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NDAs of Thunder
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I think we can safely conclude this has to do with the Stormy Daniels payment, if not other things.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/polit...=.73561774af5f
FBI agents on Monday raided Cohen’s Manhattan office, home and hotel room as part of the investigation, seizing records about Cohen’s clients and personal finances. Among the records seized were those related to a 2016 payment Cohen made to adult-film star Stormy Daniels, who claims to have had a sexual encounter with Trump, according to another person familiar with the investigators’ work.
Investigators took Cohen’s computer, phone and personal financial records as part of the search of his office at Rockefeller Center, the second person said.
The broad seizure collected communications between Cohen and his clients — including some with Trump, according to both people.
The raid was related to an investigation referred by special counsel Robert S. Mueller III to federal prosecutors in New York, said Stephen Ryan, an attorney for Cohen.
Under Department of Justice regulations governing the special counsel’s work, Mueller is required to consult with Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein if his team finds information worth investigating that does not fall under his mandate.
Rosenstein, as the acting attorney general supervising Mueller’s work, has the responsibility of deciding whether to expand Mueller’s mandate to include the new topic or to refer it to a U.S. attorney’s office.
"It's an attack on the country"
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https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/...=.634634f2b42f
To obtain that search warrant, then, the U.S. attorney would have had to meet six conditions, according to the manual.
•Before obtaining a search warrant, investigators had to try to obtain the evidence in another way, such as by subpoena.
•The authorization for the warrant had to come from either the U.S. attorney or an assistant attorney general. (Rosenstein is deputy attorney general, a higher position than assistant attorney general.)
•The prosecutor had to confer with the criminal division of the department before seeking the warrant.
•The team conducting the search had to “employ adequate precautions” to ensure that they weren’t improperly viewing privileged communications between the Cohen his clients.
•The search team would have included a “privilege team” including lawyers and agents not working the case which would work to ensure that investigators conducting the search didn’t see privileged communications.
•The investigators had to develop a review process for the seized material.
The question of what qualifies as privileged communication is complex. Not every communication between an attorney and a client is included. One type of communication that’s excluded: communications between an attorney and a client that might be predicated on committing or covering up a crime.
The bolded is a god-damned megaton.
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Michael Cohen, National Deputy Finance Chair of the @GOP, has disappeared in the last five minutes from their website.
Steve Wynn and now Cohen.
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https://www.cnn.com/2018/04/10/polit...aid/index.html
"I am unhappy to have my personal residence and office raided. But I will tell you that members of the FBI that conducted the search and seizure were all extremely professional, courteous and respectful. And I thanked them at the conclusion," Cohen said in a phone conversation on Tuesday with CNN.
This is like when the disruptive kid in class suddenly starts acting polite when the principal shows up.
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I have to say, nothing illustrates how tight of a ship Mueller runs than the ****ing gushing leakfest that is the NYC FBI by comparison. I practically feel like I participated in the raid with the amount of details I've read in the past few days.
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Cohen pleading the fifth in the Stormy Daniels case.
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Michael Cohen is still a deputy chairman of RNCs fundraising, btw
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https://www.wsj.com/articles/trump-l...6?redirect=amp
Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump’s personal attorney, used the same Delaware limited-liability company in two secret deals relating to alleged sexual encounters involving his clients, according to people familiar with the matter.
Venture capitalist Elliott Broidy paid an initial installment of $62,500 to the company, Essential Consultants LLC, as part of Mr. Cohen’s $250,000 total fee for negotiating a nondisclosure agreement related to Mr. Broidy’s affair with a former Playboy model who alleged he had impregnated her, a person familiar with the matter said.
Federal prosecutors are examining money flowing in and out of Essential Consultants as part of a broad investigation into Mr. Cohen’s activities to silence women with allegations against Mr. Trump or those in his orbit, according to people familiar with the matter.
The Wall Street Journal first reported the $1.6 million agreement between Mr. Broidy—the Republican National Committee’s deputy finance chairman with ties to Mr. Trump—and the model on Friday. Mr. Broidy later resigned his RNC post.
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Court asked Cohen to name his clients. He withheld one name.
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Holy shit, the third client is Sean Hannity!
Yessssssssssssss
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Heh.
Right now, Hannity's show is nothing but endless sound clips from the Comey interview. Sean's a bit...subdued.
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This explains his ****ing crime family cork boards.
Time to see just how far the projection goes
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Say you are a POTUS and want to use the #1 rated host ... I hesitate to refer to him as a "journalist" and certainly can't call him a "reporter" ... on your preferred cable news network as a propagandist and cover your tracks? You just happen to share the same attorney and use him as a cut-out for your communication. Protected by "attorney client privilege". There's a reason Cohen was very reluctant to reveal his attorney-client relationship with Hannity. And there's a reason Hannity is explicitly denying any third party settlements (to head off any notion that Cohen paid off a woman on his behalf) and is essentially trying to claim "nothing to see here".
OAW
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“It’s about ethics in journalism.”
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https://twitter.com/mkraju/status/986047726658998272
WH continues remarkable effort of trying to distance Trump from Cohen. Hogan Gidley on @ac360 says Cohen is one of “many” Trump lawyers. Earlier today, Sanders: “I believe they've still got some ongoing things, but the President has a large number of attorneys, as you know.”
This is pathetic. Predictable, but pathetic. "Cohen was just the attorney's coffee boy."
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Cohen has filed in the criminal case, that he plans to assert his 5th amendment rights ( CNN link). I'm not sure if this means he's asserted them yet.
Pleading the 5th on the criminal side will force him to invoke the 5th in the civil case too. Otherwise, anything he says on the civil side will be copied over to the criminal side by the prosecution. And the prosecution could claim he's waived the 5th and should cough up his testimony or face contempt.
If the civil judge doesn't stay the case, Cohen stands a good chance of losing it in my opinion. From what I've read, asserting the 5th in a civil case means they can presume the charges are true. This sounds like a great way to lose a case. Stormy Daniels will be free to release that best-seller.
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Cohen pleading the 5th is an interesting development. I have to say that Stormy Daniel and her lawyer did a great job using public pressure (which is typically Trump's domain). It is quite interesting that one of the reasons why she was much more immune to pressure is that she is proud of her occupation and thus, can't be used to silence her. That's quite similar to Donald Trump, who has done so many controversial things and openly stood by them that usual tactics with politicians don't work on him either. (Of course, this comparison is not quite fair to Stormy Daniels: I don't think earning your money in the adult entertainment industry is something nefarious or morally egregious, while e. g. Trump's shady business business deals are morally objectionable.)
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I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy every minute of it.
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So Trump downplayed the work Cohen did for him this morning.
Let me just tell you that Michael is in business. He's really a businessman at fairly big businesses, I understand. And I don’t know his business, but this doesn’t have to do with me. Michael is a businessman. He's got a business. He also practices law. I would say probably the big thing is his business, and they're looking at something having to do with his business. I have nothing to do with his business. I can tell you he's a good guy. He sometimes —
KILMEADE: But isn't your business — isn't his business your attorney, Mr. President?
TRUMP: I have many, many — just so you understand, I have many attorneys. I have attorneys — sadly, I have so many attorneys you wouldn’t even believe it.
DOOCY: How many — how much of your — Mr. President, how much of your legal work was handled by Michael Cohen?
TRUMP: Well, he has a percentage of my overall legal work — a tiny, tiny little fraction. But, Michael would represent me and represent me on some things. He represents me — like with this crazy Stormy Daniels deal he represented me. And, you know, from what I see he did absolutely nothing wrong. There were no campaign funds going into this —
EARHARDT: Then why is he pleading the Fifth?
TRUMP: — which would have been a problem. Because he's got other things. He's got businesses, and from what I understand they're looking at his businesses, and I hope he's in great shape.
KILMEADE: Yes.
TRUMP: But he's got businesses, and his lawyers probably told him to do that. But I'm not involved, and I'm not involved — and I've been told I'm not involved.
So both Hannity and Trump have downplayed Cohen's work for them, completely undermining the argument that a large amount of the docs seized might have attorney-client privilege.
Also, the articles on Trump treating Cohen like shit are something else. It does sound like he swallowed the $130k loss on paying off Daniels.
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MSNBC reports Cohen was wire tapped and at least one call to the WH was picked up.
I imagine this is going to be used as an example of gross overreach and not that the FBI must have had boatloads on Cohen
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I wonder if Hannity had any calls with Cohen caught. Though I imagine he received leaked info at worst.
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Big correction from NBC.
Correction: Michael Cohen's calls are being monitored but not being listened to. Pen register and not wiretap.
Much less intrusive, easier to get.
Edit: I'm still wondering who leaked this. And I wonder if it was a different source that corrected it.
Source Edit: https://twitter.com/Tom_Winter/statu...53502062469126
Correction: Earlier today NBC News, and this reporter, said that Michael Cohen's phone lines were wiretapped. 3 Senior U.S. Officials now dispute that, saying the monitoring was limited to a log of calls (pen register) not a wiretap of Cohen's lines. We will continue to report.
(
Last edited by The Final Dakar; May 3, 2018 at 05:49 PM.
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Clinically Insane
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That's a big mistake to make, especially when people are looking for a reason to discredit news organizations.
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Originally Posted by Laminar
That's a big mistake to make, especially when people are looking for a reason to discredit news organizations.
I feel like anyone who would cite this as evidence of fake news is concern trolling. I'd also note news orgs show a lot more accountability and concern about mistakes like this than say... Sarah Sanders.
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He has spent much of his personal and professional life with immigrants from Russia and Ukraine. His father-in-law, who helped establish him in the taxi business, was born in Ukraine, as was one of Mr. Cohen’s partners in that industry. Another partner was Russian. And Mr. Cohen used his connections in the region when scouting business opportunities for Mr. Trump in former Soviet republics.
More recently, Mr. Cohen and his father-in-law lent more than $25 million to a Ukrainian businessman who has a checkered financial record and a history of defaulting on loans. And Mr. Cohen long held a small stake in his uncle’s catering hall, which was frequented by Russian and Italian mobsters.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/05/b...yer-trump.html
One of the silver linings has been watching so many people connected to Trump get ****ed by the scrutiny him getting elected has brought.
Of course, this also highlights how little effort goes into policing white collar crime versus, say, jaywalking.
A small reminder... Hannity claimed Cohen advised him on some real estate matters. Not a good look if Cohen was using real estate to launder money for people.
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https://twitter.com/AriFleischer/sta...71032848773126
If paying Stormy in October is an illegal, undisclosed campaign expenditure, then why isn’t Stormy coming forward in October saying she wanted to go public an illegal, undisclosed in-kind contribution to Hillary?
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^^^ this one is making my head ache. What does Stormy have to do with Hillary? I'm pretty sure they didn't sleep together.
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Originally Posted by reader50
^^^ this one is making my head ache. What does Stormy have to do with Hillary? I'm pretty sure they didn't sleep together.
What does what Manafort did or did not do 12 years ago have to do with the 2016 election?
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45/47
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Originally Posted by Chongo
What does what Manafort did or did not do 12 years ago have to do with the 2016 election?
Wait, do you think it's unfair Manafort got indicted for crimes he committed a decade ago?
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Originally Posted by reader50
^^^ this one is making my head ache. What does Stormy have to do with Hillary? I'm pretty sure they didn't sleep together.
Originally Posted by Chongo
What does what Manafort did or did not do 12 years ago have to do with the 2016 election?
Originally Posted by The Final Dakar
Wait, do you think it's unfair Manafort got indicted for crimes he committed a decade ago?
From what I have read, the the alleged crimes were already investigated and charges were not filed, and the statute of limitations has expired, so yes. Numerous individuals have registered as lobbyists after the fact and avoided prosecution, including the Podesta Brothers. (it did not affect their concert tour either! )
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45/47
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Originally Posted by Chongo
From what I have read, the the alleged crimes were already investigated and charges were not filed, and the statute of limitations has expired, so yes.
Do you think he's innocent of all the Ukraine stuff?
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Originally Posted by reader50
^^^ this one is making my head ache. What does Stormy have to do with Hillary? I'm pretty sure they didn't sleep together.
He's saying that if Stormy not-talking was a $130k campaign contribution to Trump, then Stormy talking is a $130k campaign contribution to Hillary.
It's twisted logic, but its the kind of clever bullshit that made me respect his dangerousness when he was working as WH Press sec for W. In some ways he was a precursor to the alternative facts era.
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OK, that kinda makes sense. Except the Hillary campaign was completely over before Stormy said anything.
Also, Stormy talking would presumably have a negative impact on Trump, not necessarily a positive for any other candidate. Even if you did count it as a positive, how would you know it wasn't in support of Jill Stein? There were 3 nation-wide candidates against Trump on the ballot, and I believe, a few more in some states.
I hate how the politicos always assume there are only two parties. And arrest 3rd party candidates who try to crash the debates.
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Bottom line is, telling the truth isn't a campaign contribution.
As for assuming it's a two party system, that's just accepting the reality of the FPTP system.
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Originally Posted by Chongo
From what I have read, the the alleged crimes were already investigated and charges were not filed, and the statute of limitations has expired, so yes.
So do you hold firm in your belief that if a alleged crime was investigated and the investigating body decided not to file charges, then we should shut the **** about the alleged crime?
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Originally Posted by Laminar
So do you hold firm in your belief that if an alleged crime was investigated and the investigating body decided not to file charges, then we should shut the **** about the alleged crime?
Funny you should say that. That sounds like what the left is saying about the Clintons.
(
Last edited by Chongo; May 8, 2018 at 02:29 PM.
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Stormy's lawyer made some big accusation without any real proof and AT&T is already confirming some it?!
https://twitter.com/brianstelter/sta...90899565654016
AT&T paid Trump's personal lawyer Michael Cohen for "insights into understanding the new administration" -- while seeking government approval for its acquisition of Time Warner.
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https://twitter.com/mkraju/status/993860885260193792
Dems have demanded the House investigate whether the Stormy Daniels payment amounted to a campaign finance violation. I asked Paul Ryan about that this AM, and he said it’s a matter for the FEC to investigate - not Congress
Very believable.
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Originally Posted by The Final Dakar
Holy shit, the third client is Sean Hannity!
Yessssssssssssss
https://twitter.com/dataeditor/statu...68060794470400
Apparently Georgia has rather favorable eviction laws for landlords, therefore the highest eviction rate in the country. Hannity beats the Georgia average handily.
But a Washington Post analysis shows that managers at Hannity’s four largest apartment complexes in Georgia have taken an unusually aggressive approach to rent collection. They have sought court-ordered evictions at twice the statewide rate — in a state known for high numbers of evictions and landlord-friendly laws — and frequently have done so less than two weeks after a missed payment.
Property managers at the complexes sought to evict tenants more than 230 times in 2017, court records show. At one, a 112-unit subdivision in a suburb west of Atlanta, 94 eviction actions were filed last year, records show.
Among the tenants Hannity’s property managers sought to evict, records show, were a former corrections officer and her wife, who fell behind while awaiting a disability determination; a double amputee who had lived in an apartment with her daughter for five years but did not pay on time after being hospitalized; and a single mother of three whose $980 rent check was rejected because she could not come up with a $1,050 cleaning fee for a bedbug infestation.
Landlords statewide have sought an eviction for nearly 2 of every 10 apartments, on average, according to a Post review of the most recent five years of available information on Georgia eviction filings and census data.
In conducting the analysis, The Post consulted with Matthew Desmond, author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning book “Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City,” and head of the Eviction Lab, a project at Princeton University to build the first national database of evictions. Court actions against tenants at Hannity’s properties stand out, Desmond said, and at one property, they were “orders of magnitude bigger” than what researchers have found in any county in Georgia.
What a piece of shit. In a completely different way from his hypocritical and lie filled narratives.
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Thought I've had rolling around about Avenatti since last Friday, since he's taken to dropping info here and there.
He's going to get outed as a scumbag sooner rather than later, as he turns the heat up on Cohen. And we're going to find out that the most successful foil to Trump and his dirty lawyer was, of course, another dirty lawyer.
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I do enjoy him trolling Trump, but yeah, I get a bit of a slimy vibe.
Cohen, OTOH, has “chump” written all over him.
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I doubt too many people think of Avenatti as a hero on a white horse, so him being outed as a bit sleazy isn't going to matter too much. He still seems to have a mountain of really good dirt to sell. The bigger plot point that eventually will be outed is who, exactly, is funding him and feeding him all the dirt?
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