We now know that Trump’s son, son-in-law, and campaign manager tried to work with a semi-hostile foreign power to win the election – a foreign power that conducted a large-scale and successful cyber-espionage effort against the Democratic Party.
This is worse than Watergate.
Donald Trump Jr. knew what he was being offered, and from whom -- because the emails refer to a “Russian government attorney” who will “provide the Trump campaign with some official documents and information” that’s “part of Russia and its government’s support for Mr. Trump.”
Trump Jr.’s reply was “if it’s what you say I love it especially later in the summer." And late in the summer is exactly when the hacked Democratic emails actually began to be released.
Campaign manager Paul Manafort and Jared Kushner were forwarded these emails. They attended the meeting because they wanted the documents, and sought to work with the Russians.
None of them seemed confused or nonplussed when informed that Russia wanted to help Trump win. The alliance between Team Trump and the Russians was already credible and serious enough that they accepted the email without further vetting or discussion. No one suggested running it by the foreign policy team or even the FBI.
Are we in treasonous territory yet?
By Ezra Klein
