Does Trump's admission about the 2016 Trump Tower meeting suggest a crime? Judge Napolitano explains

President Donald Trump riled up the mainstream media over the weekend when he admitted the infamous Trump Tower meeting that took place during the height of the 2016 presidential campaign was about obtaining dirt on Hillary Clinton.

Indeed, Trump's admission was a significant departure from the statement Donald Trump Jr., which the president dictated, released last summer. In that July 2017 statement, Trump Jr. claimed the meeting's agenda was U.S.-Russia adoption policy.

However, according to Fox News legal analyst Judge Andrew Napolitano, Trump's admission Sunday — that members of his team met with a Kremlin-linked lawyer for dirt on Clinton — could amount to a crime.

What did Napolitano say?

Speaking on "Fox & Friends" Tuesday, Napolitano said Trump is correct in his assessment that meeting with individuals outside your campaign for opposition material on your opponent is not a crime. In fact, it's normal.

But there could be a significant difference between normal opposition research and what happened at Trump Tower on June 9, 2016.

"There are federal statues that prohibit receiving something of value from a foreign national, foreign entity, or foreign government," Napolitano explained. "So was the purpose of this meeting to receive something of value?"

"That's something [special counsel] Bob Mueller is gonna have to look at," Napolitano added.

When pressed about whether a crime or conspiracy occurred, Napolitano admitted he was unsure, but said it's possible a conspiracy occurred.

"So if there was an agreement to receive dirt on Hillary from the Russians, even if the dirt never came, if those who agreed, at least one of them, took some step in furtherance of the agreement, then there is the potential crime for conspiracy," he explained.

Could Trump be implicated?

Since news of the Trump Tower meeting broke last summer, Trump has declared he never knew about the meeting prior to it happening. He maintained his innocence on Sunday.

Napolitano agreed, saying that as long as Trump was not in on the meeting and did not know about it ahead of time, he is not subject to criminal consequences — should special counsel Robert Mueller determine any.

Unfortunately for Trump, his innocence is in question. That's because his former personal attorney, Michael Cohen, alleged last month that Trump was aware of the meeting and its subject matter ahead of time.