Let's try this again - Why the F.B.I. Raid Is Perilous for Michael Cohen — and Trump

[DKW 86 7,424]

2 hours ago, alexava said:

According to my shitgibbons on Facebook he let God back into the White House after Obama kicked him out. 

 

5 hours ago, AUDub said:

Others I found funny:

Titanic dodges most icebergs, only striking one during its maiden voyage to America.

Majority of homes in Atlanta still standing after Sherman passes by.

Major league pitcher fails to strike out all 27 batters in perfect game.

Tsunami only damages one nuclear power facility in Japan. Most power plants safe.

Lizzy Borden spares her sister.

Most of New York not damaged in attack.

Ten structures survive Hiroshima bombing.

 

8 hours ago, TitanTiger said:

They're waiting for today's round of howler monkeys to tell them what to think about it.

1) Howler Monkeys & S&*tgibbons (This has made me very very happy today.)

2) AUDubs list is funny only because it is indeed just about what the RWHMs (Right Wing Howler Monkeys) on Radio, Cable, etc are actually saying. 

Mannafort is up for 240 years according to one site. I bet he gets 3-5 at worst. 

Cohen, he may destroy Trumps pompous windbag self over a couple of Hookers. You know that has to tear DJT to pieces. He has to have concluded that High $$$ Hookers were his birth right as well. Campaign funds to pay off Hookers. I may have to get some really nice micro-brew tonite.

 

[homersapien 11,373]

I'm thinking paying off hookers is just the tip of the iceberg. 

I wonder how Trump's tax audit is going?

[SaltyTiger 7,808]

6 minutes ago, homersapien said:

I wonder how Trump's tax audit is going?

Pretty complicated from what I understand. He should be well into his second term before the audit is complete Brother Homer.

[homersapien 11,373]

Meanwhile, Trump may be continuing to violate Federal law on a regular basis.

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/trump-official-campaign_us_5b7c896ce4b07295150dc45d

White House Admits Trump Is Using Official Events For Midterm Campaigning

Top White House staffers make an extraordinary admission that government-funded events are part of the president’s midterm election strategy.

 

....... A second staffer ― who is also familiar with the president’s thinking, according to the White House ― pointed to a recent trip by Trump “for” Rep. Rod Blum of Iowa and Rep. Mike Bost of Illinois. “Remember, too, just right before August he was in Iowa and Illinois for Bost and Blum,” the staffer said.

Except that the July 26 trip had no political events on the itinerary ― only “official” ones paid for entirely by taxpayers. Despite this, Trump told the audience at a U.S. Steel plant in Granite City, Illinois, that Democrats supported illegal immigrants, so voters should back Republicans in the November midterms.

“You’ve got to vote Republican, folks, you’ve got to vote Republican,” Trump said at the newly reopened steel plant.

Craig Holman, with the watchdog group Public Citizen, said Trump and his White House could be violating federal law. “The White House comments make it rather obvious that Trump and his senior staff are mixing campaign work with official work, which, if not managed properly, would constitute violations of reporting requirements, the Federal Election Campaign Act and federal laws prohibiting the use of official resources for campaign activity,” Holman said.

On the Air Force One flight back from the Midwest trip, White House spokesman Hogan Gidley defended Trump’s openly political exhortations at official government functions.

“There’s no legal prohibition for that to occur. The president can do that,” Gidley said. “It is no surprise that the president would want people in Congress who support his agenda.”

While previous presidential administrations scheduled “official” events in cities where there would also be a fundraiser or political rally in order to lessen the travel costs charged to the campaign, past presidents were careful not to make political statements at the official events.

Trump has shown little interest in making that distinction, routinely endorsing candidates at “official” events and urging attendees to vote for Republicans.

“This represents just the latest series of what we have seen throughout much of this administration,” Holman said. “A reckless disregard of the laws designed to prevent taxpayer resources from being used for self-serving purposes ― in this case, for campaign purposes.”

[homersapien 11,373]

20 minutes ago, SaltyTiger said:

Pretty complicated from what I understand. He should be well into his second term before the audit is complete Brother Homer.

He'll need to serve his first term first. 

And the only thing preventing that "second term" from being served in prison will be a pardon from Pence. 

 

".....Cohen’s guilty plea effectively makes Trump an unindicted co-conspirator. Current Justice Department guidelines say a sitting president cannot be indicted — but building a legitimate criminal case against Trump would make it harder for Republicans to stand united in opposition to impeaching the president.  

When President Richard Nixon was named an unindicted co-conspirator by a grand jury, he opted to resign instead of face impeachment proceedings. Trump seems unlikely to step down, however. Any further efforts on his part to block the investigation into his campaign would put the Justice Department in uncharted territory. 

Cohen, who famously bragged that he would take a bullet for his longtime boss, now appears willing to bring Trump down in an effort to minimize his own prison time.

“If those payments were a crime for Michael Cohen, then why wouldn’t they be a crime for Donald Trump?” Cohen’s personal lawyer Lanny Davis tweeted on Tuesday.

Cohen would be a prosecutor’s “dream cooperator: one who had special insider access to the leader of a powerful, closed, corrupt organization,” former prosecutors Mimi Rocah and Elie Honig wrote last month. “We used to prosecute mafia cases. We both know that in the mob — and perhaps in this White House — the right cooperator can bring down the entire hierarchy.”

By Wednesday morning, the president was praising Manafort as a “brave man” and bashing Cohen as someone he would not recommend to anyone in search of a good lawyer.  

“[Trump]’s almost sounding like a crime figure. He’s criticizing Cohen for pleading guilty and identifying others who were involved in the crime, and he’s praising Manafort for essentially hanging tough and not talking,” Sandick said. “This kind of talk is damaging.”

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/michael-cohen-paul-manafort-convictions-trouble-for-trump_us_5b7c9cc9e4b0cd327df79e44

 

[DKW 86 7,424]

5 hours ago, homersapien said:

Meanwhile, Trump may be continuing to violate Federal law on a regular basis.

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/trump-official-campaign_us_5b7c896ce4b07295150dc45d

White House Admits Trump Is Using Official Events For Midterm Campaigning

 

1

homey, dont kill the mojo tonite, okay? If you try and tell me that EVERY and I mean EVERY President since the dawn of time hasnt done this, well I would have to call you sincerely crazy. Celebrate the good tonite! Be happy! Enjoy everything! but please dont try an pile on and ruin it for everyone. Everyone that has sat in the WH has done this.

[Mikey 16,601]

13 hours ago, TitanTiger said:

 

But her emails!

Had Cohen been her former lawyer and about to testify, he'd have committed suicide by shooting himself three times in the back of the head. Cohen was much better off representing Trump.

[Brad_ATX 13,654]

18 minutes ago, Mikey said:

Had Cohen been her former lawyer and about to testify, he'd have committed suicide by shooting himself three times in the back of the head. Cohen was much better off representing Trump.

Except she actually faced 13 hours of congressional questioning, under oath.  She didn't ask her lawyer to take a bullet while ducking questioning.

[AuCivilEng1 11,010]

8 hours ago, Mikey said:

Had Cohen been her former lawyer and about to testify, he'd have committed suicide by shooting himself three times in the back of the head. Cohen was much better off representing Trump.

I don't understand the basis for this comment. Are you implying that Donald Trump is less of a liability, for an attorney, than her? If that's what you're implying, you're absolutely mental. Donald Trump has a TREMENDOUS portfolio for screwing people over and having to settle in court. Just because you WANT to think that Hillary Clinton is more corrupt than the Trump clan, doesn't mean it's true. Remember that, pal. Reality is reality. Truth is truth.

[homersapien 11,373]

10 hours ago, DKW 86 said:

homey, dont kill the mojo tonite, okay? If you try and tell me that EVERY and I mean EVERY President since the dawn of time hasnt done this, well I would have to call you sincerely crazy. Celebrate the good tonite! Be happy! Enjoy everything! but please dont try an pile on and ruin it for everyone. Everyone that has sat in the WH has done this.

You'll just have to let me know from time to time which crimes we are supposed to ignore and which ones to take seriously.

[Mikey 16,601]

44 minutes ago, AuCivilEng1 said:

I don't understand the basis for this comment. Are you implying that Donald Trump is less of a liability, for an attorney, than her? If that's what you're implying, you're absolutely mental. Donald Trump has a TREMENDOUS portfolio for screwing people over and having to settle in court. Just because you WANT to think that Hillary Clinton is more corrupt than the Trump clan, doesn't mean it's true. Remember that, pal. Reality is reality. Truth is truth.

I'm making a statement/joke about those who were scheduled to testify against the Clintons turning up dead before they could take the stand. I think it was 13 at last count, starting with Vince Foster way back when.

[AuCivilEng1 11,010]

1 hour ago, Mikey said:

I'm making a statement/joke about those who were scheduled to testify against the Clintons turning up dead before they could take the stand. I think it was 13 at last count, starting with Vince Foster way back when.

Hey man....snitches get stitches. But seriously, it's ridiculous that everyone who refers to the Clinton's as this corrupt crime family are basing their comments on conspiracy theories like that, but there are tons of crooked corrupt stories about Trump that are public knowledge and real that people seem to just refuse to acknowledge as fact. ??‍♂️

[DKW 86 7,424]

4 hours ago, AuCivilEng1 said:

I don't understand the basis for this comment. Are you implying that Donald Trump is less of a liability, for an attorney, than her? If that's what you're implying, you're absolutely mental. Donald Trump has a TREMENDOUS portfolio for screwing people over and having to settle in court. Just because you WANT to think that Hillary Clinton is more corrupt than the Trump clan, doesn't mean it's true. Remember that, pal. Reality is reality. Truth is truth.

I think that is a Vince Foster/Seth Rich et al reference.

[DKW 86 7,424]

4 hours ago, homersapien said:

You'll just have to let me know from time to time which crimes we are supposed to ignore and which ones to take seriously.

All crime is serous, but every President since we can both remember has done it. They have some sloppy accounting system to give it all cover but politicians hjave been using AirForce 1 and the Secret Service detail, the WH Limo, etc as campaign feed forever. They all feign shock that someone would call them on it but they all do it. I cant remember one President that wasnt accused of it. 

If you make one legit visit while you also make 12 campaign stops, well it was all due to that one visit..or so the story goes. So they write off the majority of the travel expenses to the WH and "reimburse at some incredibly discounted figure" all the time. Like I said, they all do it and did it. Are we going to arrest every President since the dawn of time about this?

[homersapien 11,373]

21 hours ago, DKW 86 said:

All crime is serous, but every President since we can both remember has done it. They have some sloppy accounting system to give it all cover but politicians hjave been using AirForce 1 and the Secret Service detail, the WH Limo, etc as campaign feed forever. They all feign shock that someone would call them on it but they all do it. I cant remember one President that wasnt accused of it. 

If you make one legit visit while you also make 12 campaign stops, well it was all due to that one visit..or so the story goes. So they write off the majority of the travel expenses to the WH and "reimburse at some incredibly discounted figure" all the time. Like I said, they all do it and did it. Are we going to arrest every President since the dawn of time about this?

No.  But I say let's start now with calling them out and holding them responsible.

If we are truly going to exist under the rule of law, we cannot be arbitrary about which ones deserve to be obeyed and which ones ignored.

 

 

[auburn41 492]

4 hours ago, homersapien said:

No.  But I say let's start now with calling them out and holding them responsible.

If we are truly going to exist under the rule of law, we cannot be arbitrary about which ones deserve to be obeyed and which ones ignored.

 

 

Wow, I'm glad you feel that way.  I'm in agreement!  Let's start with the current Immigration Laws that are on the books!!!!  Now take a deep breath before you respond, because you walked right into that one ?

[homersapien 11,373]

42 minutes ago, auburn41 said:

Wow, I'm glad you feel that way.  I'm in agreement!  Let's start with the current Immigration Laws that are on the books!!!!  Now take a deep breath before you respond, because you walked right into that one ?

How so? 

I don't have a problem with enforcing current immigration laws.  Never have.

[homersapien 11,373]

On 8/23/2018 at 12:50 PM, DKW 86 said:

All crime is serous, but every President since we can both remember has done it. They have some sloppy accounting system to give it all cover but politicians hjave been using AirForce 1 and the Secret Service detail, the WH Limo, etc as campaign feed forever. They all feign shock that someone would call them on it but they all do it. I cant remember one President that wasnt accused of it. 

If you make one legit visit while you also make 12 campaign stops, well it was all due to that one visit..or so the story goes. So they write off the majority of the travel expenses to the WH and "reimburse at some incredibly discounted figure" all the time. Like I said, they all do it and did it. Are we going to arrest every President since the dawn of time about this?

Actually, you got that wrong.  They use a precise accounting system in order to adhere to the legal definition of the law if not the spirit.

Trump doesn't even bother. 

 

[DKW 86 7,424]

7 hours ago, homersapien said:

No.  But I say let's start now with calling them out and holding them responsible.

If we are truly going to exist under the rule of law, we cannot be arbitrary about which ones deserve to be obeyed and which ones ignored.

 

 Then: Are we going to arrest every President since the dawn of time about this? Or are we only going to strictly apply this to Trump only?

[DKW 86 7,424]

14 minutes ago, homersapien said:

Actually, you got that wrong.  They use a precise accounting system in order to adhere to the legal definition of the law if not the spirit.

Trump doesn't even bother. 

 

Oh, really? They have a precise definition of what is and isnt a political trip and what percentage of each and every visit, each mile, every lunch dinner, every sheet and towel washed on AF1 was used exclusively for campaigning and for real national business? Homey,.please just let this go. You are in well over your head now. 

Example: You now support ICE and unilateral enforcement of all immigration laws? REALLY? 

[homersapien 11,373]

1 minute ago, DKW 86 said:

 Then: Are we going to arrest every President since the dawn of time about this? Or are we only going to strictly apply this to Trump only?

Let's apply it to anyone who flaunts the law.  Past, present future.

For all of your generalizations you haven't provided a single specific.  I understand how people can abuse expense accounts, but they still have to file the paperwork. 

Saying everyone does is not an excuse. 

[homersapien 11,373]

5 minutes ago, DKW 86 said:

Oh, really? They have a precise definition of what is and isnt a political trip and what percentage of each and every visit, each mile, every lunch dinner, every sheet and towel washed on AF1 was used exclusively for campaigning and for real national business? Homey,.please just let this go. You are in well over your head now. 

Example: You now support ICE and unilateral enforcement of all immigration laws? REALLY? 

WTF is "unilateral enforcement of all immigration laws" and what exactly does that have to do with cheating on campaign finance laws?  You're just another Trump apologist grasping at rationales for systematic corruption. 

You don't know what your are talking about.  Have you any experience with accounting for business and personal expenses?

[DKW 86 7,424]

4 minutes ago, homersapien said:

Let's apply it to anyone who flaunts the law.  Past, present future.

For all of your generalizations you haven't provided a single specific.  I understand how people can abuse expense accounts, but they still have to file the paperwork. 

Saying everyone does is not an excuse. 

I am not excusing it at any level. Put them all in jail. I have no problem with this. 

I think you are being 100% disingenuous when you say that you support it. I think the minute they come to arrest WJC or BHO i think you will have an epiphanal spontaneous meltdown. 

[DKW 86 7,424]

3 minutes ago, homersapien said:

WTF is "unilateral enforcement of all immigration laws" and what exactly does that have to do with cheating on campaign finance law?

You're just another Trump apologist grasping at rationales for systematic corruption. 

You don't know what your are talking about.

 

[Auburnfan91 1,407]

Here's something that's been under-reported:

Quote

(Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump’s former personal lawyer Michael Cohen told lawmakers under oath last year that he did not know whether the then-candidate was aware of a June 2016 Trump Tower meeting with Russians before it happened, Axios reported on Thursday.

When Cohen testified before the Senate Intelligence Committee last fall, Cohen said he himself did not know of the Trump Tower meeting beforehand and that he had no idea whether Trump did either, Axios reported, citing three unidentified sources.

The story runs contrary to other news outlets’ reporting this summer that Cohen was willing to tell Special Counsel Robert Mueller that Trump knew about the meeting in advance.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-cohen/cohen-told-congress-he-did-not-know-if-trump-aware-of-russia-meeting-beforehand-axios-idUSKCN1L81A6

 

And here's some of the Axios article that was referenced by Reuters:

Quote

What's new: This information about what Cohen told Congress about Trump — reported here for the first time — colors in the gaps of a joint statement Tuesday by Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr and Vice Chair Sen. Mark Warner that got buried under the Cohen-Manafort news avalanche.

 

• "[W]e recently re-engaged with Mr. Cohen and his team following press reports that suggested he had advance knowledge of the June 2016 meeting between campaign officials and Russian lawyers at Trump Tower," the statement says. 
   
• "Mr. Cohen had testified before the Committee that he was not aware of the meeting prior to its disclosure in the press last summer."
• "[T]he Committee inquired of Mr. Cohen's legal team as to whether Mr. Cohen stood by his testimony. They responded that he did stand by his testimony."

• "We hope ... Mr. Cohen’s plea agreement will not preclude his appearance before our Committee as needed for our ongoing investigation.”

 

The backstory: Last year, when questioned under oath by lawmakers on the House intelligence committee, Cohen not only said that he himself had no foreknowledge of the meeting but that he had no idea whether Trump did either, according to three sources with knowledge of his testimony.

• A source briefed on Cohen's testimony said he repeated that testimony to the Senate Intelligence Committee.

 

I asked Davis why he didn't shoot down last month's stories.

• Davis, after a long day of TV hits defending Cohen, said: "It was painful. We were not the source, we could not confirm, and we could not correct. We had to be silent because of the sensitivity needed in the middle of a criminal investigation."

https://www.axios.com/michael-cohen-didnt-know-trump-tower-meeting-534240d0-915e-4d44-9d37-ab247e067ee0.html