U.S. Department of Justice
Attorney Work Product // May Contain Material Protected Under Fed. R. Crim. P. 6(e)
of the President's personal attorneys, who told Priebus he was already working on it.[1] By late June, several advisors recalled receiving media inquiries that could relate to the June 9 meeting.[2]
- 2. The President Directs Communications Staff Not to Publicly Disclose Information About the June 9 Meeting
Communications advisors Hope Hicks and Josh Raffel recalled discussing with Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump that the emails were damaging and would inevitably be leaked.[3] Hicks and Raffel advised that the best strategy was to proactively release the emails to the press.[4] On or about June 22, 2017, Hicks attended a meeting in the White House residence with the President, Kushner, and Ivanka Trump.[5] According to Hicks, Kushner said that he wanted to fill the President in on something that had been discovered in the documents he was to provide to the congressional committees involving a meeting with him, Manafort, and Trump Jr.[6] Kushner brought a folder of documents to the meeting and tried to show them to the President, but the President stopped Kushner and said he did not want to know about it, shutting the conversation down.[7]
On June 28, 2017, Hicks viewed the emails at Kushner's attorney's office.[8] She recalled being shocked by the emails because they looked "really bad."[9] The next day, Hicks spoke privately with the President to mention her concern about the emails, which she understood were soon going to be shared with Congress.[10] The President seemed upset because too many people knew about the emails and he told Hicks that just one lawyer should deal with the matter.[11] The President indicated that he did not think the emails would leak, but said they would leak if everyone had access to them.[12]
- ↑ Priebus 4/3/18 302, at 7.
- ↑ Corallo 2/15/18 302, at 3; Hicks 12/7/17 302, at 8; Raffel 2/8/18 302, at 3.
- ↑ Raffel 2/8/18 302, at 2–3; Hicks 3/13/18 302, at 2.
- ↑ Raffel 2/8/18 302, at 2–3, 5; Hicks 3/13/18 302, at 2; Hicks 12/7/17 302, at 8.
- ↑ Hicks 12/7/17 302, at 6–7; Hicks 3/13/18 302, at 1.
- ↑ Hicks 12/7/17 302, at 7; Hicks 3/13/18 302, at 1.
- ↑ Hicks 12/7/17 302, at 7; Hicks 3/13/18 302, at 1. Counsel for Ivanka Trump provided an attorney proffer that is consistent with Hicks's account and with the other events involving Ivanka Trump set forth in this section of the report. Kushner said that he did not recall talking to the President at this time about the June 9 meeting or the underlying emails. Kushner 4/11/18 302, at 30.
- ↑ Hicks 3/13/18 302, at 1–2.
- ↑ Hicks 3/13/18 302, at 2.
- ↑ Hicks 12/7/17 302, at 8.
- ↑ Hicks 3/13/18 302, at 2–3; Hicks 12/7/17 302, at 8.
- ↑ Hicks 12/7/17 302, at 8.
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