Prosecutors say that Michael Cohen exchanged hundreds of emails and texts with a Russian-linked finance firm
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Prosecutors say that Michael Cohen exchanged hundreds of emails and texts with a Russian-linked finance firm
AARON KATERSKY, Good Morning America 15 hours ago 
Prosecutors say that Michael Cohen exchanged hundreds of emails and texts with a Russian-linked finance firm originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump ’s former attorney and fixer, exchanged hundreds of phone calls and text messages with Columbus Nova, the American financial firm tied to Russian oligarch Viktor Vekselberg, according to court document unsealed Wednesday.
The communications began the day Donald Trump was elected and lasted for the next eight months, the document said.
“Telephone records related to Cohen’s cellular telephone show that on or about November 8, 2016, the day of the presidential election , a telephone registered to Cohen exchanged the first in a series of text messages with the CEO of Columbus Nova, LLC,” the document said, referring to the company's chief executive officer.
“Between approximately November 8, 2016 and July 14, 2017, telephone records showed over 230 telephone calls and 950 text messages were exchanged between Cohen’s cellular telephone and the CEO of Columbus Nova.”
The document was among a total of five search warrant applications were unsealed by the order of a federal judge in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday at the request of news organizations. They show how federal prosecutors were initially suspicious of Cohen’s Russia contacts and possible violations of the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), though ultimately those were not part of the charges that sent Cohen to prison for three years.
FARA requires agents working on behalf of a foreign government "political or quasi-political capacity" to identify themselves as such and provide information relating to their activities and financing to the U.S. government.
The feds were also curious, the documents show, about Columbus Nova’s payments of nearly a half million dollars to a consulting company that Cohen established.
“The United States continues to investigate if any of the payments or financial relationships…were connected to Cohen’s involvement in the distribution of a plan to lift Russian sanctions,” the document said.
Cohen's attorney, Lanny Davis, declined to comment on the newly-unsealed documents.
Earlier this month Cohen, who pleaded guilty in 2018 to charges of campaign finance violations, lying to Congress and a bevy of financial crimes, reported to the federal corrections facility in Otisville, New York, to begin serving his sentence.
Federal prosecutors implicated the president in Cohen's campaign finance violation, writing in court documents that then-candidate Trump directed Cohen to make payments in an effort to keep adult film actress Stormy Daniels and former Playboy playmate Karen McDougal from making their allegations of affairs with Trump public. Trump has denied directing Cohen to break the law. ABC News' Chris Francescani contributed to this report.
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I am not the topic.
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You made yourself the topic with your inane and stupid comment
Agreed! Things just continue to evolve. I would like to hear Mueller's answers to several aspects of his investigation - some day perhaps!
Mueller apparently doesn't want to talk to Congress, I wonder why?
I wonder if they will try to force him to??
I'm more curious about why Trump is refusing to let anyone talk to Congress, why his written answers consisted almost solely of "I can't recall" despite his claiming to have such a great memory, and so on. Certainly makes him seem like a guilty man with a lot to hide. And then his idiotic temper tantrum where he claimed that he's probably the most transparent president- the man is truly delusional. He lies outright, to everyone's face, but I bet his base actually believes that bullshit despite it being glaringly false.
Above my pay grade, but I wonder what has made scheduling time for a talk with Congress so difficult - Does Mueller have obligations elsewhere at this time?
I believe the House will do their best to force testimony .. Trump stopping others from testifying has so many individuals up in arms .. yet Trump is not the first president to block members of an administration from testifying.
I am a bit obstinate .. I may not agree with Trump, but I see why he is doing what he is doing .. politics are quite often reduced to pettiness...
If you remember, HRC's memory seemed to really bad at times. But I digress
Please tell us what you think he is trying to hide
He came up clean on Mueller's report, and IRS has never had an issue with his taxes.
He will not be impeached during this present term...no high crimes or misdemeanors were to be found.
If I didn't know better, I would highly suspect that the Dems are doing all these investigations to try to keep him from winning a second term.
I don't think their efforts will succeed....the American people are fed up, not with him, but with the Democrats.
And the Democrats know that.
And Trump is simply using his presidential powers to stymy and hinder these purely political and empty efforts to harass him.
And the Democrats are bound to be the loser of this partisan battle when election time rolls around. That's what all the experts are saying.
For doing what, defending himself?
Remains to be seen .. should Biden be able to draw in moderates from both party's, as well as independents .. he will win. butttt …. before that can happen, he needs to step up and begin producing a platform that is not running on the Obama administration record nor running as 'simply the best choice' anti Trump candidate to carry him through the general election...
All that said, yes, I think Trump could easily be reelected...….
OMG...the "turd" rebuttal. Didn't see that coming.
The only question concerning Cohen's communications with the Russian finance agency is whether Cohen was doing so for his own interests-----or someone else's. The purpose of those communications---and the expected outcomes of those communications.