WASHINGTON (CBSNews) — Jay Sekulow, a member of President Trump’s legal team, said that Mr. Trump is aware of “no other meetings” with Russians in the wake of his son’s release of emails showing a meeting being arranged between Trump Jr. and a Russian lawyer.
“Obviously the president has been very clear on that. He said he has- had no meetings, was aware of no meetings with Russians, was not aware of this one until really right before it all broke. And that’s what the president said. And in fact there’s been no information to the contrary,” Sekulow said Sunday (July 16) on “Face the Nation.”
Sekulow, who is chief counsel at the American Center for Law and Justice, went on to say that while Mr. Trump was on the campaign trail, most meetings were “never discussed with the president.”
“I’m sure they had conversations during the course of a campaign about meetings that were relevant to some kind of determination,” he said.” But this one was not.”
Sekulow’s comments came as Mr. Trump continued to defend his son in a series of tweets early Sunday (July 16) and attack what he calls the “Fake News Media.”
“HillaryClinton can illegally get the questions to the Debate & delete 33,000 emails but my son Don is being scorned by the Fake News Media?” Mr. Trump tweeted.
Mr. Trump’s remarks appear to be in response to the Clinton campaign receiving questions in advance of a debate with Mr. Trump by then-interim DNC chair Donna Brazile, as well as Clinton’s use of a private email server while serving as Secretary of State.
Meanwhile, Sekulow would not say whether or not it would help the president’s case if Trump Jr. were to offer his own testimony before lawmakers, only noting that it would be a conversation that would take place “between Donald Trump Jr. and his lawyer.”
“He said he’s willing to talk about it. He’s willing to testify. I’m not going to get into particulars of what that testimony would be involved. I’m not his lawyer,” Sekulow said.
Sekulow added that the meeting was arranged “under a false pretense.”
“It was supposed to be about opposition research and ended up not being on that,” said Sekulow. He added, “The individual -the individuals that were involved in the meeting ended up going right down to Washington to still lobby on the Magnitsky Act and that whole issue of Russian sanctions.”
Sekulow said Wednesday on “CBS This Morning” that there was “nothing illegal”about the meeting, and that there was no “violation of law” that took place.
Last month, Sekulow said the president “is not and has not been under investigation.” When asked about it on Sunday (July 16), Sekulow said Mr. Trump has had “no notification from the special counsel” that the president is being investigated.
The White House hired a new attorney, Ty Cobb last week to serve as an in-house “special counsel” to handle Russia-related matters as it relates to the White House. Cobb will work inside the White House — not outside — to help Mr. Trump navigate the various Russia-related investigations. That means he is a taxpayer-funded hire.
The White House announcement did not specifically say Cobb was hired to handle Russia-related matters, but CBS News confirmed Friday (July 14) night the White House was hiring Cobb to manage issues stemming from the ongoing Russia controversy.
Full “Face the Nation” transcript for Sunday, July 16.
