When the history books are written on Donald Trump’s time as President of the United States you wonder what days will be the most significant. Is it the day he met with Vladimir Putin? Is it the day he said there were very fine people on both sides in Charlottesville? Or is it yesterday when it was revealed that the then-candidate Trump may have known about the Trump Tower meeting with the Russians before it happened? The revelation yesterday by Michael Cohen certainly can’t be understated. As Dan Rather says, “This is important! And that is a major understatement.” We do need to point out that Cohen’s account hasn’t been confirmed by a third party yet and Trump is denying his story.
…..I did NOT know of the meeting with my son, Don jr. Sounds to me like someone is trying to make up stories in order to get himself out of an unrelated jam (Taxi cabs maybe?). He even retained Bill and Crooked Hillary’s lawyer. Gee, I wonder if they helped him make the choice!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 27, 2018
While right now this is a case of he said/he said, the Washington Post points out:
“After all, denial after denial from those involved in the meeting, statement after statement, has crumbled away or been perforated with holes. The scenario that seemed at the outset to be worst for Trump politically is increasingly the one in which we seem to be headed.
It’s long been the case that giving Trump the benefit of the doubt on having not known about the meeting in advance means setting aside mounting evidence and Trump’s habit of denying things that are later proved true.”
As far as whether yesterday will be historic consider this, Carl Bernstein helped break the story on CNN. The legendary investigative journalist wrote some of the most significant stories that led to the resignation of Richard Nixon. Could history be repeating itself? There are several reasons why this news, if true, would matter so much. Politico reports:
“…the explosive report, if corroborated by Mueller’s team, could potentially expose the president and his team to additional legal risk, according to experts.
‘The significance of this report will depend on the facts,’ said Barbara McQuade, a former U.S. attorney from eastern Michigan. ‘If Trump was aware of the meeting in advance and encouraged it to go forward, then he could face criminal exposure under a number of different theories.’
‘He could be in violation of campaign finance laws for accepting a thing of value from a foreign national in relation to an election’ she continued. “
“If Cohen’s statements about the Trump Tower meeting can be corroborated, they would not only constitute proof of Trump’s awareness of an effort to aid a Russian attack on the election, but they would also provide strong evidence of an intent to obstruct justice.”
Watch MSNBC’s take on Cohen’s admission and the potential fallout above.
