On Tuesday, Donald Trump Jr. tweeted out what he claimed was the full email conversation between himself and music publicist Rob Goldston. The conversation was an offer to meet with an important Russian lawyer, and appeared to promise information from the Russian government intended to help Donald Trump win the presidency.
Trump Jr. tweeted the email conversation thanks to a tip he received that the New York Times was just minutes away from publishing a full investigative report about the emails and the subsequent meeting he arranged.
Then, Trump Jr. was invited on Sean Hannity’s show to talk about it.
When he arrived on the show, he gave a half-hearted answer that didn’t really absolve him of anything. He said of his response, “Someone sent me an email. I can't help what someone sends me. I read it, I responded accordingly.”
The problem with that response is the email explicitly promised that the information was “part of Russia and its government's support for Mr. Trump.” To this, Trump Jr. did not respond with shock or horror that a foreign agent was explicitly attempting to favor one presidential candidate over another. He did not reportit to the FBI, or to any other investigative bodies or authorities. Instead, hetweeted all the incriminating emails via his social media accounts, showing the American people his lack of a social media governance plan.
Instead, he said he would “love it,” and would like to arrange a meeting that included Paul Manafort, Trump’s campaign advisor, and and Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law and campaign aide.
This information is essentially Trump Jr. explicitly admitting that he heard a foreign agent was trying to play a role in his country’s election, and his response was “oh, yeah, that will be helpful for my father!”
And Sean Hannity’s response to this information? He asked a small handful of easy questions, like “did you tell your dad,” “did you meet with other Russians,” “did anyone else offer information about Hillary” and “what would you do if the meeting did offer illegal information?”
After allowing Trump Jr. to give his side of the story and asking him if he would change anything about what he did, giving him the chance to say “I would do things differently,” Hannity tapped out with “Look, this is an opinion show but I wanted to ask every question I could think of regarding this issue. I can’t think of any more, in all honesty.”
He didn’t point out that the offer in the initial email itself was an offer of treason, and Trump Jr. eagerly accepted it. He didn’t question Trump Jr.’s interpretation that he couldn’t help what emails he received (and responded to, and what he responded to them with). He essentially allowed Trump Jr. to come onstage and give a jovial, friendly, “all really is fine” interview to assuage any nervous Republicans.
Hannity is working hand in hand with the Republican party here, and Republicans are eager to lap up any version of the truth that absolves their party of wrong. That means the glaring problems with Jr.’s story - such as the fact that it literally still includes eagerly accepting treason - are being ignored.
This won’t go away like Republicans hope it will. No matter how Hannity and other Fox News reps try to spin it, Trump Jr. admitted to something massive. The underlying story - that people in Trump’s campaign, as early as June 2016, knew the Russian government was on their side - is going to rock the boat in the ongoing Russia investigation. President Donald Trump will not be happy.