The Cohen plea could go far beyond Donald Trump’s former personal attorney. One of the things we learned today is Robert Mueller considers the crime of “lying to Congress” under his purview. Donald Trump, Jr. testified before Congress too? Did he commit perjury? Does that mean Trump Jr.’s indictment is coming soon?
What Donald Trump Jr told Congress about Moscow Tower deal
Note Michael Cohen plea: "briefed family members…within the Company about the project"
Don Jr to Senate:
Sater worked on deal "in 2015"
"I wasn't involved"
Were you aware Cohen reached out to Kremlin? "No, I was not" pic.twitter.com/ITyt6cc7dd— Ryan Goodman (@rgoodlaw) November 29, 2018
Mueller charging Cohen for making a false statement to Congress indicates he believes false statements to Congress about Russia-related matters are within the scope of his inquiry.
That’s bad news for Trump Jr. and others who appear to have made false statements to Congress. https://t.co/pLE3vvELI1
— Renato Mariotti (@renato_mariotti) November 29, 2018
But most important is the timeline. The project to build a Trump Tower in Moscow went on far longer than had been publicly known, and “Individual 1,” as Trump is known in the filing, was well versed on events. From Vox:
“According to a court filing from special counsel Robert Mueller, Cohen told Congress in August 2017 that discussion of a Trump development project in Moscow ended in January 2016, but discussions about it in fact continued “as late as approximately June 2016” — the same month as the infamous Trump Tower meeting between top Trump campaign officials and a Kremlin-connected lawyer who promised to provide them with dirt on Hillary Clinton.
“The filing also indicates Cohen discussed the deal directly with Trump more than three times, briefed his family members about it, and “agreed to travel to Russia in connection with the Moscow Project and took steps in contemplation of Individual 1’s possible travel to Russia.” (“Individual 1” is Trump.)
“I made these statements to be consistent with Individual 1’s political messaging and to be loyal to Individual 1,” Cohen reportedly said in court.”