August 16, 2018
Whistleblower Law Collaborative Member David Lieberman co-authored an Op Ed in the LA times this week. Davidwrote the piece with former U.S. Attorney Harry Litman. Together, they analyzed President Trump’s claim that the Trump Tower Meeting was “totally legal.”
They concluded that the Trump Tower Meeting would likely fall within a “conspiracy to defraud the United States”.
The meeting clearly fits established definitions of “conspiracy to defraud the United States.” . . . Trump Jr. was approached by a foreign government seeking to influence an American election. Trump Jr. welcomed the possibility of influence, and candidate Trump’s actions, while circumstantial, indicate that he intended to make use of that information. Michael Cohen’s allegations last week must have deeply terrified the president and those looking out for his legal interests.
Cohen, the president’s former lawyer and “fixer,” reportedly is willing to tell Mueller that he was in the room when Trump heard about and approved the June 9 meeting. That would potentially place the president at the center of the decision to join the electioneering conspiracy. Trump’s later documented effort to dictate a false statement about the meeting looks like an attempt to cover up his culpability.
Read the full Op Ed in the LA Times by David Lieberman and Harry Litman.