UPDATED: In the midst of the massively popcorn worthy show of Trump calling Nancy Pelosi’s Mideast CODEL to a screeching halt, Buzzfeed decided to throw an additional soap opera item into the mix. According to that vaunted and oh-so-credible organization, Trump totally directed his attorney Michael Cohen to lie about the Moscow Trump Tower project.

President Donald Trump directed his longtime attorney Michael Cohen to lie to Congress about negotiations to build a Trump Tower in Moscow, according to two federal law enforcement officials involved in the investigation of the matter. Trump also supported a plan, set up by Cohen, to visit Russia during the presidential campaign, in order to personally meet President Vladimir Putin and jump-start the tower negotiations. “Make it happen,” the sources said Trump told Cohen.

And even as Trump told the public he had no business dealings with Russia, the sources said Trump and his children, Ivanka and Donald Trump Jr., received regular, detailed updates about the real estate development from Cohen, whom they put in charge of the project.

Notice something about the story above? Yes, that’s correct. No names, only “sources” who may or may not be tied to the Mueller investigation.

Yet folks who are reading this are now thinking GOTCHA!! Meanwhile others are wondering, why didn’t this surface during Cohen’s sentencing?

Hold that thought. You see, Buzzfeed has more. 

Now the two sources have told BuzzFeed News that Cohen also told the special counsel that after the election, the president personally instructed him to lie — by claiming that negotiations ended months earlier than they actually did — in order to obscure Trump’s involvement.

The special counsel’s office learned about Trump’s directive for Cohen to lie to Congress through interviews with multiple witnesses from the Trump Organization and internal company emails, text messages, and a cache of other documents. Cohen then acknowledged those instructions during his interviews with that office.

This revelation is not the first evidence to suggest the president may have attempted to obstruct the FBI and special counsel investigations into Russia’s interference in the 2016 election.

But Cohen’s testimony marks a significant new frontier: It is the first known example of Trump explicitly telling a subordinate to lie directly about his own dealings with Russia.

Oh well, then.. he’s GUILTY!! They are ALL guilty! Except for one thing.

Where. Is. The. Proof?

Who among our readers has been a part of a real estate development of any kind? *raises hand…I have on multiple occasions. Quick and dirty synopsis:

• Identify market
• Determine market needs another hotel
• Identify land, determine if feasible
• Navigate city/state/county logistics
• Conduct soil/water/test samples – whatever agencies require
• Get initial permits and submit designs for approval if required
• Navigate national/federal entities as needed
• Draw plans, submit plans, hopefully get plans approved
• Find reliable subcontractors
• Get permits approved
• Start project if all the above and more pans out.

For those who think, HEY! Trump gamed the system and decided to build a major hotel WHILE he was campaigning for President and also make his attorney lie during the process…check yourself. Paging Buzzfeed, your guy is this guy.

Inquiring minds want to know: Why wasn’t any of this made clear during Cohen’s sentencing hearing or before?

Lanny Davis issues what I read as a non denial denial on the Buzzfeed story:

“Out of respect for Mr. Mueller’s and the Office of Special Counsel’s investigation, Mr. Cohen declined to respond to the questions asked by the reporters and so do I.”

— Katy Tur (@KatyTurNBC) January 18, 2019

Yet Buzzfeed and others are running with this. Why? Because TRUMP!!, Eleventy! Nancy Pelosi CODEL, and let’s distract from border security/government shutdown.

Here’s the deal. I am in the camp of…Cohen is a complete idiot. Did he and Trump really collude with Russia to not only build a major hotel and rig an election AND sell 360+ million people a bill of goods at the same time? I doubt it.

Still, the quality of the evidence does matter. I mean, if they have Trump writing an email or making a call about this…that is different than Cohen and someone saying "Well, we heard he said such and such…"

— Pradheep J. Shanker, M.D., M.S. (@Neoavatara) January 18, 2019

Exactly!! Question for Buzzfeed. Who are your sources for this story? Sharing is caring!

UPDATE: It seems that suspicions were correct. Buzzfeed once again (Steele Dossier anyone?) ran with a story that has zero proof thus ZERO credibility.

BuzzfeedNews Bombshell Reporter: No We Have Not Seen the Evidence Supporting Our Report https://t.co/zzQ3zFCW38 pic.twitter.com/QH43ojbNus

— Mediaite (@Mediaite) January 18, 2019

And one of the reporters on the story? Has a history of getting everything wrong.

Camerota asked Cormier of the “dubious past” of his co-author Jason Leopold who came under scrutiny for faulting reporting for Salon 2002 that led to an article getting removed. In 2006 he incorrectly reported that Karl Rove had been indicted.

“He was in trouble for perhaps claiming to have sources he really didn’t have. His stories didn’t wash. Executive directors and editors have had to apologize after some of his big blockbuster stories,” Camerota noted, before asking” How can you be certain today?”

According to Cormier, we are supposed to ignore those pesky details because ‘my sources – whomever they are – are 100% RIGHT!!’

It’s too early for the amount of eye rolling I’m doing with this Buzzfeed crap.

Feature Photo Credit: IowaPolitics.com [CC BY-SA 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons, cropped and color modified