New Robert Mueller court filings yesterday in the Michael Cohen case seem to provide evidence of illegal collusion between Russia and Donald Trump’s presidential campaign.
On Friday, special counsel Mueller filed sentencing documents in the cases against both Cohen and Paul Manafort. But it is the filings in the Cohen case that are most interesting.
The Cohen filings say that Russians reached out to Trump in November of 2015, at the early stages of his campaign. They were offering “synergy” which appears to be another word for illegal help with Trump’s efforts to become president. And if the Russians illegally helped Trump become president, that would fit within the definition of “collusion.”
Collusion itself is not a crime. Instead, it is a term used to describe the crime of conspiracy against the United States.
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Even though Trump has always denied “collusion” with Russia to win the presidency, Mueller’s new filings seem to say otherwise.
If Mueller’s final report contains proof that Trump had synergy (i.e., collusion, or conspiracy) with Russia, Democrats in the House of Representatives will have to respond in a forceful way with their own hearings. And if the evidence supports it, they may have to begin impeachment hearings against the president.
Mueller disclosed yesterdy that Michael Cohen was not only in contact in 2015 with the Russian who offered “political synergy,” but he also proposed a meeting between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The court filings also describe more (previously undisclosed) contacts between Trump associates and Russian intermediaries.
This small amount of information Mueller has revealed so far clearly shows that the Kremlin attempted to influence Trump and his campaign. And this happened shortly after Trump announced his candidacy in 2015.
There now appears to be evidence of a classic Russian influence operation, where they tried to recruit Trump — through Cohen — to help them. They did this by playing to both Cohen’s and Trump’s weaknesses: their political and personal business goals.
Trump and Cohen both wanted more political power, and more money, and the Russians knew it. So that’s how Putin’s people recruited them to work to achieve Russian goals: they offered Trump and Cohen both money and political power.
A new article in The Daily Beast says that there is no doubt that Mueller has evidence of illegal Trump/Russia collusion. According to the article:
“In the face of what Mueller has revealed, there is little question where this is going. Mueller may still be only showing us part of his hand, but it’s a damn good hand. He has signaled to us he’s found collusion. It definitely appears that Mueller has found collusion with Russia in the Trump campaign, and he is sending signals to that effect with the filings.”
“Mueller has found definitive proof that Trump was compromised by a hostile foreign power during the election.”
“Mueller is coming. And he is clearly coming for Trump,” the story says.
The trickle of information being released by Bob Mueller is like Chinese water torture to Donald Trump. The steady drip of more and more details of the evidence that the special counsel’s office has compiled, proving the crimes of Trump and his closest associates, must be driving the president crazy.
It’s only a matter of time now until more evidence is released by Mueller about Trump crimes. Which means it is probably only a matter of time until Donald Trump resigns. It is the only logical end to this sad story of the Trump presidency.
I am a lifelong Democrat with a passion for social justice and progressive issues. I have degrees in writing, economics and law from the University of Iowa.
