Dissatisfied with a previous rant about his son’s innocence and the media’s apparent mistreatment of him, Donald Trump took to Twitter on Monday to defend Don Jr. The former, who completely ignored attorney Jay Sekulow’s since-refuted claim that the U.S. Secret Service approved lil’ Trump’s meeting with a Russian lawyer, claimed his son’s search for dirt on Hillary Clinton was business as usual. “Most politicians would have gone to a meeting like the one Don Jr. attended in order to get info on an opponent,” he tweeted. “That’s politics!” Five hours later, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said otherwise.

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! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 17, 2017

“You know I’m not going to get into the specifics of this,” Spicer, who hasn’t taken questions from the press since June 26th, explained when asked about the tweet. “I will say that it is quite often, for people who are given information during the heat of a campaign, to ask what that is. That’s what, simply, he did. The president’s made it clear through his tweet. There is nothing, as far as we know, that would lead anyone to believe there was anything except for a discussion about adoption and the Magnitsky Act.”

Natalia Veselnitskaya, the lawyer who supposedly had information regarding Clinton and the DNC, has since stated she was only interested in discussing the Magnitsky Act with the Trump campaign. However, subsequent reports indicate an ex-Soviet intelligence officer was also in attendance, and that Veselnitskaya in fact brought DNC-related documents to Trump Tower. Yet the worst part of Spicer’s final comment — that the administration has found nothing to indicate Don Jr.’s meeting “was anything except for a discussion about adoption and the Magnitsky Act” — is its utter disregard for the emails Trump’s son leaked online.

.@PressSec says “there was nothing as far as we know that would lead anyone to believe” that Don Jr. meeting wasn’t about adoption policy. — Peter Baker (@peterbakernyt) July 17, 2017

Rob Goldstone, the former tabloid journalist and music publicist who brokered the now-infamous meeting, wrote what Veselnitskaya had was “very high level and sensitive information.” He also warned Trump Jr. it was all “part of Russia and its government’s support for Mr. Trump,” but the Republican presidential candidate’s son responded, “[I]f it’s what you say I love it.” So either Spicer — who has been absent from the spotlight while filling in as interim White House Communications Director — isn’t entirely caught up with Don Jr.’s ongoing scandal, or he outright ignored previous revelations to deny any wrongdoing.

(Via New York Times)