Thursday on CNN’s “New Day,” Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) called an email exchanged released by Donald Trump, Jr. earlier this week showing a meeting being arranged by a Russian attorney to offer opposition research on Hillary Clinton “bombshell evidence of criminal intent.”
“New Day” co-host Alisyn Camerota pushed Blumenthal on how he could arrive at such a proclamation, tying it to a crime. Blumenthal argued they were although they were “far from charges and indictments,” he still believed a criminal case could be made based on Trump, Jr.’s words “I love it” in the email.
Partial transcript as follows:
CAMEROTA: In about an hour, President Trump will meet with French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris and hold a joint news conference. But his trip is being somewhat overshadowed by the controversy over Don Jr.’s e-mails revealing a previously undisclosed meeting between top Trump campaign members and a Russian lawyer. In a new interview, the president tells Reuters that, quote, “many people,” unquote, would have taken that meeting if the opportunity presented itself.
Let’s discuss this and more with Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal. He serves on the Judiciary Committee, which is investigating Russian election interference.
Good morning, senator.
BLUMENTHAL: Good morning.
CAMEROTA: Now that we’ve all seen Don Jr.’s e-mails in black and white on the front page of the papers where he expresses interest and even enthusiasm about getting dirt on Hillary Clinton from what he thought was a high-level Russian source, what do you do about that? What is Congress going to do about that?
BLUMENTHAL: We are investigating not only Russian interference in the election campaign, which was extraordinary, unprecedented in its scope and sophistication but also the potential Trump campaign collusion with that Russian interference. And these e-mails are bombshell evidence of criminal intent, often the most difficult elements of —
CAMEROTA: Why? Why? Hold on, what do you mean that there are bombshells of criminal intent?
BLUMENTHAL: What they show is, as you said so well just a few minutes ago, interest and enthusiasm for working with the Russians on interfering in the election and what the signal was.
CAMEROTA: Well, hold on a second. I mean — I mean I just want to press back on this because it’s not criminal, it’s not a crime, to develop opposition research on your opponent.
BLUMENTHAL: Correct, not if it comes from legitimate sources and it’s obtained by legitimate means. If it’s obtained by hacking into the DNC, which is a violation of law, it involves a conspiracy to violate the law and the intent on the part of Manafort, Kushner, Trump Jr. to be part of that illegal acts (ph) of —
CAMEROTA: But you’re connecting these two things, which we don’t see a nexus of. You’re connecting the Russian hack of the DNC with whatever this meeting was that Don Jr. was trying to arrange?
BLUMENTHAL: The meeting was to obtain information. The hacking was the means to obtain that information. And there is more evidence that has to be elicited. No question that we’re very far from criminal charges here and from proof beyond a reasonable doubt. But if you’re asking, what’s the significance of these e-mails, it is criminal intent, which is often the most difficult part of any case to prove. You know, these words “I love it” will haunt Donald Trump Jr. I can see a prosecutor’s closing argument repeating those words again and again and again because they show what the purpose and motive was of this meeting, obtaining information.
CAMEROTA: They show intent, but what’s the name of that crime? What’s the name of the crime that loves opposition research?
BLUMENTHAL: If you want the specific statutes that may have been violated, 18 United States Code 1030, which is cyber fraud and abuse. The other conspiracy statutes that forbid defrauding the United States government by interfering with elections committed by the Russians. No question that the Russians interfered with our election. The only question is whether Trump Jr., Manafort, Kushner, on behalf of the Trump campaign, were part of a conspiracy to do so.
CAMEROTA: Are you saying that in your mind this rises to the level that Tim Kaine suggested, Senator Tim Kaine, suggested, of treason?
BLUMENTHAL: It could rise to the level of espionage and treason if it involved participation in a conspiracy in effect to undermine the lawful functions of the United States government by a foreign power.
Remember, Russia is a dangerous adversary who attacked the United States. I’d argue to you that it was an act of war by an enemy operating to try to interfere with our elections, the core of our democracy, an attack on this country and to participate in a conspiracy to accomplish that end in my view could well amount to treason. Now, again, we are far from charges or indictments here.
CAMEROTA: Yes.
BLUMENTHAL: Not to mention conviction.
CAMEROTA: But, senator, I mean, what if this is what the White House says, the naivete of a political neophyte who met with somebody who misrepresented herself. She didn’t have anything. She didn’t offer anything. She didn’t offer up any sort of oppo research or anything. And it all kind of disintegrated when they got in there.
BLUMENTHAL: Well, a conspiracy need not accomplish all of its ends. In effect the ends here, to interfere with the election, was accomplished. Maybe not in this meeting. But, again, the meeting itself was part of a larger train of events. Part of a mosaic. And a prosecutor will have to put together that tapestry. I know from my own experience as a federal prosecutor not always easy to do so, but e-mails show a critical element here that the Trump campaign was saying, we’re open for business. We’ll deal with you. And that is absolutely bombshell evidence.
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