Thread by @SethAbramson

(NOTE) If you can read these 285 pages of docs and *not* think when you're done that Trump was trading US foreign policy on Russia for money, you're a Trumpist dead-ender. I don't even say that cruelly, but sadly.

What these documents signify is *insane*. documentcloud.org/documents/5719…

1/ I mean just *look*! This is Felix Sater, Trump's *extremely close business partner* since 2005. Sater is Trump's designated fixer on all things Russia and began working on potential tower deals in Moscow for Trump a full decade before these emails. And Trump knew all about it.

2/ Almost *every* message Sater sent to Trump's attorney and fixer was about *how Trump could please Putin* and specifically *how Trump could please Putin through foreign policy*. Here, it's about pleasing Putin by going into business with his old boss (*always* note the dates):

3/ Consciousness of guilt on the part of all parties was confirmed by a) Trump lying about all of this ("NO DEALS! NO NOTHING!") but of course also b) the lengths everyone involved went to to hide what was happening and then lie about it if caught. *Everyone* knew this was wrong.

4/ Sater is dealing with Putin's "very very close people," says he can "get Putin" to say certain things publicly, acknowledges that what Trump is doing is "negotiating" with Putin in secret, and even makes references to US policy in key areas, most interestingly the Middle East.

5/ Sater *tells* Trump's attorney (and longtime political adviser/aide in prior embryonic POTUS runs) Cohen that Trump's public statements on *U.S. foreign policy* are *helping Trump get this deal done with Putin*. And make no mistake—*Putin* is seen as the man he's dealing with.

6/ Sater is telling Cohen that Trump must record his public statements on U.S. foreign policy so that they can be given, via an intermediary who will "have dinner with Putin," to Putin himself. And that will be done so that Putin will green-light Trump's multibillion dollar deal.

7/ Of course Trump's statements on US foreign policy—the ones Sater wants—are *promises* Trump is making to voters on *what he'll do as president* in terms of *real US policy*. So this is a federal bribery case. Bribery is enumerated in the Constitution as an impeachable offense.

8/ Understand this, too: Felix Sater is *himself* an agent of Trump. So Trump is authorizing Sater to engage with Putin's "very very close" friends and advisers on his behalf as part of a ten-year business relationship Trump has had with Sater (who has a Trump Org business card).

9/ We've already heard audio of how closely Cohen briefed Trump on his activities on Trump's behalf (and at his direction); remember the Stormy Daniels audiotapes. There is no reason to believe Cohen did not keep Trump apprised of all these details, and indeed he now says he did.

10/ So many of Cohen's claims about his relationship with Trump will be confirmed by *audiotapes with Trump's voice on them* that the idea anyone's going to have to accept things merely on Cohen's say-so is absurd. Mueller already has—we know—corroborating information from Cohen.

11/ Moreover, as detailed in Proof of Collusion, not only has Sater previously cooperated with the FBI, but his attorney has *publicly offered such cooperation* and *in the Mueller probe*. So Sater is undoubtedly speaking to Mueller and all *he* says is confirmed in these emails.

12/ That Trump is done isn't in question; either he'll face impeachment or he'll face indictments post-presidency. What *is* in doubt, and very much so, is the timeframe for Trump facing the music. But anyone who says he won't ever face the music hasn't seen the evidence. Period.

13/ Just 10 days after Trump's adviser Michael Flynn dined with Putin in Moscow in December '15 (after *also* going to the home of the Russian ambassador), Trump's attorney is negotiating *Trump himself going overseas* to meet with Putin. I mean, holy crap! You should be floored.

14/ I mean JFC two of Trump's *longtime business agents* are *discussing in texts Mueller has* that they must *hide what they're doing* because the *Kremlin wants it hidden*. This is *conspiring with the Kremlin to defraud the US* by pretending there are no illegal negotiations.

15/ ALL OF THIS IS A VIOLATION OF THE STRINGER BELL RULE (NSFW):

16/ These are *all* "acts in furtherance of a criminal conspiracy" by law, and it's clear Cohen will testify they were taken at Trump's direction—just as he's already said Trump directed him to take other illegal actions. There's no chance Trump can argue Cohen was freelancing.

17/ It'd be comedic if it weren't a national tragedy.

18/ As established in PROOF OF COLLUSION, Cohen is almost certainly referring here to the *other tower deals Russia had offered Trump* when he refers to "the others." There were at *least* two other deals that Cohen did *not* reject but merely placed on temporary hold for Trump.

19/ Here is Sater *acknowledging to Cohen* that he is *actively hiding* what he's doing from media, voters, and all others.

20/ And did Trump "ask Cohen what was happening [on the tower deal]"? Well, look at the evidence Cohen sent privately to his friend Sater, not knowing Mueller (or anyone) would ever see it:

21/ Was this really a deal between Trump and the Kremlin? Well, look at the evidence Sater sent privately to his friend Cohen, not knowing Mueller (or anyone) would ever see it:

22/ Trump knew *everything* (excerpt from text from Cohen to Sater):

23/ And Sater confirms that Putin *knew* of the tower deal (Putin, in context, is "the boss" in this Sater text):

24/ I mean, *look*! Sater in blue, Cohen in white:

25/ I only touched the tip of the iceberg here with these Buzzfeed docs. The point is this: only *willful ignorance* explains, going forward, anyone saying or thinking that Trump did not conspire with the Russians via his longtime business agents (who briefed him regularly). /end