NO COLLUSION!

The Trump Organization fed a prepared statement to a publicist for Russians involved in the notorious 2016 meeting at Trump Tower on what to tell the press about what was discussed, it emerged on Wednesday.

An attorney for the Trump family’s company urged the publicist in an email to endorse Donald Trump Jr’s version of events on the meeting and said it “would be our preference” if he did not say anything else in response to inquiries.

  Guardian

Yes, that publicist was Rob Goldstone.

The proposed statement about the meeting was sent by [attorney Alan] Futerfas to Goldstone, a British publicist who arranged the meeting on behalf of his Russian clients. The date of the email was not clear from the records.

[...]

The released documents show that Goldstone forwarded Futerfas’s email about the proposed statement on 10 July to Ike Kaveladze, one of Aras Agalarov’s executives, who attended the meeting at Trump Tower.

“Here is statement by Trump lawyers which they have asked me to release,” Goldstone wrote in the subject bar.

[...]

Another email showed the incoming White House communications director, Anthony Scaramucci, told the same publicist, Rob Goldstone, it was important that “we remain consistent and united” in the face of public pressure about the meeting.

[...]

“Obviously there is still pressure on all sides, but if we remain consistent and united I don’t envisage any issues we can’t ride out,” wrote Scaramucci, who was fired by Trump a week later after a tumultuous week of disputes with other aides.

[...]

The emails were released among 2,500 documents published on Wednesday by the Senate judiciary committee, which has been investigating possible collusion between Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign and Russia.

I wonder if they consulted with Mueller before releasing those documents.

“Please consider the following as a statement,” Futerfas said to Goldstone. “Please note that there will always be potential follow-up questions to any statement, but if you feel comfortable with this statement and are comfortable saying nothing more, at least for the time being, that would be our preference. Again, any statement should be accurate as to your very best recollection.”

To your very best recollection, which will be set out in the following statement.

The statement supported Trump Jr’s account of the meeting as a “complete waste of time” which had focused on policy issues such as economic sanctions and a ban on Americans adopting Russian children.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.