Trump suborning perjury is an impeachable behavior

[wvit1001]

At first glance, the revelation by BuzzFeed News reporters Jason Leopold and Anthony Cormier that President Trump directed Michael Cohen to lie to Congress about his attempt to build a tower in Moscow during the campaign, looks bad for Trump. On second, third, and fourth glances, it looks extremely bad.

1. Attorney General William Barr has already defined this behavior as obstruction of justice. In the secret memo Barr wrote to the Department of Justice questioning Robert Mueller’s obstruction inquiry, Barr allowed that of course it was possible the president could obstruct justice if he did something incredibly obvious, such as instruct people to lie in sworn testimony:

At his Senate confirmation hearings, Barr reiterated that suborning perjury would obviously constitute obstruction.

So whatever legal shield Trump believes he is getting in Barr will not help him escape this allegation.

2. The allegations are serious enough that even conservatives concede they would constitute a crime. The immediate response by Trump defenders Byron York and Mollie Hemingway has been to call the allegations “big if true,” while implying they are likely false. Erick Erickson has a short piece arguing the allegations would mean impeachment if they are true, before going on to speculate they are probably false, because no other news organization has yet confirmed them.

3. The evidence reportedly has multiple sources. Trump lawyer-of-sorts Rudy Giuliani dismissed the story: “Haven’t checked it out but if you believe Cohen I can get you a good all-cash deal on the Brooklyn Bridge.” Any denial of a crime by one’s client that is prefaced with “haven’t checked” obviously does not inspire confidence. And Giuliani’s assumption that the allegation rests on taking Cohen’s word for it is flatly contradicted by the report.

As BuzzFeed explains, the evidence did not originate from Cohen. Cohen merely confirmed what Mueller discovered through other sources: “The special counsel’s office learned about Trump’s directive for Cohen to lie to Congress through interviews with multiple witnesses from the Trump Organization and internal company emails, text messages, and a cache of other documents. Cohen then acknowledged those instructions during his interviews with that office.”

4. There could be more where this came from. Go back to the part about “internal company emails, text messages, and a cache of other documents.” Remember that prosecutors seized a massive trove of recordings and notes from Cohen’s office. Cohen worked closely with Trump in a business that by all indications engaged in criminal activity so routinely that it barely registered. There is very little reason to expect this is the only crime directly implicating Trump contained in these files.

5. Why did Trump order Cohen to lie? By telling this lie, Trump opened himself up to blackmail by Putin. Trump was publicly denying the contours of a business deal to which Russian intelligence was privy. Trump consistently takes enormous risks to protect his dealings with Russia from public exposure.

Building a tower in Moscow is not illegal. He could have admitted the project’s existence during the campaign. Or, having lied about it, he could have let Cohen admit it later. Trump has told so many lies, the news media has had to create new categories to describe their vastness.

So how harmful could it have been for Cohen to add one more admitted lie to a pile of lies so infinite it beggars the imagination? The lie would have been forgotten immediately. Maybe Trump decided to direct Cohen to lie for no good reason. But it may well be the case that he had to lie because confessing to the Trump Tower project would open up other questions about his dealings with Russia during the campaign. Needless to say, there is a lot there.



http://nymag.com/intelligencer/2019/01/trump-suborning-perjury-michael-cohen-impeachment-mueller-buzzfeed.html

[JigSaw-II]

The Crime Boss, aka trump, is about to succumb to the wrath of Mueller's investigation.  As soon as Mueller is done, the SDNY will get their piece of trump. 

It is my strong belief, trump will be in prison, come 2022...

[KensanIV]

Of  course Cohen never told a lie and Buzzfeed never reported one...And you never  posted one.

[Local5th]

Cohen has every reason in the world to lie. His lawyer, Lanny Davis, hopes the testimony will lead to a reduced prison sentence.

Me thinks the left is getting a bit desperate.

[wmdn_bs]

Mueller allegedly has emails and text messages between Trump and Cohen indicating the president directed Cohen to lie to Congress. If true, that is very damning. I really do not want Trump to be impeached, leaving Pence in charge. I would much rather he lose the election in 2020 in a humiliating landslide defeat.

[justincase]

I don't care what happens to the son of a bitch! I just want him out of office!

[Jim]

 
Cohens Balls are in a vice - he's going to scream like a cat giving birth to a dog.

[justincase]

If he lies, he won't be doing himself any favors. I expect he'll tell the truth. Look at Manafort; he lied after making a deal and now he's facing serious time.

[D2D]

Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s office on Friday issued a rare statement disputing a bombshell news report claiming President Trump directed Michael Cohen to lie about the timing of discussions over a proposed Trump Tower project in Moscow.
“BuzzFeed’s description of specific statements to the Special Counsel’s Office, and characterization of documents and testimony obtained by this office, regarding Michael Cohen’s Congressional testimony are not accurate,” Peter Carr, a spokesman for Mueller’s office, said Friday.
In a story published Thursday, BuzzFeed cited two unnamed federal law enforcement officials involved in an investigation on the matter who said Cohen acknowledged to Mueller’s office that he was instructed by Trump in 2017 to lie to Congress about the now-abandoned real estate deal to build a Trump Tower in Russia.
The report said Mueller’s office first learned of the directive from interviews with witnesses from the Trump Organization and internal company email, text messages and documents.
The report, which has not been confirmed by Fox News, was immediately dismissed by President Trump’s legal team.
"Any suggestion – from any source – that the President counseled Michael Cohen to lie is categorically false.  Michael Cohen is a convicted criminal and a liar," Giuliani said. "... Today’s claims are just more made-up lies born of Michael Cohen’s malice and desperation, in an effort to reduce his sentence."

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/mueller-team-disputes-buzzfeed-report-claiming-trump-told-cohen-to-lie

Mueller denies Buzzfeed story!

Buzzfeed lied and Democrats sucked that shit up like it was candy!

[KensanIV]

Of course its all a lie.  Why would any sane poster believe such crap?  Buzzfeed, unnamed agents, Cohen???  As Rudy said.  Want to  buy a bridge?"

If you have sufficient evidence for impeachment, bring it on...or STFU.

[Local5th]

Mueller allegedly has emails and text messages between Trump and Cohen indicating the president directed Cohen to lie to Congress. If true, that is very damning.

If true Cohen wouldn't be going to jail.