Thread by @dcpetterson

Putting some pieces together...

Cohen just pleaded guilty to lying to Congress about aspects of the Trump Tower Moscow deal. Negotiations went on far longer than Cohen claimed, all the way into June of 2016 at the least.

This matters. A LOT.

1/12
localmemphis.com/news/michael-c…

Mueller wants Cohen's corrected statements on record, and under oath, which this new guilty please accomplishes. But it isn't a matter merely of Cohen's word. He pleaded guilty to lying because Mueller had proof of his lies laid out in emails and other statements.

2/12

It's all in the new criminal information document, in great detail. This presents not only Cohen's lies, contrasting them with the correct facts, but also the proof of those facts--and Cohen's stipulation that these facts are all true.

So? ...

3/12
scribd.com/document/39447…

Why did Mueller lay out all this documentation? Cohen has already pleaded guilty to other charges, specifically to helping Trump bribe porn stars into keeping quiet about their affairs.

So what's the importance of this new plea?

4/12
nytimes.com/2018/08/21/nyr…

Why put all that documentation and detail on record?

Prosecutors like to the get statements of cooperating witnesses on record, and under oath, so they can use that as evidence against other defendants in other trials. It seems almost certain that's happening here.

5/12

Additionally, this particular series of lies that Cohen told to Congress could have been charged by someone other than Mueller. The Special Counsel tends to turn cases over to other prosecutors or jurisdictions if the matter does not directly involve the Trump/Russia probe.

6/12

ABC News is reporting, among the topics Mueller questioned Trump about in that written open-book homework assignment was the Trump Tower Moscow deal, along with the pro-Russia changes to the 2016 Republican Platform.

7/12
abcnews.go.com/Politics/muell…

It seems likely that Trump perjured himself in his answers to Mueller about the deal, and that Cohen's amended statements--which, remember, Mueller has hard evidence to support--will prove that Trump lied.

Furthermore, pay attention to the dates.

8/12

The new Cohen plea indicates the Trump Tower Moscow deal was being actively pursued as late as June of 2016, and this effort included direct contacts between Cohen and officials high in the Russian government, and a planned (later cancelled) meeting between Trump and Putin.

9/12

The RNC Convention, when Trump forced a pro-Russia change to the platform, was the very next month, in July.

We may be about to see a firm line drawn between Trump's business interests, Putin and other Russian officials, and quid pro quo political favors.

10/12

Remember the Trump Tower NY meeting, in which Don Jr. and Manafort met with Russian agents offering to give the Trump campaign "dirt" on Clinton in exchange for promises to lift the Magnitsky sanctions. This ALSO happened in June 2016.

11/12

All the threads are pulling together. It's not surprising that Trump is in a panic.

He's on his way now to Argentina, where he has an on-again-off-again meeting planned (or unplanned) with Putin.

Keep watching.

12/12

https://twitter.com/dabeard/status/1068180344053145600