President Donald Trump was not involved in his oldest son's statement concerning his meeting with a Russian attorney last summer, and "to put this on the president, I think, is absolutely incorrect," Jay Sekulow, a lawyer for the president, told CNN Wednesday morning while denying a report in The New York Times.
"His 39-year-old son, who's running the Trump Corporation and the Trump Organization, so he doesn't need to be looked over the shoulder by his father," Sekulow told CNN "New Day" anchor Chris Cuomo during an often-contentious half-hour interview. "The president was not aware of the meeting, did not attend the meeting and was only made aware of the emails very recently by counsel and had not seen the emails. In fact, you know, I didn't see the email until yesterday and I'm one of the lawyers. So there you have it."
Meanwhile, Sekulow argued that Cuomo, who comes from a longtime political family, knows how campaigns are, and should know there are a lot of meetings that take place.
"The Ukrainian government was giving information to the DNC and Hillary Clinton's people on who, Donald Trump," said Sekulow, pointing out that Trump Junior has now said he would have handled matters differently on emails asking for a meeting.
Sekulow also asked to look at the basis on which the Russia investigation was triggered: Former FBI Director James Comey.
"Comey leaks internal memos that he took of conversations with the president of the United States," said Sekulow. "He takes them in his meeting with the president. He puts them in his government computer, sticks them in his government desk and creates a memo that he leaks when he gets fired to a friend of his to go to the press for the sole purpose he said under oath of obtaining a special counsel."
And then, Sekulow argued, Comey was able to push for a special counsel based on "illegally leaked evidence. I don't think that's OK."
Sekulow also didn't say if he believes the investigation to be a "witch hunt," but he does think the "whole underlying matter this started with is wrong."
Further, President Barack Obama "supposedly knew that the Russians were trying to interfere with the election? What did he do?" said Sekulow.
However, he insisted that he has "no idea" if Russia interfered in the election.
"You asked me about the president's statement about witch hunts," he said. "I told you that the whole basis upon which and I could say it again, I don't have to bore you with it again, it's the same statement and that is the basis upon which the special counsel was appointed."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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