Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

We Now Know How Donald Trump Jr. Escaped Being Charged for That 2016 Trump Tower Meeting, and It's Actually Kind of Sad

We Now Know How Donald Trump Jr. Escaped Being Charged for That 2016 Trump Tower Meeting, and It's Actually Kind of Sad
Donald Trump Jr. talks to the press before the arrival of his father President Donald Trump during a MAGA rally on March 28, 2019 in Grand Rapids, Michigan. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)

Poor guy.

Now that the redacted version of the Mueller report is available, people are carefully reviewing the contents. But while some members of the Trump administration and the Trump family are celebrating, people reading the report think those sentiments are premature or misguided.

One of the people reveling in the wake of Attorney General William Barr's press conference is President Donald Trump's eldest child with ex-wife Ivana Trump, Donald Trump Jr.


The First Son took to Twitter and posted:

"TOLD YA!!!"

But people who read the report are wondering if Don Jr. really wants to confirm the findings. While laws were definitely bent, proving Don Jr. was intelligent enough to know was a bridge too far according to Robert Mueller.

According to the report from the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election by Special Counsel Robert Mueller:

"This series of events [surrounding the June 9 meeting] could implicate the federal election-law ban on contributions and donations by foreign nationals . . . Specifically, Goldstone passed along an offer purportedly from a Russian government official to provide 'official documents and information' to the Trump campaign for the purposes of influencing the presidential election."
"Trump Jr. appears to have accepted that offer and to have arranged a meeting to receive those materials. Documentary evidence in the form of e-mail chains supports the inference that Kushner and Manafort were aware of that purpose and attended the June 9 meeting anticipating the receipt of helpful information to the Campaign from Russian sources."
"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."

On June 9, 2016, Don Jr, Jared Kushner, and then-campaign chairman Paul Manafort met with Russian lawyer and government operative Natalia Veselnitskaya at Trump Tower. They later lied about the purpose of the meeting with input from President Trump.

The report further states:

"The Office ultimately concluded that, even if the principal legal questions were resolved favorably to the government, a prosecution would encounter difficulties proving that Campaign officials or individuals connected to the Campaign willfully violated the law."

People largely agreed with the assessment of why Don Jr was not charged more so than the alternative.

Few people bought the story of completely exonerated or total innocence the Trump camp was selling since the conclusion of Muller's investigation.

While some crimes require only an action be taken, others require the criminal to "willfully and knowingly" take the action. The investigation clearly established Don Jr's actions, but Mueller opined that proving Don Jr was not ignorantly committing illegal acts was too difficult.

Although some had an important question about the decision to not prosecute Donald Trump Jr:

The eventual fallout from the report, and if Congress will see the non-redacted version, remains to be seen.

More from People

Ryan Coogler
Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic/Getty Images

Ryan Coogler Had A Hidden Nod To 'Sinners' Braided Into His Hair At The Oscars—And Fans Are Loving It

Producer, director, and screenwriter Ryan Coogler's Sinners made history at the 2026 Academy Awards by breaking the record for the most nominations for a single film, earning 16.

They ultimately won four: Best Original Screenplay (Ryan Coogler), Lead Actor (Michael B. Jordan), Cinematography (Autumn Durald Arkapaw), and Score (Ludwig Göransson).

Keep ReadingShow less
Screenshots from AI-generated video of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. "fighting" a twinkie
@SecKennedy/X

Shirtless RFK Jr. Dragged After Sharing Bizarre WWE-Inspired AI Video Of Him Wrestling A Twinkie

Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was widely mocked after he shared a video on X with the caption "MAHAMania: SnackDown" in which he wrestles a Twinkie as part of his Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) initiative.

Kennedy posted the AI-generated video on Sunday; it shows him emerging shirtless into a WWE SmackDown arena while Limp Bizkit’s 2000 hit "Rollin'" played in the background.

Keep ReadingShow less
Marjorie Taylor Greene; Megyn Kelly; Mark Levin
Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images; Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for TIME; Michael Kovac/Getty Images for Radio Hall of Fame

MTG Applauds Megyn Kelly For Her Brutal 'Micropenis' Dig Against Fox News Host Mark Levin In Clash Over Iran

Georgia Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene applauded conservative host Megyn Kelly amid her ongoing social media clash with Fox News host Mark Levin over the war in Iran after Kelly made a dig about Levin's "micropenis."

Kelly has broken with the Trump administration over the war in Iran, attracting attention for her open admonishment of key figures like South Carolina Republican Representative Lindsey Graham, whom she referred to as a "homicidal maniac" after reports that Graham helped convince President Donald Trump to authorize the bombing campaign.

Keep ReadingShow less
Screenshot of Donald Trump
Fox News

Trump Repeats Debunked Claim He Predicted 9/11 'A Year Before' It Happened In Bizarre Rant During Iran Remarks

President Donald Trump was called out for repeating his debunked claim that he predicted the September 11 terror attacks "a year before" they happened—all while speaking at the White House about his war with Iran.

Trump was addressing growing concerns about tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow passage at the entrance to the Persian Gulf that carries roughly 20% of the world’s oil supply. While the strait falls under international maritime law, Iran maintains substantial influence over the corridor.

Keep ReadingShow less
Donald Trump
Alex Wong/Getty Images

MAGA Influencer Says Trump Seems 'Demonically Possessed' In Brutal Post Slamming Iran War

A 2024 study found a stronger belief in the existence of demons and adherence to a "shadow gospel" was associated with more favorable views of MAGA Republican President Donald Trump. The shadow gospel refers to versions of Christianity and conservatism conjured through anti-liberal messages with little to no basis in actual scripture.

Trump traded on the beliefs of Christian nationalist factions among his MAGA minions by calling the Democratic Party "demonic."

Keep ReadingShow less