Washington reporters and big media outlets tend to look down their noses at Buzzfeed, but Buzzfeed has broken a number of political stories over the past few years, including the first in-depth reporting on the Steele Dossier. All of those quizzes and pop culture ephemera are paying for a solid Buzzfeed Washington Bureau, I think. Anyway, Buzzfeed’s Jason Leopold and Anthony Cormier have broken another story: Donald Trump’s former personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, has told special counsel Robert Mueller and other investigators that Trump directed him to lie about Trump Tower Moscow (aka The Moscow Project). I know, this isn’t really shocking in the sense that it’s brand new information across the board – once we knew that the plans for “Trump Tower Moscow” were a big part of how Vladimir Putin honey-trapped Trump, most of us assumed that Trump was lying about ALL of it.
President Donald Trump directed his longtime attorney Michael Cohen to lie to Congress about negotiations to build a Trump Tower in Moscow, according to two federal law enforcement officials involved in an investigation of the matter. Trump also supported a plan, set up by Cohen, to visit Russia during the presidential campaign, in order to personally meet President Vladimir Putin and jump-start the tower negotiations. “Make it happen,” the sources said Trump told Cohen. And even as Trump told the public he had no business deals with Russia, the sources said Trump and his children Ivanka and Donald Trump Jr. received regular, detailed updates about the real estate development from Cohen, whom they put in charge of the project.
Cohen pleaded guilty in November to lying about the deal in testimony and in a two-page statement to the Senate and House intelligence committees. Special counsel Robert Mueller noted that Cohen’s false claim that the project ended in January 2016 was an attempt to “minimize links between the Moscow Project and Individual 1” — widely understood to be Trump — “in hopes of limiting the ongoing Russia investigations.”
Now the two sources have told BuzzFeed News that Cohen also told the special counsel that after the election, the president personally instructed him to lie — by claiming that negotiations ended months earlier than they actually did — in order to obscure Trump’s involvement. The special counsel’s office learned about Trump’s directive for Cohen to lie to Congress through interviews with multiple witnesses from the Trump Organization and internal company emails, text messages, and a cache of other documents. Cohen then acknowledged those instructions during his interviews with that office.
This revelation is not the first evidence to suggest the president may have attempted to obstruct the FBI and special counsel investigations into Russia’s interference in the 2016 election. But Cohen’s testimony marks a significant new frontier: It is the first known example of Trump explicitly telling a subordinate to lie directly about his own dealings with Russia.
The thing about it is… Michael Cohen doesn’t have a lot of credibility. Paul Manafort doesn’t have any credibility. Michael Flynn doesn’t have any credibility. All of these guys were lying all the time about multiple issues, just like Trump lies all the time about everything. Donald Trump isn’t going to be indicted merely because Cohen now claims that Trump directed him to lie. But I still have faith that Robert Mueller is weaving a very bigly quilt of indictments and federal charges and that Cohen’s claims are just the latest thread.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid.
So this is the end, right? RIGHT?
LOL.
No.
The end comes in 2020. And by that I mean, we either elect a new president and this insanity stops, or Trump is re-elective which means the world literally ends. Because climate change is going to kill us and Republicans refuse to do anything about it.
The big difference, that can make this the “smocking gun” is that it has been put out that there are TWO INDEPENDENT CORROBORATING TESTIMONIES regarding this matter (perjury/obstruction). This could be the turning point. Stay tuned! lol
This malignant narcissist might’ve continued to get away with his criminal behavior if his rampant ego hadn’t made him come down the elevator in his tacky hotel.
I wish this was the end, but nothing has been done with all the other damaging facts being proven during Trumps time in office, so nothing will be done about this. Vote in 2020, and maybe things will get better
Lordy, February 7 is going to be some must see TV.
I’m holding a viewing party with popcorn, chocolate, and champagne. There’s room on the couch for anyone who wants to join us lol
I’m renting out our neighborhood bar.
A lot of people disagree, but my view is yes, this is the beginning of the end. I think trump will have to make a deal to resign in exchange for a promise not to indict him and most of his family. I think Mueller knows he is a traitor and that Mueller is deeply offended by this and wants him out. I think that Mueller’s end game is to get him out.
In fact I have already been thinking ahead to what this means. Pence will face strong primary challenges. The D nominee may very well be running against Flake, Kasich, or Romney. But in the end the same thing that is true now will hold true then: We will be facing a massive and overwhelming cleanup job. Who is qualified to do it?
It aint Bernie Sanders I can tell you that. Who is it? I haven’t decided yet, but this is where my thoughts are.
This is the beginning of the end indeed, but it had to happen. My bet for the 2020 Democratic ticket is my home state Senator Sherrod Brown + the enigmatic Senator from California Kamala Harris for the WIN! This is the unstoppable ticket that will get the Dems to come out and vote.
I agree with you 💯 Darla!
Mueller will put him in jail – considering what he has done, he has to do jail time regardless of who he gives up to Mueller to save his fat orange ass from jail. EZ is scared of only one person, Putin and Putin is the only person he won’t throw under the bus to save himself.
Sherrod Brown/Beto O’Rourke is my guess for the ticket. If Hillary has picked Sherrod as her VP we’d be living in a different world.
If he is allowed to make a deal to resign and not face federal charges, the state of New York will be waiting for him. Mueller handed off information to SDNY to make sure that happens. I think trump will be done and his corrupt business will probably go down with him. Looking forward to Don jr and Ivanka’s indictments almost as much as Trump’s.
Also I think Democratic Party needs to have a women and/or a person of color on the ticket. I support Kamala Harris and will work for her if she decides to run. No more old whites guys in 2020!
SDNY is a federal court. He could cut a deal to end those investigations. But it doesn’t matter, because the NY AG is investigating him and there is no way blue state NY is going to make a deal.
Really Megan, two white guys?
No.
AnneC I agree with you.
I do think this news along with Barr’s testimony is pushing Dems in the house to begin impeachment now. We really can’t wait for the Mueller report which may be redacted by Barr.
@Darla Sadly, I think the ticket will be two white guys. I think Hillary’s defeat is going to drive a lot of primary voters focus on perceived electability. Brown can carry Ohio and Texas is slowly becoming more purple.
That’s pretty clear obstruction of justIce. Cohen doesn’t need to be credible, they have internal trump org communications.
Exactly. NPR was reporting this morning that the Special Counsel had all the reciepts before they even got Cohen’s confession. It doesn’t matter that so many of the key players involved aren’t credible-because Mueller has the texts and emails. And they were all so worried about Hillary’s emails. Laughable then and laughable now.
Matt Schlapp (yeah what a name) who’s married to some woman in the WH communications team went on Fox and told people the news was fake cuz Orange Nazi doesn’t do email. He tweets and texts. Hello, his secretary Rona (she was featured on Apprentice at one point) does use emails. She would print it out to him and he would take his fat ass sharpie and write on it and she would scan and email.
I bet Rona gave it up.
Nothing in the Buzzfeed report came from Cohen. It came from two law enforcement officers. Trump’s goose is cooked. Expect a whole bunch of crazy to come out his meeting today with the North Korean envoy. The government shutdown distraction isn’t working.
Slowly, but surely, the cracks are appearing in the dam and the deluge is coming to sweep humpty dumpty away forever
This is all believable, but the question, as ever is – will anything be done about it?
Cache of other documents FTW!!
And hasn’t it been actually confirmed that Michael Cohen was caught paying for guys to hack polls in favour of Trump with big grocery bags full of cash (and a signed MMA fighter glove for some reason)?
I don’t believe it was to hack the polls, I believe they are saying the man was paid to fixed the polls in favor of Don the Con but they could not get his numbers pass 5th place.
Btw, I do believe he will be impeached this year. The majority of the country needs a break from his madness. I can’t see how we can go on for six more years, if he’s reelected.
I think they call it Buzzfeed News to separate it a bit, but yeah Anthony Cormier is a Pulitzer prize winner. No one is basing anything off of Cohen’s credibility, there’s tons of internal Trump documents.
Right. There are emails, texts and other documents according to this reporting, so credibility will not be relevant.
Right, they got witnesses and documentation first, then asked Cohen. It’s laid out in the story. Leopold and Cormier have done a great job following the money from the start.
Wow. He looks a real sour git. Oh, wait. He’s going to prison for being tRump’s very own personal fixer-upper. payer-offer and massive liar. 😂🤣
But not as long as he would have without cooperation.
Yep. Every last one of those crooks needs rounding up. Drawing and quartering is too god for them.
Translation of Emperor Zero words:
Hamberders, Smocking, Countrty, Cofveve
Mr Mueller has me by the testes complete with the smoking gun of Cohen’s recordings, texts, emails regarding my incessant need to suborn perjury charges and lay ruin to the country of the United States. I wonder if they serve hamburgers in prison due to the five-year minimum I will be receiving? I do enjoy them, especially McDonald’s. Oh well, visitors can enjoy their coffee while speaking to me through a glass plate.
Lol. Thank you for the laugh. I’ve mostly just felt alternately numb and terrified this week.
So did 45 cancel Nancy Pelosi’s trip overseas to distract everyone from this story coming out? It just seems whenever a story about his shady behaviour is about to hit the wires, some other “shiny object” is used to distract the media and public.
He must get advance notice of these stories. It will be interesting to see the fallout from this news
He cancelled Nancy’s trip to visit service men and women but send his wife, who was not elected by anyone, on vacation using Government plane that the tax payers paid for.
Dump is as petty AF.
Nancy, Schiff, and others were also going to Brussels to give some reassurance to NATO, and he sure didn’t want that (it would ruin his gift for Putin!)
And don’t forget Mnuchin and the others who were heading off to Davos on a govt. plane, until a stink was made.
I mean…this bears repeating.
We could have had the woman.
Wish we had a do-over. I’m still mad at the Jill Stein “conscience” voters. Y’all got taken too.
Jill Stein… who was pictured at that table with Michael Flynn and allllll the Russians. Will it come out that she was “paid” in some way, too, to help split the votes?
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/guess-who-came-dinner-flynn-putin-n742696
Indeed. Putin and his minions knew so well how to manipulate existing sexism in this country. Remember how many men just sat back, assuming they could avoid coming out publicly to support Hillary? Others made tepid statements, almost sheepishly in some cases. It was like they wanted our team to win, but they didn’t want to be seen excitedly cheering at the sidelines during a women’s game.
YES. So many people were almost apologetic about supporting her, and the loss was 100% about sexism. People who claim otherwise like to pretend it was about her “corruption”, but Trump was always a corrupt POS. His supporters were and are just more willing to accept a man than a woman as president.
Scuttlebug: there are presently people who are lawyering up because they know they lied to Congress in the closed sessions, and they lied at the direction of Donald Trump.
This is not going to be the only accusation of suborning perjury.
Can something clarify this: all of this “colluding with russia” stuff, that’s paramount to treason, right? He can’t negotiate his way out of a prison term for treason can he? #canadianquestion
My understanding, and bear in mind that I’m Canadian so I might be totally wrong, is that the treason charge does not apply and never will because it’s a very specific term and can only be used in the instance of working with a declared “enemy of the United States”. Also, I believe such a declaration needs to be official and not inferred or assumed, and further typically tends to happen within a wartime context…..
Yes, Congress has not declared war on Russia (and they won’t), That’s the curlicue that impedes Trump’s actions to raise to the level of treason. On the other hand, Russia’s actions have been qualified by defense and intelligence experts as an act of hybrid warfare.
There are a LOT of articles calling Russia’s hacking into our elections an “act of war” (here’s an ex: https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2018/07/16/putin-russia-trump-2016-pearl-harbor-219015)
Whether or not Congress will officially do anything about this is another story.
IMO, hell yes! It sure is!! And I think Dump and ALL those republiTHUGS are traitors, but I don’t think anything official will come down.
Another aspect of this is: who all else was involved? McConnell? Graham? The NRA-adjacent legislators who are making moves seemingly beneficial to Trump and detrimental to the US? Actions that don’t make sense on their surface lead a person to wonder…
My money is on McConnell, Pence. Graham not sure about but the way he will go attacking 45 one moment and then after a meeting with him is all praise and kiss a** makes me think has some secrets he would not want getting out.
Someone on Reddit said Myrtle McTurtle’s BIL, he is married to that witch Elaine Chao’s sister has deep ties with Russia. I don’t know where this feed was but it showed up on my Twitter feed. Google Jim Breyer
I think they have Trump on tape. Oh I am loving seeing his downfall. I also believe Pence will be indicted and that Nancy Pelosi will become POTUS!
The problem with Cohen is he is proven to have been a liar and criminal all on his own, so anything he says now is suspect.
Mueller had other evidence (emails, tapes, testimony from others at Trump Inc) before Cohen confessed to this. It’s legit.
I don’t see how perjury and conspiracy can be ignored. There are executives and even a judge who recently served federal prison time for conspiracy, witness tampering and fraud (taking too many freebies as part of their job without reporting them).
As for MC, his lawyer-advisor Davis was on TV yesterday evening saying that the public can donate to poor little Michael via some fundraising page they have setup. It had freedom and/or truth in the title. As if MC is some honorable character who would ever come clean unless hefty prison time was facing him.
The Orange One has said and done plenty of that this year and his deplorables excuse him every time. It baffles me and makes me sad for my country at the same time. Without the Republicans taking a stand for morality (of any kind at this point) Orangela can do what he wants without being taken to task.
This is what they reap from the sheeple insanity that has taken over the conservative movement and turned it into some racist parody of itself. It’s just so sad for me to watch. The moderate conservatives seem to be like deer in the headlights as if they don’t know what to do now. I say create a third party and leave this one behind in the dust. It’s dead, Jim.
It is both frustrating and confusing to see how people are repeatedly taken in by the con(s). They get used for their votes, and that’s it.
Mueller just released a *rare* statement that this report is “inaccurate.”
I read that, too. Mueller never does this, never. What is his purpose?