Trump's Lawyer Says Nothing 'Nefarious' in Russia Meeting

Trump's lawyer made the Sunday rounds to defend the president
By Josh Rosenblatt,  Newser Staff
Posted Jul 16, 2017 12:40 PM CDT
Trump's Lawyer Says Nothing 'Nefarious' in Russia Meeting
Jay Sekulow   (AP Photo/Steve Helber)

A prominent member of Donald Trump's legal team made the rounds of the Sunday news shows, insisting there was nothing "nefarious" in the meeting between Trump's son and a Russian lawyer during the 2016 campaign. Jay Sekulow appeared on ABC's This Week With George Stephanopoulos and noted that the Secret Service allowed Donald Jr., Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner, and then-campaign aide Paul Manafort to meet with the Russians, the Washington Post reports. “I wonder why the Secret Service, if this was nefarious, why the Secret Service allowed these people in?” he asked. The elder Trump "had Secret Service protection at that point, and that raised a question with me." He also said that the responsibility for Donald Jr.'s initial incomplete statement about the meeting lies with Trump's son and not the president.

On Face the Nation, Sekulow said that the president "knows of no other meetings" between his campaign staff and Russians, the Hill reports. In fact, he said, Trump was not aware of his son's now-infamous 2016 meeting beforehand. Those claims have raised suspicion for some, including Sen. Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence committee, who said on CNN's State of the Union that such a claim seems questionable. "Frankly, it's a little bit unbelievable that neither the son or the son-in-law ever shared that information with their dad, the candidate," Warner said, as per CNN. Meanwhile, the president has added another key member to his legal team: former federal prosecutor Ty Cobb. His main job will be to guide the White House response to the various Russia probes, reports NPR. (More Donald Trump stories.)

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