Republicans have no idea what to say about Donald Trump Jr.'s meeting with a Russian lawyer

[DonViejo]

By Amber Phillips July 11 at 2:50 PM

It's a stunning admission by the president's eldest son: He met with a Russian lawyer promising dirt on Hillary Clinton after learning there was a concerted Russian effort to help his father win the election.

What Donald Trump Jr. admitted by publishing an email thread on Tuesday (right as the New York Times reported it) could carry some serious legal implications for him and the presidential campaign. But it also has political ones. Mainly, Republicans in Congress are struggling to come to the president's defense. Some tried and fell short. Others just didn't try at all.

Immediately after the news broke, their best defense was silence.

Washington Post reporters tracking down lawmakers on Capitol Hill said Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.), chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee that is leading Congress's Russia investigation, walked straight through a wall of reporters, stone-faced, and refused to answer questions.

In fact, even before Trump Jr. released the emails himself, Republican senators were practicing avoidance. Here's MSNBC reporter Kasie Hunt trying to track down Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.):

Link to tweet

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https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2017/07/11/republicans-have-no-idea-what-to-say-about-donald-trump-jr-s-meeting-with-a-russian-lawyer/

[Nay]

1. Well, what the hell can they say? "That's not his real son -- it's a fake son"?

[Amaryllis]

2. THey do. THey've been saying it: No big deal. Dems overblowing it.