Like Father, Like Son?

Description: Trump Tower, in New York City Author: Photo by Martin Dürrschnabel, Benutzer:Martin-D1, user:Martin-D (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Donald Trump Jr., the eldest son of the 45th President of the United States, is not a government official.  He is the executive director of The Trump Organization, the family-run business that oversees all of their properties which include hotels and golf courses.  But Junior wasn't above helping his old man out during last year's presidential campaign.  That helps explain why father an son are in trouble today, caught up in the ongoing Russian election hacking scandal.

Most of it was explained in the e-mails Junior voluntarily released before the New York Times could:  On June 9, 2016, Junior, Jared Kushner (Trump's son-in-law and presently his senior advisor) and campaign director Paul Manafort met with attorney Natalia Veselnitskaya and a lobbyist or two at Trump Tower in New York, hoping to hear whatever dirt the Russian contingent said they'd had on Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton.  Instead, the half-hour meeting centered on what to do about a U.S. law imposing sanctions on Russian individuals, and President Vladimir Putin's response of suspending adoptions of Russian children by Americans.

What's wrong with this picture?  Let's start with numbers, such as the number of times Junior has changed his story.  The number of people who may or may not have attended that meeting (reports tell us it is now eight).  The amount of money in campaign contributions that may or may not have been exchanged.  And maybe Junior should have notified the proper authorities before the meeting took place?

In defending his son (as every father would do, even when it involves national security), the President went on his usual Twitter rant, saying the whole thing was a 'witch hunt' and 'that's politics'.  He also claimed he didn't know about Junior's meeting until recently.

Donald Trump, before he entered the White House, was a businessman who made his name using tough negotiating tactics to buy and sell properties.  Donald Trump Jr. has apparently learned many of the same things, except he may have done his father one better.  He just might have helped sell his country down the river.