While breaking stories of corruption in the Trump White House are so numerous on a daily basis as to be all but numbing at this point, a new piece of reported evidence may blow the whole Russian collusion scandal wide open.
NEW: Sources tell us that Mueller has evidence Cohen was in Prague in 2016, confirming part of the dossier https://t.co/Gvu7mLrsFs
— McClatchyDC (@McClatchyDC) April 13, 2018
McClatchy DC reports that Mueller has obtained evidence confirming Trump personal attorney Michael Cohen went to Prague in 2016. That trip was an alarming piece of the Christopher Steele dossier and has now provided yet another confirmation of some of its more explosive details.
The implications, however, go far deeper than just confirming another piece of that report.
‘It would also be one of the most significant developments thus far in Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation of whether the Trump campaign and the Kremlin worked together to help Trump win the White House. Undercutting Trump’s repeated pronouncements that “there is no evidence of collusion,” it also could ratchet up the stakes if the president tries, as he has intimated he might for months, to order Mueller’s firing.’
Steele dossier report of the Michael Cohen meeting with Putin's man in Prague came from a Kremlin insider. Now Mueller has reportedly confirmed Cohen was in Prague, even though he and the President claimed he was not. h/t @profcarroll: pic.twitter.com/1lNsNmGrSa
— Justin Hendrix (@justinhendrix) April 13, 2018
Details around Cohen’s Prague meeting provided a key link to finding an answer to questions around whether or not Trump was involved with Russian collusion during the 2016 presidential elections. Specifically, a meeting with Putin ally Konstantin Kosachev that was mentioned in the dossier may deliver a final blow to Trump’s credibility around his “no collusion” claims. It is unclear at this time whether or not it is this particular meeting that Mueller has evidence around, but if the dossier’s claims are proven true, it’s the last piece of evidence needed to prove collusion.
‘Steele also recorded claims that Cohen had held secret meetings with Russian officials in Prague in August 2016, where he allegedly discussed how to pay Kremlin-associated hackers for targeting Hillary Clinton.’
Cohen has vehemently denied any meeting in Prague in 2016, and Trump backed up his attorney’s denials by telling the public that he demanded to see Cohen’s passport and could confirm that no trip to Prague had taken place. This new piece of evidence confirms that Cohen’s denials and Trump’s confirmation of those denials were untrue.
BREAKING: Remember how Trump said he confronted Cohen about the alleged trip to Prague and Cohen showed him his passport and confirmed he'd never gone? Either Cohen lied to the president or the president lied to the nation about an allegation of treasonous conduct by his lawyer.
— Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) April 13, 2018
The raid on Cohen’s office and hotel room has reportedly angered Trump like no other development in the investigation – which has included multiple indictments and guilty pleas – has so far.
A source familiar with the president's thinking tells @GloriaBorger that Trump is "pissed, flailing and upset…" More upset than ever… His anger is "beyond what anyone can imagine."
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) April 13, 2018
Perhaps it is the Prague meaning that explains that anger and Trump’s absolutely panicked reaction to the raid, especially since part of the evidence seized includes communications with Cohen’s clients.