And now it's Watergate. Buzzfeed's blockbuster tonight interrupted The Last Word.
...Two sources have told BuzzFeed News that Cohen also told the special counsel that after the election, the president personally instructed him to lie — by claiming that negotiations ended months earlier than they actually did — in order to obscure Trump’s involvement.
The special counsel’s office learned about Trump’s directive for Cohen to lie to Congress through interviews with multiple witnesses from the Trump Organization and internal company emails, text messages, and a cache of other documents. Cohen then acknowledged those instructions during his interviews with that office.
This revelation is not the first evidence to suggest the president may have attempted to obstruct the FBI and special counsel investigations into Russia’s interference in the 2016 election. ...Cohen's testimony marks a significant new frontier: It is the first known example of Trump explicitly telling a subordinate to lie directly about his own dealings with Russia.
So to recap, Cohen was instructed to lie, he lied, and lied some more until the Special Counsel confronted him with evidence, including text messages.
Jill Wine-Banks put Lawrence O'Donnell's summation in context: "This is Michael Cohen giving the special prosecutor his own account of something they apparently already had through electronic communication of the President of the United States directing Michael Cohen while he's President, right from the Oval office, to lie to Congress.
This truly is a Nixonian moment.
Yes, it is. More as we have it.
(Karoli Kuns contributed to this report)
UPDATE 1: Rudy Giuliani hasn't got much of a response:
THE HOUSE REACTS:
Rep. Adam Schiff is as serious as a heart attack:
Also Rep. David Cicilline:
And Joaquin Castro:
Eric Swalwell:
And we should all remember that just yesterday, William Barr testified that if the "president" suborned perjury it would be considered obstruction of justice. Here's video of that:
UPDATE 2:
It's not new. Check out the first article of impeachment against Nixon:
UPDATE 3:
Senators start to weigh in:
