Breaking News: Trump's Felony #2

[_Kevin Graham]

Buzzfeed reports that Trump directed Cohen to lie to Congress about the Trump Tower proposal in Russia. All the outlets are discussing it now, except Fox, which briefly reported on it as if to say, "look what the media is lying about Trump this time" before moving on to a panel of Republicans to spend 20 minutes talking about how horrible Pelosi is.

[_MeDotOrg]

The shocks seem to be coming closer and closer. Will Cohen be able to testify about this at the House on February 7, or will the ongoing Mueller investigation preclude his testimony on this matter? There are a lot of implications to this story about Ivanka and Don Jr. (don't forget Abe Weisselberg's testimony). You get the feeling that more than one person was involved in the manufacture of Cohen's testimony, or at least other people were made aware of what he would say so everyone could be on the same page.

I'm close to 70, and my best friend's daughter is close to 24. My friend and I have been talking to her daughter about the fact that this isn't normal, that this NOT the way the news is supposed to sound every night. There are tectonic forces colliding in the American political system right now. There is a struggle of Constitutional significance between the House and the Executive branch. The country is far more divided now than during Watergate, but the crimes against the President promise to be far more egregious.

Nixon internalized his paranoia, drinking heavily and prowling the halls of the West Wing, talking to the Presidential portraits. But Nixon was not a narcissist. As Trump feels more and more cornered, my fear is he will become more dangerous. He has none of the sense of history or protocol possessed by Nixon. His instinct is to lash out in any way he can. His letter to Pelosi is a great case in point. Expect more and possibly worse in the weeks ahead as the wheels start to come off.

[_Chap]

On CNN:

BuzzFeed: Sources say Trump directed Michael Cohen to lie to Congress about proposed Moscow project

said to be based on "... interviews with multiple witnesses from the Trump Organization, internal company emails, text messages and other documents". So not just Cohen, the man who is such an obvious liar and scoundrel that he was Trump's trusted personal lawyer for years, and we shouldn't believe a word he says ...

President Donald Trump personally directed his longtime former attorney Michael Cohen to lie to Congress about the Moscow Trump Tower project, two federal law enforcement officials involved in an investigation of the matter told BuzzFeed.

The law enforcement officials told BuzzFeed that Trump directed Cohen to claim negotiations to build a Trump Tower in Moscow ended months earlier than they actually did. The law enforcement sources told BuzzFeed that Cohen confirmed to special counsel Robert Mueller's team that Trump issued the order to lie to Congress.

CNN has not corroborated the BuzzFeed report.

Mueller's office learned Trump directed Cohen to lie to Congress through interviews with multiple witnesses from the Trump Organization, internal company emails, text messages and other documents, Buzzfeed reports. When asked for comment, Trump's attorney Rudy Giuliani told CNN, "If you believe Cohen I can get you a great deal on the Brooklyn Bridge." Cohen declined to comment to BuzzFeed, as did a spokesperson for the special counsel's office.

Trump supported a plan to personally visit Russia during the 2016 presidential campaign, BuzzFeed reports, to personally meet with President Vladimir Putin to negotiate. According to BuzzFeed, Trump said to Cohen, "Make it happen." The law enforcement sources familiar with Cohen's testimony to Mueller's office told BuzzFeed that the President, Ivanka Trump and Donald Trump Jr. received regular, detailed updates from Cohen about the Moscow project. A spokesperson for Ivanka Trump's attorney told BuzzFeed she was "only minimally involved" in the project.

"Ms. Trump did not know about this proposal until after a nonbinding letter of intent had been signed, never talked to anyone outside the Organization about the proposal, never visited the prospective project site and, even internally, was only minimally involved," Peter Mirijanian told BuzzFeed.

In September 2017, Trump Jr. testified in front of the House Judiciary Committee and was asked if he had any involvement in the potential project. "I was peripherally aware of it, but most of my knowledge has been gained since as it relates to hearing about it over the last few weeks," he said, according to a transcript of the interview.

CNN previously obtained a document showing Donald Trump had signed a letter of intent to move forward with negotiations to build a Trump Tower in Russia, despite Giuliani initially claiming the document was never signed. After the report, Giuliani admitted he was incorrect and told CNN, "I probably meant to say there was never a deal, much less a signed one."

CNN has previously reported the project would've given Trump's company a $4 million upfront fee, no upfront costs, a percentage of the sales and control over marketing and design. The deal also included an opportunity to name the hotel spa after Ivanka Trump.

Cohen pleaded guilty in November to making false statements to Congress about the Russia investigation. While pleading guilty, Cohen said he and Trump had spoken more extensively about the propose Moscow Trump Tower project during the 2016 presidential election than he had admitted to Congress.

Cohen previously said talks about the Moscow project had ended in January 2016. He said he lied out of a sense of obligation to Trump.

Cohen's guilty plea revealed Cohen had been soliciting help from officials in the Russian government at a time when then-candidate Trump was praising Putin and disavowing any suggestion he was seeking to do business in Russia. On plenty of occasions throughout the campaign, Trump declared that he had "nothing to do with Russia."

Cohen is cooperating with Mueller and has spoken with the special counsel's office for more than 70 hours on topics beyond the proposed Moscow project, a source with knowledge of the discussions told CNN.

[_subgenius]

On CNN:

BuzzFeed: Sources say Trump directed Michael Cohen to lie to Congress about proposed Moscow project

dude, you are citing buzzfeed and cnn….

for example, in your copy/paste we read - "President Donald Trump personally directed his longtime former attorney Michael Cohen to lie to Congress about the Moscow Trump Tower project, two federal law enforcement officials involved in an investigation of the matter told BuzzFeed." Yes, because this is what Cohen is saying out loud...how is "2 federal law enforcement officials involved" making this "more truthier"....geez, no wonder Brits can't even get Brexit correct, you guys let your most successful colony win a revolt back in c 1776.

[_EAllusion]

Oh my.

[_Chap]

this is what Cohen is saying out loud...how is "2 federal law enforcement officials involved" making this "more truthier"

Because the claim being made is that there is evidence for Trump having ordered Cohen to lie to Congress independent of anything Cohen may say?

"... interviews with multiple witnesses from the Trump Organization, internal company emails, text messages and other documents".

If that turns out to be the case, that means there is increasingly solid evidence that Trump directed Cohen to commit a crime, contrary to repeated claims by Trump and his diminishing band of side-kicks, and is thus, (under racketeering law) himself liable to penalties for that crime.

Do (as they say) try to keep up.

[_EAllusion]

My theory is that Trump keeps deceiving the public about Russian contacts, including committing criminal acts to do so, is because he's totally innocent.

[_Chap]

More on Trump's latest appointee, William Barr, on such peccadilloes as we are discussing:

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/liv ... tics-today

Casting your mind back....oh, just a couple of days...Donald Trump’s choice for attorney general, William Barr, told senators at his confirmation hearing that it would be a crime for a president to tried to coach a Congressional witness. South Carolina Republican Lindsey Graham asked Barr if it was a crime if “the president tried to coach somebody not to testify, or testify falsely?” Barr didn’t obfuscate or equivocate. “Yes,” he said. “Under an obstruction statute, yes.” For avoidance of doubt, Democrat Amy Klobuchar said to Barr: “You wrote...that a president persuading a person to commit perjury would be obstruction, is that right?” Barr replied, yes. Here’s the clip:

Brian Tashman
‏
Lindsey Graham specifically asked William Barr if it would be obstruction of justice if “the president tried to coach somebody not to testify or to testify falsely” or “tried to conceal evidence.”

Barr said yes it would be obstruction.

Brian Tashman
‏
William Barr said the president coaching a witness to give false testimony or to conceal evidence would be obstruction of justice.

.@AmyKlobuchar: You wrote on page 1 that a president persuading a person to commit perjury would be obstruction, is that right?

William Barr: Yes.

[_Kevin Graham]

Trump was actually startled when he recently found out Barr and Mueller were good friends for the past 30 years. lol

He's such an idiot.

[_EAllusion]

Paraphrasing Matthew Yglesias, it's terrible luck for Trump that he was committing crimes to conceal Russian contacts while the deep state was framing him for colluding with Russia and Russia was committing crimes on his behalf. Some people just have the worst luck.