President Donald Trump's former lawyer, Michael Cohen, admitted Thursday he had lied to Congress about a Moscow real estate deal he had pursued on Trump's behalf during the heat of the 2016 presidential campaign.

The guilty plea makes clear that prosecutors believe that Trump, who insisted repeatedly throughout the campaign that he had no business dealings in Russia, was continuing to pursue the project weeks after he had clinched the Republican nomination for president and well after he or his associates have publicly acknowledged.

The negotiations about building a Trump Tower in Moscow continued as late as June 2016 - the same month Trump's oldest son met in Manhattan with a Kremlin-connected lawyer - even though Cohen told two congressional committees last year that they ended that January.

"Cohen lied about the extent of his conversations not only with people in the Trump Organization about this deal, but that they went on a lot longer further into the campaign than we previously knew," explains AP reporter Chad Day.

Cohen also discussed the proposal with Trump on multiple occasions and with unidentified members of the president's family, according to court papers filed by special counsel Robert Mueller, who is investigating Russian interference in the presidential election and possible coordination with the Trump campaign.

Prosecutors say Cohen is cooperating with Mueller and has met with his team seven times.

"What this shows is that he has been providing a significant amount of information to their investigation, that they do consider it to be material to what they're investigating and pursuing. And so I think that we're just scratching the surface right now about what Michael Cohen may have told them," Day says.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

New York - 29 November 2018

1. Michael Cohen and his attorney walk down steps of courthouse after guilty plea

ELIZABETH WILLIAMS - MUST CREDIT ELIZABETH WILLIAMS

New York - 29 November 2018

2. Sketch of Michael Cohen sitting in court

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Washington - 29 November 2018

3. SOUNDBITE (English) Chad Day, Associated Press:

"What happened today is that Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump's former fixer and longtime attorney, appeared in a courtroom in New York and pleaded guilty to lying to Congress about the extent of a Russia, a deal that the president's company, the Trump organization, was planning to do to build a Trump Tower Moscow during the 2016 presidential campaign."

ASSOCIATED PRESS

New York - 29 November 2018

4. Michael Cohen and his attorney walk down steps of courthouse after guilty plea

POOL

Fletcher, North Carolina - 21 October 2016

5. Donald Trump walks into campaign rally

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Washington - 29 November 2018

6. SOUNDBITE (English) Chad Day, Associated Press:

"Cohen lied about the extent of his conversations not only with people in the Trump Organization about this deal, but that they went on a lot longer further into the campaign than we previously knew. He also, what we learned from the court papers is that he actually personally discussed this deal with the president, who was then a candidate at the time and also briefed his family members about it. So what we're getting from these new court documents is a much more vivid picture of how far along this deal went and who knew about the deal while they were also doing, you know carrying out the presidential campaign."

7. President Donald Trump walks out to talk to reporters before leaving for Argentina

ASSOCIATED PRESS

New York - 21 September 2018

8. Michael Cohen walks out of court with his lawyer

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Washington - 29 November 2018

9. SOUNDBITE (English) Chad Day, Associated Press:

"The president is acknowledging that this was a deal and we've known that there was a deal. Michael Cohen disclosed that this deal existed and that there were talks about this building that would go, that would be built in Russia. But the new part of this is that the president's personal involvement in it and how much he knew and when. And also, you know if we're looking at kind of going forward that Michael Cohen has cooperated extensively with the special counsel investigation. One big issue now for the president is that he recently provided written statements to questions about his interactions with Russia, his campaign's interaction with Russia that could have touched on this subject. We don't know for sure but if there's any inconsistency between what Mueller says is true in these court papers based on their evidence and what the president says that could be a problem for him."

10. President Trump walks away from talking to press, waits for First Lady Melania Trump on South Lawn

11 . SOUNDBITE (English) Chad Day, Associated Press:

"What we knew about Michael Cohen before is that he had pleaded guilty to a number of different crimes including campaign finance violations related to hush money payments that have been paid on the president's behalf to former Playboy model and also Stormy Daniels, a porn star. And so this is now kind of connecting that Cohen case which previously didn't have a Russia connection to the special counsel's investigation. And so what this shows is that he has been providing a significant amount of information to their investigation, that they do consider it to be material to what they're investigating and pursuing. And so I think that we're just scratching the surface right now about what Michael Cohen may have told them."

ASSOCIATED PRESS

New York - 2 July 2018

11. Michael Cohen walking down the street in New York

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Washington - 29 November 2018

12. SOUNDBITE (English) Chad Day, Associated Press:

"It's really hard to tell now kind of where this goes. What, what we're able to see is that this is a very active part of their investigation, that you know, it's not just about Paul Manafort and his business deals. It's not just about Michael Flynn and lies that he may have told or that he did tell during, about his interactions with Russia. That there is a very active investigation, a criminal investigation into whether or not there was contact between Trump associates and Russians during the 2016 campaign. And while this doesn't have anything directly to do with collusion or any question of that, this does show that someone who was a high placed official at the Trump organization, very close to the president, was discussing a business deal with even officials in the Kremlin during the time where the president was you know, leading a very public campaign for office."

ASSOCIATED PRESS

New York - 29 November 2018

13. Michael Cohen and his attorney walk down steps of courthouse after guilty plea and toward press

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Washington DC - 23 May 2017

14. Paul Manafort, gets out of car and walks into US District courthouse

POOL

Washington, DC - 20 January, 2017

15. Michael Flynn arrives at inauguration

ASSOCIATED PRESS

New York - July 2018

16. Trump Tower exteriors

ASSOCIATED PRESS

New York - 30 May, 2018

17. Michael Cohen walks toward courthouse

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Cleveland, Ohio - 21 July 2016

18. Paul Manafort with President Donald Trump at the RNC rehearsal

Special counsel Robert Mueller did not find evidence that President Donald Trump's campaign "conspired or coordinated" with Russia to influence the 2016 presidential election but reached no conclusion on whether Trump obstructed justice, Attorney General William Barr declared. That brought a hearty claim of vindication from Trump but set the stage for new rounds of political and legal fighting.

Trump cheered the Sunday outcome but also laid bare his resentment after two years of investigations that have shadowed his administration. "It's a shame that our country has had to go through this. To be honest, it's a shame that your president has had to go through this," he said.

Democrats pointed out that Mueller found evidence for and against obstruction and demanded to see his full report. They insisted that even the summary by the president's attorney general hardly put him in the clear.

Mueller's conclusions, summarized by Barr in a four-page letter to Congress, represented a victory for Trump on a key question that has hung over his presidency from the start: Did his campaign work with Russia to defeat Democrat Hillary Clinton? That was further good news for the president on top of the Justice Department's earlier announcement that Mueller had wrapped his investigation without new indictments. The resolution also could deflate the hopes of Democrats in Congress and on the 2020 campaign trail that incriminating findings from Mueller would hobble the president's agenda and re-election bid.

But while Mueller was categorical in ruling out criminal collusion, he was more circumspect on presidential obstruction of justice. Despite Trump's claim of total exoneration, Mueller did not draw a conclusion one way or the other on whether he sought to stifle the Russia investigation through his actions including the firing of former FBI director James Comey.

According to Barr's summary, Mueller set out "evidence on both sides of the question" and stated that "while this report does not conclude the president committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him."

Barr, who was nominated by Trump in December, and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who appointed Mueller in May 2017 and oversaw much of his work, went further in Trump's favor.

The attorney general said he and Rosenstein had determined that Mueller's evidence was insufficient to prove in court that Trump had committed obstruction of justice to hamper the probe. Barr has previously voiced a broad view of presidential powers, and in an unsolicited memo last June he cast doubt on whether the president could have obstructed justice through acts - like firing his FBI director - that he was legally empowered to take.

Barr said their decision was based on the evidence uncovered by Mueller and not affected by Justice Department legal opinions that say a sitting president cannot be indicted.

Washington, D.C. - 24 March 2019

1. SOUNDBITE (English) Eric Tucker, The Associated Press:

"So perhaps the most significant finding out of the special counsel's report today is that special counsel Mueller did not find any evidence of criminal conspiracy between anyone associated with the Trump campaign and Russia. That is there's no quote unquote "collusion" that is prosecutable in any way between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin. And that is the question that has been hovering over this investigation from the start. So that's a big victory for the president. it's a really unequivocal victory. The other interesting finding of note is on the question of whether the President obstructed justice. And here it's a little bit more complicated. In this particular aspect of the investigation the special counsel did not reach a conclusion one way or the other as to whether the President obstructed justice. Instead, according to Attorney General Barr who summarized these findings, Mueller presented evidence on both sides of the ledger for these different episodes involving Trump's behavior that were examined, and then did not reach a conclusion one way or the other. However, Barr said that he and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein had reached their own conclusion based on Mueller's evidence and determined that it was insufficient to establish obstruction of justice."

++BLACK FRAMES BETWEEN SOUNDBITES++

2. SOUNDBITE (English) Eric Tucker, The Associated Press:

"So the letter today from the attorney general, it's a four-page letter, it marks the conclusion, the real end conclusion of the special counsel's investigation. We expect to hear more details of what the special counsel found in coming days and weeks."

++BLACK FRAMES BETWEEN SOUNDBITES++

3 . SOUNDBITE (English) Eric Tucker, The Associated Press:

"The major investigation that concerns the president right now is taking place in New York City. That's an investigation into hush money payments that were made to two women, one a former Playboy model, the other a porn star, who both say they had sex with the president about a decade before he was elected. And both received money during the campaign effectively to not come forward with their allegations. Prosecutors in New York City, in southern district of New York, are investigating whether that's a campaign finance violation. The president's been implicated in wrongdoing by his former lawyer, Michael Cohen. It's not yet clear what's going to happen with that investigation."

++BLACK FRAMES BETWEEN SOUNDBITES++

4. SOUNDBITE (English) Eric Tucker, The Associated Press:

"I think the main takeaway actually is going to be how unsatisfied Democrats are. This is a four-page summary of what appears to be a very lengthy, very detailed report from the special counsel. And there is a suggestion in this letter that the special counsel did find evidence in at least some of the episodes he examined of potential obstruction of justice and simply did not reach a conclusion. So if you're a Democrat on Capitol Hill right now, you want access to all of the special counsel's work and you want the American public to see all of the evidence he gathered and his underlying report. And so we can expect going forward, that is going to be the next big legal front is this fight between Congress and the Justice Department over how much of Mueller's two years of work the public has to see. Especially because on the question of obstruction, it's clear that Mueller did indicate that there's a there there. He just didn't reach a conclusion one way or the other so that's given hope to Democrats that they want to see more."

++BLACK FRAMES BETWEEN SOUNDBITES++

5. SOUNDBITE (English) Eric Tucker, The Associated Press:

"The regulations actually do not stipulate that the report is made public. That's a judgment call. It's what the regulations actually mandate is that a confidential report is delivered by the special counsel to the attorney general, who oversees his work. So in this case that would be Mueller to Barr. And then it is possible that a document could be made public. But you have to imagine, and we know this for sure in this case, that this is a document that concerns grand jury information, perhaps classified information. That's a complicated process to scrub that document of any potential issues, executive privilege issues. And that's going to take some time."

++BLACK FRAMES BETWEEN SOUNDBITES++

6. SOUNDBITE (English) Eric Tucker, The Associated Press:

"It is important to take stock of this moment that this is a pretty significant victory in terms of this collusion, or no collusion finding I should say, between the president and Russia and the special counsel according to Barr was pretty unequivocal about that. And so the president, we can expect him to rightfully claim victory and based on what we know from the special counsel's findings, that perhaps seems justified on that front. However there is a reference that is interesting and that is multiple offers from people connected to Russia, Russian associates, two individuals associated with the Trump campaign, offering help. We suspect that's a reference to the Trump Tower meeting that took place in June 2016 between Donald Trump Jr. and a Kremlin connected lawyer. He took that meeting with the expectation of receiving dirt on Hillary Clinton that could be used in weaponised during the campaign. We also know that a former Trump campaign aide George Papadopoulos had a meeting in London where he learned from a professor that Russia had dirt on Clinton in the form of thousands of stolen e-mails. So we suspect that Mueller's making reference to that, the fact that there are these multiple overtures of help from people connected to Russia. But there's no evidence or no allegation even that either of those two sides worked together. And that's a significant conclusion."

Washington, D.C. - 11 November 2018

7. Still - Donald Trump Jr. (Partly covers Soundbite #6)

++BLACK FRAMES BETWEEN SOUNDBITES++

Washington, D.C. - 24 March 2019

8. SOUNDBITE (English) Eric Tucker, The Associated Press:

"As it relates to the question of collusion, we do have a definitive answer from the special counsel and ostensibly endorsed by the attorney general that there was no collusion. We've heard that from the president for the last two years. That is the central finding and take away from this four-page summary that there was indeed no collusion, no criminal conspiracy between the Trump campaign on one hand and the criminal in the Kremlin on the other to get Trump elected."

++BLACK FRAMES BETWEEN SOUNDBITES++

9. SOUNDBITE (English) Eric Tucker, The Associated Press:

"It is possible that House Democrats could come up with a different conclusion on the on the collusion question. It's not clear how readily embraced by the American public that would be, because the special counsel is regarded as the ultimate arbiter of, with subpoena power, evidence, ability to criminally prosecute, so he's regarded as the final voice. So it's not clear whether the American public will accept if Mueller says no collusion and House Democrats say otherwise."

++ENDS ON SOUNDBITE++

Special counsel Robert Mueller did not find evidence that President Donald Trump's campaign "conspired or coordinated" with Russia to influence the 2016 presidential election but reached no conclusion on whether Trump obstructed justice, Attorney General William Barr declared. That brought a hearty claim of vindication from Trump but set the stage for new rounds of political and legal fighting.

Trump cheered the Sunday outcome but also laid bare his resentment after two years of investigations that have shadowed his administration. "It's a shame that our country has had to go through this. To be honest, it's a shame that your president has had to go through this," he said.

Democrats pointed out that Mueller found evidence for and against obstruction and demanded to see his full report. They insisted that even the summary by the president's attorney general hardly put him in the clear.

Mueller's conclusions, summarized by Barr in a four-page letter to Congress, represented a victory for Trump on a key question that has hung over his presidency from the start: Did his campaign work with Russia to defeat Democrat Hillary Clinton? That was further good news for the president on top of the Justice Department's earlier announcement that Mueller had wrapped his investigation without new indictments. The resolution also could deflate the hopes of Democrats in Congress and on the 2020 campaign trail that incriminating findings from Mueller would hobble the president's agenda and re-election bid.

But while Mueller was categorical in ruling out criminal collusion, he was more circumspect on presidential obstruction of justice. Despite Trump's claim of total exoneration, Mueller did not draw a conclusion one way or the other on whether he sought to stifle the Russia investigation through his actions including the firing of former FBI director James Comey.

According to Barr's summary, Mueller set out "evidence on both sides of the question" and stated that "while this report does not conclude the president committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him."

Barr, who was nominated by Trump in December, and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who appointed Mueller in May 2017 and oversaw much of his work, went further in Trump's favor.

The attorney general said he and Rosenstein had determined that Mueller's evidence was insufficient to prove in court that Trump had committed obstruction of justice to hamper the probe. Barr has previously voiced a broad view of presidential powers, and in an unsolicited memo last June he cast doubt on whether the president could have obstructed justice through acts — like firing his FBI director — that he was legally empowered to take.

Barr said their decision was based on the evidence uncovered by Mueller and not affected by Justice Department legal opinions that say a sitting president cannot be indicted.

Washington, D.C. - 24 March 2019

1. SOUNDBITE (English) Eric Tucker, The Associated Press:

"So perhaps the most significant finding out of the special counsel's report today is that special counsel  Mueller did not find any evidence of criminal conspiracy between anyone associated with the Trump campaign and Russia. That is there's no quote unquote collusion that is prosecutable in any way between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin. And that is the question that has been hovering over this investigation from the start. So that's a big victory for the president. it's a really unequivocal victory. The other interesting finding of note is on the question of whether the President obstructed justice. And here it's a little bit more complicated. In this particular aspect than the investigation the special counsel did not reach a conclusion one way or the other as to whether the President obstructed justice. Instead, according to Attorney General Barr who summarized these findings,  Mueller presented evidence on both sides of the ledger for these different episodes involving Trump's behavior that were examined, and then did not reach a conclusion one way or the other. However Barr said that he and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein had reached their own conclusion based on Mueller's evidence and determined that it was insufficient to establish obstruction of justice."

2. SOUNDBITE (English) Eric Tucker, The Associated Press:

"So the letter today from the attorney general, it's a four page letter, it marks the conclusion, the real end conclusion of the special counsel's investigation. We  expect to hear more details of what the special counsel found in coming days and weeks."

++BLACK FRAMES BETWEEN SOUNDBITES++

3 . SOUNDBITE (English) Eric Tucker, The Associated Press:

"The major investigation that concerns the president right now is taking place in New York City. That's an investigation into hush money payments that were made to two women, one a former Playboy model, the other a porn star, who both say they had sex with the president about a decade before he was elected. And both received money during the campaign effectively to not come forward with their allegations. Prosecutors in New York City, in southern district of New York, are investigating whether that's a campaign finance violation. The president's been implicated in wrongdoing by his former lawyer Michael Cohen. It's not yet clear what's going to happen with that investigation."

++BLACK FRAMES BETWEEN SOUNDBITES++

4. SOUNDBITE (English) Eric Tucker, The Associated Press:

"I think the main takeaway actually is going to be how unsatisfied Democrats are. This is a four page summary of what appears to be a very lengthy, very detailed report from the special counsel. And there is a suggestion in this letter that the special counsel did find evidence in at least some of the episodes he examined of potential obstruction of justice and simply did not reach a conclusion. So if you're a Democrat on Capitol Hill right now, you want access to all of the special counsel's work and you want the American public to see all of the evidence he gathered and his underlying report.  And so we can expect going forward, that is going to be the next big legal front is this fight between Congress and the Justice Department over how much of Muller's two years of work the public has to see. Especially because on the question of obstruction, it's clear that Mueller did indicate that there's a there there. He just didn't reach a conclusion one way or the other so that's given hope to Democrats that they want to see more."

++BLACK FRAMES BETWEEN SOUNDBITES++

5. SOUNDBITE (English) Eric Tucker, The Associated Press:

"The regulations actually do not stipulate that the report is made public. That's a judgment call. It's what the regulations actually mandate is that a confidential report is delivered by the special counsel to the attorney general, who oversees his work. So in this case that would be Mueller to Barr.  And then it is possible that a document could be made public. But you have to imagine, and we know this for sure in this case, that this is a document that concerns grand jury information, perhaps classified information. That's a complicated process to scrub that document of any potential issues, executive privilege issues. And that's going to take some time."

++BLACK FRAMES BETWEEN SOUNDBITES++

6. SOUNDBITE (English) Eric Tucker, The Associated Press:

"It is important to take stock of this moment that this is a pretty significant victory in terms of this collusion, or no collusion finding I should say, between the president and Russia and the special counsel according to Barr was pretty unequivocal about that. And so the president, we can expect him to rightfully claim victory and based on what we know from the special counsel's findings, that perhaps seems justified on that front. However there is a reference that is interesting and that is multiple offers from people connected to Russia,  Russian associates two individuals associated with the Trump campaign, offering help. We suspect that's a reference to the Trump Tower meeting that took place in June 2016 between Donald Trump Jr. and a Kremlin connected lawyer. He took that meeting with the expectation of receiving dirt on Hillary Clinton that could be used in weaponized during the campaign. We also know that a former Trump campaign aide George Papadopoulos had a meeting in London where he learned from a professor that Russia had dirt on Clinton in the form of thousands of stolen e-mails. So we suspect that Mueller's making reference to that, the fact that there are these multiple overtures of help from people connected to Russia. But there's no evidence or no allegation even that either of those two sides worked together. And that's a significant conclusion."

Washington, D.C. - 11 November 2018

7. Still - Donald Trump Jr. (Partly covers Soundbite #6)

++BLACK FRAMES BETWEEN SOUNDBITES++

Washington, D.C. - 24 March 2019

8. SOUNDBITE (English) Eric Tucker, The Associated Press:

"As it relates to the question of collusion, we do have a definitive answer from the special counsel and ostensibly endorsed by the attorney general that there was no collusion. We've heard that from the president for the last two years. That is the central finding and take away from this four page summary that there was indeed no collusion, no criminal conspiracy between the Trump campaign on one hand and the criminal in the Kremlin on the other to get Trump elected."

++BLACK FRAMES BETWEEN SOUNDBITES++

9. SOUNDBITE (English) Eric Tucker, The Associated Press:

"It is possible that House Democrats could come up with a different conclusion on the on the collusion question. It's not clear how readily embraced by the American public. That would be because the special counsel is regarded as the ultimate arbiter of, with subpoena power, evidence, ability to criminally prosecute, so he's regarded as the final voice. So it's not clear whether the American public will accept if  Mueller says no collusion and House Democrats say otherwise."

++ENDS ON SOUNDBITE++

Elaine Kamarck, of the Brookings Institution says "we're pretty much at the end of this process" as she discussed the next steps in the special prosecutors Russia probe.

Kamarack, Senior fellow in the Governance Studies program as well as the Director of the Center for Effective Public Management , said on Tuesday that "The only thing that really seems to remain is whether or not the president himself is guilty of some crimes and do those crimes constitute in the minds of the members of Congress, high crimes and misdemeanors."

In a related story The Associated Press reports that President Donald Trump has been calling the Russia probe a witch hunt for two years.

But now, Trump and his allies are starting to see it as something potentially very different: a political opportunity.

Trump has grown increasingly confident that special counsel Robert Mueller's report will produce no clear evidence of a conspiracy between Russia and his election campaign.

A change is also underway among congressional Democrats, who had believed the report would offer damning evidence

Kamarack says "We're at a point where this is about to move unless there's some you know smoking gun. This is this investigation is about to move from the legal to the political and there the Democrats are going to have to decide do we move forward with impeachment."

Washington - 19 March 2019

1.Wide shot of Donald Trump and Jair Bolsonaro walking out of White House into Rose Garden

2. SOUNDBITE (English) Elaine Kamarck, Senior Fellow Brookings Institution:

"It's not often that a president is subject to a special counsel and that means often that the findings of a special counsel could lead to something very dramatic like impeachment. Or it could just turn out to be a bunch of nothing. And so everybody was interested in this. Everybody was excited about it. The president himself was furious about it. But this is a big deal. We don't generally have investigations like this of sitting presidents."

3. Side shot of Trump speaking

4. SOUNDBITE (English) Elaine Kamarck, Senior Fellow Brookings Institution:

"The only thing that really seems to remain is whether or not the president himself is guilty of some crimes and do those crimes constitute in the minds of the members of Congress, high crimes and misdemeanors, which is the constitutional issue for impeachment, and so we're sort of down to the end game here. I mean it looks like there was a rapid string of indictments, trials, etc. It's possible that one or more of the president's children or in-laws could get indicted but it's, we're pretty much at the end of this process."

5. Trump speaking

6. SOUNDBITE (English) Elaine Kamarck, Senior Fellow Brookings Institution:

"The issue, though, is did the House and Senate, did the intelligence committees when they were controlled by Republicans ignore important pieces of evidence? The Democrats think they did. And so the Democrats will have to start their own investigation. They may find nothing as well."

Washington - 25 February 2019

7. STILL - The Capitol is seen in Washington as Congress returns to work following a week-long recess. A top House Democrat, Rep. Adam Schiff, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, has threatened to call special counsel Robert Mueller to Capitol Hill, subpoena documents and sue the Trump administration if the full report on Mueller's Russia investigation is not made public.

Washington - 06 March 2019

8. STILL - House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, of California, left, and Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., return to hear Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump's former lawyer, testify before a closed-door session of the House Intelligence Committee, on Capitol Hill

Washington - 19 March 2019

9. SOUNDBITE (English) Elaine Kamarck, Senior Fellow Brookings Institution:

"We're at a point where this is about to move unless there's some you know smoking gun. This is this investigation is about to move from the legal to the political and there, the Democrats are going to have to decide do we move forward with impeachment? Now, Nancy Pelosi has said, wisely I think, that probably not that. There's just not unless there's some blockbuster finding in the Muller report or someplace else. Probably not because bet we're almost at 2020. Let, it's cleaner, easier for democracy to let the voters decide."

Washington - 06 March 2019

10. STILL - House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., with Ranking Member Doug Collins

Washington - 19 March 2019

11. SOUNDBITE (English) Elaine Kamarck, Senior Fellow Brookings Institution:

"This investigation has taken place simultaneously with a very chaotic presidency and with a separate investigation into Donald Trump's business empire. Now it may not be impeachable to be a corrupt businessman. All you have to do is look at the Deutsche Bank story in today's (New York) Times and you can see that that's that's going to be a big story. But maybe it's not impeachable but it sure isn't desirable."

12. STILL - President Donald Trump walks along the Colonnade of the White House, towards the Rose Garden with visiting Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro

Elaine Kamarck, of the Brookings Institution says "we're pretty much at the end of this process" as she discussed the next steps in the special prosecutors Russia probe.

Kamarack, Senior fellow in the Governance Studies program as well as the Director of the Center for Effective Public Management , said on Tuesday that "The only thing that really seems to remain is whether or not the president himself is guilty of some crimes and do those crimes constitute in the minds of the members of Congress, high crimes and misdemeanors."

In a related story The Associated Press reports that President Donald Trump has been calling the Russia probe a witch hunt for two years.

But now, Trump and his allies are starting to see it as something potentially very different: a political opportunity.

Trump has grown increasingly confident that special counsel Robert Mueller's report will produce no clear evidence of a conspiracy between Russia and his election campaign.

A change is also underway among congressional Democrats, who had believed the report would offer damning evidence

Kamarack says "We're at a point where this is about to move unless there's some you know smoking gun. This is this investigation is about to move from the legal to the political and there the Democrats are going to have to decide do we move forward with impeachment."

Washington - 19 March 2019

1.Wide shot of Donald Trump and Jair Bolsonaro walking out of White House into Rose Garden

2. SOUNDBITE (English) Elaine Kamarck, Senior Fellow Brookings Institution:

"It's not often that a president is subject to a special counsel and that means often that the findings of a special counsel could lead to something very dramatic like impeachment. Or it could just turn out to be a bunch of nothing. And so everybody was interested in this. Everybody was excited about it. The president himself was furious about it. But this is a big deal. We don't generally have investigations like this of sitting presidents."

3. Side shot of Trump speaking

4. SOUNDBITE (English) Elaine Kamarck, Senior Fellow Brookings Institution:

"The only thing that really seems to remain is whether or not the president himself is guilty of some crimes and do those crimes constitute in the minds of the members of Congress, high crimes and misdemeanors, which is the constitutional issue for impeachment, and so we're sort of down to the end game here. I mean it looks like there was a rapid string of indictments, trials, etc. It's possible that one or more of the president's children or in-laws could get indicted but it's, we're pretty much at the end of this process."

5. Trump speaking

6. SOUNDBITE (English) Elaine Kamarck, Senior Fellow Brookings Institution:

"The issue, though, is did the House and Senate, did the intelligence committees when they were controlled by Republicans ignore important pieces of evidence? The Democrats think they did. And so the Democrats will have to start their own investigation. They may find nothing as well."

Washington - 25 February 2019

7. STILL - The Capitol is seen in Washington as Congress returns to work following a week-long recess. A top House Democrat, Rep. Adam Schiff, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, has threatened to call special counsel Robert Mueller to Capitol Hill, subpoena documents and sue the Trump administration if the full report on Mueller's Russia investigation is not made public.

Washington - 06 March 2019

8. STILL - House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, of California, left, and Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., return to hear Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump's former lawyer, testify before a closed-door session of the House Intelligence Committee, on Capitol Hill

Washington - 19 March 2019

9. SOUNDBITE (English) Elaine Kamarck, Senior Fellow Brookings Institution:

"We're at a point where this is about to move unless there's some you know smoking gun. This is this investigation is about to move from the legal to the political and there, the Democrats are going to have to decide do we move forward with impeachment? Now, Nancy Pelosi has said, wisely I think, that probably not that. There's just not unless there's some blockbuster finding in the Muller report or someplace else. Probably not because bet we're almost at 2020. Let, it's cleaner, easier for democracy to let the voters decide."

Washington - 06 March 2019

10. STILL - House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., with Ranking Member Doug Collins

Washington - 19 March 2019

11. SOUNDBITE (English) Elaine Kamarck, Senior Fellow Brookings Institution:

"This investigation has taken place simultaneously with a very chaotic presidency and with a separate investigation into Donald Trump's business empire. Now it may not be impeachable to be a corrupt businessman. All you have to do is look at the Deutsche Bank story in today's (New York) Times and you can see that that's that's going to be a big story. But maybe it's not impeachable but it sure isn't desirable."

12. STILL - President Donald Trump walks along the Colonnade of the White House, towards the Rose Garden with visiting Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro

A legal fight over what should happen to records the FBI seized from US President Donald Trump's personal attorney took a surprise twist Monday when the lawyer, Michael Cohen, was forced to reveal a secret _ that he had also done legal work for Fox News host Sean Hannity.

The disclosure came as a New York judge disappointed a lawyer for Trump by letting prosecutors proceed with the cataloguing of evidence including multiple electronic devices that were seized in raids while a system is set up to ensure they are protected by attorney-client privilege.

Lawyers for Cohen and prosecutors had reason to claim success after three hours of arguments left U.S. District Judge Kimba Wood saying she may appoint a special master to help decide how much of the materials are subject to the privilege.

The only disappointed party seemed to be Trump's attorney, Joanna Hendon, who said she was objecting to any plan by prosecutors to search for how many times Trump's name appears in documents as they try to decide how many might be subject to attorney-client privilege.

Prosecutors promised not to study the contents of the materials while the process of protecting privileged materials is resolved.

Wood also denied Hendon's request that lawyers for Trump and Cohen get the first crack at designating documents and other evidence that might be subject to the privilege.

The Hannity revelation came after Wood required Cohen to divulge the names of the clients he's worked with since the 2016 election.

One, of course, was Trump himself.

Another was Elliot Broidy, a Trump fundraiser who resigned from the Republican National Committee on Friday after it was revealed that he paid $1.6 million to a Playboy Playmate with whom he had an extramarital affair. The Playmate became pregnant and elected to have an abortion.

With Cohen by their side on Monday, lawyers initially resisted revealing the name of the third client for privacy reasons, saying it would be embarrassing for the client and that the client had asked that they immediately appeal any request to divulge his name.

But Wood pressed on.

When the name was announced, there were gasps and some laughter in a courtroom packed with journalists. A few of them raced from the courtroom.

Cohen's lawyers did not detail the type of legal work he did for Hannity.

On his radio show, Hannity said Cohen was never involved in any matter between him and any third party.

Hannity, an outspoken supporter of Trump, has been a fierce critic of special counsel Robert Mueller, who is looking into Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

Monday's hearing began with an appearance by porn actress Stormy Daniels, who was swarmed by photographers and nearly fell as she was hustled into the courthouse, a scene that captured the sensational atmosphere around the case.

The last to enter court, she was among the first to leave.

While in court, she smiled several times as she observed the proceedings from a folding chair near the back of the room.

Outside afterward, she said Cohen has acted like he's above the law and that she and her lawyer are committed to making sure everyone learns the truth.

The April 9 raid on Cohen sought information on a variety of matters, including a $130,000 payment made to Daniels, who alleges she had sex with a married Trump in 2006.

New York – 16 April 2018

1. SOUNDBITE (English) Larry Neumeister, Associated Press Reporter:

"Prosecutors were saying that lawyers for Michael Cohen and President Donald Trump were just trying to delay proceedings by asking for a process where they would look at all the evidence that was seized last week first, and then decide what was not violated by attorney-client privilege, and what prosecutors could use in their criminal investigation. Prosecutors say that's not the way to do it. They want a process whereby attorneys for Donald... President Donald Trump and Michael Cohen have a role in the process but aren't able to control the process. The judge seems eager, she said, to make whatever occurs not to...not slow up the process so that the government can do what it needs to do in its investigation, and yet, the attorney-client privilege is protected."

++BLACK FRAMES++

2. SOUNDBITE (English) Larry Neumeister, Associated Press Reporter:

"The judge did say that she may, and this is something that Michael Cohen's lawyers were requesting, that she may appoint a special master to at least have a limited role in deciding how the evidence is viewed and how they ultimately decide what is subject to attorney-client privilege. But she seemed also to be giving the government what it wants in letting the prosecutors, the special taint team they have –not their criminal prosecutors—get a look at all the evidence of putting it together so that they can hand it over to the attorneys for Michael Cohen and President Donald Trump to look at and for them to flag whatever they think should be subject to attorney-client privilege."

++BLACK FRAMES++

3. SOUNDBITE (English) Larry Neumeister, Associated Press Reporter:

"Prosecutors revealed that when they did the raids on Michael Cohen's residence and his office, that they had numerous electronic devices, including telephones, and that for what they could, the computer devices, they actually took images. So, his lawyers, they say, already have much of the evidence and know what's there."

++BLACK FRAMES++

4. SOUNDBITE (English) Larry Neumeister, Associated Press Reporter:

"The surprise moment in court came when the lawyers for Michael Cohen did not want to divulge one client who had asked to remain anonymous, saying that it could be embarrassing being associated with someone who's under criminal investigation. The judge forced them to divulge the name, it turned out to be Sean Hannity, a Fox News personality. And as soon as that name was announced, there was an audible gasp in the courtroom that's largely crowded with journalists, and some journalists immediately ran outside court, and you could see Stormy Daniels smiling on the side of the courtroom in the back, a little bit after this happened."

++BLACK FRAMES++

5. SOUNDBITE (English) Larry Neumeister, Associated Press Reporter:

"Stormy Daniels has a role in this because Michael Cohen played a part in ultimately a payoff that she got to remain silent after what she says was an affair with the president."

++BLACK FRAMES++

6. SOUNDBITE (English) Larry Neumeister, Associated Press Reporter:

"So, I think, ultimately, she has a role in the investigation because the settlement that was paid out to her. Michael Cohen says he paid her the money and he did it out of a home equity loan. So that's presumed to be part of the government's investigation."

++EDIT ENDS ON A SOUNDBITE++

A legal fight over what should happen to records the FBI seized from US President Donald Trump's personal attorney took a surprise twist Monday when the lawyer, Michael Cohen, was forced to reveal a secret _ that he had also done legal work for Fox News host Sean Hannity.

The disclosure came as a New York judge disappointed a lawyer for Trump by letting prosecutors proceed with the cataloguing of evidence including multiple electronic devices that were seized in raids while a system is set up to ensure they are protected by attorney-client privilege.

Lawyers for Cohen and prosecutors had reason to claim success after three hours of arguments left U.S. District Judge Kimba Wood saying she may appoint a special master to help decide how much of the materials are subject to the privilege.

The only disappointed party seemed to be Trump's attorney, Joanna Hendon, who said she was objecting to any plan by prosecutors to search for how many times Trump's name appears in documents as they try to decide how many might be subject to attorney-client privilege.

Prosecutors promised not to study the contents of the materials while the process of protecting privileged materials is resolved.

Wood also denied Hendon's request that lawyers for Trump and Cohen get the first crack at designating documents and other evidence that might be subject to the privilege.

The Hannity revelation came after Wood required Cohen to divulge the names of the clients he's worked with since the 2016 election.

One, of course, was Trump himself.

Another was Elliot Broidy, a Trump fundraiser who resigned from the Republican National Committee on Friday after it was revealed that he paid $1.6 million to a Playboy Playmate with whom he had an extramarital affair. The Playmate became pregnant and elected to have an abortion.

With Cohen by their side on Monday, lawyers initially resisted revealing the name of the third client for privacy reasons, saying it would be embarrassing for the client and that the client had asked that they immediately appeal any request to divulge his name.

But Wood pressed on.

When the name was announced, there were gasps and some laughter in a courtroom packed with journalists. A few of them raced from the courtroom.

Cohen's lawyers did not detail the type of legal work he did for Hannity.

On his radio show, Hannity said Cohen was never involved in any matter between him and any third party.

Hannity, an outspoken supporter of Trump, has been a fierce critic of special counsel Robert Mueller, who is looking into Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

Monday's hearing began with an appearance by porn actress Stormy Daniels, who was swarmed by photographers and nearly fell as she was hustled into the courthouse, a scene that captured the sensational atmosphere around the case.

The last to enter court, she was among the first to leave.

While in court, she smiled several times as she observed the proceedings from a folding chair near the back of the room.

Outside afterward, she said Cohen has acted like he's above the law and that she and her lawyer are committed to making sure everyone learns the truth.

The April 9 raid on Cohen sought information on a variety of matters, including a $130,000 payment made to Daniels, who alleges she had sex with a married Trump in 2006.

New York – 16 April 2018

1. SOUNDBITE (English) Larry Neumeister, Associated Press Reporter:

"Prosecutors were saying that lawyers for Michael Cohen and President Donald Trump were just trying to delay proceedings by asking for a process where they would look at all the evidence that was seized last week first, and then decide what was not violated by attorney-client privilege, and what prosecutors could use in their criminal investigation. Prosecutors say that's not the way to do it. They want a process whereby attorneys for Donald... President Donald Trump and Michael Cohen have a role in the process but aren't able to control the process. The judge seems eager, she said, to make whatever occurs not to...not slow up the process so that the government can do what it needs to do in its investigation, and yet, the attorney-client privilege is protected."

++BLACK FRAMES++

2. SOUNDBITE (English) Larry Neumeister, Associated Press Reporter:

"The judge did say that she may, and this is something that Michael Cohen's lawyers were requesting, that she may appoint a special master to at least have a limited role in deciding how the evidence is viewed and how they ultimately decide what is subject to attorney-client privilege. But she seemed also to be giving the government what it wants in letting the prosecutors, the special taint team they have –not their criminal prosecutors—get a look at all the evidence of putting it together so that they can hand it over to the attorneys for Michael Cohen and President Donald Trump to look at and for them to flag whatever they think should be subject to attorney-client privilege."

++BLACK FRAMES++

3. SOUNDBITE (English) Larry Neumeister, Associated Press Reporter:

"Prosecutors revealed that when they did the raids on Michael Cohen's residence and his office, that they had numerous electronic devices, including telephones, and that for what they could, the computer devices, they actually took images. So, his lawyers, they say, already have much of the evidence and know what's there."

++BLACK FRAMES++

4. SOUNDBITE (English) Larry Neumeister, Associated Press Reporter:

"The surprise moment in court came when the lawyers for Michael Cohen did not want to divulge one client who had asked to remain anonymous, saying that it could be embarrassing being associated with someone who's under criminal investigation. The judge forced them to divulge the name, it turned out to be Sean Hannity, a Fox News personality. And as soon as that name was announced, there was an audible gasp in the courtroom that's largely crowded with journalists, and some journalists immediately ran outside court, and you could see Stormy Daniels smiling on the side of the courtroom in the back, a little bit after this happened."

++BLACK FRAMES++

5. SOUNDBITE (English) Larry Neumeister, Associated Press Reporter:

"Stormy Daniels has a role in this because Michael Cohen played a part in ultimately a payoff that she got to remain silent after what she says was an affair with the president."

++BLACK FRAMES++

6. SOUNDBITE (English) Larry Neumeister, Associated Press Reporter:

"So, I think, ultimately, she has a role in the investigation because the settlement that was paid out to her. Michael Cohen says he paid her the money and he did it out of a home equity loan. So that's presumed to be part of the government's investigation."

++EDIT ENDS ON A SOUNDBITE++