,
17 tweets,
7 min read
Read on Twitter
Some quick Michael Cohen take-aways:
1. The committee repeatedly got Cohen to name Trump Org CFO Allen Weisselberg as a co-conspirator in a long list of crimes: Campaign finance felonies, tax fraud, insurance fraud, more fraud. Big deal: They will subpoena him. /1/
1. The committee repeatedly got Cohen to name Trump Org CFO Allen Weisselberg as a co-conspirator in a long list of crimes: Campaign finance felonies, tax fraud, insurance fraud, more fraud. Big deal: They will subpoena him. /1/
2. Campaign finance: The checks w/Trump's signature are unmistakable. No doubt there is probable cause sufficient for indicting a sitting president. It's SDNY's domain, not Mueller's. Let's be clear: A sitting president can be indicted. It's time. /3/ slate.com/news-and-polit…
3. Did Trump suborn perjury/false statement, per @Buzzfeed?
Suborning perjury can be indirect/implicit as long as it's clear. The requirement isn't a magic phrase, "Go perjure." But my question: It was not enough that Trump directed Cohen to lie DURING campaign. /4/
Suborning perjury can be indirect/implicit as long as it's clear. The requirement isn't a magic phrase, "Go perjure." But my question: It was not enough that Trump directed Cohen to lie DURING campaign. /4/
But Cohen seems to support @a_cormier_ @JasonLeopold's claim that Trump persuaded Cohen to lie AFTER election, close enough to the congressional testimony to count as crime. Cohen says he met with Trump & Sekulow about the message he was to convey: "No collusion." /5/
Given what Cohen says he knew of Trump Tower Moscow, he was being coached to lie about it - implicitly but clearly enough.
Cohen testified Trump's lawyers reviewed &changed his submission to Congress, falsifying the timing of Trump Moscow.
Could be suborning or obstruction. /6/
Cohen testified Trump's lawyers reviewed &changed his submission to Congress, falsifying the timing of Trump Moscow.
Could be suborning or obstruction. /6/
Cohen said Abbe Lowell reviewed his testimony (joint defense agreement).
Sekulow and Lowell are in criminal jeopardy, and ask them if Trump was involved in conspiracy. No atty-client privilege: crime fraud exception.
For impeachment, don't need proof beyond reasonable doubt. /7/
Sekulow and Lowell are in criminal jeopardy, and ask them if Trump was involved in conspiracy. No atty-client privilege: crime fraud exception.
For impeachment, don't need proof beyond reasonable doubt. /7/
Suborn perjury:
18 USC 1622: "Whoever procures another to commit any perjury is guilty of subornation of perjury, and shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than five years, or both."
Procure = obtain; cause or persuade someone to do something.
/8/
18 USC 1622: "Whoever procures another to commit any perjury is guilty of subornation of perjury, and shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than five years, or both."
Procure = obtain; cause or persuade someone to do something.
/8/
Obstruction, witness tampering, 18 USC 1512b.
Lots of ways this statute applies, actually.
law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18…
/9/
Lots of ways this statute applies, actually.
law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18…
/9/
@southpaw has the transcript and the video. Is this a slam-dunk criminal case beyond a reasonable doubt? I'm not sure.
But is it a high crime and misdemeanor for impeachment purposes? I have no reasonable doubt about that.
But is it a high crime and misdemeanor for impeachment purposes? I have no reasonable doubt about that.
4. Trump Org & Trump Found. are further implicated in frauds. It's time for NY state to indict both orgs - and their officials - for crimes.
@AGKarlRacine today subpoenaed Trump Inaugural. State AGs
@NewYorkStateAG @NewJerseyOAG also closing in. nytimes.com/2019/02/27/us/…
@AGKarlRacine today subpoenaed Trump Inaugural. State AGs
@NewYorkStateAG @NewJerseyOAG also closing in. nytimes.com/2019/02/27/us/…
5. @RepSpeier says on @maddow that the House Oversight Committee will get Cohen’s first draft of his 2017 congressional statement to see how Sekulow and Lowell changed it. She suggests they may be criminal co-conspirators.
6. What is the significance of Cohen's claim to witness Trump speaking to Roger Stone about Assange/WikiLeaks? I don't think it adds much beyond what we already knew from Trump's public comments, which have suggested conspiracy for a long time:
slate.com/news-and-polit…
slate.com/news-and-polit…
6. As I'm waiting @lastword, @DonnyDeutsch says this is just Cohen's opening act and talks about RICO.
@Mimirocah1 picks up on Trump directing criminal enterprise.
@TimOBrien focuses on Allen Weisselberg, Rhona Graff, Calamari in Trump Org.
@Mimirocah1 picks up on Trump directing criminal enterprise.
@TimOBrien focuses on Allen Weisselberg, Rhona Graff, Calamari in Trump Org.
7. But Cohen's testimony lines up with timeline I described:
Just before the Dem Nat Convention, Cohen says Stone told Trump of WikiLeaks email dump.
July 27 is all the more damning: “Russia, if you’re listening, I hope you’re able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing.”
Just before the Dem Nat Convention, Cohen says Stone told Trump of WikiLeaks email dump.
July 27 is all the more damning: “Russia, if you’re listening, I hope you’re able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing.”
8. I wrote last July: "As Mueller’s latest indictment alleged, Russian agents started a new round of spear-phishing directly targeted at Hillary Clinton’s personal office and the Clinton campaign that same day. This could all be used as evidence of a conspiracy to defraud US"
