January 31, 2018: White House Babe Hope Hicks Has a Bad Day

 

1/31/18: Remember the famous Trump Tower meeting with Don Jr. and other Trump campaign officials, with a bunch of Russians, to get dirt on Hillary Clinton? 

You might remember, even though no one in the meeting did. 

 

Hicks was contemplating obstruction of justice. 

The New York Times reports that Mark Corallo will soon talk with Mueller’s investigators. Corallo, once spokesman for the president’s legal team, will describe a previously undisclosed conference call with Trump and White House aide Hope Hicks. Hicks, he has told colleagues, made it clear during the call that emails Don Jr. had sent and received about the meeting “will never get out.” Only a few people received them, she said. So....couldn’t they just, um…. 

Hearing this, Corallo feared Hicks was contemplating obstruction of justice. Soon after, the president supervised the drafting of a statement that obscured the purpose of that meeting, which to reasonable people might sound like potential grounds for – yes – a charge of obstruction of justice. 

According to two people with knowledge of the discussion, “Mr. Trump was insistent about including language that the meeting was about Russian adoption.” Don Jr. then insisted on one change. The final statement read: 

It was a short introductory meeting. I asked Jared and Paul to stop by. We primarily discussed a program about the adoption of Russian children that was active and popular with American families years ago and was since ended by the Russian government, but it was not a campaign issue at that time and there was no follow up.

What the meeting was really about: Russians offering dirt on Hillary Clinton.

 

Don Jr.’s change was to include the word: “primarily.” But it wasn’t. The meeting was primarily about gathering dirt on Hillary Clinton. 

Corallo has been covering his ass for some time now. He related his concerns after the call ended to three colleagues, who later gave the story to the Times. The paper summed it up.  

Corallo: 

told colleagues he was alarmed not only by what Ms. Hicks said – either she was being naïve or was suggesting that the emails could be withheld from investigators  - but also that she had said it in front of the president without a lawyer on the phone and that the conversation could not be protected by lawyer-client privilege.

 

Corallo was so concerned by the call with the president and White House Babe Hicks he notified White House lawyers, jotted down notes to memorialize it, and shared concerns with Steve Bannon.

What the meeting wasn't about: adopting Russian children.