Donald Trump Jr., son of President Donald Trump, on Monday claimed that special counsel Robert Mueller has found “no actual crimes” in his investigation of the 2016 election.
But as CNN’s Jake Tapper pointed out, that’s just not true.
Trump’s son said in a Fox News interview that the guilty pleas in the investigation are the result of “incredible pressure” on “regular guys.” He implied that Mueller’s team tricked them and “got them to slip up and say something incorrectly.”
And because these “regular guys” can’t afford the hefty legal fees to challenge Mueller, they pleaded guilty.
“That’s all that happened,” Trump said. “There are no actual crimes.”
That’s where Tapper stepped in with a fact check, pointing out that the “regular guys” who have filed guilty pleas include former campaign manager Paul Manafort, former longtime personal attorney Michael Cohen and former national security adviser Michael Flynn.
“Just a bunch of regular guys,” Tapper cracked.
He also took on Trump’s claim that they didn’t find any “actual crimes.”
“Lying to Congress is a crime. Lying to the FBI is a crime. Witness tampering is a crime. Violating campaign finance laws is a crime. Criminal conspiracy to defraud the United States by interfering in the U.S. election, which Mueller is charging several Russians with having done? That’s definitely a crime. Conspiracy to commit wire fraud, that’s is a crime. Bank fraud, that’s a crime.”
“That’s just some of them,” Tapper said. “And, as far as we know, Mueller is not even done.”
Then, political correspondent Sara Murray and justice reporter Laura Jarrett joined him: