Don Jr. Might Plead The Fifth After Being Subpoenaed To Testify & It's So Ironic
Everyone, it looks like it's finally happening. Since a redacted version of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's report was publicly released on April 18, there's been a lot of speculation whether Donald Trump Jr. will appear before the Senate Intelligence Committee. Well, it's official, and these tweets about Donald Trump Jr. being subpoenaed to testify point out some serious irony.
On Thursday, May 9, CNN reported that President Donald Trump's oldest son, Donald Trump Jr., had been subpoenaed to testify in front of the Senate Intelligence Committee about the 2016 Trump Tower meeting with Russian lawyers, and other alleged Russian election interference. This marks the first time a Trump family member has been compelled to testify in front of the Committee.
However, just because the subpoena has been issued doesn't necessarily mean that Trump will comply. According to CNN, Trump Jr. is reportedly considering implementing his Fifth Amendment rights, which protects people from self-incrimination. However, another source told CNN that Trump Jr. is also considering not showing up to court at all. Elite Daily reached out to the Trump Organization for comment on the subpoena and reports that Trump Jr. will take the Fifth, but did not hear back in time for publication.
News that Trump Jr. was subpoenaed was huge enough, but once reports stated that the oldest Trump son might plead the Fifth during his testimony, people on Twitter couldn't stop themselves from calling out the irony — back in 2016, his own dad had implied that only guilty people take the Fifth.
The irony that Twitter is referencing involves a September 2016 rally in Florida during President Donald Trump's presidential run. At the time, Trump Sr. was referencing then Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton, and how her staffers requested immunity or invoked their Fifth Amendment rights in response to requests that they answer questions about Clinton's private email server.
"If you are not guilty of a crime, what do you need immunity for?" Trump asked at the rally.
Then, during a September 2016 rally in Iowa, Trump Sr. addressed taking the Fifth again.
"The mob takes the Fifth Amendment," Trump Sr. said at the Iowa campaign rally. "If you're innocent, why are you taking the Fifth Amendment?"
In July 2017, news broke that Trump Jr. had organized a meeting with Russian lawyers in June 2016 at Trump Tower, which raised controversy. Trump Jr. later confirmed the reports by tweeting out the email chain. Initially, President Trump and his campaign team claimed that the purpose behind the meeting was to discuss a U.S. adoption program of Russian children. However, on Aug. 5, 2018, Trump blew his own story when he took to Twitter to reveal that the real purpose behind the meeting was to get "dirt" on Clinton during the presidential election. He wrote,
Fake News reporting, a complete fabrication, that I am concerned about the meeting my wonderful son, Donald, had in Trump Tower. This was a meeting to get information on an opponent, totally legal and done all the time in politics - and it went nowhere. I did not know about it!
Under the The Act and Commission regulation, it is prohibited for campaigns to accept any form of help from foreign governments during the election cycle. That includes obtaining harmful information about an opponent. Of course, Mueller's report found that there was not "sufficient" evidence to prove that Trump's campaign committed any crime. However, it looks like the Senate Intelligence Committee has a few questions that it'd like to ask Trump Jr.
At this point, there's no telling how this testimony will unfold. Don't touch that dial, folks.
