If you recall Donald Trump’s controversial and suspicious meeting in 2017 with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, well, he’s doing it again on Tuesday. The House is voting now on the articles of impeachment so his timing is interesting. When you’re in a hole, you’re supposed to stop digging but the “president” just can’t stop himself. And just like in 2017, today’s scheduled meeting will be closed to the U.S. press.
Like Trump’s last Oval Office meeting with Lavrov in May 2017, tomorrow’s is scheduled be closed to the U.S. press, per White House guidance. pic.twitter.com/YV9JE3e2lA
— Jennifer Epstein (@jeneps) December 10, 2019
When we finally did get into the Oval on that day in 2017, Henry Kissinger was the president’s guest. pic.twitter.com/79U4BxtwUU
— Jennifer Epstein (@jeneps) December 10, 2019
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The optics are really bad.
Sometimes events that are advised as closed press end up being open to the pool but it’s not a great jumping off point for U.S. advocacy for freedom of the press for this meeting to be listed as closed press on the guidance.
— Jennifer Epstein (@jeneps) December 10, 2019
When Lavrov met with Trump in the Oval Office in 2017, the former reality show star reportedly divulged classified information to the foreign minister and Sergey Kislyak, who at that time, was the Russian ambassador to the U.S. And that took place only one day after he fired FBI Director James Comey while the agency was probing ties between Trump associates and Russia.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will reportedly also attend the meeting with Lavrov, according to what he told One America News Network on Monday.
“We didn’t pick this date to coincide with the [inquiry] process on Capitol Hill, but we can’t allow the zaniness that’s taking place on Capitol Hill to impact our job — the president’s job, it’s my job – to keep the American people safe, to continue our diplomatic undertakings,” Pompeo insisted. “We’re not going to let that activity distract us from this important work.”
During Trump’s 2017 meeting, he told the Russians that the FBI pressure upon him had been “taken off” after firing Comey.
It’s impossible to explain Trump’s meeting with Lavrov unless it’s all just a distraction from the impeachment vote. I really hope that our U.S. Intelligence agencies bug the fuck out of the room because you know Russia certainly will.
Featured image via screen capture.
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