Trump Tower meeting: Why Mueller didn't prosecute Donald Trump Jr, Jared Kushner and others
Trump Jr was offered “very high level and sensitive information but is part of Russia and its government’s support for Mr Trump,” to which he replied, 'if it’s what you say I love it'
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.As the highly anticipated Mueller Report was released, we gained some insight as to why the Special Counsel’s team declined to prosecute Donald Trump Jr.
Mr Trump Jr, Jared Kushner, Paul Manafort and others had participated in the infamous Trump Tower meeting in June of 2016 where a Russian lawyer claimed they had dirt on the Clinton campaign, “some official documents and information that would incriminate Hillary and her dealings with Russia and would be very useful to your father.”
Mr. Trump Jr was offered “very high level and sensitive information but is part of Russia and its government’s support for Mr Trump,” to which he replied, “if it’s what you say I love it.”
President Trump claimed to not know of the meeting, although his former lawyer Michael Cohen has said differently. Hope Hicks, then communications director, and Jared Kushner were instructed to mislead the public regarding the meeting.
The group was not charged as there was no proof that they “willfully” violated the law.
The report says “Taking into account the high burden to establish a culpable mental state in a campaign-finance prosecution and the difficulty in establishing the required valuation, the office decided not to pursue criminal campaign-finance charges against Trump Jr. or other campaign officials for the events culminating in the June 9 meeting.”
The Special Counsel’s team explained “The office ultimately concluded that, even if the principal legal questions were resolved favourably to the government, a prosecution would encounter difficulties proving that campaign officials or individuals connected to the campaign willfully violated the law.”
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments