McClatchy: Mueller has evidence Cohen went to Prague
■ The claim
McClatchy reported that Mueller's investigators had evidence Michael Cohen secretly traveled to Prague in late summer 2016, which would have confirmed a key Steele dossier allegation. A follow-up in December 2018 said Cohen's phone had pinged cell towers near Prague around that time.
■ What actually happened
The Mueller report states plainly that Cohen had never traveled to Prague. The DOJ Inspector General's December 2019 report says the FBI determined that the dossier's Prague allegation about Cohen was not true. McClatchy added editor's notes to both stories in April 2019 but stood by them, arguing the Mueller report did not address the phone-ping claim.
■ The proof
Mueller report Vol. I, p. 139 (PDF p. 351); DOJ OIG FISA report, p. 176 (PDF p. 214) and p. 384 (PDF p. 425); McClatchy's editor's notes of April 18, 2019.
■ Original reporting
- Yahoo/Reuters: Special counsel has evidence Cohen travelled to Prague, McClatchy reportshttps://news.yahoo.com/special-counsel-evidence-michael-cohen-travelled-prague-mcclatchy-004417964.html
- Rolling Stone: McClatchy cell-phone report (Dec. 2018)https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/cohen-cell-phone-prague-772926/
■ Corrections, findings & records
- Mueller report (justice.gov), Vol. I p. 139https://www.justice.gov/archives/sco/file/1373816/dl
- DOJ Inspector General FISA report, pp. 176 and 384 (justice.gov)https://www.justice.gov/storage/120919-examination.pdf
- iMediaEthics: McClatchy stands by Prague stories but adds editor's noteshttps://www.imediaethics.org/?p=23348
■ Wayback Machine copies
Stories sometimes get edited after publication. These links open the Internet Archive's earliest snapshot of each original.
- Archive copy: Yahoo/Reuters: Special counsel has evidence Cohen travelled to Prague, McClatchy reportshttps://web.archive.org/web/2/https://news.yahoo.com/special-counsel-evidence-michael-cohen-travelled-prague-mcclatchy-004417964.html
- Archive copy: Rolling Stone: McClatchy cell-phone report (Dec. 2018)https://web.archive.org/web/2/https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/cohen-cell-phone-prague-772926/
■ Grade
DEBUNKED: Shown false by evidence or official findings, whether or not the outlet corrected it. How we grade →