Wednesday on Public Radio International’s “The Takeaway,” Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR), said the meeting between Donald Trump, Jr., Jared Kushner, then-Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort and a Russian attorney meant his Republican colleagues could no longer “pretend” there was no evidence of “collusion.”
Wyden said, “Based on Donald Trump Jr.’s words—his own words—this was an attempt at collusion.”
He continued,”Based on the emails that Donald Trump Jr. released, the highest levels of the Trump campaign walked, eyes open, into a meeting designed to advance the Russian government’s support for Donald Trump. So those emails show that there is no longer a question of whether this campaign sought to collude with a hostile foreign power to subvert the American democracy. The question is how far the coordination goes.”
Wyden said, “I hope we are done with the days when senators and folks are talking about there being no evidence of collusion. There is evidence now.”
He added, “You can’t pretend—A: that this isn’t serious and there is not evidence of collusion.”
When asked how Republican senators are reacting to the meeting reports, Wyden said they are more “muted” in their support for the Trump administration.
He added, “It’s one thing to be more muted in your support publicly, it’s another thing to say ‘this is now extraordinarily serious business—we are going to stop buying the idea that they are offering up that there is no collusion.’ I have heard that again and again, and that’s clearly not accurate anymore.”
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