January 13, 2019: President Trump Confiscated Notes from Meetings with Putin

 

1/13/19: Late last night, while one evil entity in America was being vanquished (Satan’s team, the Dallas Cowboys), the Washington Post broke another damning story about Mr. Trump. 

 

Trump said he believed Putin. Now we know he didn’t. 

The story can be boiled down simply. Trump has met with Putin on five occasions since taking office. Each time he has gone to “extraordinary lengths” to keep the records of their conversations secret. After meeting with the Russian strongman in Hamburg in July 2017, Trump confiscated his interpreter’s notes. He also instructed the linguist not to reveal what was discussed to other top administration officials, although Secretary of State Rex Tillerson (who sat through the meeting) did later offer general comments on what the leaders discussed. 

The circumstances surrounding that meeting were odd enough. Even worse, Trump’s interpreter later told reporters the president did ask Putin if the Russians interfered during the 2016 election. Putin said “no.” The interpreter said the President of the United States responded, “I believe you.” 

Trump then went in front of reporters and repeated that line. He asked Putin about the interference. Putin denied it. 

Trump said he believed him.

 

The secrecy was even more profound when Trump and Putin met again in Helsinki in the summer of 2018. This time no one else was in the meeting but the two leaders and their interpreters. 

So why does this all ring bells now? Not till today did we learn that Trump was confiscating and possibly destroying notes from these meetings. And now it’s worth noting. That first long meeting with Putin in Hamburg took place on July 7, 2017. Later that day, aboard Air Force One, returning to the United States, Trump and top aides began crafting a letter to explain away a secret meeting Don Jr. had with Russians in Trump Tower the previous summer. 

The president knew at that point The New York Times was about to break the story on the meeting and he and his people wanted to have an alibi ready. So they put together a cover story about the purpose of the gathering. No problem! The meeting was primarily about adoption policy. 

The New York Times would prove within days that the purpose of the meeting wasn’t primarily about adoption policy. The purpose – and the Times had emails to prove it – was for Don Jr., Jared Kushner, and Paul Manafort to gather dirt – from the Russians – on Mrs. Hillary Clinton. 

In other words, the president was lying when he said he believed Putin didn’t interfere in the election. 

He already knew he was.

 

In response to this latest revelation, of the confiscated notes, Press Secretary Pinocchio insisted that this unusual cover-up behavior by the president was simply a function of his desire to avoid “leaks.” She went on to trot out the same old line. Oh, Trump has been harder on the Russians than Napoleon. 

Then why did Trump lie – about the purpose of the meeting – and why lie about believing Putin? 

And why has he been grabbing up all the pertinent notes?