Prosecutors explicitly state that Cohen coordinated with President Trump on hush money payments to Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal over his alleged affairs with them: “as Cohen himself has now admitted, with respect to both payments, he acted in coordination with and at the direction of Individual-1.” That’s Donald Trump.
We knew this already — and we knew that Trump lied about it, claiming not to know about the payments — but this says that prosecutors believe that Trump ordered Cohen to commit a crime…
One of the remarkable things about the discussion we’ve been having lately is that the president still seems to think that he can be saved from whatever this investigation uncovers. He just announced that William Barr will be his next attorney general, and the New York Times reported that in private, “Mr. Trump has also repeatedly asked whether the next pick would recuse himself from overseeing the special counsel investigation into whether his campaign conspired with Russia in its interference in the 2016 election.” It’s as though he thinks this investigation is in its early stages and can be quashed by a properly loyal underling.
But at this point it doesn’t matter. It’s far too late. Trump’s former aides have cooperated, they’ve conducted their interviews with the special counsel, they’re being sentenced, the documents have been reviewed, the connections have been traced, and the full picture is soon to be revealed.
This scandal can’t be hidden away. Republicans in Congress can’t save Trump, his attorney general can’t save him, and no amount of desperate tweets can save him. Accountability is on its way, and it’s arriving very soon.
Special Counsel Robert Mueller accused former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort of violating his plea agreement multiple times by lying to investigators, including about his contact with an accused Russian spy.
The revelations, in a filing released Friday, allege that Manafort violated the terms of his plea deal that require that he cooperate “fully, truthfully, completely, and forthrightly” with the government.
He did not, according to Mueller. The special counsel’s office is accusing Manafort of lying about his contacts with his business partner in Ukraine, Konstantin Kilimnick, a Russian national suspected of being a spy, among other things. The heavily-redacted document accuses Manafort of lying about:
– The frequency of and nature of his contact with Kilimnick
– Kilimnick’s alleged participation in a conspiracy to obstruct justice
– A $125,000 debt payment to another firm owned by Manafort after he signed a plea deal
– Misleading investigators on another Department of Justice investigation
– Continued contact with Trump administration officials after he agreed to cooperate with the special counsel
Sebastion Cooper 