“We sent reporters through every hotel in Prague, through all over the place, just to try to figure out if he [Cohen] was ever there, and came away empty.”

Greg Miller — Two-time Pulitzer Prize winning reporter

Michael Cohen undercut a key element of the so-called Steele dossier when he testified Wednesday (February 27 2019) before the House Oversight Committee that he has never traveled to Prague — or anywhere in the Czech Republic.  His testimony contradicted an assertion in the controversial compilation of intelligence reports by former British spy Christopher Steele that alleges an “extensive conspiracy” between President Trump’s campaign and Russia. Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY

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It has been two years since the so-called Steele dossier, an explosive collection of memos alleging collusion between President Donald Trump’s campaign and Russia, was published by BuzzFeed News for public consumption.

The Steele dossier specifically claims that US President Donald Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen and his three associates visited Prague in August 2016 to meet Kremlin officials to discuss how to make deniable cash payments to hackers in order to cover up Moscow’s secret liaison with the Trump team.

Michael Cohen denied he’s ever visited Prague and the Czech Republic despite an explosive claim made in the infamous Russia dossier.

Last year, Cohen’s lawyer at the time told the House Intelligence Committee that his client “has never traveled to Prague, Czech Republic, as evidenced by his US passport” and that Cohen “did not participate in meetings of any kind with Kremlin officials in Prague in August 2016.” Cohen repeated his blanket denials.

When asked about Prague, here’s what Cohen said:

Rep. Ralph Norman: Have you ever been to Prague?

Cohen: I’ve never been to Prague.

Norman: Never have?

Cohen: I’ve never been to the Czech Republic.

He has cooperated with special counsel Robert Mueller, and prosecutors said in a court filing he provided “useful information concerning certain discrete Russia-related matters core to its investigation.”

Cohen says he has shared “everything” with Mueller and that the Prague claims are false.

On January 14 2019, Intel Today posted the following poll.

It has been two years since the so-called Steele dossier was published by BuzzFeed News for public consumption. INTEL TODAY would like to know what you think.

Is the Steele dossier a genuine work of intelligence or a piece of disinformation?

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The result of this poll speaks volumes.

Cohen Denies Going to Prague to Meet Russians During Campaign

Cohen and his representatives have previously denied the allegation, but Wednesday represents the first time he’s done so under oath.

The McClatchy report, published in April 2018, claimed that special counsel Robert Mueller had evidence that Cohen “secretly made a late-summer trip to Prague during the 2016 presidential campaign” and speculated Cohen did so to meet with Konstantin Kosachev, a member of the Russian legislature with close ties to Vladimir Putin.

The Steele dossier, which was indirectly funded by the Clinton campaign through a law firm, alleged that Cohen met with two Russians and a number of Eastern European hackers in Prague to discuss “how deniable cash payments were to be made to hackers in Europe who had worked under Kremlin direction against the Clinton campaign.”

REFERENCES

Cohen says he’s never been to Prague. Here’s why that matters. — CNN

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Trump Dossier — Michael Cohen: “I’ve Never Been to Prague”