Martin Lomasney created a famous saying on the importance of discretion:
“Never write if you can speak; never speak if you can nod; never nod if you can wink.”
At the time of Lomasney, it was not email or Twitter, but telegrams that were the principal method of electronic communication.
In the case of President Trump and his son, it’s email and Twitter that are causing them problems. Donald Trump Jr. gave us all an unexpected lesson on the subject by releasing what appear to be incriminating emails on Twitter. Those emails are about his meeting with a Russian operative who was offering him dirt on Hillary Clinton.
The Trump campaign has been denying collusion with Russia during the campaign. These emails clearly show that the campaign was at least tried to collude with Russia.
“if it’s what you say I love it”
According to Junior, there was no substance to the meeting and no actual collusion. But now the burden is back on the Trump campaign to show that there was no substance, after this documented willingness to do so. Junior’s emails are the first concrete evidence that the Trump campaign was aware of Russian government effort to help elect Donald Trump. On July 24, Junior appeared on CNN to decry the Clinton campaign’s claims that the Russians were helping Trump as “disgusting” and “phony.”
I’m not saying there was or was not a crime.
There clearly was a lack of discretion and a failure to follow Mr. Lomasney’s sage advice.
The proper response should have been “Let me check with the legal team and I’ll call you back.”
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