was “not a government lawyer,” and he criticized the press for making a big deal out of what his son did.
“Honestly, I think the press made a very big deal over something that really a lot of people would do,” Trump said.
Donald Trump Jr. was criticized for taking this meeting primarily because the lawyer told him that the information was coming from the Russian government. An email to Trump Jr. said that he would be given “very high level and sensitive information but is part of Russia and its government’s support for Mr. Trump.”
In addition, the Trump administration had repeatedly denied that there was ever any contact between anyone on the campaign and any foreign entity, though we now know that Trump Jr. met with someone who said he had information from the Russian government that would help his father get elected.
“There was no communication between the campaign and any foreign entity during the campaign,” Trump spokeswoman Hope Hicks said in November.
During this press conference today, Trump was asked whether he agrees with Christopher Wray, his nominee for FBI director, that someone who is contacted by a person who says they have damaging information on a political opponent coming from a foreign government should contact the FBI. Trump did not answer the question.