Donald Trump Jr. meeting revelation raises importance of Russia sanctions vote

Last week’s stunning revelations about meetings between members of the Trump campaign and Russian agents are another tile in the mosaic to be pieced together by federal investigators, congressional committees and special counsel Robert Mueller — and make House action this week on Senate-approved Russian sanctions more critical.

These disclosures provide powerful evidence of criminal intent. The emails sent by Donald Trump Jr. — in particular, the exclamation “I love it” — are a prosecutor’s dream, putting his state of mind and purpose in black and white.

{mosads}That purpose — shared by potential co-conspirators, Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and son-in-law Jared Kushner — was getting dirt on Hillary Clinton.

And the acceptance of that meeting sent a clear message —that the Trump campaign was open for business, and open to entering into a compromising relationship with a foreign government in violation of federal criminal law.

But equally important is the purpose of Russian agents who attended the meeting, and who were expected to deliver that dirt. As we learned this week, those agents were Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya and Rinat Akhmetshin — Russian military veteran, former counter intelligence operative, and according to published reports, a gun for hire in opposition research, propaganda and disinformation campaigns.

These two Russian hired guns shared a common commitment to lifting sanctions against Russia. That goal, unsurprisingly, just happens to be one of Vladmir Putin’s absolute top priorities.

That is why whatever legal actions result from this stunning new evidence, it also requires an immediate legislative response: final approval of stronger Russian sanctions.

Putin wants sanctions imposed after the Magnitsky Act and his Ukrainian aggression lifted as promptly and completely as possible. With the Russian economy flat on its back — and more vulnerable than ever — sanctions are an anathema to Putin.

When the Russians went to that meeting with the Trump team, lifting sanctions was their clear, explicit agenda. And make no mistake: no Russian lobbyist or lawyer with close ties to top Kremlin oligarchs meets with Donald Trump’s closest relatives and campaign leaders without Putin knowing and approving. The meeting was a signal that both sides were open for business.

That is why making the Russians pay a price for their interference in our elections is more important than ever. The first step is approving the sanctions bill that is now stalled in the House, after passing the Senate by an overwhelming 98-2 bipartisan majority, because of Trump administration opposition.

Hitting the Russians where it hurts — with sanctions on energy, financial and transportation sectors — will deter them from interfering in our elections again. It will also send a message that there was no deal on sanctions — not in June and not now.

Additional steps are critically important. Jared Kushner, the only Trump campaign emissary at the meeting who is currently serving in the White House, should have his security clearance revoked immediately. Federal agents and congressional committees should continue their inquiries undaunted. And the special counsel must be given the resources and political support he needs and deserves to build his case.

These investigations will take time. The sanctions bill is absolutely necessary, and now. Donald Trump’s continued opposition to sanctions may be among the most telling evidence of his culpability in Russia’s attack on American democratic institutions. If President Trump vetoes it, the same bipartisan majority that passed the sanctions will override him in a New York — not a Moscow — minute.

Blumenthal is Connecticut’s senior senator.

The views expressed by this author are their own and are not the views of The Hill.