Well, wouldn’t you know it, Donald Trump’s undying affection for social media stardom is coming back to haunt him.
This picture Trump shared on social media depicts a March 2016 pow wow during which the President can be seen sitting just a few feet away from George Papadopolous the former campaign adviser who, the world learned on Monday, has been flipped by Mueller and is now a cooperating witness in the special counsel probe:
That image casts considerable doubt on the President’s contention that Papadopolous was just “a low level guy named George” of no consequence to the campaign.
Since Monday, there’s been a slow leak of information about just what Mueller has likely gleaned from Papadopolous’s e-mails and one particularly damning revelation came on Tuesday evening when Bloomberg reported that one of the messages seems to suggest that “top Trump campaign officials agreed to a pre-election meeting with representatives of Russian President Vladimir Putin.”
On Thursday, Sam Clovis (who apparently supervised Papadopolous), was effectively forced to give up on his push to be the Department of Agriculture’s chief scientist after the court documents unsealed on Monday described emails between Clovis and Papadopoulos that found ol’ Sam responding “Great work” when George talked about his interactions with Kremlin surrogates.
Well as you can see from the picture above, Jeff Sessions also attended the meeting with Papadopolous and now, according to CNN, the Attorney General is under fresh scrutiny. Here’s what CNN reported on Wednesday evening:
Candidate Donald Trump did not dismiss the idea of arranging a meeting with Russia’s president when it was suggested in a meeting with his campaign foreign policy advisers last year, according to a person in the room.
The idea was raised by George Papadopoulos as he introduced himself at a March 2016 meeting of the Republican candidate’s foreign policy advisers, according to a court filing.“He didn’t say yes and he didn’t say no,” the official said, declining to be more specific about Trump’s response to Papadopoulos.
But the chairman of Trump’s national security team, then Alabama senator and now attorney general Jeff Sessions, shut down the idea of a Putin meeting at the March 31, 2016, gathering, according to the source. His reaction was confirmed with another source who had discussed Session’s role.
Needless to say, that raises fresh questions about whether Sessions was forthcoming when questioned on Capitol Hill. Here are some of the lawmaker reactions as recounted in another CNN piece out on Thursday afternoon:
“Jeff Sessions concealed his meetings with the Russians and he had an obligation to be more forthcoming about meetings that involved Papadopoulos,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a Connecticut Democrat who sits on the Senate judiciary committee.
Sen. Martin Heinrich, a New Mexico Democrat who sits on the Senate intelligence committee, said that despite Sessions’ testimony before the panel earlier this year, “it turns out he was at this meeting with George Papadopoulos. Papadopoulos proposed meeting with Putin and Trump. He didn’t disclose that to the committee.”
Heinrich added it calls into question “whether he is being honest and forthright with the committee and what does that mean for the highest law enforcement officer in the country?”
And then, just minutes ago, this:
JUST IN: Sessions now recalls rejecting Russia trip for Papadopoulos, sources tell NBC News https://t.co/VjYd3CGUpY
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) November 2, 2017
Trump troll par excellence Ted Lieu is not amused:
Turns out that Lyin' Jeff Sessions … lied. Under oath. https://t.co/13QqTLkyjP
— Ted Lieu (@tedlieu) November 2, 2017
Now we have confirmation from Lyin' Jeff Sessions that he lied under oath. https://t.co/kEKAx4HMFP
— Ted Lieu (@tedlieu) November 2, 2017
Go figure right? It seems like Jeff Sessions seems to “remember” things only when he gets caught in a lie.
And this is the Attorney General.
Nothing further.
Third time’s the charm! He has had to amend his recollections…translated: admit his lies
So there is no automatic removal from his office when caught in a lie…. how about third time caught in a lie? What is the magic number then??
Nothing-burger. So what? He forgot he rejected and dismissed a stupid idea presented in a meeting last year. I’m no fan, but I can tell you this is going nowhere – the equivalent of flatulence in the wind.