As reported earlier and since picked up by every major news outlet in the country, McClatchy is claiming that Special Counsel Robert Mueller “has evidence that Donald Trump’s personal lawyer and confidant, Michael Cohen, secretly made a late-summer trip to Prague during the 2016 presidential campaign.”
Since McClathcy presumably hasn’t seen the evidence, it seems careless of their reporters not to have couched the headline so as to read “Mueller claims he has evidence.”
Nevertheless, if true, the story would lend credence to British secret agent Christopher Steele’s assertion in the “Trump dossier” that Cohen strategized in Prague “with a powerful Kremlin figure about Russian meddling in the U.S. election.”
The article also fails to tell whether Mueller purports to have any evidence that Konstantin Kosachev (the powerful Kremlin figure alluded to above) was in Prague at the time and, if so, whether he and Cohen actually met.
If the story does turn out to be accurate on all counts, the implications are yuge. But (big “but”) there is cause to be at least skeptical for the moment. In January, CNN’s Jake Tapper cited a government source who confirmed that it was a different Michael Cohen who visited Prague. Watch:
Government source confirms different Michael Cohen was in Prague https://t.co/B4cwmL1Ek3
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) January 11, 2017
This minor wrinkle hasn’t prevented liberals from popping the cork on Twitter amid choruses of “Ding Dong, the Trump Is Dead.” Some examples:
“Oh, I’ve been to Prague. Well, I haven’t ‘been to Prague’ been to Prague”https://t.co/oCVMP2SNhr
— Chris Cillizza (@CillizzaCNN) April 13, 2018
Fake dossier, amiright?
Assholes. https://t.co/69oMD0lFBU
— Jon Favreau (@jonfavs) April 13, 2018
game set match? https://t.co/gul2NeMXop
— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) April 13, 2018
House of cards is falling down https://t.co/K7Lmc0aHDI
— Bradley P. Moss (@BradMossEsq) April 13, 2018
If this does turn out to be a case of mistaken identity — Michael Cohen, after all, is a pretty common name — don’t expect any of these revelers to say, “Oops.”
