14 thoughts on “Big Development”

  1. I want to see people go to jail instead of fines.  I believe that would squish a lot of the corruption here.

  2. Well, it certainly doesn't look good for Cohen. He's gonna have some splainin' to do. At least Cohen's approach in direct selling of access is a bit more mature than Don and Eric's attempt to raffle access.

  3. If it turns out that Trump knowingly recieved election (cover-up) related money from a US enemy, how is that NOT treason? A lot of Republicans seem to think the Mueller investigation is political, but every way you turn, there is Russia…..

  4. Wasn't Cohen the Finance Chair for the GOP during the 2016 "election" I can't believe the GOP would be involved in a pay to play? Say it aint so!

  5. Fascinating that Cohen did not try to put the transactions under client privilege at the early hearing when he named only three. There was no legal work pending to back up the claim but the potential criminality of soliciting fees for access is huge.

    DId most of that money go to Trump? A million reportedly was transferred to Cohen from the LLC. Is it still there? Was it spent on legitimate expenses or did exactly 90% (to grab a number that substantiates Cohen got a fixed percent) go to a Trump account?

    Bardi – U are right. Businesses have discovered that fines for illegal transactions can be absorbed as the cost of doing business. Wells Fargo is the classic example but it's also true in regulatory fines. At a coal-burning power plant in Tampa the EPA fines have been absorbed and passed on to the customer, The gov't and power company continue to make money – the true objective seems to have nothing to do with protecting me. When infractions are a source of revenue, gov't becomes a parasite feeding off the host violators with the intent of not bleeding the host company so severely the revenue will dry up from compliance. Criminal prosecution would severely cut into the revenue stream. 

  7. @ Tom_b

    <i> from a US enemy</i>

    Uh, what enemy was this? The US Congress declared war on somebody? I must have missed it.

  8. @ Doug

    <i>Criminal prosecution would severely cut into the revenue stream</i>

    I have long thought that criminal charges against the upper managment team and the Chair of the Board of Directors of a company might have a salutary effect.

  9. jrk – Re your question of Tom – the fact that Russia interfered in the presidential election by burglarizing the DNC and disseminating the stolen info to be as damaging to HRC as possible is not considered the act of a friendly nation. I'm glad there is no formal state of war, but the term "enemy" applies.

  10.  I'm glad there is no formal state of war, but the term "enemy" applies.

    Yep!  It sure does. 

  11. It is appearing to be a shakedown. Cohen contacted companies during the transition, seemingly promising access and no tweeting their stock downward. Did he pay the bulk upward to trump? Probably. 

    Report is 187 appointees are former lobbyists.

    And there is Broidy 

     Did he pay for trumps affair abortion (not as reported his own)

    Avenatti has done a public service putting it all in terms the public can grasp.

  12. The media first seized on the tawdry details of the warrant which had something to do with the Stormy payoff. The legal experts said, "No way a judge would issue a warrant against a lawyer for the payoff alone."  Now we see why a judge would turn loose federal cops on a lawyer – the president's lawyer.

    Two takeaways. 1) Cohen is toast on some aspects of this. 2) When facing jail time, Cohen will offer Trump up. 

    Can Trump politically survive a pardon for Cohen when that sleeze-bag lawyer has that deer-in-the-spotlights guilty look holding bags of loot from the kind of fat cats the conservatives hate? If Cohan is pardoned, he can't invoke the Fifth and avoid questioning. Trump would issue the pardon with the understanding Cohen will keep all Trump's secrets. How would that play out? (What if there are NY State charges, like tax evasion. Cohen is stupid enough to have not declared the income which happened in 2017,)

     

  13. Did he pay for trumps affair abortion (not as reported his own)

    I've had that same thought. I wouldn't be at all surprised if Boidy was taking the rap to cover for Trump. The NDA that was used for Stormy Daniels was a basic template that had previously been used by Trump, and it included a clause that pertained to a paternity issue. It makes sense to me that it would be a vehicle for Broidy to funnel money or something of value to Trump while hiding the true nature of that value. Sorta like killing two birds with one stone. If Broidy's wife was knowledgable of the scheme there would be no adverse effect in Broidy's copping to an infidelity.

     When power and money are true north on your moral compass, as seems to be the case in both Broidy's and Trump's world, the public shame or disgrace of an infidelity that you know to be untrue doesn't even get a reading. Actually, I think a sense shame is an alien concept to guy's like Trump or Broidy

  14. I'm sure the truth will come out at some point.  Whatever the answer is, it all makes me sick to my stomach.  One thought I have is if Cohen was selling access to the pres and not letting him in on that fact, he can forget about a pardon.  What was that he said:  I would take a bullet for the president.   He may have to. 

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