Thread by @The_War_Economy

"Cell signal puts Cohen outside Prague around time of purported Russian meeting"

Peter Stone, Greg Gordon

McClatchy

December 27, 2018

mcclatchydc.com/news/investiga…

"A mobile phone traced to President Donald Trump's former lawyer and 'fixer' Michael Cohen briefly sent signals ricocheting off cell towers in the Prague area in late summer 2016, at the height of the presidential campaign..."

"... leaving an electronic record to support claims that Cohen met secretly there with Russian officials, four people with knowledge of the matter say."

"During the same period of late August or early September, electronic eavesdropping by an Eastern European intelligence agency picked up a conversation among Russians, one of whom remarked that Cohen was in Prague, two people familiar with the incident said."

"The phone and surveillance data, which have not previously been disclosed, lend new credence to a key part of a former British spy's dossier of Kremlin intelligence describing purported coordination between Trump's campaign and Russia's election meddling operation."

"The new information regarding the recovery of Cohen's cell phone location doesn't explain why he was apparently there or who he was meeting with, if anyone. But it adds to evidence that Cohen was in or near Prague around the time of the supposed meeting."

What a disaster.

"Both of the newly surfaced foreign electronic intelligence intercepts were shared with Special Counsel Robert Mueller, people familiar with the matter said."

"If the foreign intelligence intercepts are accurate..."

"Four people spoke with McClatchy on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of information shared by their foreign intelligence connections. Each obtained their information independently from foreign intelligence connections."

"Davis, however, is no longer part of Cohen's legal team."

See, that's a development.

"The cell phone evidence, the sources say, was discovered sometime after Cohen apparently made his way to the Czech Republic.

The records show that the brief activation from Cohen's phone near Prague sent beacons that left a traceable electronic signature, said the 4 sources."

"Cohen has insisted that he was in Southern California with his son from August 23 - 29, 2016, but his public alibis have not been so airtight as to preclude flights to and from Europe during the relevant period."