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(THREAD) Today the president's son COMMITTED A CRIME by lying to Congress on a key topic in the Trump-Russia probe—please READ ON and SHARE. 
1/ In his opening statement to Congressional investigators, Trump Jr. raised a topic he had no reason to discuss. vox.com/policy-and-pol…
2/ Asked to testify before Congress about a June 9, 2016 meeting, Trump Jr. needed to explain how he met the man who initiated the meeting.
3/ While he wasn't under oath, Don knows it's a crime to lie to Congress—as Sen. Blumenthal noted before the hearing—so he had to be honest.
4/ The June 9th, 2016 meeting was set up by Aras Agalarov, Putin's personal real estate developer, through his son's manager, Rob Goldstone.
5/ So Trump Jr. realized, correctly, he had to establish how (or whether) he knew Aras Agalarov at some point during his opening statement.
6/ He nevertheless declined to do so—offering instead the date of his first meeting with Emin Agalarov, Aras' son. That date was March 2014.
7/ While this is useful information—Emin and Don spoke about the meeting, and Emin's manager helped arrange it—it obscures Aras' key role.
8/ That obscuring was intentional—as Aras is a known Putin agent, whereas the ties between Emin and Putin aren't yet known to investigators.
9/ So you might wonder—if Don planned to avoid talking about when he met Aras, why did he start his story *many months* before meeting Emin?
10/ That is, who told Don to discuss the 2013 Miss Universe pageant—an event Aras Agalarov ran with Trump Sr. and which Don didn't attend?
11/ The reason it matters is that the 2013 Miss Universe pageant is in fact the MOST IMPORTANT part of Don's testimony—and he LIED about it.
12/ So someone told Don to discuss the 2013 Miss Universe pageant—despite it being irrelevant to him—and to *lie* about what happened there.
13/ Don has been heavily involved in his father's Russian transactions, as he told investors in 2008 (picture below from a USA Today story):
14/ Aras Agalarov was the president's partner in a real estate deal from mid-2013 through his inauguration, so Don knows exactly who he is.
15/ So Don mentions Aras without saying if he's met him—and mentions him though he's not part of Don's story about the June 9, 2016 meeting.
16/ The reason Don did this is because his father needs to cement an OBVIOUS LIE about Aras Agalarov—and he chose to *use his son to do so*.
17/ That OBVIOUS LIE is on the most important topic in the Trump-Russia probe: the EXACT DATE Trump went into business with agents of Putin.
18/ Michael Cohen—widely considered Trump's most loyal soldier—is now trying to establish that date as "late 2015." In fact, it's mid-2013.
19/ Cohen—who just told Vanity Fair he'd never disclose any negative info about the Trumps—is ALSO lying about what Trump knew in late 2015.
20/ So BOTH Trump Jr. and Cohen—Trump Sr.'s personal attorney—are being directed to lie about when Trump Sr. went into business with Putin.
21/ Don's lie: "FOLLOWING THE 2013 PAGEANT, the Trump organization BEGAN PRELIMINARILY discussing potential real estate projects in Moscow."
22/ As I establish here via public reporting, the Trump Organization FINALIZED a deal with Agalarov AT THE PAGEANT:
23/ As you can see, RT—the Kremlin media outlet—proudly announced the Trump-Agalarov (thus Trump-Putin) deal the DAY OF THE PAGEANT in 2013:
24/ Aras has said he regularly builds on Putin's orders. Putin awarded Aras Russia's highest civilian honor. Aras builds *what Putin wants*.
25/ The Steele Dossier—ruled "generally credible" by a CIA analyst writing for Just Security—says Putin is using Agalarov to enrich Trump.
26/ So Trump Sr. is using his lawyer and his son to imply any Trump Tower Moscow deal began in late 2015 and with minimal Trump involvement.
27/ But we know Trump Sr. personally negotiated the deal RT announced in November of 2013 with Putin's real estate developer AND his banker.
28/ Just after the pageant Putin's banker—the Sberbank CEO Trump met with at the pageant—gave the deal $2.4 billion. themoscowtimes.com/articles/sberb…
29/ And because Trump Sr. first met Aras in June 2013 and his deal with him was FINALIZED in November, we know the talks began Summer 2013.
30/ Again, Don's lie: "FOLLOWING THE PAGEANT, the Trump Org BEGAN PRELIMINARILY discussing potential real estate projects in Moscow."
31/ Don—and it's a CRIME to do this before Congress—is trying to make his story (directed by his father) dovetail with Cohen's lies (ditto).
32/ This helps Trump Sr., as Cohen's timeline INCLUDES the absurd claim POTUS hardly cared about Trump Tower Moscow: huffingtonpost.com/entry/michael-…
33/ Telling lies PREEMPTIVELY is a classic Trump Sr. move—we've seen it over and over—as is dictating his son's public statements on Russia.
34/ So it's hard to doubt—given that Don had NO REASON to discuss a pageant he DIDN'T ATTEND—that his father was using him to spread a lie.
35/ And that lie is on a topic *much* more important to the Trump-Russia probe than the much-discussed June 9th, 2016 meeting Don attended.
36/ So now my question is this: given that PUBLIC REPORTS confirm Don lied on a MATERIAL ISSUE in the Russia probe, *what will Congress do*?
37/ And given that that lie has ALL the hallmarks of YET ANOTHER intercession by POTUS upon his son's statements, what will Bob Mueller do?
38/ If Trump Sr. had ANY role in shaping a statement that (a) lies to Congress, and (b) exonerates the president, it's Witness Tampering.
39/ Moreover, any such involvement would open up the president to *more* counts of Obstruction of Justice or Conspiracy to Obstruct Justice.
40/ ANYONE IN THE MEDIA can check my links and see that Don lied on a material issue before Congress. So, media, what will you do now? {end}
PS/ To read more on all of this—with many more links—see my full Trump Tower Moscow thread (200+ tweets) on Twitter:
PS/ To be clear—as those reading this CNN story can suss—Don lied repeatedly to Congress. But THIS lie we can PROVE. cnn.com/2017/09/07/pol…
PS/ Don's lies on what he told his dad—and if he knew POTUS wrote his statement—can be proven later. (Think dad has promised to pardon him?)
