Donald Trump Jr. was not charged with campaign finance violations because it would be hard to prove he knew his conduct was illegal, according to Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report. In June of 2016, Don Jr. and other campaign officials met with a Kremlin associated lawyer at Trump Tower, raising questions about their involvement in the Russian meddling in the 2016 Presidential election.
But according to Mueller’s report, “On the facts here, the government would unlikely be able to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the June 9 meeting participants had general knowledge that their conduct was unlawful.” He continues, stating, “The investigation has not developed evidence that the participants in the meeting were familiar with the foreign-contribution ban or the application of federal law to the relevant factual context. The government does not have strong evidence of surreptitious behavior or efforts at concealment at the time of the June 9 meeting.”
Mueller’ conclusion has sparked outrage among the public, many of whom believe Don Jr. should be held accountable, regardless if he knew whether or not he was breaking the law.
Jill Wine-Banks, an attorney and former prosecutor during the Watergate scandal, called out Don Jr. on twitter Saturday morning, stating, “Ignorance of the law is not if the FBI warned you that Russians might try to compromise you and you do not report contact to help your father’s campaign and you do not report it. Plus, why didn’t he know foreign help is 100% prohibited?”
She was responding to a tweet by ‘Amy’, a teacher, who wrote “Trump Jr “didn’t know what he was doing was illegal” so not held accountable. Crystal Mason didn’t know voting while on probation was illegal, sentenced to 5 years in jail. This isn’t right. #HoldTrumpJrAccountable”
#HoldTrumpJrAccountable is trending on twitter.
Such as here:
https://twitter.com/nick_nrm/status/1119435085155979265
And here:
Don Jr. pushed back against the statements in the Mueller report, and wrote, “At this stage, anyone continuing this fake charade against @realDonaldTrump is doing the bidding of the Russians. They are the ones causing division & dissension— the stated goal of Putin. They should stop colluding with the Russians & start working with President Trump to #MAGA” on twitter Thursday after the report was released.
[Image via Scott Olson/Getty Images]
