1/ In his sentencing submission, Cohen makes it 100% CLEAR that Trump paid off former mistresses Daniels and McDougal EXPLICITLY to avoid their true stories of Trump's infidelity "adversely affect[ing] the [presidential] Campaign," confirming that Trump committed election crimes.
2/ A longtime defense issued by Trump's critics is that the timing of Trump's payoffs to Daniels and McDougal was both coincidental and solely intended to save his family from embarrassment (essentially, this was Trump using his wife and child as human shields to defend himself).
3/ Cohen's statement, previously part of an oral allocution but now submitted in writing, confirms that Trump received campaign contributions in a manner contrary to law. I'd add that this is another instance of Trump defrauding voters. Cohen's statement: documentcloud.org/documents/5348…
4/ Cohen's close consultation with Trump's legal counsel while he was committing the crime of lying to Congress raises the specter of Trump suborning perjury, witness tampering, and obstructing justice either by conspiracy (e.g. through his counsel) or by direct command to Cohen.
5/ I think Americans must understand that when the Mueller Report is given to DOJ sometime in mid-2019 (most likely), and after the weeks or months of legal battles thereafter allow Americans to see it, we will discover not one allegation of Trump committing a crime but *dozens*.
6/ It cannot be said enough times: DONALD TRUMP WAS NEGOTIATING A MASSIVE PERSONAL FINANCIAL BENEFIT WITH VLADIMIR PUTIN THROUGH MICHAEL COHEN AND A TOP KREMLIN OFFICIAL WHILE HE WAS PROMISING PUTIN A UNILATERAL END TO US-RUSSIA SANCTIONS. HE LIED TO VOTERS ABOUT THIS EVERY DAY.
7/ Take every event that happened from October 2015 through the RNC that involved Trump, and describe it in a sentence, and then add after that sentence, "And this happened while Trump was secretly negotiating a multi-billion dollar real estate deal with Vladimir Putin himself."
8/ When Papadopoulos told Trump that he was a Kremlin intermediary tasked with setting up a Trump-Putin backchannel, Trump made him a foreign policy aide. "And this happened while Trump was secretly negotiating a multi-billion dollar real estate deal with Vladimir Putin himself."
9/ Why did Trump not fire Papadopoulos? "He was secretly negotiating a multi-billion dollar real estate deal with Vladimir Putin." Why did Trump not call the FBI? "He was secretly negotiating a multi-billion dollar real estate deal with Vladimir Putin." That explains his actions.
10/ Why did Trump order—on March 31, 2016—the members of his newly formed National Security Advisory Committee to change the RNC platform in Cleveland in July to dramatically benefit Putin? "He was secretly negotiating a multi-billion dollar real estate deal with Vladimir Putin."
11/ When Trump learned Putin had stolen Clinton emails, and when Putin—via WikiLeaks—released the emails, why did Trump cheer? Well—because he's a criminal and wanted the White House. Also: "He was secretly negotiating a multi-billion dollar real estate deal with Vladimir Putin."
12/ Why did Trump want Cohen to say negotiations with Putin ended pre-Iowa? Because he knew he'd be accused of defrauding voters if anyone knew "he was secretly negotiating a multi-billion dollar real estate deal with Putin" while lying daily re: the basis for his Russia policy.
13/ Trump defrauded American voters to win the 2016 presidential election: of that there's no longer any doubt. He defrauded voters about Daniels; he defrauded voters about McDougal; he defrauded voters about Putin. He defrauded voters just as he's defrauded hundreds in business.
14/ We had proof of collusion before this week's events—it's itemized in PROOF OF COLLUSION. But this week we learned that Cohen kept Trump apprised of *all* conversations involving the Trump-Rozov Trump Tower Moscow deal—which would include gifting Putin a $50 million penthouse.
15/ By the time the plot to gift Putin a $50 million penthouse was hatched—a plot Sater wanted Cohen to perfect via a trip to Moscow to meet Putin and Peskov in July 2016—the campaign knew Putin had stolen Clinton emails and knew that Russians were suspected of hacking Americans.
16/ Trump is not just guilty of election crimes; he's not just guilty of bribery; he's not just guilty of obstruction of justice and witness tampering; he's also guilty of aiding and abetting crimes against America—to wit, the computer crimes his COVERT business dealings INDUCED.
17/ Let me state it plainly: Trump's business dealings with the Kremlin, Kremlin agents, and Kremlin allies, which started *years* before he announced his run and continued through the campaign, not only led to him defrauding voters but inducing—deliberately—an attack on America.
18/ After the attack occurred, Trump conspired with our enemies to disorient voters, tamper with witnesses, and thwart federal law enforcement's efforts to detect Trump's grievous crimes. This course of obstruction was systematic, premeditated, and thoroughly *corrupt* in intent.
19/ 25% of the country is lost. No matter what the facts reveal, they'll take a position on criminal justice the likes of which they've never taken when it was an average American in the metaphorical dock—any crime can be forgiven if the defendant has the right party affiliation.
20/ I wrote PROOF OF COLLUSION—which chronicles Trump's treachery—and I run this feed, which tracks its course daily, because it's time for America to return to sanity, our democratic principles, the rule of law, and a commitment to peace, stability, and *honest* government. /end
