In the long-running saga of collusion and conspiracy between the Donald Trump campaign for the presidency and the Russian government, there has, unfortunately, been very little to keep Americans informed about where investigators are in the process of uncovering facts. Generally, even those of us who deliver news to you based on what we learn are only able to do so on a limited basis, because Robert Mueller’s Special Counsel has been legendarily tight-lipped about the facts of the case.
Every once in a while, however, we get a witness or an indicted co-conspirator or someone just desperate to get out from under the cloud of the investigation who just comes right out and lays some facts on us in the public sphere.
That’s the case with music publicist and longtime Trump family friend Rob Goldstone, who arranged the now-infamous Trump Tower meeting on behalf of Russian billionaire oligarch Aras Agalarov and his son Emin, who he says were introduced to him as “the Trumps of Russia.”
Goldstone sat down for an interview with NBC’s Cynthia McFadden, and what he said was clearly self-serving — he certainly doesn’t want any trouble for himself — but also quite damning for Donald Trump Junior and the entire administration’s claim that no “collusion” took place.
“So you would agree,” McFadden said, “with the intelligence officials both past and present who say that this was most likely a Russian probe to the Trump campaign.” Goldstone replied:
What I had written in my email [to Don Jr.] wasn’t what was beiung investigated or questioned. It was the willingness to receive that information that was important.”
Pressed on, McFadden clarified, “But it was a dirty offer.” “Yes, that is true” Goldstone told her.
All of these answers, of course, come on the heels of news of a nine-hour questioning session by Mueller’s prosecutorial team in which Goldstone was forced to admit not only his participation in the arrangement of the meeting, but just how eager the soon-to-be President’s son was to accept assistance from the Russian government in order to win the election.
For the record, that is collusion.
Watch a segment of the exchange between Goldstone and McFadden here:
Featured image via screen capture
