Trump Floats Bribe to Manafort – Cohen Dumps Russian Bombshell
Michael D. Cohen, President Trump’s former lawyer and fixer, admitted in court on Thursday that he had engaged in negotiations to build a tower in Moscow for Mr. Trump well into the 2016 presidential campaign, far later than previously known. Mr. Cohen said he discussed the status of the project with Mr. Trump on more than three occasions and briefed Mr. Trump’s family members about it. He also admitted he agreed to travel to Russia for meetings on the project. The revelations, which came as Mr. Cohen pleaded guilty to lying to Congress, were a startling turn in the special counsel’s investigation of Mr. Trump and his inner circle. [New York Times]
CONVICTED CRIMINAL Paul Manafort continued his defense agreement with Trump after he had no defense.
This news came amid a tweet storm from the accidental occupant of the White House. He was upset about developments going on under the radar. If you saw Ari Melber’s jaw-dropping interview with conspiracy nut Jerome Corsi you have a sense of why.
As this was happening, POTUS turned in his written answers to the Mueller team, some of which were immediately leaked.
This morning, Michael Cohen turned the screw. As part of his ongoing cooperation with Robert Mueller, Cohen came clean about the Trump Russia project.
According to NBC’s Pete Williams, Cohen admitted lying about three main issues:
- Cohen said the work on Trump Tower Moscow ended in 2016, well before the Iowa caucuses, when it was going on until mid-June;
- Cohen said he never worked on travel to Russia to help get the project going when he did. He also said Trump might travel to Russia after he became the nominee;
- Cohen said he couldn’t recall any contact with Russian officials about the project when he spoke with them about financing, and the land.
Mueller now has “documented a business connection between the Trump Organization and Russian top officials, including potential meetings Vladimir Putin,” according to NBC’s Pete Williams.
Before leaving for the G20, Trump made a defensive statement outside the White House calling Cohen “a liar” and “weak.”
From the plane, Trump canceled his meeting with Putin at the G20. His reason was a report about Russia’s seizure of three small Ukrainian naval vessels and 23 sailors in the Kerch Strait.
If anything, Putin‘s piracy would be a reason to confront him, not cancel a meeting.
But like ignoring Mohammed bin Salman‘s blood-soaked hands, Trump can’t confront his autocratic friends.
Trump canceled the meet with Putin on Twitter in an oddly formal tweet, which to me sounded like a reaction to the Cohen bombshell this morning instead.
Manafort’s got trouble beyond Mueller and prison. It seems implausible to me that the machinations of Manafort, and his lawyers, are about a pardon. Konstantin Kilimnik, a Ukrainian, is believed to have ties to Russian intelligence and was Manafort’s Russia whisperer during the campaign.
We still don’t know how deep Paul Manafort’s Russia ties go.
POTUS was panicked (for good reasons) before Michael Cohen’s bombshell today.
UPDATE (11.30.18): BuzzFeed dropped a bombshell late yesterday. Jason Leopold and Anthony Cormier were prescient on this subject.
President Donald Trump’s company planned to give a $50 million penthouse at Trump Tower Moscow to Russian President Vladimir Putin as the company negotiated the luxury real estate development during the 2016 campaign, according to four people, one of them the originator of the plan.
yep-the walls are closing in as mueller enters his final act
They also raised Trump’s 10-year tax attorney today.
They are INSIDE…
gonna be real bad-real bad.
Trump fired sessions + installed whitaker right after election polls closed. praying for a republican house “Panic!!” All his credibility at home and abroad is gone. if he resigned today it wouldn’t be soon e-NUF.
And yet, Rosenstein remains in charge of the Mueller probe.
I don’t think Trump will resign but he may be forced not to run in 2020. Then again, he could be impeached. The details mounting are epic.
Nixon was an amateur by comparison. The son of a bitch was also a patriot, unlike Trump.
the walls are closing in. trump cant be thrilled to see the senate defy him on the saudis and yemen either-
Both of my senators sided with MBS and Putin with their vote. Hopefully This is another issue that is going to take David Perdue down in 2020.
So far at least there has been no indication that the majority of Republicans are going to break with Trump despite what he does. I can’t see him being forced not to run in 2020 without blowing up the GOP. They could have blown up the GOP in 2016 and done the entire country a favor but chose not to. He might well be removed if Mueller comes out with overwhelming evidence of criminal activity by Trump which is entirely possible. The thing is though I think Mueller’s net is going to ensnare many in the GOP for taking Russian… Read more »
” I think Mueller’s net is going to ensnare many in the GOP for taking Russian money and we already know the NRA has a problem with Russian money.” I am having to excerpt HUMONGUS self control not to become giddy with anticipation that maybe, just maybe the entire repugnantKKKlan hate machine along with minimushroomboy will be eviscerated by all the criminal and frankly treasonous actions he and they committed over the decades for MONEY….for farking MONEY. There isn’t a suitable punishment on the books for the level of betrayal they have committed against the United States.
“i prefer presidents who weren’t indited” putin. SNL open. melania, rudy, cohen, putin, mbs and the donald(egads). runs 7 minutes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9q3QBnCnJbQ
The cold open last nite was brilliant.
Secular – This event, the Mueller investigation, is about to expose an international money order of nefarious connections & illegality.
It will be historic.
Caroline – Wait for it… What is going to be exposed over years is the international money laundering schemes that Trump .Org accessed that became the biz model after Atlantic City, bankruptcies, etc. We don’t need the GOP. American voters need access to the story, the narrative of a man who became the accidental White House occupant on a biz scheme, because the Trump candidacy was never about winning the presidency. Best of all outcomes would be a thrashing in 2020. There is a strong possibility that Cohen’s Come to Jesus will force Trump to not run again. Again, my… Read more »
“Again, my preference is that he defiantly runs and gets trounced.” My preference is Mueller’s investigation exposes so much of the filth and garbage, criminality on the part of minimushroomboy and the GOP and the NRA they are completely destroyed in 2020. THEN with sane adults again having the reigns of power the Dems BETTER NOT repeat the insanity of Obama kissing and making nice with the repugnantKKKlan. Ford pardoning Nixon was the beginning of all of this…the pathogen that really set the infection and rot lose in the body politic of untouchability and no accountability for grotesquely criminal…and I… Read more »
No making nice. Full stop.
By whatever means is most thorough, & multiple means (Mueller + SDNY) works for us.
I agree. Obama’s biggest mistake was attempting to make nice with the GOP. I don’t know if it was because he was naive or what. I said in 2008 they were never going to work with him. It wasn’t rocket science to see what the GOP was going to do.
Yep- I cant wait for mueller’s day at the house judiciary cmte giving testimony on his findings-cuz the dems have already mentioned ready to do this