Don Jr.’s Trump Tower mystery call went to NASCAR CEO
The biggest leaker of intelligence in Washington, Adam 'Shifty' Schiff was devastated to learn another one of his lies was dispelled – Don Jr. was talking to NASCAR CEO Brian France, not the Russians. You can tell he's crazy just by looking at his eyes. |
Several mysterious phone calls made by Don Trump Jr ahead of the infamous Trump Tower meeting were to business associates and not to his father, a new report has claimed.
Records recently provided to the Senate Intelligence Committee show the calls in June 2016 were between Trump Jr and two of his business associates, three sources with knowledge of the matter told ABC News.
Democrats had long speculated that several calls to blocked numbers three days prior to Trump Jr's meeting with a Russian lawyer were to Donald Trump, and had hoped to see the President's eldest son indicted for lying about them.
Instead, the calls were to two Trump family friends: NASCAR CEO Brian France and real estate developer Howard Lorber, according to the sources.
Trump reacted to the new report quickly, tweeting on Thursday night: 'Just out: The big deal, very mysterious Don jr telephone calls, after the innocent Trump Tower meeting, that the media & Dems said were made to his father (me), were just conclusively found NOT to be made to me. They were made to friends & business associates of Don. Really sad!'
The new information throws cold water on the Democrats' hopes that Trump Jr could be indicted for perjury for testifying that he did not inform his father of the Trump Tower meeting beforehand.
The report sheds light on a key question about Trump Jr's meeting with Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya, who had offered the Trump campaign dirt on Hillary Clinton, which she apparently never delivered.
Trump Jr, Jared Kushner, and Paul Manafort participated in the meeting, which Trump Jr later publicly dismissed as 'nothing' and 'a wasted 20 minutes.'
There does not appear to have been anything inherently illegal about the meeting, but Trump Jr initially lied about its purpose in a press release.
Opponents of President Trump have long hoped to see Trump Jr indicted for lying to investigators or Congress about the meeting or what his father knew about it.
In his September 2017 testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Trump Jr was asked whether he told his father about the meeting, and replied: 'No, I did not.'
At the hearing, Trump Jr was also questioned about two phone calls between his iPhone and blocked numbers on June 6, 2017, the same day he spoke on the phone with Russian pop star Emin Agalarov, the son of a Russian oligarch who spearheaded the Trump Tower meeting.
Trump Jr told the committee that he could not recall who he was speaking with on the calls with the blocked numbers.
CNN first reported Thursday that the calls did not go to President Trump.
It is unclear whether the calls had anything to do with the Trump Tower meeting, or were entirely unrelated.
However, a spokesperson for Lorber told ABC that the real estate executive 'does not recall having conversations with Donald Jr. in the summer of 2016, but in any event he has absolutely not had conversations with Donald Jr. about any Russian matters.'
Both Lorber and France have close ties to Trump and actively supported his campaign during the 2016 election.
With Democrats in control of the House, the blocked calls had been primed to become a key avenue of inquiry.
House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, a California Democrat, had said that he planned to seek records from Trump Jr and the Trump Organization detailing his communications, including calls about the Trump Tower meeting.
Trump Jr reacted to the reports vindicating his blocked calls with a tweet mocking Schiff.
'Has anyone heard from Adam Schiff?' Trump Jr wrote. 'I imagine he’s busy leaking other confidential info from the House Intelligence Committee to change the subject?!?'