Russia Has Confirmed That Donald Trump’s Lawyer Tried to Make a Deal with Them During the Election
Earlier this week, the Washington Post and the New York Times published bombshell reports that together outlined a seemingly coordinated effort by Donald Trump’s campaign to collude and collaborate with Russia. No, not that time with Donald Trump Jr. And no, not that time that Jeff Sessions met with the ambassador at the Republican National Convention. And no, not that time Jared Kushner tried to set up a back channel to communicate with Russia without American intelligence from being able to hear. No, this is a whole other attempt at collusion involving a Russian-born Trump associate, Felix Sater and Michael “I have black friends” Cohen. If this story is true, these guys not only tried to collude with Russia, but they desperately tried to collude with Russia. These guys were so thirsty that I can only imagine that Russia turned to China to be like, “This is embarrassing right?”
So the story goes that Sater was pushing for Trump to begin the process of building a Trump Tower in Moscow ahead of the election to curry favor with Putin and show the American people what a good negotiator he is.
Michael Cohen Speaks: Trump Exec Admits Russia Dealings Were Gross, But Not Illegal (8/30/17)
Michael Cohen isn’t really supposed to be talking to reporters. The former executive vice president and special counsel at the Trump Organization, who also serves as the personal attorney to the president, sat in the back of the bustling Hampton Coffee Company in the tony beach town of Water Mill, New York, on Tuesday, nursing a large black coffee. His two cellphones beeped every few seconds. Eventually he looked down at the offending devices. “There goes CNN again,” he said. “Friends and my attorney have recommended I not appear on air until after my testimony.”
There was certainly good reason for his lawyers to advise caution. This week has seen Cohen, 51, take another star turn in the ongoing Russia investigation. Cohen (and President Donald Trump) have insisted for more than a year that the Trump Organization has had no business dealings in Russia. Cohen has been one of the president’s most dogged defenders in the media on that point, taking his case to TV, Twitter ― anywhere, basically. Speaking to the Financial Times in December, he dismissed the idea of “any connection with Russia” as “yet another example of the press’s liberal bias towards Mr. Trump.”
The 99 Percenters 