Bad Call

Don Jr. 'Bracing' for an Imminent Mueller Indictment

Citing unnamed sources, Vanity Fair's Gabriel Sherman reported that Donald Trump Jr. told friends he feared an indictment within days, possibly for lying about the Trump Tower meeting. In December, Fox News judicial analyst Andrew Napolitano predicted Trump Jr. would be indicted.

First reported Nov 7, 2018 · Vanity Fair, Salon, AlterNet, Raw Story, SiriusXM (Napolitano)

Screenshot of the original report as published — Screenshot of the report as published: vanityfair.com. Tap to open the source.

Who it helped: Democrats

Suggested the probe was about to reach the president's family.

What was reported

What actually happened

The story was amplified widely in November and December 2018, with outlets saying Trump allies believed 'the bomb' was coming that week. Trump Jr.'s lawyer denied it at the time. No indictment came. Mueller's report said prosecutors considered campaign-finance charges over the June 2016 meeting but declined, citing difficulty proving willfulness and the value of the promised information.

The proof

Mueller's April 2019 report explains the decision not to charge Trump Jr., and he was never indicted.

The receipt. Copy this and paste it anywhere:

Don Jr. 'Bracing' for an Imminent Mueller Indictment — Bad Call. Mueller's April 2019 report explains the decision not to charge Trump Jr., and he was never indicted. Full file: https://www.thepropagandafiles.com/case/vanity-fair-don-jr-imminent-indictment/

Original reporting

Vanity Fair: Post-midterms, Trump is in a bad mood (Gabriel Sherman, Nov. 2018)https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2018/11/post-midterms-trump-is-in-a-bad-mood
Salon/AlterNet: Don Jr. told friends he fears indictment is imminent (Nov. 8, 2018)https://www.salon.com/2018/11/08/don-jr-told-friends-indictment-is-possible-this-week-and-the-president-is-depressed-about-it_partner
Raw Story: 'They think the bomb's coming this week' (Dec. 7, 2018)https://www.rawstory.com/2018/12/think-bombs-coming-week-trump-allies-bracing-don-jrs-looming-mueller-indictment
Washington Times: Napolitano expects Trump Jr. to be indicted (Dec. 5, 2018)https://m.washingtontimes.com/news/2018/dec/5/andrew-napolitano-expects-donald-trump-jr-be-indic/

Corrections, findings & records

Talking Points Memo: Why Mueller decided not to charge Don Jr. (Apr. 18, 2019)https://talkingpointsmemo.com/muckraker/mueller-report-trump-tower-meeting
Global News: Mueller declined to prosecute Trump Jr. and Kushner (Apr. 18, 2019)https://globalnews.ca/news/5182652/mueller-no-prosecution-donald-trump-jr-jared-kushner
Mueller report (DOJ PDF)https://www.justice.gov/archives/sco/file/1373816/dl

Archived copies

Stories get edited after publication. These open the Internet Archive's earliest saved copy of each original.

Archived copy: Vanity Fair: Post-midterms, Trump is in a bad mood (Gabriel Sherman, Nov. 2018)https://web.archive.org/web/2/https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2018/11/post-midterms-trump-is-in-a-bad-mood
Archived copy: Salon/AlterNet: Don Jr. told friends he fears indictment is imminent (Nov. 8, 2018)https://web.archive.org/web/2/https://www.salon.com/2018/11/08/don-jr-told-friends-indictment-is-possible-this-week-and-the-president-is-depressed-about-it_partner
Archived copy: Raw Story: 'They think the bomb's coming this week' (Dec. 7, 2018)https://web.archive.org/web/2/https://www.rawstory.com/2018/12/think-bombs-coming-week-trump-allies-bracing-don-jrs-looming-mueller-indictment
Archived copy: Washington Times: Napolitano expects Trump Jr. to be indicted (Dec. 5, 2018)https://web.archive.org/web/2/https://m.washingtontimes.com/news/2018/dec/5/andrew-napolitano-expects-donald-trump-jr-be-indic/