FBI has obtained wiretaps connecting Donald Trump Jr to the Kremlin
Last week we brought you the story of how Republican leaders in the Senate were suddenly trying to wash their hands of the Trump-Russia scandal, particularly with regard to Donald Trump Jr’s role. Palmer Report asked aloud what they knew that we didn’t, because it felt like a bombshell was about to land, and they wanted to be able to say they’d already taken steps to get on the right side of it. Sure enough, something major just landed.
Police in Spain have been secretly wiretapping Russian political figure Alexander Torshin for some time, and they recently turned these wiretaps over to the FBI, according to a new report from respected political reporter Michael Isikoff. The trouble for Donald Trump Jr: he met with Torshin. No one is yet willing to say precisely what’s on these wiretaps, but the Spanish police are summing it up this way: “Mr. Trump’s son should be concerned.” We assume they’re not referring to Barron. So what does this have to do with the Senate?
Last week, after months of stalling, the Republican controlled Senate Judiciary Committee abruptly released the transcripts of last year’s testimony from Donald Trump Jr. At the time it wasn’t yet clear why the GOP Senate had suddenly decided to stop protecting Junior, and was trying to wash its hands of him. Our guess would be that these wiretaps prove Junior committed perjury. But we don’t even have to guess, because in what is surely also not a coincidence, Democratic Senator Chris Coons just announced today that Trump Jr may have indeed committed perjury.
It’s not difficult to see what’s happening here. The FBI (and by extension Robert Mueller) have recently gotten their hands on these tapes which show that Donald Trump Jr was plotting far more deeply with the Kremlin than a simple one-off meeting at Trump Tower. Senate leaders would have known about this wiretaps evidence before the public, and it helps explain why the GOP Senate leadership suddenly decided last week to throw Trump Jr under the bus while it still could. This story is still developing. Look for more shoes to drop over the weekend.
