Maybe this doesn’t deserve its own thread but here it is, anyway.
Is anyone supposed to believe Trump Jr. when he says that the Russians got their collective foot in the door by promising to deliver dirt on Hillary (which is O.K. and happens all the time in politics) and then turned the meeting into a conversations about the adoptions of Russian babies? Those sneaky bastards! I wonder what the next version will be.
It hurts my head just thinking about the gyrations the Trumps are going through in their attempts to absolve themselves from any wrongdoing.
You’re assuming that Trump and his followers are holding more than one lie in their head at the same time. The meetings were about adoptions, and that means that they were OK, and while they’re using that line, that’s the one they believe. Getting dirt on political opponents happens all the time, and that means it’s OK, and while they’re using that line, that’s the one they believe. They don’t care that their stories are inconsistent; they only care that each story leads to the conclusion that it’s OK.
The Russians dangled dirt on Clinton to get the meeting. Team Trump took the meeting thinking they were going to receive a gift, but in reality they walked into a negotiation. Magnitsky act, Bill Browder, etc. were discussed, but they were discussed as part of a quid pro quo.
I can buy that as far as the Magnitsky Act goes but I didn’t hear anyone involved saying anything to the effect of, "They tricked us and really wanted to get us to lift the Magnisky Act, to which we said, ‘No way! Hit the road!’ " I wonder if the Russians have a tape of that meeting.
In response to the passage of the Magnitsky Act 2012, the Russian Duma voted to ban the adoption of Russian children by international parents. “Discussing adoptions” has always been code for “Discussing lifting the Magnitsky act.”
And at one point, the gens Trump was denying that the meeting was solely about adoptions, without any promised dirt on anyone. That went out the window early when Junior announced that he was promised dirt but the Russians didn’t deliver at which point he spaced out.
The gens Trump has been lying about this meeting since day 1. At this point, the question is, “Why should we take their word for it that the Russians didn’t deliver the goods on Hillary?”