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

Screenshots from video of crosswalk playing anti-Trump messages
@imfromdenver/Instagram

Someone Hacked Crosswalks In Denver To Play Hilariously NSFW Anti-Trump Messages—And It's Brilliant

Hackers changed the messages on some newly-installed crosswalks in Denver, Colorado, to play messages criticizing President Donald Trump—to the delight of anti-Trumpers.

The crosswalk push-buttons were newly installed and “still bagged,” operating on factory settings that included a default password easily found online, according to Nancy Kuhn of the Denver Department of Transportation and Infrastructure. She said the password has now been changed and officials “don’t expect a repeat situation" at these locations.

Keep ReadingShow less
The real cast of "Friends": Matt LeBlanc, Lisa Kudrow, Matthew Perry, Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, and David Schwimmer.
Jim Smeal/Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images

An AI Video About Who Would Star In 'Friends' If It Was Cast Today Has Everyone Completely Puzzled

“I’ll be there for you”… except, wait—why is that person playing Chandler Bing? That’s the question viewers kept asking after an AI fan video of Friends began circulating online with some very questionable casting choices.

In a repost by @SweetTexanRose, the user summed up the confusion:

Keep ReadingShow less
Kevin Hart; Kevin Hart wax figure at the Hollywood Wax Museum
Gilbert Flores/Penske Media/Getty Images; @kevinhart4real/Instagram

Kevin Hart Shared A Video Of His New Wax Sculpture Likeness—And His Reaction Is Priceless

Creating wax figures of celebrities and historical figures should be one of those things that, if you can't do it right, you probably shouldn't do it at all.

Though there have been some examples of successive likenesses, like the recent Harry Styles world tour, most celebrity renditions inevitably have something about them that looks a little... off.

Keep ReadingShow less
Lebo M; Learnmore Jonasi
Oupa Bopape/Gallo Images via Getty Images; Gregg Deguire/Variety via Getty Images

Comedian Sued By 'Lion King' Chant Composer For $27M After Going Viral With 'Joke' Misinterpretation

In Lakȟótiyapi—the language of the Indigenous American Lakȟóta of the Očhéthi Šakówiŋ nation—there is a saying, Šúŋkawakȟáŋ ota wičháyuha or Tašúŋke ota wičháyuha.

The exact translation, "their horses are many," doesn't seem to mean much.

Keep ReadingShow less
Pope Leo XIV
Simone Risoluti - Vatican Media via Vatican Pool/Getty Images

Pope Leo Just Called For Compassion For Those Who Are Suffering—And MAGA's Responses Were Predictable AF

On Wednesday, March 18, Pope Leo XIV took to X to share a message about compassion.

Pope Leo wrote:

Keep ReadingShow less