The President Asks Corey Lewandowski to Deliver a Message to Sessions to Curtail the Special Counsel Investigation

The President Asks Corey Lewandowski to Deliver a Message to Sessions to Curtail the Special Counsel Investigation

¶On June 19, 2017, two days after the President directed McGahn to have the Special Counsel removed, the President met one-on-one in the Oval Office with his former campaign manager Corey Lewandowski.603 Senior White House advisors described Lewandowski as a "devotee" of the President and said the relationship between th e President and Lewandowski was "close. "⁶⁰⁴⁶⁰⁴ Kelly 8/2/18 302, at 7; Dearborn 6/20/ 18 302, at 1 (desc1ibing Lewandowski as a "comfort to the President" whose loyalty was appreciated). Kelly said that when he was Chief of Staff and the President had meetings with friends like Lewandowski, Kelly tried not to be there and to push the meetings to the residence to create distance from the West Wing. Kelly 8/2/18 302, at 7.

¶During the June 19 m eeting, Lewan dowski recalled that, after some small talk , the President brought up Sessions and criticized his recusal from the Russia investigation .605 The President told Lewandowski that Sessions was weak and th at if the President had known about the likelihood of recusal in advance, he would not have appointed Sessions.⁶⁰⁶⁶⁰⁶ Lewandowski 4/6/ 18 302, at 2. The President then asked Lewandowski to deliver a message to Sessions and said "write this down ."607 This was the first time the President had asked Lewandowski to take dictation, and Lewandowski wrote as fast as possible to make sure he captured the content con ectly.⁶⁰⁸⁶⁰⁸ Lewandowski 4/6/ 18 302, at 3.

¶The President directed th at Sessions should give a speech publicly announcing:

I know that I recused myself from ce1tain things having to do with specific areas. But our POTUS .. . is being treated ve1y unfairly. He shouldn't have a Special Prosecutor/Counsel b/c he hasn 't done anything wrong. I was on the campaign w/ him for nine months, there were no Russians involved with him. I know it for a fact b/c I was there. He didn't do anything wrong except he ran the greatest campaign in American histoiy.⁶⁰⁹⁶⁰⁹ Lewandowski 4/6/ 18 302, at 2-3; Lewandowski 6/ 19/ 17 Notes, at 1-2.

¶The dictated message went on to state that Sessions would meet with the Special Counsel to limit his jurisdiction to future election interference:

Now a group of people want to subve1t the Constitution of the United States. I am going to meet with the Special Prosecutor to explain this is ve1y unfair and let the Special Prosecutor move fo1ward with investigating election meddling for future elections so th at nothing can happen in future elections.6 10

¶The President said that if Sessions delivered that statement he would be the "most popular guy in the country."⁶¹¹⁶¹¹ Lewandowski 4/6/18 302, at 3; Lewandowski 6/19/17 Notes, at 4. Lewandowski told the President he understood what the President wanted Sessions to do.⁶¹²⁶¹² Lewandowski 4/6/18 302, at 3.

¶Lewandowski wanted to pass the message to Sessions in person rather than over the phone.⁶¹³⁶¹³ Lewandowski 4/6/18 302, at 3-4. He did not want to meet at the Department of Justice because he did not want a public log of his visit and did not want Sessions to have an advantage over him by meeting on what Lewandowski described as Sessions's turf.⁶¹⁴⁶¹⁴ Lewandowski 4/6/18 302, at 4. Lewandowski called Sessions and arranged a meeting for the following evening at Lewandowski's office, but Sessions had to cancel due to a last minute conflict.⁶¹⁵⁶¹⁵ Lewandowski 4/6/18 302, at 4. Shortly thereafter, Lewandowski left Washington, D.C., without having had an opportunity to meet with Sessions to convey the President's message.⁶¹⁶⁶¹⁶ Lewandowski 4/6/18 302, at 4. Lewandowski stored the notes in a safe at his home, which he stated was his standard procedure with sensitive items.⁶¹⁷⁶¹⁷ Lewandowski 4/6/18 302, at 4.