CNN’s Toobin on Cohen Sentencing Memo: ‘This Is Further Evidence of Contacts Between Russia’ and ‘Trump World’

EXCERPT:

TOOBIN: "Well, I think, you know, most of what people care about out there in the real world is how does this affect Donald Trump? I mean, you know, Michael Cohen will go to prison for some period of time. I think that’s clear. But what does this mean for the Russia investigation? And what has intrigued me here is in the Mueller filing, in pages 5 and 6, it does suggest that Cohen gave information about contacts with Russia that are beyond what we currently know. If I can just call your attention to a sentence here. The defendant provided a detailed account of his involvement and the involvement of others in the Moscow project. That’s the plan to build Trump Tower in Moscow. And also corrected the record concerning his outreach to the Russian government during the week of the United Nations General Assembly. The defendant also provided information about attempts by other Russian nationals to reach the campaign. This is further evidence of contacts between Russia and people affiliated with Russia and Cohen and other people affiliated with the Trump world, Trump business world and the Trump campaign. That’s why we care about all of this. That’s what’s important. You know, whether Michael Cohen goes to jail for four years or three years is very important to him. But I don’t think it’s very important to the larger world. What is significant, I think, is that Cohen told Mueller — Mueller’s office — significant information about contacts between Russia and Trump’s world. It’s not very specific, as it’s outlined here. But this does appear to be new information, additional contacts, between Russia and Trump’s orbit. And that could turn out to be significant."