Cohen Bombshell is Important, But Will Need Corroboration

Michael Cohen alleged yesterday that he was present, along with several others, when President Trump was informed by Donald Trump Jr of the Russians’ offer to provide damaging information on Hillary Clinton. Cohen says that President Trump approved the meeting. If true, it would provide Robert Mueller with a key piece of evidence in his Trump/Russia collusion investigation. However, he would need to find sources to corroborate the information. Trump and his surrogates will argue that Cohen is lying to alleviate his own legal woes by striking a deal with Mueller. Trump lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, has already started attacking Cohen's credibility and it will intensify over the weekend.

Vox: "One potential problem, though, is that Cohen did not have his tape recorder on this time, and doesn’t appear to have hard evidence to corroborate this claim. Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani told CNN, “He’s been lying all week, he’s been lying for years.”

The Hill: "Giuliani also said that he has spoken with the other people in the room during the meeting that Cohen was referring to, claiming that they can corroborate that Trump Jr. did not discuss the meeting with his father."

The next questions: Who were those other people in the room? If Cohen's allegations are true, do all of them still have a reason to protect the President? Might Mueller have an opportunity to flip one of them?

Photo credit: Gage Skidmore

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