Thread by @rgoodlaw

<Thread> on some of the most legally significant revelations in #MichaelCohen's Opening Statement for #TrumpRussia investigation.

The biggest bombshell of all? See #6 below, coupled with #10.

1. Cohen says Trump indirectly, implicitly told/encouraged Cohen to lie to Congress about Russia deal.👇

Lesson one: a lot more truth/validation to that Buzzfeed report.

Lesson two: even encouraging (not just directing) Cohen to lie would be illegal:
justsecurity.org/62314/buzzfeed…

2. Top former prosecutors, experts in this article👇analyze the criminal law if Trump encouraged Cohen to lie to Congress.

(@harrylitman @renato_mariotti @BarbMcQuade @Mimirocah1 @d_a_sklansky @JoyceWhiteVance @alexgwhiting @AndyMcCanse)

justsecurity.org/62314/buzzfeed…

3. Cohen says Trump knew in advance, from Roger Stone, of Wikileaks release of DNC emails.

Two significant implications:

First, it is likely Trump committed perjury.

CNN: "Trump told special counsel Robert Mueller in writing that Roger Stone did not tell him about WikiLeaks."

4. Here's that CNN report containing the important details of Trump's written reply to Mueller.

"Stone's denial matches with what Trump told Mueller: that the two never spoke about WikiLeaks."

cnn.com/2018/11/28/pol… (@DanaBashCNN @KaraScannell @evanperez reporting)

5. One side point: Did Trump's team purposefully leak that information to CNN to communicate with other witnesses, Stone, etc. to get their stories straight?

I wrote about that here:
justsecurity.org/62384/roger-st…

6. A much, much, much bigger implication of Stone's communicating with Trump about Wikileaks: Directly implicates Trump in Stone's illegally coordinating with Wikileaks.

Former White House Counsel Bob Bauer and I spelled out those legal issues here:
justsecurity.org/61652/jereome-…

7. Cohen provides some limited evidence that Trump knew in advance from Don Jr about Trump Tower meeting.

This line is important: "Don Jr. would never set up any meeting of any significance alone – and certainly not without checking with his father."

8. Cohen's evidence of what Don Jr specifically told Trump about any Trump Tower meeting with Russians is weak.

That said, Cohen's qualifications and limited information actually adds to Cohen's credibility. Were he lying about this, he'd presumably exaggerate a lot.

9. Cohen says he has no "direct evidence" that Trump campaign "colluded" with Russia. (He adds, "But, I have my suspicions.")

Congress will want to know what INDIRECT evidence Cohen might have etc, but this statement by Cohen does contradict elements in Steele Dossier.

10. On Cohen's statements about Trump's encouraging Cohen's lies to Congress on Moscow deal, Trump-Stone scheme with Wikileaks, Trump Tower meeting:

Mueller's memo said Cohen's information "credible and consistent with other evidence obtained in the SCO’s ongoing investigation"!