Sometime in the summer of 2017, I read all over the media that there had
been a meeting in Trump Tower in June 2016 involving Don Jr. and others
from the campaign with Russians, including a representative of the Russian
government, and an email setting up the meeting with the subject line, “Dirt
on Hillary Clinton.” Something clicked in my mind. I remember being in the
room with Mr. Trump, probably in early June 2016, when something
peculiar happened. Don Jr. came into the room and walked behind his
father’s desk – which in itself was unusual. People didn’t just walk behind
Mr. Trump’s desk to talk to him. I recalled Don Jr. leaning over to his father
and speaking in a low voice, which I could clearly hear, and saying: “The
meeting is all set.” I remember Mr. Trump saying, “Ok good…let me
know.”
What struck me as I looked back and thought about that exchange between
Don Jr. and his father was, first, that Mr. Trump had frequently told me and
others that his son Don Jr. had the worst judgment of anyone in the
world. And also, that Don Jr. would never set up any meeting of any
significance alone – and certainly not without checking with his father.
I also knew that nothing went on in Trump world, especially the campaign,
without Mr. Trump’s knowledge and approval. So, I concluded that Don
Jr. was referring to that June 2016 Trump Tower meeting about dirt on