Quotes by Sarah Sanders on Whether Trump Dictated the Trump Tower Meeting Statement
#SarahSanders 8/1/17: "The President…certainly didn’t dictate ❲the Trump Tower Meeting statement❳." » #Sanders 6/4/18: "I’m not going to respond to ❲his lawyers stating he did❳." Click To Tweet
Quotes by Sarah Sanders on Whether Trump Dictated the Trump Tower Meeting Statement
THEN
August 1, 2017

- Aug 1, 2017
The White House, Aug. 1, 2017
Press Briefing by Press Secretary Sarah Sanders
NOW
June 4, 2018

June 4, 2018 -
The White House, June 4, 2018
Press Briefing by Press Secretary Sarah Sanders
Context
On July 8, 2017, after being presented with findings that he, his brother-in-law Jared Kushner, and then-Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort met with Kremlin-connected Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya at Trump Tower on June 9, 2016, Donald Trump Jr. responded with this statement to the New York Times:1New York Times, July 8, 2017
Trump Team Met With Lawyer Linked to Kremlin During Campaign
retrieved 6/24/18
It was a short introductory meeting. I asked Jared and Paul to stop by. We primarily discussed a program about the adoption of Russian children that was active and popular with American families years ago and was since ended by the Russian government, but it was not a campaign issue at the time and there was no follow up.
I was asked to attend the meeting by an acquaintance, but was not told the name of the person I would be meeting with beforehand.2New York Times, July 9, 2017
Donald Trump Jr.’s Two Different Explanations for Russian Meeting
retrieved 6/24/18
Trump Jr.’s statement contradicted his previous assertions that he did not meet with Russians during the campaign under “set up” circumstances or “representing the campaign in any way, shape or form.”3New York Times, July 8, 2017
Trump Team Met With Lawyer Linked to Kremlin During Campaign
retrieved 6/24/18 The statement also did not mention that Trump Jr. was promised damaging information about Hillary Clinton from a “Russian government attorney” before agreeing to the meeting, and that the Magnitsky Act was discussed in contradiction with Trump Jr.’s previous assertion that he did not discuss Russian-related US policy with Russians during the campaign. This information became public over the next few days.4New York Times, July 8, 2017
Donald Trump Jr.’s Two Different Explanations for Russian Meeting
retrieved 6/24/185New York Times, July 11, 2017
Russian Dirt on Clinton? ‘I Love It,’ Donald Trump Jr. Said
retrieved 6/24/186New York Times, July 11, 2017
Read the Emails on Donald Trump Jr.’s Russia Meeting
retrieved 6/24/18
In the following week Jay Sekulow, a lawyer for Donald Trump, repeatedly denied that Trump had any involvement in drafting the Trump Tower meeting statement. Sekulow also said Trump was not aware of the July 9, 2016, Trump Tower meeting until “very recently, right before this came out.”7CNN, July 12, 2017
Jay Sekulow full ‘New Day’ interview
retrieved 8/1/188ABC News, July 12, 2017
Trump Jr.’s meeting with Russian lawyer ‘not illegal’: President’s lawyer
retrieved 8/1/189NBC News, July 16, 2017
Meet the Press – July 16, 2017
retrieved 8/1/18
On July 31, 2017, the Washington Post reported that Trump “personally dictated” the statement “according to multiple people with knowledge of the deliberations.”10Washington Post, July 31, 2017
Trump dictated son’s misleading statement on meeting with Russian lawyer
retrieved 6/24/18 In response to questions about the report Sarah Sanders said Trump “certainly didn’t dictate” the statement and instead just “weighed in, offered suggestions like any father would do.“11The White House, Aug 1, 2017
Press Briefing by Press Secretary Sarah Sanders
retrieved 8/1/18
On June 2, 2018, the New York Times published a memo that Trump lawyers including Sekulow submitted to special counsel Robert Mueller on January 29, 2018, wherein the lawyers stated that Trump “dictated” the statement.12New York Times, June 2, 2018
The Trump Lawyers’ Confidential Memo to Mueller, Explained
retrieved 6/24/1813New York Times, June 2, 2018
Trump’s Lawyers, in Confidential Memo, Argue to Head Off a Historic Subpoena
retrieved 6/24/18 When asked in a press conference two days later about the contradiction between what Sanders previously stated and what the White House lawyers wrote to Mueller she repeatedly refused to respond.14The White House, June 4, 2018
Press Briefing by Press Secretary Sarah Sanders
retrieved 8/1/18