On The Beat, Ari Melber played for the first time on MSNBC the video of sanctioned Russian billionaire Viktor Vekselberg showing up at Trump Tower 11 days before Trump’s inauguration to meet with Michael Cohen.
Video:
Melber said, “New heat on Michael Cohen as he’s busted for a trump tower meeting that has never been disclosed before. Michael Cohen secretly met with a sanctioned Russian billionaire just 11 days before the inauguration meeting. It is now under investigative scrutiny. And there’s video. Cohen met with Victor Vexleberg. He’s the same oligarch behind the company that funneled half a million dollars to Michael Cohen’s shell company that, yes, paid stormy Daniels. The context is key. Vekselberg is considered so clearly and blatantly close to Putin that even the trump administration has sanctioned him.”
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The Trump Tower video is a Russia smoking gun
For those Republicans who have said that there is no Russia smoking gun, this video is a Russia smoking gun. What was a sanctioned billionaire, who is so corrupt that even the Trump administration sanctioned him, doing at Trump Tower meeting with Michael Cohen? Trump and the Republicans will try to explain this away by using their lone wolf defense. They will say that Michael Cohen was acting alone and that Trump had no knowledge of the meeting, but what were Russians doing showing up in Trump Tower 11 days before Trump took office?
The video can’t be easily dismissed. There is now proof that shady Russian figures who are close to Putin were showing up on Trump’s doorstep right before he took office. Trump is going down because he is not only corrupt. He is also sloppy. Trump and his low rent gang of criminals just aren’t very good at covering their tracks.
They have left evidence everywhere, including video in Trump Tower that is another nail in Trump’s coffin.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
