Giuliani Confirms Trump Dictated Don Jr. Statement: ‘It Was A Mistake, I Swear To God’

Lawyer and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani comments on a lawsuit filed against video game giant Activision by former Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega outside Los Angeles Superior court in Los Angeles Thurs... Lawyer and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani comments on a lawsuit filed against video game giant Activision by former Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega outside Los Angeles Superior court in Los Angeles Thursday, Oct. 16, 2014. Noriega claims his likeness was used without permission in "Call of Duty: Black Ops II" and he was portrayed as a murderer and enemy of the state. Activision attorneys said allowing the case to proceed would make it difficult to include historical figures in games, books and other creative works. Los Angeles Superior Court Judge William F. Fahey did not signal during an hour long hearing Thursday how he might rule. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes) MORE LESS

June 5, 2018 7:22 a.m.

Start your day with TPM.

President Trump’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani confirmed on Monday night that it’s the legal team’s “final position” that Trump did, in fact, dictate a statement in response to inquiries about his son’s Trump Tower meeting with a Russia lawyer in 2016, but refused to call the the deceptive narrative about the meeting coming from the White House a “lie.”

“You think maybe somebody could have made a mistake?” he asked CNN’s Chris Cuomo. “Why is it always– you think Jay Sekulow lied? … Maybe he just got it wrong like I got a few things wrong at the beginning of the investigation. This is a complex investigation. First week or so, I got a few things wrong, and then it was clarified in a letter, and that’s the final position.”

“It was a mistake, I swear to God,” he continued. “It was a mistake, the guy made a mistake and then he corrected it.”

Rudy Giuliani on shifting Trump Tower story: “It was a mistake. I swear to God” https://t.co/LjH4CCHbOp #CuomoPrimeTime pic.twitter.com/ku5KLUqEqu

— CNN (@CNN) June 5, 2018

Over the weekend, the New York Times published a 20-page letter that Trump’s legal team sent special counsel Robert Mueller in January, arguing primarily that it wasn’t constitutionally possible for Trump to be indicted and that he didn’t obstruct justice.

The letter also included a nugget of information about Trump’s involvement in crafting a misleading statement to the New York Times in July concerning a 2016 meeting Donald Trump Jr. had with Russians who promised damaging information on Hillary Clinton. The statement initially claimed that Trump Jr. took the meeting to discuss adoptions.

“The President dictated a short but accurate response to the New York Times article on behalf of his son, Donald Trump, Jr,” the letter read. The memo to Mueller was written by Sekulow and former Trump lawyer John Dowd.

Previously, both White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders and Sekulow told the media that Trump wasn’t involved in dictating the statement. During a press briefing on Monday, Sanders deflected questions about her initial lie regarding Trump’s involvement, directing reporters to reach out to Trump’s outside counsel.

Start your day with TPM.

Nicole Lafond (@Nicole_Lafond) is TPM’s deputy editor, based in New York. She has also worked as the special projects editor and as a senior newswriter for TPM. She has a master’s degree in journalism from Columbia University and previously covered education in central Illinois.

Have a tip? Send it Here!