Tag: moscow

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Ivanka’s Lawyer Told Cohen To Lie About Her Role In Trump Tower Moscow

There was a bombshell revelation in MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow show yesterday that Ivanka Trump’s lawyer Abbe Lowell directed Michael Cohen to lie to Congress about Ivanka’s role in the Trump Tower Moscow project. You’ll remember that Ivanka’s role in Trump Tower Moscow project became a huge issue of concern among those who believed President Trump colluded with Russia during the 2016 elections. Intense media coverage around this issue led to Ivanka’s infamous remark that she knew “literally almost nothing” about the Trump Tower Moscow project. The full Maddow segment is available here but the relevant clip is below.

Maddow said on last night’s show, “One of the allegations at issue here for which there is apparently some sort of documentary trail, is the allegation that lawyer Abbe Lowell specifically told Cohen that he should tell Congress Ivanka Trump had essentially no knowledge of Trump Tower Moscow. According to Michael Cohen that wasn’t true. According to Cohen, Ivanka Trump was regularly briefed on Trump Tower Moscow. Well, if as Cohen alleges, Abbe Lowell was involved in telling Michael Cohen to lie to Congress specifically about the involvement of Ivanka Trump in that scheme….that is sensitive on a lot of different levels.”

Maddow’s segment essentially raised questions as to why Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen was prosecuted and is now serving prison time while the people who crafted the said lies that got him in legal trouble (attorneys Abbe Lowell, Jay Sekulow and others) got away scot-free. Maddow’s segment also raised legitimate questions as to why Trump’s eldest son Don Jr was never prosecuted even though there is enough evidence showing he engaged in the exact similar conduct as Cohen–lying to Congress. Even more troubling, as Maddow correctly pointed out, Don Jr has not just gotten away with clear cut felonies, he is also now dictating to Congressional committees the terms under which he will testify before them–a total travesty of justice.

Bottom line, as Yours Truly has repeatedly stated in previous posts, we are facing a crisis of confidence in the U.S. justice system. Specifically, it is becoming quite evident that there is a separate and distinct system of justice that applies to the poor (especially minorities) and the one that applies to the rich (especially rich White people like Don Jr and Abbe Lowell). All reasonable people will agree that if Michael Cohen was prosecuted and is now serving prison time for lying to Congress, then lawyer Abbe Lowell and others who crafted the lie he presented to Congress should also be criminally prosecuted or face some kind of sanctions up to and including disbarment. Reasonable people will also agree that if Michael Cohen was prosecuted for lying to Congress as part of the TrumpRussia investigation, then Don Jr should also be prosecuted for committing the exact similar offense. Simply put folks, we either have equal justice under the law or we don’t.

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You may reach the author via email at author@grassrootsdempolitics.com or author@emolumentsclause.com

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GOP Lawmakers Who Spent July 4 In Moscow

GOP Lawmakers at a meeting in Moscow on July 4th weekend(2018)

You will remember that eight Republican lawmakers spent the July 4 (2018) weekend in Moscow. The story was met with outrage back in the U.S. as was very well stated in this July 5, 2018 WaPo piece, by Karoun Demirjian.

The most troubling aspect of this July 4 visit was that while the GOP lawmakers were in Moscow, the Senate Intelligence Committee released a report concluding that Russia did indeed interfere in the 2016 U.S. elections to help then GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump defeat Democrat Hillary Clinton.

Even more troubling, according to Demirjian’s piece, the Russians were mocking the GOP Legislators on Russia’s state TV, with one military expert Igor Korotchenko reportedly saying, “We need to look down at them[GOP lawmakers] and say: You came because you needed to, not because we did.”Simply put, this July 4 Moscow visit was a total embarrassment to the U.S. and the Russians knew it too

This was a very important story but for some reason Yours Truly never made the now customary HANDY LIST to “name and shame” the GOP lawmakers involved. Here is a belated HANDY LIST of the shameful GOP Lawmakers who saw it fit to spend the 2018 Independence Day weekend in Moscow, palling around with Kremlin-tied politicians even as the Senate was releasing a report back in the U.S. that Russia interfered in our 2016 elections.

  • Sen Richard Shelby(R-AL)
  • Sen Ron Johnson(R-WI)
  • Sen Steve Daines(R-MT)
  • Sen John Hoeven(R-ND)
  • Sen John Kennedy(R-LA)
  • Sen Jerry Moran(R-KS)
  • Sen John Thune(R-SD)
  • Rep Kay Granger(TX-12)

Bottom line given all the smoke surrounding TeamTrump’s ties to Russia, ongoing questions about Russia’s continuing influence on the Trump White House, and the ongoing threat Russia poses to our election infrastructure, the mainstream media and House Democrats owe the public a duty to investigate exactly why these Republican lawmakers saw it fit to visit Moscow on Independence Day weekend despite news reports that Russia was planning to interfere with the 2018 midterm elections.

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GOP Senator Grassley Obstructing Justice By Blocking DonJr Testimony

Sen Chuck Grassley(R-IA), Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee

As the Mueller probe appears to be approaching its much anticipated end, evidence is piling up showing that people in Trump’s orbit were not truthful when they testified before the various congressional committees set up to investigate Trump’s campaign ties to Russia. This is especially so after former Trump lawyer and trusted aide Michael Cohen began fully cooperating with the Mueller investigation and Mueller subsequently stating equivocally that his team of investigators believe Cohen’s account of events.


Michael Cohen’s account of events relating to the Trump Tower Moscow business deal, the infamous Trump Tower meeting meant to deliver “dirt” on Hillary Clinton and various other aspects of the TrumpRussia investigation does not line up with what Donald Trump Jr(aka DonJr) told the various congressional committees probing TrumpRussia. Specifically DonJr testified in congress under oath, that he was “only peripherally” involved in the Trump Tower Moscow business deal and that he never discussed the Trump Tower meeting with his dad both of which in light of Michael Cohen’s account seem to be untrue.

Naturally Democrats in the Senate Judiciary Committee, as any prudent investigator would, are demanding that DonJr appear before the committee to address the glaring inconsistencies laid bare by Michael Cohen’s account of events.

One would assume there would be no opposition from any U.S. senator to such a straightforward and prudent cause of action, right? Wrong!! Turns out the very Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Sen Chuck Grassley, is blocking efforts to have DonJr come back and testify. According to Sen Grassley “there is nothing inconsistent” about DonJr’s sworn congressional testimony that he was only “peripherally” aware of the Trump Tower Moscow business deal. Sen Grassley added in Trumpian fashion that allegations of DonJr lying to congress are based on “fake news”. Mind you Michael Cohen says Donald Trump Jr and Ivanka Trump were intimately involved in the Trump Tower Moscow deal

Bottom line as Mueller probe appears to be coming to an end and evidence of obstruction of justice mounting, we must never forget that congressional Republicans like Sen Grassley have been part and parcel of the obstruction. When Mueller finally lays out the evidence to the public and Sen Grassley starts running for cover, he must be confronted with a record of his own efforts at obstruction of justice.

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