The correct question: “Has any of your phones ever been to Prague ?”
Or… perhaps the meeting wasn’t technically in Prague. The thing is though… parsing on this question, if proven to be basically false even if technically accurate, will severely undermine his testimony on other matters.
patients my dear, the best is yet to come. lol lol
Rachel Maddow is going to have to speak 65 mph tonight. lol
The most interesting thing out of this hearing so far has been the apparent limits of Cohen’s knowledge & involvement in the conspiracy with Russia.
I really wonder whether his denial of traveling to Prague will turn out to be true. I don’t assume the Steele dossier is entirely true, but it’s got a healthy gold-to-trash ratio.
Furthermore, it might be true that he never went to Prague but was still active in coordination between the Trump campaign and Putin, and therefore did meet in-person with a Russian agent in some Eurozone country. If that turns out to be true, it could really undermine all his statements about having no direct knowledge of collusion.
And l would note that the Republicans all believed him… Hmmmmm, Hmmmmmm.
…and, “Is there anyone in the Trump Organization, who may be fluent in Czech, that may have taken a phone registered in your name to a clandestine, mid-2016 meeting in Prague?”
Zlj just said what I was thinking about, though the reason for this second chance is a (literal) material one, Cohen is being treated as a (somewhat) trustworthy witness.
While that reset is now in play, if it’s proven that he was there, then we’re back to the previous position (I.e., Cohen is a liar and he withheld info to boot).
Now this Prague matter could be part of the Mueller probe, but… exhales.
The most logical choice for this trip was Junior. He speaks Czech. His mom is Czech. He would have a lot of contacts there. But we’ll see.
Perhaps he’s telling the truth. Or, perhaps he’s made the calculation that it is better to risk a longer prison term than risk getting the Putin Novichok treatment for him and his family.
Ok. He says he never went to Prague. Did he ever loan one of his phones to someone who was going to Prague? Like Donnie Jr.?
I agree. Also, they do look a little alike. Dark. Swarthy. Maybe Jr. was using the name of Cohen in Prague. I mean, the people they were dealing with may not be that familiar with Cohen or Jr.
I’ve also wondered if members of the Trump family learned Russian. Certainly if you grew up in the Eastern Bloc and went to an elite school, you would’ve learned Russian. That fits Ivana Trump. Could she have taught it to the kids? Did Trump learn Russian? I heard Junior speak Czech once on a vide clip, and it was the only time I saw him with a dint of a brain and even intellectual curiosity.
Prague adjacent. Like, I’ve never been to Boston, but Harvard’s campus is more scenic than M.I.T.'s, don’t you agree?
But was he saying, “How much for five hookers and a waterproof sheet?”
Having just surfed the comments here, I don’t understand why Steele’s Dossier and Cohen have to be 1000% accurate or The Sky is Falling. I mean, first of all, look at who the counterparts or adversaries here are. People who lie as easily as they breathe. Who colluded with the Ayatollah Khomeini to win a Presidential election. Who imported cocaine into this country to fund an illegal, mercenary army that essentially galavanted around Nicaragua and attacked rural schools, hospitals and other non military installations while Ronald Wilson the Simpleton and his Man Crush Ollie North fantasized and lied about how they were great patriots.
And if one detail of Steele or Cohen is inaccurate someone’s whole credibility goes down the toilet?
To paraphrase Raymond Chandler’'s Philip Marlowe in one of his books, the person’s story had all the simple consistency of a lie, and none of the complicated dross of truth.