(THREAD) BREAKING NEWS (h/t DM): TASS report confirms Konstantin KOSACHEV—the man the STEELE dossier says secretly met with COHEN in Europe in summer 2016—was in Italy either right before or *while* COHEN was on "vacation" in Italy from July 9 to 17, 2016: tass.com/politics/886584 
1/ This thread builds off my COHEN thread of several hours ago:
2/ Here's the relevant section of the STEELE dossier, which strongly indicates KOSACHEV met with COHEN.
The "coincidence" that KOSACHEV was in Italy right before or while COHEN was there on a sudden "vacation" in the 9 days before the Republican National Convention is startling.
The "coincidence" that KOSACHEV was in Italy right before or while COHEN was there on a sudden "vacation" in the 9 days before the Republican National Convention is startling.
3/ I've previously noted that Michael COHEN could have traveled from Italy to Prague between July 9 and July 17 without ever having his passport stamped in a way that suggested he'd left Italy. The same would be true for KOSACHEV. The July 5, 2016 TASS report was filed from Rome.
4/ While the TASS report says the author of the story spoke to KOSACHEV "after his visit to Rome," the fact that the report was filed *from* Rome makes it unclear whether KOSACHEV was still there as of July 5, 2016. The Kremlin previously had used Italy to meet with PAPADOPOULOS.
5/ According to media reports, on March 24, 2016, PAPADOPOULOS emailed TRUMP CAMPAIGN OFFICIALS to say "Russian leadership [is] keen to host us [for a discussion] in a 'neutral' city." 10 days earlier PAPADOPOULOS had met a Kremlin agent (MIFSUD) in Italy. usatoday.com/story/news/201…
6/ In view of the STEELE dossier and the surprising opportunity for synchronicity between COHEN's and KOSACHEV's itineraries, we should expect that—whatever happened in Prague in August or September 2016—the possibility of a *July* 2016 COHEN-KOSACHEV meeting is being looked at.
7/ A very telling fact: even though COHEN was willing to show BUZZFEED his passport, after claiming that "credit card receipts would prove he stayed in Capri, an island off the Italian coast," COHEN mysteriously "declined to make those receipts available." buzzfeed.com/anthonycormier…
8/ Had COHEN made his—alleged—Capri receipts available, reporters could've traced his movements in Italy the same way they'd *sought* to determine whether he entered Prague by checking with dozens of hotels. IOW if COHEN met KOSACHEV in Italy, media scrutiny might've revealed it.
9/ Needless to say, there's no necessity for COHEN to have met *personally* with KOSACHEV in Italy. All that would be required would be for an agent of KOSACHEV who accompanied him on his July Italy trip to stay in-country to (a) meet COHEN, and (b) plan an August Prague meeting.
10/ Either way, this is the first evidence COHEN's inexplicable, lengthy pre-RNC vacation in Italy—a known Kremlin meetup nation—could've been tied to Russia business. It's not clear why TRUMP would allow his fixer COHEN to leave the country at such a crucial time otherwise. /end
UPDATE/ These two tweets offer a critical addendum to this thread:
