https://www.commondreams.org/views/2017/08/23/follow-money-they-say-it-was-about-russian-orphans-theyre-lying
"Trump’s latest cover-up ended on July 31, 2017, when The Washington Post’s headline proclaimed: “Trump dictated son’s misleading statement on meeting with Russian lawyer.” Even press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders admitted that Trump “weighed in” on Don Jr.’s statement before it went out. The revelation was just another of the presidential lies permeating the Trump-Russia story. For months, Trump and his minions insisted that there had been no contact with Russians during the campaign. They were lying. Trump’s second defense admitted to such contacts, but asserted there was no evidence of collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign. A related talking point was that Russia actually wanted Hillary Clinton to win because Putin feared that Trump would be tougher on Russia. Don Jr.’s email chain obliterated those positions. While trying to explain away Don Jr.’s emails, Trump tried a third defense: Anyone would have taken the June 9 meeting. “It’s called opposition research,” Trump said. That defense quickly became counterproductive because accepting help from a foreign adversary is illegal. Trump and his minions then moved to defenses four and five: The Russians didn’t offer anything helpful, and whatever they did to help Trump hadn’t made a difference. Those “believe me,” “trust me” assertions from a serial liar aren’t working. We’re now at defense number six: Ignore whatever happened. Trump is still a legitimately elected president. But the evaporation of defenses one through five is making that a tough sell. As the facts seep out, Trump uses every available obstacle — even prevarication from his son’s mouth — to block pathways to the truth. The inference is unavoidable: That truth must be worth hiding."
