490

And counting-certainly don’t presume this will be the last. In the previous chapter we documented that we can already confirm Trump’s committing two acts of perjury in his recently handed in take home interview with Mueller.

Indeed, as has been argued by some-like Marcy Wheeler-there’s reason to suspect that Mueller waited on the news about Manafort, Corsi, Stone, etc for after Trump handed his answers in. No doubt had Cohen’s deal come in prior, Trump’s answer to the question about Trump Tower Moscow would have been different.

Remember, too, that Trump just submitted a sworn open book test that would have answered this question:

What communication did you have with Michael D. Cohen, Felix Sater and others, including foreign nationals, about Russian real estate developments during the campaign?

I would bet a lot of money Trump lied in his answer. Don Jr is in immediate trouble and pops isn’t that far behind.

 

I mean is there any doubt? If Trump thinks he could get away with it-ie, no one can prove it, there is none. So, Jr is in trouble and in light of that it’s quite fitting that Adam Schiff has indicated that the first Russia item the Democrats will look at is just who that blocked number Donald Jr called sandwiched between two calls with Emin Agalarov. As we saw in the previous chapter, linked above, Stone just spilled his guts about the calls he got from Trump during the campaign from: a blocked number.

UPDATE: The Senate Intelligence Committee recently asserted that the blocked number was not Trump

However, the SIC is run by Republican Trump supporter Richard Burr-who during the election called for Clinton to be shot, and was part of the Trump transition team-as was, of course, Devin Nunes. True the SIC’s investigation of Russia has appeared fairly professional-certainly next to the very low bar of Nunes and Trump’s co-conspirators in the GOP House.

Besides being run by a GOPer with Trump ties, it’s been totally behind closed doors which is not adequate-the public has a right to know what happened in its Presidential election. There is no good reason for this lack of transparency-other than Burr-like Nunes and friends wanted to protect Trump from political embarrassment.

It’s notable the SIC has weighed in so seldom publicly but rushed to assure us the call wasn’t from Trump. Note that Schiff has chosen not to comment on Burr’s assertion and so I will wait to hear what he has to say about it. Burr has since then again dipped his toe into the public conversation by declaring that they have found ‘no direct evidence of collusion.’

‘Direct’ is doing a lot of work here-what the GOP counts on is that most people don’t realize that most evidence is circumstantial. Indeed, the GOP run SIC investigation is now finally receiving some deserved skepticism.

Again, whatever the merits of the SIC investigation is it was behind closed doors and so totally inadequate.

End of UPDATE:

UPDATE 2.0

UPDATE: Turns out neither Don Jr or Sr were in any trouble as Mueller apparently thought the dubious policy that a ‘President’ can’t be indicted extended to this fake ‘President’s’ namesake son. Not only did Mueller never compel an in person interview for Trump he never demanded one for Donald Jr before exonerating him based on his presumed ignorance of campaign law-how can you even for a fact Jr didn’t know it was a crime when you don’t interview him?  For Donald Jr alone it turns out ignorance is an excuse. 

 

End of UPDATE

As for Cohen, he’s now copping to all the lies he told Congress regarding Trump Tower Moscow.

1. He lied about the when the Moscow project ended, falsely claiming the project was given up in January, 2016 when it point of fact he, Felix Sater, and Trump continued to pursue it through June of the campaign year. 

“In the letter to SSCI and HPSCI, COHEN knowingly and deliberately made the following false representations: a. The Moscow Project ended in January 2016 and was not discussed extensively with others in the Company.”

“The Moscow Project was discussed multiple times within the Company and did not end in January 2016. Instead, as late as approximately June 2016, COHEN and Individual 2 discussed efforts to obtain Russian governmental approval for the Moscow Project. COHEN discussed the status and progress of the Moscow Project with Individual 1 on more than the three occasions COHEN claimed to the Committee, and he briefed family members of Individual 1 within the Company about the project.

Individual 1 being the illegitimate ‘President.’

So Cohen’s admission implicates both Trump and his family.

2. In his testimony to Congress Cohen lied about being willing to travel to Moscow:

‘COHEN never agreed to travel to Russia in connection with the Moscow Project and “never considered” asking Individual 1 to travel for the project.

Then the report goes on- In truth and in fact: 

“COHEN agreed to travel to Russia in connection with the Moscow Project and took steps in contemplation of Individual 1’s possible travel to Russia. COHEN and Individual 2 discussed on multiple occasions traveling to Russia to pursue the Moscow Project.”

What’s more, Cohen directly asked Trump about himself traveling to Russia:

“COHEN asked Individual 1 about the possibility of Individual 1 traveling to Russia in connection with the Moscow Project, and asked a senior campaign official about potential business travel to Russia.”

Then on May 4, 2016 Cohen has a very interesting discussion with Felix Sater aka Individual 2:

On or about May 4, 2016, Individual 2 wrote to COHEN, “I had a chat with Moscow. ASSUMING the trip does happen the question is before or after the convention . . . Obviously the pre-meeting trip (you only) can happen anytime you want but the 2 big guys where [sic] the question. I said I would confirm and revert.”

Sater’s question is when would Trump visit Moscow? Cohen’s response: after he’s nominated at the convention in Cleveland.

On May 5, 2016 it gets even more interesting:

“On or about May 5, 2016, Individual 2 followed up with COHEN and wrote, “[Russian Official 1] would like to invite you as his guest to the St. Petersburg Forum which is Russia’s Davos it’s June 16-19. He wants to meet there with you and possibly introduce you to either [the President of Russia] or [the Prime Minister of Russia], as they are not sure if 1 or both will be there. . . . He said anything you want to discuss including dates and subjects are on the table to discuss.”

This Russian Official 1 is: Russian diplomat Dmitry Peskov.

3. Cohen had also lied in his Congressional testimony regarding Peskov:

“COHEN did not recall any Russian government response or contact about the Moscow Project.”

In fact he did get a response, but evidently, Peskov himself lied to keep the truth of the Trump Tower Moscow project quiet.

“On or about May 5, 2016, Individual 2 followed up with COHEN and wrote, “[Russian Official 1] would like to invite you as his guest to the St. Petersburg Forum which is Russia’s Davos it’s June 16-19. He wants to meet there with you and possibly introduce you to either [the President of Russia] or [the Prime Minister of Russia], as they are not sure if 1 or both will be there. . . . He said anything you want to discuss including dates and subjects are on the table to discuss.”

The push for the Moscow Trump Tower also ended on a very notable date:

From on or about June 9 to June 14, 2016, Individual 2 sent numerous messages to COHEN about the travel, including forms for COHEN to complete. However, on or about June 14, 2016, COHEN met Individual 2 in the lobby of the Company’s headquarters to inform Individual 2 he would not be traveling at that time.”

June, 14 2016 just happened to be the day news of the Washington Post broke the story of Russian hacking:

The plea deal indicates that the last known discussion about the deal was “on or about June 14,” 2016, when Cohen told Sater that he was canceling plans to travel to Russia.

Why is that date significant? It happens to be the day The Washington Post broke a big story that Russia had hacked the Democratic National Committee.”

As Jennifer Rubin says, Trump should be freaked out right now:

if it weren’t obvious already, Cohen’s plea agreement shows that the Mueller probe is not a “witch hunt.” Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.), in line to chair the House Judiciary Committee, issued a statement, which read in part:

The Special Counsel has now secured guilty pleas from President Trump’s personal attorney, his campaign manager, his deputy campaign manager, a foreign policy advisor to his campaign, and his National Security Advisor. He has filed 191 charges against more than thirty individuals—almost all of whom are in President Trump’s orbit, Vladimir Putin’s orbit, or both. The President can pretend that this investigation has nothing to do with him and nothing to do with Russia, but these indictments speak for themselves. We must allow this investigation to run its course without interference from the President or his allies on Capitol Hill. As the new Congress begins, these developments make clear that my colleagues and I must step in and provide accountability. No one is above the law, not even the President, and our job will be to check his impulse to abuse his office to protect himself. We will do everything in our power to allow the Special Counsel to finish his work and follow the facts and the law to their conclusion.

“Fifth, the Cohen revelations emphasize the need for legislation to protect Mueller. Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) implored his colleagues to do just that: “It’s a reminder that there has been a remarkable volume of criminal activity uncovered by the special counsel’s investigation. No one — especially not the president — can credibly claim that the investigation is a fishing expedition. Calling Mueller’s investigation a ‘witch hunt’ is just a lie. Plain and simple. A lie.” He continued, “The president’s actions clearly show he has a lot to hide, but he is afraid of the truth and doesn’t want Mueller or anyone else to uncover it. . . . Let’s not forget, President Trump has already fired the attorney general and replaced him with a lackey, without Senate approval, a nominee whose only qualification seems to be that he has a history of criticizing the special counsel.”

Adam Schiff:

What we have seen this week is just a remarkable level of revelations coming on many different fronts-Manafort, Stone-Corsi, now Cohen that all get us closer and closer to Russia collusion coordination.

Then there is the new bombshell about Papadopoulos who while serving his 14 day prison sentence apparently remains a person of interest for work he did on getting a Russia deal after the 2016 election. 

“George Papadopoulos, a Trump-campaign adviser who pleaded guilty to lying to federal agents about his interactions with a Russia-linked professor in 2016, went to jail on Monday after fighting, and failing, to delay the start of his two-week prison sentence. But a letter now being investigated by the House Intelligence Committee and the FBI indicates that Papadopoulos is still in the crosshairs of investigators probing a potential conspiracy between the Trump campaign and Russia.

“The letter, dated November 19 and obtained last week by The Atlantic, was sent to Democratic Representative Adam Schiff’s office by an individual who claims to have been close to Papadopoulos in late 2016 and early 2017. The letter was brought to the attention of Schiff and House Intelligence Committee staff, according to an aide who requested anonymity to discuss an ongoing investigation. The letter was also obtained by federal authorities, who are taking its claims “very seriously,” said two U.S. officials who also requested anonymity because of the sensitivities of the probe.”

“Much of the attention in recent days has been focused on the former Trump-campaign chairman Paul Manafort and what the campaign knew about WikiLeaks’ plans to release stolen Democratic emails. But Papadopoulos remains one of the most important figures in the Russia investigation. He was ostensibly the first member of the Trump campaign to learn that the Russians had stolen emails that they planned to use against Hillary Clinton during the 2016 election. Rather than telling the FBI about the Russian “dirt” on Clinton, Papadopoulos continued trying to facilitate a meeting between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin as the campaign wore on. His disclosure to an Australian diplomat in May 2016 that Russia had dirt on Clinton is purportedly what triggered the FBI’s Russia investigation—Australian officials reported the comment to American law-enforcement authorities in July 2016, after WikiLeaks released the stolen DNC emails.”

“The challenge, as always remains to somehow put this altogether: at the same time Papadopoulos at the Trump campaign’s national security-foreign policy team was working on setting up a meeting with Putin, Cohen and Sater were working for the same on their end via the Trump Tower Moscow deal.”

If anyone’s words sum up the ‘position’ of the Trump campaign best it’s Trump’s criminal campaign manager himself:

So why did Cohen lie? The truth was way too incriminating

 

 

 

 

 

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