Thread by @JuddLegum

1. Trump's denial that he knew about the Trump Tower meeting must be put in the context of what his campaign has said about their interactions with Russia during the 2016 campaign and REALITY.

Let's review.

2. In November 2016, it was the official position of the Trump campaign that there were NO CONTACT whatsoever between Trump campaign officials and Russians

"There was no communication between the campaign and any foreign entity during the campaign" -- Hope Hicks, 11/11/16

3. Since then we've found out about the following:

In April 2016, Paul Manafort met with Konstantin Kilimnik, a Russian-Ukrainian political operative with past ties to Russian intelligence

On April 27, 2016 Trump met with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak

4. On April 27, 2016 Jeff Sessions met with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak

In May 2016, Donald Trump Jr. dined with Alexander Torshin, the deputy chairman of the Central Bank of Russia

5. On June 9 2016, Trump Jr., Manafort and Kushner met with multiple Russian operatives at Trump Tower after being promised dirt on Hillary Clinton

6. On July 7, 2016, Trump adviser Carter Page met with Igor Sechin and Igor Diveykin in Moscow

On July 20, 2016, Sessions met with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak at the RNC

On July 20, 2016, Carter Page and J.D. Gordon met with Kislyak at the RNC

7. On September 8, 2016, Sessions met with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak in his Senate office

8. Each one of these meetings represents a LIE by the Trump campaign regarding their contacts with Russia

Neither Trump nor his campaign have explained why they told the American people such a blatant lie about the campaigns contacts with Russia

9. Now we are supposed to believe that Trump didn't know about the June 9 meeting, a meeting his spokesman originally insisted never occurred.

Context is important.

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