By Kathryn Blackhurst | February 1, 2019
Donald Trump Jr.’s mysterious phone calls to blocked numbers before and after the infamous Trump Tower meeting weren’t made to President Donald Trump after all — despite the vocal suspicions of House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.).
Trump Jr. is President Donald Trump’s eldest child. He has faced scrutiny for his June 2016 meeting with a Russian lawyer at Trump Tower during his father’s presidential campaign.
Trump Jr. maintains that the Trump Tower conversation centered on the Magnitsky Act. He claimed that Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya gave him no dirt on 2016 Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton.
But Democrats like Schiff wildly speculated about Trump Jr.’s phone calls with the blocked numbers. Schiff suggested Trump Jr. made these phone calls to his father to fill him in on the meeting with Veselnitskaya. If Trump Jr. did call his father, Democrats said it could mark proof of collusion.
Trump Jr. testified before the committee that he did not remember who the people with the blocked numbers were.
Schiff told CNN in November, “We wanted to get the phone records to determine, was Donald Trump talking to his son about this meeting?”
The chairman complained in a memo last year that “the timing of these calls” meant the committee “must determine whether some of these calls may be between Trump Jr. and Donald J. Trump, including calls concerning the Trump Tower meeting.”
But sources told CNN, The New York Times and ABC News that Senate Intelligence Committee investigators determined that Trump. Jr. made those phone calls to business associates — not his father.
Nevertheless, Schiff told MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow on Thursday that the committee will still investigate whether Trump Jr. spoke to the president about the Trump Tower meeting.
“Those conversations could have taken place over the phone or they could have taken place by Don Jr. walking down the hall to talk to Dad. But it’s key to understanding the president’s involvement in all of this,” Schiff said.
Trump Jr. reacted to the report on Twitter on Thursday.
“More of the Democrat’s #fakenews narrative disappearing before their eyes. I wonder how many more false leaks will pop now to keep their dreams alive???” Trump Jr. wrote.
More of the Democrat’s #fakenews narrative disappearing before their eyes.
I wonder how many more false leaks will pop now to keep their dreams alive??? https://t.co/sfmvHs0zVr— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) January 31, 2019
The president also reacted on Twitter.
“Just out: The big deal, very mysterious Don Jr. telephone calls, after the innocent Trump Tower meeting, that the media & Dems said were made to his father (me), were just conclusively found NOT to be made to me. They were made to friends & business associates of Don. Really sad!” Trump wrote.
The president added, “This witch hunt must end!”
Just out: The big deal, very mysterious Don jr telephone calls, after the innocent Trump Tower meeting, that the media & Dems said were made to his father (me), were just conclusively found NOT to be made to me. They were made to friends & business associates of Don. Really sad!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 1, 2019
This Witch Hunt must end! https://t.co/3og7H4uUw2
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 1, 2019
Former Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.), now a Fox News contributor, reacted to the news on Thursday evening on “The Story with Martha MacCallum.”
MacCallum asked him about the Democrats’ “hyperbole and all the guessing about what it was before anybody knows what it is.”
Related: Media Might as Well ‘Be Paid as’ DNC Lobbyists, Says Don Trump Jr.
“It’s the biggest distinction between what I call serious investigations and political investigations where you speculate rampantly,” Gowdy replied.
Gowdy said a “serious investigation” is supposed to “actually figure out the facts before” investigators “make allegations.”
“They make these wild allegations and all of your viewers may not be around to see the truth. They heard the accusation, but they may miss the truth. And that’s why you don’t do that in serious investigations,” Gowdy added.
Noting that Schiff once worked as a federal prosecutor, Gowdy said, “I like the Adam Schiff who was a federal prosecutor better where you are actually presumed innocent and you have to go in a courtroom and prove these things — as opposed to just speculating and accusing people.”
Check out more in the video below:
This piece originally appeared in LifeZette and is used by permission.
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