Listen to “Breaking Down the Buzzfeed Story” on Spreaker.
Buzzfeed sparked a furor Thursday night with a report alleging Special Counsel Robert Mueller has detailed evidence showing President Trump directed former attorney Michael Cohen to lie to Congress, but Buzzfeed’s own reputation has some experts holding their powder dry before reaching any conclusions.
Cohen has already pleaded guilty to perjury charges related to his congressional testimony, and prosecuting documents claim he did so at the behest of a person most believe to be Trump.
According to the Buzzfeed report, Trump specifically told Cohen to tell lawmakers that the Trump Organization scrapped plans for a Trump Tower in Moscow in January 2016. In reality, the plans were shelved in June or July of that year.
Buzzfeed reporter Anthony Cormier says he has not seen any documentation of Trump suborning perjury but he remains very confident in the accuracy and veracity of his sources. That revelation raises suspicions for some since Buzzfeed suffered heavy criticism for publishing the Steele dossier in January 2017 without verifying the contents.
How damaging is this to President Trump if it is true? What sort of corroboration would remove any doubt? And how important is that corroboration given Cohen’s admission as a serial liar.
Listen to the full podcast as I discuss all these questions and more with former federal prosecutor Andrew C. McCarthy, now a contributing editor at National Review Online.
