Trump Jr's Wedding Gift Should Be Investigated As A National Security Risk

The Trump family is not even trying to hide their very close ties to Putin and his favorite oligarchs anymore. The Russians paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to give Trump's son a valuable wedding gift.

Here's what Zeeshan Aleem of MS NOW has to say about the very inappropriate wedding gift:

Donald Trump Jr. hasn’t taken kindly to the recent scrutiny of his lavish wedding party, following the revelation that it was partially bankrolled by a Russian oligarch with deep ties to the Kremlin. In a joint statement with his wife, Trump Jr. argued that “friendship doesn’t require a political motive” and “sometimes a wedding gift is simply a wedding gift.” His defense might make an ounce of sense if he was not the son of the president. 

Investigative media outlet ProPublica, citing records it reviewed and interviews with three people familiar with the event, revealed on Monday that Trump Jr.’s three-day party held across two private islands was funded in part by Umar Kremlev, a “Russian oligarch close to President Vladimir Putin.” Kremlev heads the International Boxing Association, an organization that has been financed by the Russian state-owned energy company Gazprom. ProPublica reported that Kremlev “footed the bill for hundreds of thousands of dollars of wedding expenses,” including paying to rent one of the islands and the fireworks show. (A spokesperson for Trump Jr. did not dispute the wedding payments from Kremlev and told ProPublica that “Umar is a personal friend of Don.”)

Without even getting into the political and geopolitical concerns, this arrangement is, on its face, peculiar for a few reasons. Trump Jr. said on his podcast that the party was “really small, like, just really close friends,” which makes it all the more striking that Kremlev helped pay for the celebration and attended. ProPublica says Kremlev “speaks limited English,” and Kremlev’s office said that he and Trump Jr. met “a couple of years ago.” President Donald Trump said he’s “never heard of” Kremlev. 

Furthermore, why would a new friend offer such an extraordinary contribution — hundreds of thousands of dollars to cover the cost of a private island? That level of expense is something that would typically be covered by either the bride and the groom or their families. Even a party of Gatsbyesque decadence would’ve been easily manageable for Trump Jr., who is estimated to have a net worth of hundreds of millions of dollars. And of course his father is a billionaire.

But given that Trump Jr. is the son of the president, questions of politics and government ethics cannot be set aside. And while there’s no indication that any laws were violated, it certainly violates common sense principles of ethical governance that would guard both against a quid pro quo with the Trump administration — or the appearance of one. 

Is it possible that Trump Jr. could receive a gift without the expectation of something in return? Sure. But it’s impossible to rule out. That’s because both the giver and the recipient of an eye-poppingly expensive gift are closely connected to their respective governments.

Trump Jr., it should be noted, already bears a shameful history of trying to collaborate with Russian contacts to influence elections. During the 2016 campaign, Trump Jr. was approached in an email by one of his father’s Russian business contacts with ties to the Kremlin, who said he could provide dirt on Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton that “would be very useful to your father.” Trump Jr. replied, “If it’s what you say I love it.” And as ProPublica recounts, “Trump Jr.’s June 2016 meeting with a Russian attorney in Trump Tower became a major focus of the Robert Mueller investigation,” though Mueller concluded there was insufficient evidence to convict Trump Jr. of a crime. (In 2017, Trump Jr. told Fox News host Sean Hannity, “In retrospect, I probably would have done things a little differently.”)

Perhaps Kremlev’s exorbitant gift to Trump Jr. was earnest generosity from one new friend to another. Or perhaps it was a nudge to Trump Jr. to advocate on Russia’s behalf with the Trump administration on Ukraine or sanctions against Russia or other policy issues. It’s impossible to know. But if Trump Jr. cared at all about the possibility of sullying the reputation of the federal government as potentially for sale, he would have declined the gift. He has long demonstrated he has no such qualms.

Trump Jr. and his brother, Eric Trump, have raked in cash with a number of ventures that serve as vehicles for potential corruption, including a cryptocurrency business and investments in the defense sector. (The two have insisted multiple times they are not involved in government decision making.) This hardly registers as a scandal during an administration when the president has used his office to enrich himself in an entirely unprecedented manner. (The White House has insisted that Trump and his family has never engaged in conflicts of interest.) That doesn’t make it any less devastating for our democracy.

Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif., the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, has sent a letter White House chief of staff Susie Wiles stating that “Oversight Democrats are investigating the numerous ways in which the Trump family have sought to enrich themselves on the basis of their proximity to President Donald Trump” and requesting documents and communications that could shed light on connections between the White House, Trump Jr. and Kremlev. He sent a separate letter to Trump Jr. with similar asks. It’s the right first step, and Democrats ought to dig in further should they gain more power in Congress after the midterm elections. 

Trump Jr's Meeting With Russians "Business As Usual" ?

The chart above reflects the views of the public on Donald Trump Jr.'s meeting with Russians (who he believed represented the Russian government). About two-thirds (67%) believe that meeting was at least inappropriate -- and 37% believe it was probably illegal (violating U.S. election law).

But amazingly, a third of the public (33%) say it was just business as usual. I don't understand that. How could meeting with people representing a foreign government (which most people view as an enemy) to get information to help you win an American election be considered normal behavior? If you don't draw the line at colluding with a foreign government, then where do you draw the line? Is there anything (either unethical or illegal) that your candidate could do that you would not approve of?

In January of 2016, Donald Trump said:

"I could stand in the middle of 5th Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn't lose voters." 

I think this 33% are the people he was talking about. There is literally nothing their "hero" could do that they couldn't justify in their own minds.

The chart above uses information in a new Harvard / Harris Poll -- done between July 19th and 24th of a random national sample of 2,032 registered voters. (No margin of error was given.)

The Cowardice Of Kushner, Trump Jr., And Manafort

(This caricature of Jared Kushner is by DonkeyHotey.)

Shortly before the 2016 election, Hillary Clinton appeared before a congressional committee to answer questions about Benghazi and her e-mails. She faced 11 hours of questioning and stoically answered every question -- and she did it on national television in front of the entire nation. She did that because she had done nothing wrong, had nothing to hide, and believed the American people deserved to see her appearance before the committee.

A few weeks ago, former head of the FBI James Comes also appeared before a congressional committee to answer questions. He also did it on national television in front of the entire nation. And like Clinton, he did that because he had done nothing wrong and had nothing to hide.

Compare those open and honest performances to congressional appearances by members of the Trump administration. Yesterday, Jared Kushner appeared before Senate staffers to answer questions about his possible collusion with Russian officials. He did it in secret and behind closed doors. Today, he will appear before a House committee -- again, it will be in secret and behind closed doors.

Donald Trump Jr. and Paul Manafort are also scheduled to testify before congressional committees -- and guess what. . . . they will also testify in secret and behind closed doors.

None of these three has the guts to testify in public with the TV cameras rolling. My question is why? Do they have something to hide? Are they afraid they won't look good when trying to answer the tough question some members of the committees will ask? Are they ashamed of the actions they took during the campaign -- and too cowardly to have the American people see?

The excuse for testifying in secret was to protect sensitive intelligence. That's bullshit. They are to testify about their actions during the election -- before Trump was elected. At that time, they were not privy to any government secrets.

They are testifying in secret because they are cowards. They don't want the American people to witness their incompetence and very possible illegal activities, which could be exposed by the tough questioning -- and they are afraid they will not stand up well under that questioning.

Until they appear in public and on television to answer tough questions, I will call them what they are -- cowards.

Do Junior And Kushner Understand The Trouble They're In ?

 (The photos of Donald Trump Jr. and Jared Kushner are from The Telegraph.)

Donald Trump Jr. and Jared Kushner are acting like the meeting they had with a Russian operative was nothing to worry about. They don't seem to understand the serious trouble they are now in.

The following is just part of an excellent article by Josh Marshall at Talking Points Memo:

One issue I’ve touched on here and there in my posts on the Russia probe is my abiding sense that especially the younger generation of Trumpers: Kushner, Don Jr., et al. just don’t seem to grasp the magnitude of the trouble they’re in, or at least the magnitude of their legal exposure. I can’t point to any one piece of evidence. It’s more like every piece of evidence. The signs I’m going on are a mix of public evidence, things we see unfolding in the newspapers, and my own reporting.  They just don’t act like people who get what they’re dealing with and are acting accordingly.

The abiding sense I get is not simply that they don’t know the magnitude of the legal threat but that they don’t understand the nature of the threat either. Again and again they seem to think the legal vulnerability can be trumped by good news cycles or getting the press to focus on some other individual.  They don’t seem to get that a big, sprawling federal investigation like this, untethered from the political chain of command and led by one of the top law enforcement professionals of his generation, trundles onward with a perfect indifference to whether you win the morning or kill it in 10 or a 100 different news cycles. Those things just don’t matter. And yet my sense at least is that Jared Kushner thinks he is helping himself by knifing his brother-in-law – as though if Don Jr is at the center of a media firestorm for a few days, Mueller will just forget about him. . . .

It amounts to “Sure, it looks bad. But if Jared negotiates a final settlement between the Israelis and the Palestinians, it will all be fine.” That’s nuts. A generation of very committed, focused and knowledgable US policy hands have been trying to crack that nut with little or no success since the Oslo Accords almost 25 years ago and arguably for the better part of a century. The idea that a inexperienced and callow rube like Kushner, backed by a thoroughly distracted President, is going to get anywhere, is truly fantastical. And yet, that’s the plan for slipping the noose with his legal problems.

With Don Jr., if he knew he’d been sitting on this for a year, why didn’t he already have a lawyer, rather than hiring one this weekend? Why did he tweet those emails, even if he knew or thought the Times was about to publish them? And why did he go on Hannity last night? Again, I don’t think there is any real answer beside the hard to figure reality that they just don’t get the scale of trouble they’re in.

Why is this?

At a basic level, I think the key players just aren’t that smart and have a lot of hubris. They’re like low level grifters or mob soldiers who are headstrong and stupid and get chewed up when the authorities come after them. . . .

I think it’s acculturation. They’re born to invulnerability. And by and large their life experience supports that and rewards it. . . .

New York’s business and media world is a cockpit of vipers. It’s hard to say anyone who comes out of that world is green or wet behind the ears. But Washington DC, and especially big federal criminal investigations, are different. It does not prepare you for that. If you look at Trump’s own career, there’s a persistent pattern. Get into a jam and you call in the lawyers, make threats, threaten lawsuits. If someone gets in your way you bleed them for years in court. If things go bad, you settle and move on. There’s also the tabloids. They look vicious. But they can also be deeply pliant for the rich. Landing a blow by planting a nasty story in the Post is a persistent theme of Trump’s racket for decades. Being a longtime informant for the FBI solves other problems. Having a problem with a disloyal? Fire them and threaten retribution. There’s probably an NDA already in place. They can be dealt with.

Kushner, notoriously, bought The New York Observer as one of his first gambits after taking over the family business when his dad headed to the big house. But he reportedly used the paper as a tool to attack business enemies. Kushner’s interest in the Observer has always struck me as of a piece with Trump’s modus operandi with the New York tabloids.

Because of the President’s damaged personality and perrenial and chronic anger it can seem like he’s different, that he gets the magnitude of the situation. I don’t think he does. Every reverse is because he’s being treated unfairly or let down by Reince Priebus or Steve Bannon or now his loyalist lawyer Marc Kasowitz. The problems won’t go away because his staff can’t stop the leaks. In a situation like this there aren’t a lot of people you can effectively buy or destroy. This is a legal world that Trump has very little experience with.

A big federal investigation like this is like a broad lava flow. It moves slowly but it is unstoppable. It burns and crushes things in its wake. And things too big or unburnable it just covers over. The little antics and PR gambits mainly do not matter. Key players in this mix don’t seem to appreciate that.