Professor Miriam Baer Among Legal Experts Weighing In on Trump Jr.’s Emails and Russia Meeting

Professor Miriam Baer is among top legal experts in the nation who were asked by Vox whether the email chain released by Donald Trump Jr. on July 11 constitutes clear evidence of collusion or conspiracy by the Trump campaign and whether Trump Jr. as well as Jared Kushner and Paul Manafort are in legal jeopardy because of their meeting last year with a “Russian government lawyer” who purportedly promised damaging information about Hillary Clinton.

Baer told Vox the emails “make it easier for a fact finder to infer that Manafort and Kushner joined an illicit conspiracy (e.g., agreeing to accept “anything of value” from a foreign national — and in this case, someone who appeared to be acting as an intermediary for a foreign adversary), although a good defense attorney could still find some wiggle room.” Baer said that, given that Manafort is a law school graduate and longtime lobbyist, it was “inconceivable” that he didn’t see the “potentially fraught nature” of the situation.

She also was quoted in Forward about the legal issues surrounding the emails and meeting.

Baer teaches in the areas of corporate law, white-collar crime, criminal law, and criminal procedure. Her scholarship, which focuses on organizational wrongdoing in public and private settings, has twice been selected for the prestigious Stanford-Yale-Harvard Junior Faculty Forum. Professor Baer’s work has appeared in many top journals, including the Columbia Law Review, Michigan Law Review, and Yale Law Journal Forum.

Trump administration: There's no evidence of collusion. 12 legal experts: Yes, there is. Vox, July 11, 2017

Could Dirt-Digging Meeting Spell Legal Trouble For Jared Kushner? Forward, July 11, 2017

Professor Baer quoted in the Greek language newspaper To Vima about the meeting, July 19, 2017