Коэн и Украина

Не так давно у меня была запись -- "Джавелины" -- о том, что Украина могла прекратить расследование Мэнафорта, чтобы угодить Трампу. Там я цитировал статья NYT.

Сегодня вышла статья BBC.

Trump lawyer 'paid by Ukraine' to arrange White House talks

Краткое содержание:

Donald Trump's personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, received a secret payment of at least $400,000 (£300,000) to fix talks between the Ukrainian president and President Trump, according to sources in Kiev close to those involved.

The payment was arranged by intermediaries acting for Ukraine's leader, Petro Poroshenko, the sources said, though Mr Cohen was not registered as a representative of Ukraine as required by US law.

Mr Cohen denies the allegation.

The meeting at the White House was last June. Shortly after the Ukrainian president returned home, his country's anti-corruption agency stopped its investigation into Trump's former campaign manager, Paul Manafort.

Чуть подробнее:

A report by a member of a Western country's intelligence community says Mr Poroshenko's team believe they have established a "non-aggression pact" with Mr Trump.

Drawing on "senior, well placed" intelligence sources in Kiev, the report sets out this sequence of events…

As soon as Trump was elected, the report says, Ukraine stopped "proactively" investigating Manafort.

Liaison with the US government was moved away from the National Anti Corruption Bureau to a senior aide in the presidential administration.

The report states that Poroshenko returned from Washington and, in August or September, 2017, decided to completely end cooperation with the US agencies investigating Manafort. He did not give an order to implement this decision until November 2017.

The order became known to the US government after scheduled visits by Poroshenko's senior aide to see Mueller and the CIA director, in November and December, were cancelled.

The report says that an "element of the understanding" between Poroshenko and Trump was that Ukraine agreed to import US coal and signed a $1bn contract for American-made diesel trains.

These deals can only be understood as Poroshenko buying American support, the reports say.

In March, the Trump administration announced the symbolically important sale of 210 Javelin anti-tank missiles to Ukraine.

Трамп Джуниор врал Конгрессу

На днях в "Erik Prince и другие" я цитировал подробную статью в NYT, "Trump Jr. and Other Aides Met With Gulf Emissary Offering Help to Win Election".

Теперь уже можно утверждать, что Джуниор врал Конгрессу.

Отсюда:

Lying to Congress is a crime even if you are not under oath. Federal law prohibits making false statements to Congress. If false statements were made “knowingly and willfully” about “material facts,” it is punishable by up to five years in prison.

Из показаний Джуниора:

Q: You should understand that, although the interview is not under oath, by law you are required to answer questions from Congress truthfully. Do you understand that?

TRUMP JR: I do.

[...]

Q: We’ve talked a lot about Russia. So I have some broader questions about other foreign governments. Did other foreign governments offer or provide assistance to the Trump campaign?

TRUMP JR: None that I’m aware of.

Q: Did other foreign nationals offer or provide assistance to the Trump Campaign?

TRUMP JR: No.

Имейте в виду, что факт встречи Джуниора с представителями принцев подтвердил адвокат Джуниора, так что говорить о fake news не представляется возможным.

Is it a big deal? По нынешним временам -- not at all.