Donald Trump or his former lawyer, who lies?

One of these two men does not tell the truth. On the one hand, Donald Trump's former lawyer, Michael Cohen, would be ready to testify that the US president knew about and approved the Trump Tower meeting between his son and a Russian lawyer close to the Kremlin who promised compromising information "on Hillary Clinton, says CNN. On the other hand, Donald Trump repeated on Twitter on Friday that he "knew NOTHING" about this meeting before it happened. Who says the truth? The future of the American president is undoubtedly very strongly linked to this answer. And it is Robert Mueller, the special prosecutor in charge of the investigation of Russia, who will have to shed light and determine whether there has been collusion (more precisely a "conspiracy") with Moscow.

what Michael Cohen says

Worried by the justice in the investigation into the payment to ex-actress Stormy Daniels, Michael Cohen has changed strategy. While he had sworn he was ready to "take a ball for Mr. Trump," the former "fixer" of the candidate would be ready to sit down and talk to Robert Mueller.

According to CNN, Cohen says that Donald Trump was aware of the famous meeting before it took place in June 2016, and that he personally approved it. Cohen has no record to prove his claims, according to the channel, but he is willing to testify under oath that he was present in the room at the time of the facts. It would be up to a grand jury to establish its credibility.

What Donald Trump says

….. I did not know of the meeting with my son, Don jr. Sounds to me like someone is trying to make up stories in order to get themselves out of an unrelated jam (Taxi cabs maybe?). He is still surviving Bill and Crooked Hillary's lawyer. Gee, I wonder if they helped him make the choice!

– Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 27, 2018

"No, I did not know NOTHING about meeting with my son, Don Jr. It looks like someone is trying to invent stories to get out of another business (maybe on taxi plates?), Tweeted Donald Trump, referring to the investigation of a taxi business. by Michael Cohen Clearly, the president accuses his former lawyer of lying to seek a favorable agreement with the judiciary.In the past, Donald Trump had said he had heard of this meeting for the first time when the New York Times revealed it, a year later.

Shadow areas

To find your bearings, you have to go back to the chronology of events:

• June 3, 2016 : Intermediary Rob Goldstone sends an email to Donald Trump Jr. and says a lawyer Russian ate has "compromising information" about Hillary Clinton. The son of the American president replies, "If that's what you say, I love it, especially for later this summer.
• June 7, 2016, 6:14 pm: The meeting was confirmed by email on June 9.
• June 7th, 2016, around 9:00 pm: At a campaign meeting, Donald Trump is teasing and announces: "I'm going to give a major speech, probably next Monday, and we'll talk about everything that happened with the Clintons, I think you'll find that very interesting.
• 9 June 2016: The meeting takes place at the Trump Tower. Present are Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya, Donald Trump Jr, President's son-in-law Jared Kushner and Campaign Director Paul Manafort. In the face of the Congress, the son of the US president said that the meeting had "given nothing" and that he had "lost 20 minutes."
• June 9, 2016: Before and after the meeting, Donald Trump Jr has two phone conversations with a blocked number. Is it his father? "I do not remember," he replied to elected officials.
• June 12, 2016: That was the day that was to be held the press conference on Hillary Clinton. It will never happen.
• October 7, 2016: The Washington Post publishes the video of Access Hollywood and Donald Trump's candidacy wobbles.
• October 7, 2016: A few hours later, WikiLeaks starts publishing pirated emails from Hillary Clinton's campaign director

If Donald Trump knew about and approved the meeting, Democrat Eric Swalwell believes that US president was guilty of "collusion". Everyone does not agree. To be guilty of "conspiracy" with a foreign power (the exact legal term), a simple meeting is not enough: one must have obtained "something of value", according to the electoral law. The investigation is extremely complex, and it is for this reason that the prosecutor has still not completed it, two years after its opening by the FBI.