Donald Trump’s Pee Pee Tape timeline just exploded
Donald J. Trump has repeatedly stated that he did not stay in Moscow overnight when he visited for the 2013 Miss Universe pageant. The Steele Dossier described a videotape of the president watching Russian hookers peeing on each other and on the bed that the Obamas stayed in while in Moscow. In interviews and meetings with then-FBI Director James Comey, President Trump twice denied that he stayed overnight.
Now, a Bloomberg News report indicates that the president’s statements do not match the flight itineraries for that time. According to Bloomberg News, the jet Trump was on landed in Moscow’s Vnukovo Airport on November 8, and Trump was later seen or mentioned by the restaurant Nobu Moscow. According to records, he attended a birthday party that night for Ara Agalarov. The next night was the Miss Universe pageant. The same plane that Trump flew in on took off from Vnukovo Airport at 3:58 a.m. Moscow time on the 10th of November.
Trump technically might not have stayed “overnight” at the Ritz, but he was there more than just an in and out as he has described his travel for that weekend. But the timeline that Bloomberg News has compiled raises questions about what else the president might be misstating about his Russian connections. Despite attacks on the Steele Dossier, little if any to date in it has proven to be untrue, and one of the last remaining unverified disclosures is the “golden shower” incident.
The United States Code prohibits making “false statements” to government officials and as any lawyer who has handled a matter can attest, the federal government broadly applies this provision. 18 USC Section 1001 provides in part:
[W]hoever, in any matter within the jurisdiction of the executive, legislative, or judicial branch of the Government of the United States, knowingly and willfully—
(1) falsifies, conceals, or covers up by any trick, scheme, or device a material fact;
(2) makes any materially false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement or representation…shall be fined under this title, imprisoned not more than 5 years…
Some have argued that the setting of these Comey-Trump meetings does not lend themselves to Section 1001 “false statements,” but in any event, it provides additional fodder for Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation and raises questions about the veracity of other statements and comments Trump and his close circle have made.
Daniel is a lawyer writing and teaching about SCOTUS, and is the author of the book “The Chief Justices” about the SCOTUS as seen through the center seat.