Donald Trump has finally admitted his campaign colluded with Russia to allow him to win the presidency.
This jaw-dropping confession of might well turn out to be a conspiracy against the United States came 25 months after the infamous Trump Tower meeting in June 2016, and after 43 Trump tweets since that time proclaiming he and his campaign didn't collude with the Russians.
The stunning admission by Trump in a tweet on Aug. 5 means all of Trump's statements to the contrary in the interim were barefaced lies intended to deceive and confuse the American public. Trump's tweeted confession stated:
"Fake News reporting, a complete fabrication, that I am concerned about the meeting my wonderful son, Donald, had in Trump Tower. This was a meeting to get information on an opponent, totally legal and done all the time in politics - and it went nowhere. I did not know about it!"
Trump's acknowledgment raises new questions about the extent of Russia's attempts to influence the election, and whether the Trump campaign should have informed the Department of Justice about this meeting.
Trump's incriminating admission is completely at odds with the statement he crafted in July 2017 falsely claiming the Trump Tower meeting attended by his eldest son, Don Jr., and other high-ranking campaign aides was "primarily" about the adoption of Russian children. At the time, Trump falsely claimed he only offered his input into crafting the statement.
Since becoming president, Trump has relentlessly claimed that "no collusion" occurred between his campaign and Russia during the 2016 election. He also said Special Counsel Robert Mueller is conducting a "witch hunt" in his investigation of the collusion allegations against Trump.
Criminal lawyers polled by media outlets agree colluding with a foreign country like Russia to win an election, or even attempting to do so, might constitute conspiracy against the United States. Conspiracy is valid grounds for impeaching an American president.
"Donald Trump is every attorney's worst nightmare," said Rick Wilson, a Republican political consultant, and prominent Trump critic. "He combines a complete lack of personal discipline with an impulse to place himself at ever greater risk of prosecution. He's the 'Bad Idea Jeans' of presidents."
The June 9, 2016 meeting at Trump Tower in New York City involved three senior members of Trump's presidential campaign (Don Jr., Jared Kushner, and Paul Manafort) and at least five other people. Among these persons were Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya.
The meeting was arranged by publicist and Trump friend, Rob Goldstone on behalf of his client, the Azerbaijani singer-songwriter Emin Agalarov. Agalarov's billionaire father, Aras, is one of Vladimir Putin's close friends.
The Trump Tower meeting was uncovered when Kushner filed a revised version of his security clearance form. In the aftermath of the meeting, Don Jr made misleading statements about the meeting. He lied when he said the meeting was held to discuss adoptions of Russian children by Americans. On July 8, however, news reports in American media revealed Don Jr knew the meeting was political.
Don Jr was forced to admit this fact and said he had agreed to the meeting knowing he would receive information damaging to Hillary Clinton
