Special counsel Robert Mueller has just issued a statement that ended Buzzfeed’s story that President Donald Trump asked Michael Cohen to lie to Congress.
CNBC has reported on the story coming from the Special Counsel.
“BuzzFeed’s description of specific statements to the Special Counsel’s Office, and characterization of documents and testimony obtained by this office, regarding Michael Cohen’s Congressional testimony are not accurate,” a spokesperson for the special counsel said in a statement.
BREAKING: Spokesman for Special Counsel's Office – "BuzzFeed's description of specific statements to the Special Counsel's Office, and characterization of documents and testimony obtained by this office, regarding Michael Cohen's Congressional testimony are not accurate."
— Shannon Bream (@ShannonBream) January 19, 2019
The original story was a disaster from the start.
Anthony Cormier is one of the two investigative reporter at BuzzfeedNews who co-authored the bombshell report published Thursday night — a report which claimed President Donald Trump directed his former lawyer Michael Cohen to lie during Congressional testimony over discussions between the Trump Organization and Russian authorities about a Trump Tower Moscow project.
Cormier appeared on CNN’s New Day and revealed that he had not seen the evidence underlying his report.
Host Alisyn Camerota opened the interview by asking Cormier if he had seen the evidence to which Cormier replied: “Not personally.” He then clarified that “the folks we have talked to — two officials we have spoken to are fully, 100 percent read into that aspect of the Special Counsel’s investigation”
The suborning of perjury described in the report, if true, is a federal felony and the clearest evidence of obstruction of justice to date. Cormier’s admission that he had not seen the evidence of emails and texts cited in his article will certainly raise reasonable questions among Trump’s defenders and Republicans who have thus far been remarkably silent on this story since it broke Thursday night.
Despite the admission of having not seen the evidence in question, Cormier explained his sources with impressive detail.
“[Our sources] have been working the Trump Moscow tower portion of the investigation…before Mueller. So they had access to a number of different documents, 302 reports which are interview reports,” he said. “That stuff was compiled as they began to look at who the players were speaking with, how those negotiations went, who all from the Trump organization and outside the organization were involved in getting that tower set up.”
They seem rather confident on a story that has evidence they have not seen.
But then the other author, known liar, Jason Leopold who has fabricated sources and evidence before, appeared on MSNBC and said that they had seen the documents.
BuzzFeed's @a_cormier_ told CNN this morning that they have not actually seen the documents they're reporting on.
But his colleague, @JasonLeopold, who cowrote the piece, just told MSNBC: "I’ll just say we’ve seen documents, we’ve been briefed on documents." pic.twitter.com/cQtlj0SdYo
— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) January 18, 2019
The contradiction is a major deal and could sink the entire story.
wut? pic.twitter.com/T5Inqf2afP
— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) January 18, 2019
Cormier on CNN says had not personally seen evidence. Leopold on MSNBC stating he saw documents. Probably should get your guys on the same page here @BuzzFeedBen
— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) January 18, 2019
Did you see evidence to support your report or not? Seems like a pretty important detail to get right between two people sharing a byline in your bombshell nail in the coffin impeachment of a sitting president. @BuzzFeedBen
— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) January 18, 2019
“I don’t think that we’ve said that we haven’t seen them.” – Leopold's exact quote on MSBC after being asked about Cormier's comments on CNN earlier.
Cormier's quote – “No, I’ve not seen it personally.” when asked by Alisyn Camerota
— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) January 18, 2019
Clean up in aisle 5 unanswered questions you won't believe about the Buzzfeed Trump Moscow report @BuzzFeedBen
— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) January 18, 2019
Here's the mediate link https://t.co/7H0A1nBVhl
— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) January 18, 2019
