First there was collusion. Then there was obstruction. Then there was subornation. As the Russia investigation has migrated…
First there was collusion. Then there was obstruction. Then there was subornation. As the Russia investigation has migrated to every new allegation, a host of experts have proclaimed conclusive grounds for the imminent prosecution and impeachment of President Trump, soon followed by calls for immediate impeachment proceedings, only to be followed by mitigating or conflicting evidence on each allegation.
The latest allegation called a “slam dunk” followed a BuzzFeed story that special counsel Robert Mueller has proof that Trump told his attorney, Michael Cohen, to lie to Congress. The same news cycle quickly began, even though the story was long on allegations and short on evidence.
Then later that night, the Mueller team released a rare public statement that proved to be the ultimate buzzkill for the breaking news: “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.”
The subornation crime is the latest example. What is known is that Michael Cohen has said he gave false information to federal investigators and to Congress about the effort to build a Trump Tower in Moscow. Cohen told Congress that attempts to secure the deal ended in January 2016, before the first Republican presidential primary; he now maintains that the attempts continued until June 2016. That was the same month as the infamous meeting in Trump Tower in New York between Donald Trump Jr., Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner, then-Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, and Russians promising evidence of crimes committed by Hillary Clinton or her foundation. It also was just a few months before the presidential election.
The discrepancy raises reasonable questions about statements made by Trump during the campaign, as well as statements reportedly made by Trump Jr. and daughter Ivanka Trump about their own limited involvement in the planning. However, those statements do not, on their face, make a strong case for criminal charges. Trump’s denial of “any business deal” in Moscow is not necessarily contradicted by Cohen’s account.
