Fox News judicial analyst Andrew Napolitano on Monday made very clear that in his opinion Donald Trump Jr. can now legally be charged for committing the crime of conspiracy.
The highly-respected Napolitano said this is true even if Russians did not give him damaging information about then-Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, as he and others have always maintained.
Fox News’ Andrew Napolitano explains why Trump Jr. could go to jail for meeting with Russians: ‘The crime is the agreement’
Fox News' Andrew Napolitano explains why Trump Jr. could go to jail for meeting with Russians: ‘The crime is the agreement’ https://t.co/JUdnpMA946
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During an appearance on Fox News’ Outnumbered program, Napolitano gave his in-depth legal response to President Donald Trump’s tweet on Sunday throwing Don Jr. under the bus. The president posted that his son had arranged the meeting with a Russian lawyer at Trump Tower in June of 2016 to get dirt on Clinton that Trump could use in his campaign for president. This tweet seems to have increased the likelihood that Don Jr. will end up going to jail.
Concerning whether or not there was “collusion†Napolitano explained to the show’s co-hosts:
“There is no such law and there is no such word in the law as collusion, that’s a Hollywood and media term. The legal term is conspiracy. If the Trump campaign and the Russians work together, but was there an agreement to work together?â€
“The crime is the agreement. Whether the agreement was put into place or not. That’s what Bob Mueller is looking for.â€
Outnumbered Co-host Melissa Francis asked Napolitano why Hillary Clinton had not herself been charged with conspiracy for funding the research for the famous Steele dossier, which provided intelligence services with detailed information about connections between Trump and the Russian government.
“Except that special counsel Robert Mueller is not investigating the Steele dossier,†Napolitano replied, taking the wind out of Francis’ sails.
The Fox News legal analyst then continued by saying:
“Mueller is investigating whether or not the people from the Trump campaign entered into an agreement to receive dirt on Hillary. Whether the dirt was received or not is not important. The crime — if there were a crime — is receiving anything of value from a foreign person entity or government, if there is an agreement to do that.â€
“You may argue and I’ve argued this unsuccessfully that an agreement that ends up not being carried out shouldn’t be a crime but it is. It’s the prosecutor’s favorite crime, it’s called conspiracy. It’s the easiest to prove, all you need to know is who agreed and that one of them took a step in furtherance of the agreement.â€
What Napolitano has done with his comments is take away any doubt that Donald Trump Jr. committed at least one felony in setting up the June 2016 Trump Tower meeting. Not only that, but he also made clear that the crime is easy to prove and Mueller has all the evidence he needs to convict the younger Trump and send him to jail.
I am a lifelong Democrat with a passion for social justice and progressive issues. I have degrees in writing, economics and law from the University of Iowa.
