The Wall Street Journal’s Editorial Board on Monday suggested that the Trump family embrace “radical transparency” in dealing with its Russia troubles.
The Trump family’s Russia troubles continue to mount, and, as the reports pile up, it appears to have adopted a strategy that involves denials followed by rolling disclosures and defenses.
That approach has been in full force since the New York Times revealed that, in June 2016, President Trump's son Donald Trump Jr. met with a Russian lawyer said to have damaging information about Hillary Clinton.
The Wall Street Journal’s editorial board on Monday suggested a different game plan—“radical transparency.”
It writes, “Even if the ultimate truth of this tale is merely that Don Jr. is a political dunce who took a meeting that went nowhere—the best case—the Trumps made it appear as if they have something to hide. They have created the appearance of a conspiracy that on the evidence Don Jr. lacks the wit to concoct. And they handed their opponents another of the swords that by now could arm a Roman legion.”
The board goes on to offer a wake-up call about the very good chance that between the special counsel and the House and Senate investigations, “Everything that is potentially damaging to the Trumps will come out.”
It urges changing the current strategy, “to one with the best chance of saving his Presidency: radical transparency.”
The board suggests the Trump family, “Release everything to the public ahead of the inevitable leaks,” noting that “Whatever short-term political damage this might cause couldn’t be worse than the death by a thousand cuts of selective leaks, often out of context, from political opponents in Congress or the special counsel’s office.”
Thus far, both the president and Trump Jr. have taken a decidedly defensive stance.
In responding to the Times’ initial reports, Trump Jr. tweeted, “Obviously I'm the first person on a campaign to ever take a meeting to hear info about an opponent...went nowhere but had to listen.”
About a week later the president said via Twitter, “Most politicians would have gone to a meeting like the one Don jr attended in order to get info on an opponent. That's politics!”
