Here’s there part where Erik Prince perjured himself about Donald Trump
On Saturday, May 19, Prince Harry married Meghan Markle in a beautiful ceremony, with Harry telling Meghan she looked amazing. On the same day, we learned that another Prince, Erik Prince, apparently misled or lied to the House Intelligence Committee when he told the committee he had very little involvement in the Donald J. Trump campaign. Turns out, that was a fairy tale.
On November 30, 2017, Prince appeared before the House Intelligence Committee and the following exchange took place when he testified:
Representative Tom Rooney (R-Florida): “So there was no formal communication or contact with the campaign?”
Erik Prince: “Correct.”
Turns out, Prince lied in that exchange, if breaking stories are correct. In a New York Times exclusive that broke, it appears that Prince not only met with the campaign, but according to the story, he personally arranged and attended an August 3, 2016 Trump Tower meeting where George Nader, an adviser to the de facto ruler of the United Arab Emirates, told Donald Trump Jr. that UAE and Saudi Arabia were eager to help his father win the election.
This is not the first lie told by Prince- it appears that his statement that a meeting in the Seychelles was a chance encounter is also not true. Nader is cooperating with Special Counsel Robert Mueller and is telling a different story.
Whether Prince will be charged with perjury is questionable, but it once again raises significant questions about the Trump team and what activities with foreign nationals they engaged in during the election campaign. The number of individuals who met with foreigners during the election, and the number of encounters, raises serious questions about foreign involvement. The Federal Election Commission issued an article in June 2017 reminding us that foreign activity in our elections is a federal crime. The report is available here. The list of issues that may be added to illegal activity appears to be growing, and for the Trump team, this is not a fairy tale like the wedding that took place between Harry and Meghan.
Daniel is a lawyer writing and teaching about SCOTUS, and is the author of the book “The Chief Justices” about the SCOTUS as seen through the center seat.