Michael Cohen's cell phone in Prague story has huge holes

McClatchy reported on Thursday that unidentified sources (“people with knowledge of the matter”) say there is evidence placing Michael Cohen’s cell phone in or near Prague in “late summer” 2016. The story must be scrutinized because it has some significant holes…

This must be read carefully and not overinterpreted. Advocates for the Steele dossier assuredly want it to be overinterpreted. But what is actually being said here doesn’t tell us anything definitive.

First, to cut to the chase, the case I made in April 2018 applies here. This information cannot be from the source you immediately imagine — i.e., a U.S. intelligence agency tracking Michael Cohen’s communications — if it comes with only a general timeframe and not exact dates of detection. Nor could it come directly from any other credible source; e.g., British GCHQ, another European intelligence agency, the police in Prague. It isn’t possible to detect Michael Cohen’s cell phone interacting with microwave towers in Prague and not have a time-hack.