In the confidential letter, published by the New York Times, the Trump team wrote
“You have received all of the notes, communications and testimony indicating that the President dictated a short but accurate response to the New York Times article on behalf of his son, Donald Trump, Jr.,”
That is a major contradiction on a major piece of evidence. The statement was widely condemned as misleading when it was issued in July 2017. While I continue to view the letter as a poor basis for obstruction, this type of contradiction (and the long failure to correct it) does not help.
On July 12, 2017, Sekulow expressly denied that the President was “involved in that” and said that letter was produced by Donald Trump Jr. and his lawyers. On July 16, 2017, he again stated
“The President was not — did not — draft the response. The response came from Donald Trump Jr. and — I’m sure — in consultation with his lawyer. … Let me say this — but I do want to be clear — that the President was not involved in the drafting of the statement and did not issue the statement. It came from Donald Trump Jr.”
White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders also said on August 1, 2017: “He certainly didn’t dictate, but he — like I said, he weighed in, offered suggestion like any father would do.”
Those and other statements now appear categorically false.