Why the question of whether Michael Cohen visited Prague is massively important for Donald Trump

The Steele dossier claimed Cohen went to Prague to meet Russians. He’s said for more than a year that he didn’t.
By Andrew Prokop | April 13, 2018. 8:40 p.m.

Did Trump lawyer Michael Cohen secretly visit Prague to meet with Russians in 2016? The future of Donald Trump’s presidency could hinge on whether the answer to that question is yes.

That’s because the claim that such a meeting happened is one of the most specific claims in Christopher Steele’s dossier alleging collusion between the Trump team and Russia to influence the 2016 election — and because, since the very first day that dossier was publicly released, Cohen has adamantly denied taking any such trip, and Trump’s team has relied on that denial to dispute the dossier’s accuracy. “I have never been to Prague in my life. #fakenews,” Cohen tweeted on January 10, 2017, hours after the dossier was posted.

Yet a new report from McClatchy’s Peter Stone and Greg Gordon claims that Special Counsel Robert Mueller has evidence that Cohen did, in fact, enter Prague through Germany at the height of the 2016 campaign, in “August or early September.”

https://www.vox.com/2018/4/13/17236660/michael-cohen-prague-trump-steele...

In that article there’s a Tweet where Cohen says its been proven to be false but posts no proof, just a link to the original McClatchy article.

Bad reporting, bad information and bad story by same reporter Peter Stone @McClatchyDC. No matter how many times or ways they write it, I have never been to Prague. I was in LA with my son. Proven! https://t.co/ra7nwjUA0X

— Michael Cohen (@MichaelCohen212) April 14, 2018

But IMO the McClatchey article doesn’t sound 100% reliable itself...

It’s unclear whether Mueller’s investigators also have evidence that Cohen actually met with a prominent Russian – purportedly Konstantin Kosachev, an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin — in the Czech capital. Kosachev, who chairs the Foreign Affairs Committee of a body of the Russian legislature, the Federation Council, also has denied visiting Prague during 2016. Earlier this month, Kosachev was among 24 high-profile Russians hit with stiff U.S. sanctions in retaliation for Russia’s meddling.

But investigators have traced evidence that Cohen entered the Czech Republic through Germany, apparently during August or early September of 2016 as the ex-spy reported, said the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation is confidential. He wouldn’t have needed a passport for such a trip, because both countries are in the so-called Schengen Area in which 26 nations operate with open borders. The disclosure still left a puzzle: The sources did not say whether Cohen took a commercial flight or private jet to Europe, and gave no explanation as to why no record of such a trip has surfaced.

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/politics-government/white-house/article2...

AFTER YESTERDAY I really don’t know if I care if Trump stays in the White House or what happens to the son of a bitch. In fact, I’m starting to wonder how much worse Pence could possibly be. Trump is corrupt as the day is long. (His election opponent is as bad if not worse.) My biggest worry about Hickey-on-a-Hemorrhoid is how unstable he is. I truly believe he was goaded into this latest round of America murdering innocent civilians...

Hillary Clinton calls for U.S. to bomb Syrian air fields

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-people-hillary-clinton/hillary-clinto...

His psyche and ego are so fragile that he’s easily led around by the nose whenever there’s a suggestion that anyone is more liked, more powerful, more ANYTHING than he is.

If it wasn’t for the fact that what the Dims pullef was/is an attempt at a soft coup and that Pence is could be far worse because he’s smarter and not so pathetically fragile, I would just give up and wouldn’t worry about any of this. Now I just don’t know what to think. Trump has shown he’s seriously unstable. Maybe he should be given the boot.