Here’s who might have really leaked Michael Cohen’s story about Donald Trump and Russia

| 11:43 pm EDT July 26, 2018
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Last night CNN reported that Michael Cohen witnessed Donald Trump being told in advance about Donald Trump Jr’s meeting in Trump Tower with Russian government representatives who were illegally offering dirt about Hillary Clinton. If that sounds complicated enough in its own right, Cohen’s attorney Lanny Davis then announced that the story didn’t come from Cohen’s camp. So who really gave the information to CNN? Social media is alive with a number of possibilities, some of whom are more plausible than others.

Donald Trump: Davis seems to think that Donald Trump put this story out there, and he’s expressed confusion as to why Trump would do this. We’ll take it further and say that there is no way Trump would put something this incriminating about himself out there, just to spitefully sabotage Cohen’s leverage in cutting a plea deal. So unless Trump has totally lost his marbles, let’s scratch this possibility.

Rudy Giuliani: Earlier this week we made the argument that, based on his decision to waive privilege on the Trump-Cohen tape and his ongoing insistence that Trump sit down with Robert Mueller, it’s entirely possible that Rudy is trying to hurry up and take Trump down. Why would he do this? If Trump remains in office long enough, the investigation will eventually circle around to Rudy’s entanglements with the FBI just before election day. But if Trump is ousted quickly enough, perhaps in Rudy’s mind, the investigation will peter out. If this is the case, then it would make sense that Giuliani would leak this latest story about the Trump Tower meeting. Accordingly, Rudy’s histrionic meltdown on CNN last night could be his way of trying to prevent Trump from figuring out that he leaked it.

Michael Avenatti: The internet seems to love the idea that Michael Cohen told Avenatti about this during their recent meeting, and that Avenatti is the one who told CNN about it. But Avenatti has been consistently open when it comes to the assertions he’s made about Cohen. If Avenatti were behind this, we suspect he’d be saying so.

Another member of Team Trump: CNN says that Michael Cohen was just one of several witnesses in the room when Donald Trump was informed that Donald Trump Jr was planning to meet with the Russians. Could this be a sign that another, unidentified member of Team Trump is flipping? There is no evidence of this, but it’s worth keeping an eye on.

Michael Cohen: We just told you that Cohen’s lawyer said the story didn’t come from Cohen. But that doesn’t preclude the possibility that Cohen gave the story to CNN behind his own lawyer’s back. If this were the case, it would suggest that Cohen is so eager to get revenge against Donald Trump, he’s willing to sabotage his leverage when it comes to cutting a plea deal.

The bottom line: The mystery of who gave this story to CNN is intriguing. Once that person’s identity is revealed, it’s going to add another layer to the saga. But for now, only one thing matters. Even as Michael Cohen’s lawyer was denying that this story came from Cohen, he didn’t bother to deny the story’s accuracy. That means it’s true: Donald Trump really did illegally conspire with Russian government representatives in an attempt at altering the outcome of the election, and Cohen witnessed it happening.