CNN's Jake Tapper notes the obvious flaws in Donald Trump Jr.'s 'no actual crimes' argument

Jake Tapper isn&#039;t buying Donald Trump Jr.&#039;s claims — (Image credit: Screenshot/YouTube/CNN)

On Monday morning's Fox & Friends, Donald Trump Jr. dismissed Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into his father's campaign, arguing that Mueller and New York federal prosecutors have found "no actual crimes," but instead have put "incredible pressure" on "regular guys" with regular incomes to make them "slip up on say something incorrectly." CNN's Jake Tapper took issue with Trump's assertions, noting on his show Monday evening that, among other things, those "regular guys" include Michael Cohen, the president's longtime lawyer and fixer; former Trump campaign heads Paul Manafort and Rick Gates; and Trump's first national security adviser, Michael Flynn.

"Just a bunch of regular guys," Tapper deadpanned. He ran through Mueller's stats: 199 criminal charges against 37 people and companies, four people sent to jail, and counting. And no actual crimes? "Well, lying to Congress is a crime, lying to the FBI is a crime, witness tampering is a crime, violating campaign finance laws is a crime," he said. "Criminal conspiracy to defraud the United States by interfering in the U.S. election — which Mueller is charging several Russians with having done — that's definitely a crime. Conspiracy to commit wire fraud, that's is a crime. Bank fraud, that's a crime. That's just some of them. And as far as we know, Mueller's not even done."

Despite setting up an iffy meeting with Russians, "Donald Trump Jr. has not been charged with anything, and he may make it through this entire Russia investigation without being charged with anything," justice reporter Laura Jarrett noted. "But all of the crimes that you just listed are real crimes — just ask Manafort and Gates and [George] Papadopolous and Flynn, who are all going to prison." Political correspondent Sara Murray ran through some of the crimes we may never know the details about. Watch below. Peter Weber

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.