Senator Chris Coons (D-Del), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, sent out a statute on giving false statements to Congress after Donald Trump, Jr. spoke with Senate staff Thursday.
👀 After Don Jr. testimony to Senate Judiciary Cmte, Sen. Chris Coons' office sends out statute on giving false statements to Congress pic.twitter.com/OUdKXMBfqm
— Andrew Desiderio (@desiderioDC) September 7, 2017
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Donald Trump, Jr. used his time with the Senate to blame Hillary Clinton for his meeting with the Russian lawyer during the campaign, claiming he was open to dirt on her from the Russians because he worried that she was not fit for office. This was, however, a different excuse than the Trump White House offered.
Sen. Coons warned on Wednesday, “Anyone who testifies in front of a Senate committee is under the restrictions of a statute that says if they attempt to mislead Congress, there are legal consequences.â€
We covered this glaring alarm yesterday, since anything said to Congress can be used against Trump, Jr. and his father.
Coons further pointed out in an interview with MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell Trump, Jr.’s lack of surprise at being told that Putin was trying to help his father win the election:
“One of the questions I have that I hope to ask [Donald Trump Jr.] in an open session that I didn’t hear addressed while I was present was the e-mail transcript that suggests that his response to being told that Putin and Putin’s regime were trying to help his father win the election wasn’t surprise, wasn’t ‘I need to report this,’ but was instead, ‘Great, let’s go ahead with the meeting.’”
Senators don’t send out copies of statutes about making false statements to Congress on the same day that the President’s son testifies about the Russia scandal as a coincidence. It appears that Sen. Coons may believe that Donald Trump Jr. made false statements to the Senate Judiciary Committee while testifying. If this is the case, the Trump family cover-up may open the door to a whole new set of legal problems.
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