While on a plane headed back to the U.S. from the G-20 summit in Germany on July 8, President Trump personally dictated the statement on his son Donald Trump Jr.'s June 2016 meeting with a Kremlin-connected Russian lawyer, saying they "primarily discussed a program about the adoption of Russian children," several people with knowledge of the incident told The Washington Post Monday.
This statement, sent to The New York Times before it ran an article about the meeting, was misleading, and it came out after more reporting that Trump Jr. agreed to the meeting after being told in an email that the lawyer had damaging information about Hillary Clinton, courtesy of the Russian government. The original plan was to release a statement that accurately spelled out what the meeting was about, so once the full details emerged, it would show they were being honest, the Post reports. Hours later, Trump became involved, and switched gears, dictating the statement himself.
Several of the president's advisers are now worried that by being directly involved, Trump could be accused of covering up the meeting's true agenda, the Post reports. Many also said they are afraid Trump is acting like his own lawyer, strategist, and publicist, and ignoring sound recommendations from his advisers. Read the entire report at The Washington Post. Catherine Garcia
About 170 migrants are missing and feared dead after two shipwrecks in the Mediterranean this week.
Three survivors of one wreck rescued by an Italian naval helicopter on Friday said they'd been on a ship with about 120 people which began sinking after leaving Libya Thursday. A 2-month-old baby was among the passengers. Another 53 people who sailed from Morocco are also missing, though at least one person from that boat was rescued.
"We cannot turn a blind eye to the high numbers of people dying on Europe's doorstep," said a statement from the United Nations' refugee agency. "No effort should be spared, or prevented, from saving lives in distress at sea." Bonnie Kristian
Local authorities by Saturday evening had revised their estimate of deaths in a Friday explosion at a Mexican fuel pipeline to 73, with another 74 people injured in the blast and more still missing.
The death toll was initially put at 21 but quickly rose. Casualties are high because a crowd of hundreds of villagers had gathered in hopes of collecting free gasoline after the pipeline was punctured by fuel thieves. Gas stations in the area have been rationing gasoline because of fuel shortages, and word of the spill from the pipeline spread quickly.
"I trust in the people, and I know that with these painful, regrettable lessons, the people will also distance themselves from these practices" of fuel theft, said Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who visited the site of the tragedy Saturday. Bonnie Kristian
When BuzzFeed News approached Peter Carr, spokesman for Special Counsel Robert Mueller, for comment on Thursday's explosive report, Carr was not told the full scope of what BuzzFeed planned to publish, The Washington Post reported Saturday.
Emails from BuzzFeed reporters say they have "a story coming stating that Michael Cohen was directed by President Trump himself to lie to Congress about his negotiations related to the Trump Moscow project." The emails do not mention reporting that Mueller's office had collected document evidence and a confession from Cohen. Carr's denial of the BuzzFeed story the next day was delayed by the special counsel's office's efforts to independently verify BuzzFeed's claims, the Post reports.
BuzzFeed again stood by its reporting in a second statement Saturday. "As we've re-confirmed our reporting, we've seen no indication that any specific aspect of our story is inaccurate," the statement said. "We remain confident in what we've reported, and will share more as we are able."
Read the full Washington Post story here. Bonnie Kristian
