THE TRUTH, THE WHOLE TRUTH. . . .

What a day! There is so much to cover. I won't recount all the aspects of Michael Cohen's testimony that I covered yesterday, but today we learned even more

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/muckraker/cohen-trump-directed-messaging-about-hush-money-one-year-into-presidency
Cohen: Trump Directed Messaging About Hush Money One Year Into Presidency

https://www.politico.com/video/2019/02/27/cohen-trump-julian-assange-067788
Cohen: Trump's team communicated directly with WikiLeaks' Julian Assange 

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/muckraker/cohen-gives-more-detail-on-trump-moscow-tower-briefings
Cohen Gives More Detail On Trump Moscow Tower Briefings

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/muckraker/cohen-reveals-may-2017-meeting-trump-disuss-congressional-testimony
Cohen Reveals May ’17 Meeting With Trump To Discuss Congressional Testimony. . . This previously undisclosed meeting between Cohen, Trump and Trump’s attorney Jay Sekulow bolsters Cohen’s claims that the President tried to pressure him into lying to Congress about the Trump Organization’s business deals in Russia.  Cohen also testified that Sekulow changed parts of the testimony Cohen prepared to present to the House and Senate Intelligence Committees.

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/muckraker/cohen-on-trump-blocking-tax-return-release-he-doesnt-want-scrutiny-from-experts
Cohen On Trump Blocking Tax Return Release: He Doesn’t Want Scrutiny From Experts

https://politicalwire.com/2019/02/27/trumps-shifting-net-worth-raises-flags-for-investigators/
“How President Trump may have inflated and deflated his personal wealth is more than mere curiosity: It could be of keen interest to any authorities trying to figure out if he misrepresented himself to insurance companies and lenders” . . .

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/muckraker/michael-cohen-trump-other-investigations
Cohen Hints That Prosecutors Are Probing Other Trump-Related Matters

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/muckraker/cohen-catch-kill-trump-national-enquirer-decades
Cohen: Trump Long Had ‘Catch-And-Kill’ Arrangement With National Inquirer

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/cohen-recalls-lie-to-melania-trump-had-me-speak-to-her-and-explain-to-the-first-lady
Cohen Recalls Lying To Melania About Stormy Daniels: ‘He Had Me Speak To Her’

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/cohen-hope-hicks-told-me-we-need-to-spin-this-after-the-access-hollywood-tape-dropped
Cohen: Hope Hicks Told Me ‘We Need To Spin This’ After ‘Access Hollywood’ Tape Release

https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/2/27/18243399/michael-cohen-testimony-threats-trump-jackie-speier
Cohen: I probably threatened people for Trump hundreds of times

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/michael-cohen-reiterates-to-congress-that-hes-never-been-to-prague
Michael Cohen Reiterates To Congress That He’s Never Been To Prague

https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/2/27/18243686/michael-cohen-testimony-closing-statement
Cohen’s parting shot: I fear what happens if Trump loses in 2020

Highlights of the day

https://www.politico.com/story/2019/02/27/key-moments-cohen-testimony-1192565
Key moments . . .

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2019/02/big-moments-michael-cohen-testimony-congress-trump/583750/
Eight Striking Moments . . .

https://www.politico.com/story/2019/02/27/michael-cohen-trump-accusations-1190959
Michael Cohen's most fiery accusations against Trump

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/muckraker/michael-cohen-what-we-learned-house-oversight-testimony
What We Learned . . .

Watch: https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/when-called-pathological-liar-cohen-quips-referring-me-trump
When Called A ‘Pathological Liar,’ Cohen Quips: ‘Are You Referring To Me’ Or Trump

Cohen's documentary evidence

https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/2/27/18243009/michael-cohen-house-testimony-evidence-documents

More: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/1838135 
Michael Cohen says he has '11 checks' showing Trump broke campaign finance law

Analysis

https://www.salon.com/2019/02/27/analysis-michael-cohens-testimony-reportedly-implicates-donald-trump-in-5-alleged-felonies_partner/
Michael Cohen’s testimony reportedly implicates Donald Trump in 5 alleged felonies

https://thinkprogress.org/cohen-accused-the-president-of-all-these-felonies-1188a2b35f55/
Cohen accused the president of all these felonies 

https://thinkprogress.org/cohen-connects-the-dots-on-what-trump-knew-about-russia-and-when-he-knew-it-f5c34b0eb920/
Cohen connects the dots on what Trump knew about Russia, and when he knew it

https://www.salon.com/2019/02/27/michael-cohens-testimony-contradicts-at-least-two-written-statements-trump-made-to-robert-mueller_partner/
Michael Cohen’s testimony contradicts at least two written statements Trump made to Robert Mueller

https://www.emptywheel.net/2019/02/27/michael-cohens-testimony-metacommentary/
Michael Cohen’s Testimony: Metacommentary  

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/schiff-trump-wikileaks-dump-significant-cohen-testimony
Schiff: Cohen On Trump Knowledge Of WikiLeaks Dump Most ‘Significant’ Testimony

https://politicalwire.com/2019/02/27/just-a-slice-of-cohens-story/
“Cohen’s testimony, both written and live, is not the whole story. It may well not be the most important parts of his story. It is only the most currently presentable parts of Cohen’s story.”

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/1838191
Cohen reveals Trump's entire presidency as a fraud

Then there is the Donald Junior angle

https://thehill.com/homenews/house/431767-cohen-to-testify-president-said-trump-jr-had-the-worst-judgment-of-anyone-in
"What struck me as I looked back and thought about that exchange between Don Jr. and his father was, first, that Mr. Trump had frequently told me and others that his son Don Jr. had the worst judgment of anyone in the world," Cohen will say. "And also, that Don Jr. would never set up any meeting of any significance alone — and certainly not without checking with his father."  

https://www.vox.com/2019/2/27/18243569/michael-cohen-testimony-trump-tower-moscow-donald-trump-jr
Michael Cohen’s testimony could be bad news for Donald Trump Jr.

More: https://www.politico.com/story/2019/02/27/michael-cohen-hearing-trump-circle-1194520
 
More trouble ahead

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/muckraker/nyt-dc-attorney-general-subpoenas-trump-inaugural-committee
DC Attorney General Subpoenas Trump Inaugural Committee

The Republicans attacked Cohen constantly -- but you know what they didn't do? Defend Trump

https://politicalwire.com/2019/02/27/extra-bonus-quote-of-the-day-471/

https://www.vox.com/2019/2/27/18243233/michael-cohen-testimony-live-republicans

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/02/michael-cohen/583783/

Watch: https://crooksandliars.com/2019/02/michael-cohen-not-here-jim-jordans-lies
Michael Cohen Is Not Here For Jim Jordan's Lies

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/1838118
Sick of Republican grandstanding, Democrat slams the GOP: 'Your side ran away from the truth'

Florida Congressmoron Matt Gaetz apologizes for threatening Michael Cohen, but an apology isn't enough. Now he's being investigated by his State Bar for witness intimidation

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/after-pelosi-rebuke-gaetz-apologizes-for-cohen-threat-deletes-tweet

https://www.thedailybeast.com/matt-gaetz-under-investigation-by-florida-state-bar-over-michael-cohen-threat

[NB: Any investigation should also probe who on Team Trump was feeding him this information. If THEY'RE guilty of witness tampering, that's a very big deal.]

Stop laughing!

https://politicalwire.com/2019/02/27/roger-stone-says-michael-cohen-is-lying/
Roger Stone Says Michael Cohen Is Lying 

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/giuliani-calls-cohen-testimony-pathetic-if-believe-fool
President Trump’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani bashed Michael Cohen’s explosive planned opening testimony for the House Oversight Committee hearing on Wednesday, calling it “pathetic.” Giuliani also alleged that Cohen might be involved in Russian organized crime . . . 

In other news . . .

Trump keeps confusing personal flattery from other countries with actually making foreign policy progress. And he keeps failing

https://www.politico.com/story/2019/02/27/china-trade-deal-lighthizer-1222220
U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer told Congress on Wednesday it was unclear whether the United States and China could resolve a high-stakes trade war, contradicting the claims of his boss, President Donald Trump, who recently trumpeted that the two sides are “very, very close.”  

https://www.politico.com/story/2019/02/27/trump-socialism-vietnam-1192854
In Vietnam, Trump finds a 'socialist' country he likes
 

More: https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/kushner-met-with-mbs-no-mention-khashoggi-slayingWhite House senior adviser Jared Kushner met with Saudi leaders this week, including Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, but seems to have made no mention of the Saudis’ brutal slaying of Washington Post contributor Jamal Khashoggi last year.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-mideast-idUSKCN1QG228
Kushner makes little headway on Mideast peace plan in Gulf

First there was the "little rocket man" phase. Then there was the "we fell in love" phase. Then there was the "North Korea will denuclearize so that they can pursue great economic growth" phase. And through it all, through all the tweets, there was no real plan -- there was no recognition that North Korea would never denuclearize. Trump desperately wanted to come home with a big foreign policy win to distract from his growing legal problems -- and he couldn't do it

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/white-house-restrict-press-access-trump-kim-meeting
White House Restricts Press Access To Trump-Kim Meeting

 

https://politicalwire.com/2019/02/27/u-s-drops-demand-for-full-accounting-of-north-korea-nukes/“U.S. negotiators are no longer demanding that North Korea agree to disclose a full accounting of its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs as part of talks this week between President Trump and Kim Jong Un” 

https://www.politico.com/story/2019/02/27/trump-kim-jong-un-summit-1194752
President Donald Trump will not sign a joint agreement with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un after denuclearization talks were unexpectedly cut short in the final hours of a two-day summit in Vietnam. . . . The two leaders had been scheduled to hold a signing ceremony Thursday afternoon in Hanoi for an expected deal. But the event was called off less than two hours before it was supposed to take place . . . 

Grab em. . . .

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/alva-johnson-describes-allegation-against-then-candidate-trump
Former Trump campaign staffer Alva Johnson described her allegation of then-candidate Donald Trump’s forced kiss to MSNBC’s Chris Hayes Tuesday night, saying that she ultimately quit the campaign due to the distressing familiarity she felt when she heard the “Access Hollywood” tapes.
 
Republicans love to cut taxes, create deficits, then try to use the deficits to cut social programs

https://thinkprogress.org/43-republicans-tax-debt-national-security-threat-206a5e9db7ac/

More repercussions from NC-9

https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/2/18/18229711/north-carolina-election-fraud-leslie-mcrae-dowless-indictment
North Carolina operative indicted in ballot fraud scandal that led to new House election

The Democratic House stays busy

https://www.politico.com/story/2019/02/27/house-passes-bill-to-require-universal-background-checks-on-gun-sales-1193043

Bonus item: Seth Meyers on how the Republicans embarrassed themselves at the Cohen hearings

https://www.thedailybeast.com/seth-meyers-jim-jordan-and-republicans-embarrassed-themselves-at-cohen-hearing

***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sharing its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com) with others via email or social media. Thanks for helping to spread the word!

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HAUNTED

Cohen will accuse Trump of crimes -- and he has documents, Here is a preview of his explosive House testimony

https://crooksandliars.com/2019/02/michael-cohen-trump-knew-advance-wikileaks
Michael Cohen says he was in the room when Trump was told Roger Stone knew Wikileaks had Hillary Clinton's emails and was planning to publish them.

https://politicalwire.com/2019/02/26/cohen-regularly-briefed-trump-on-moscow-project/
Michael Cohen will tell Congress that President Trump repeatedly asked him about a skyscraper project in Moscow long after securing the Republican nomination . . .

https://www.vox.com/2019/2/27/18242619/michael-cohen-opening-statement-trump-russia-mueller
Cohen also plans to present a copy of a check personally signed by Trump in August 2017 — while Trump was president — to pay Cohen back for the hush-money payoff to porn actress Stormy Daniels.

https://www.politico.com/story/2019/02/26/cohen-trump-racist-conman-cheat-1189951
In early June, Cohen recounts, he was with Trump in his office when Donald Trump Jr. — one of the meeting’s participants — “came into the room and walked behind his father’s desk,” which Cohen says was “unusual.” “I recalled Don Jr. leaning over to his father and speaking in a low voice, which I could clearly hear, and saying: ‘The meeting is all set.’ I remember Mr. Trump saying, ‘Ok good … let me know,’”  

More "highlights": https://www.dailykos.com/stories/1838034
Michael Cohen's full opening statement released and it's one bombshell after another

Full text: https://www.politico.com/f/?id=00000169-2d31-dc75-affd-bfb99a790001

Why isn't this witness tampering?

https://crooksandliars.com/2019/02/matt-gaetz-threatens-michael-cohen-twitter
In a blatant witness intimidation move, U.S. Congressman Matt Gaetz tweeted Cohen about his wife and father-in-law, and infidelity. 

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2019/02/gaetz-cohen-tweet-law-professors-witness-tampering-testing.html
Every Law Professor With a Twitter Account Says Congressman Matt Gaetz Just Committed Witness Tampering

More: https://thinkprogress.org/matt-gaetz-tweet-threaten-witness-2a2da26f5868

Good question: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/1837978
Who gave Rep. Matt Gaetz the information he is now using to threaten a federal witness?

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/informed-speculation
This bada boom bada bing style threat from Rep. Matt Gaetz is so specific and so careful to invoke Cohen’s father-in-law it is highly, highly likely that it originates from Trump or the Trump family. 

[NB: This is where we are today -- Trump and the Republicans act like mafia bosses: "Nice little thing you got going dere, it would be a shame if somethin' bad happened to ya."]

The House passes a condemnation of Trump's "national emergency," with significant GOP support

https://crooksandliars.com/2019/02/house-passes-resolution-disapproval-trumps

The Senate Repubs are furious with Trump: https://www.politico.com/story/2019/02/26/senate-republicans-trump-national-emergency-border-1189065

GOP unloads border angst on Pence 

https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/2/26/18241976/mitch-mcconnell-trump-national-emergency
Even Mitch McConnell isn’t sure if Trump’s national emergency is legal

In other Russia news . . .

It ain't over yet

https://www.politico.com/story/2019/02/26/trump-associates-mueller-investigation-1186392
Even if special counsel Robert Mueller finishes his work without filing new charges, President Donald Trump and his associates won’t be in the clear. . .

Ha ha ha

https://www.salon.com/2019/02/26/trump-organization-demands-house-judiciary-committee-stop-all-investigations-into-company/

Trump Organization demands House Judiciary Committee stop all investigations into company 

Maria Butina still helping the Feds

https://www.politico.com/story/2019/02/26/russian-agent-sentencing-delayed-1189582
 
Former AG Matt Whitaker will come back to "clarify" his testimony

https://politicalwire.com/2019/02/26/whitaker-will-clarify-testimony/

[NB: Uh, when I said that Trump and I didn't communicate at all about the Mueller investigation, I meant. . . .]
 

In other news . . . 

The Democrats are busy

https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/2/26/18239630/medicare-for-all-pramila-jayapal-bill
Medicare-for-all: Rep. Pramila Jayapal’s new bill, explained

https://www.politico.com/story/2019/02/26/democrats-electoral-reform-bill-1188437
House Democrats forge ahead on electoral reform bill
 
More: https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2019/02/2020-democrats-free-college/583585/
The College-Affordability Crisis Is Uniting the 2020 Democratic Candidates
 

Bernie loses three key staffers

https://www.salon.com/2019/02/26/shakeup-in-bernie-world-sanders-campaign-loses-three-top-staffers/

https://www.politico.com/story/2019/02/26/bernie-sanders-staff-2020-1187998

Remember Kris Kobach, who Trump chose to head up a fake "voter fraud" investigation that . . . couldn't find any?

https://politicalwire.com/2019/02/26/white-house-sours-on-kris-kobach/

Bonus item: Trevor Noah roasts Ivanka

https://www.thedailybeast.com/daily-shows-trevor-noah-destroys-ivanka-trump-people-love-free-shit

***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sharing its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com) with others via email or social media. Thanks for helping to spread the word!

I don’t get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don’t run ads, etc.). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a “mission,” it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***

GOING DOWN

Trump bleeds support for his fake emergency

https://www.politico.com/story/2019/02/25/trump-national-emergency-congress-1185589

https://www.politico.com/story/2019/02/25/trump-national-emergency-republicans-1185526

And this

https://www.politico.com/story/2019/02/25/yemen-civil-war-congress-1186302

A House-passed bill to halt U.S. involvement in Yemen’s deadly civil war will not get a vote in the Senate . . .

https://www.politico.com/story/2019/02/25/senate-defeats-anti-abortion-bill-1185531
Senate defeats anti-abortion bill, as GOP tries to jam Dems

Who could have guessed?

https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2019/02/25/kushner-peace-plan-dead-on-arrival-225209
Kushner's Peace Plan Looks Dead on Arrival

Trump finally goes to Viet Nam

https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-awful-irony-of-trump-going-to-vietnam

In Russia news . . .

Hmmm . . .?

https://www.salon.com/2019/02/25/rod-rosenstein-drops-mysterious-hints-about-the-possible-release-of-robert-muellers-russia_partner/
Rod Rosenstein drops mysterious hints about the possible release of Robert Mueller's Russia report

Paul Manafort begs for leniency in sentencing -- or, failing that, a pardon

https://www.politico.com/story/2019/02/25/paul-manafort-sentencing-1186562

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/muckraker/manafort-sentencing-memo-dc-mueller

More: https://www.emptywheel.net/2019/02/25/manaforts-bid-for-a-pardon-no-collusion-no-collusion-no-collusion-no-collusion-no-collusion-no-collusion-no-collusion-no-collusion/

https://politicalwire.com/2019/02/25/manafort-gave-75-pages-of-polling-data-to-kilimnik/
Manafort Gave 75 Pages of Polling Data to Kilimnik

Why was Deutsche Bank willing to loan Trump money when nobody else would?

https://www.politico.com/story/2019/02/25/trump-money-deutsche-bank-1204497
The German bank, which has been under scrutiny for its role in Russian money laundering, lent Trump hundreds of millions of dollars over the years for his property development ventures. . . .

[NB: The interesting suggestion here is that Trump threatened Mueller into not looking into it. Now the House Dems will.] 

More legal trouble ahead for Trump

https://www.salon.com/2019/02/25/trump-concerned-probes-in-southern-district-of-new-york-could-land-him-in-legal-hellscape_partner/  

Trump concerned probes in Southern District of New York could land him in "legal hellscape"

Looks like Whitaker lied

https://politicalwire.com/2019/02/25/house-probes-trump-contact-with-whitaker/

In other news . . .

The 2020 battleground states

https://politicalwire.com/2019/02/25/should-democrats-target-the-rust-belt-sun-belt-or-both/
Should Democrats Target the Rust Belt, Sun Belt or Both?

Well, we can hope

https://politicalwire.com/2019/02/25/gop-donors-worried-trump-has-no-strategy-for-2020/
GOP Donors Worry Trump Has No Strategy for 2020

[NB: I suspect that this time around Trump will be even less willing to be "handled." It will be "Let Trump Be Trump" all the time, everywhere. That's good news across most of the country.]

Bonus item: Trump watches the Oscars

https://www.thedailybeast.com/seth-meyers-exposes-weirdest-part-of-trumps-spike-lee-oscars-attack

***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sharing its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com) with others via email or social media. Thanks for helping to spread the word!

I don’t get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don’t run ads, etc.). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a “mission,” it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***