Uh no. Trump arguably got support from the Justice Department on one point. A few days ago, he tweeted that his former lawyer, Michael Cohen, should “serve a full and complete sentence.” This was in response to Cohen’s argument that he should serve no jail time in recognition of his extensive cooperation with prosecutors. It turns out that the Justice Department agrees … Read More
Document Dump: Cohen Sentencing Memos From Mueller and SDNY
Mueller’s recommendation for Cohen’s sentencing: and the SDNY’s recommendation, which is far less kinder than Mueller’s: Right now, it really looks like Trump aka Individual-1 has a huge problem not with Mueller (although we know Mueller holds his cards close to the vest), but with his own DOJ. Campaign finance violations. Illegal, and if he directed it, potentially fatal.
White House Shake-Ups And Shenanigans
Trump started today with an anti-Mueller screed — something he started on last night. He just sounds like a crazy old man. He’s feeling the pressure. More Mueller stuff expected today. And the Kelly-Trump breakdown is complete — they aren’t even talking, and Kelly is expected to go. Yeah, yeah. We have heard that before. But multiple outlets are reporting … Read More
The Flynn Sentencing Memo
A lot of energy was spent by the media in anticipation of the sentencing memo form General Michael Flynn which was filed in court yesterday. Such memos from the Office of the Special Counsel often offer insight into the state of the Mueller investigation, and what Mueller knows. Not this time. The heavily redacted documents provide no such insight. The … Read More
Document Dump: Cohen Sentencing Memo
The sentencing memo for Michael Cohen, written by his attorneys in the hopes that the judge will grant leniency (due to Cohen’s cooperation), is a trove of interesting tidbits. Cohen, the brief takes pains to argue, is all in on cooperation. The brief begins with a lengthy recitation of Cohen’s cooperation, emphasizing the following key points: “Beginning before the entry … Read More
Trump Doing Deals With Russia — A Timeline
While Trump pursued financial dealings with Russia that he kept concealed from voters, Trump publicly absolved Russia of blame for DNC hack.Then he called on Russia to hack Hillary’s emails. But over the weekend, the legal team working for Michael Cohen, President Trump’s estranged fixer and personal lawyer, filed a new document requesting leniency, now that Cohen has pleaded guilty to lying to Congress … Read More
Aaaand We’re Back: Witness Tampering Before Our Very Eyes
After a relatively crazy week last week, tempered by the somberness of the death of former president Geroge H.W. Bush, and the quietness of Trump being at the G20 summit, he’s back again railing on what is clearly weighing heavy on his Mind: Bob Mueller. First of all, who is Scott Free? 📈’Scot-free’: completely free from obligation, harm, or penalty … Read More
Are More Raids Happening RIGHT NOW?
As Trump is in the air to the G-20 summit, two things are happening which may or may not be related to the Mueller-Russia probe. First, German police raided Deutsche Bank in connection with money laundering exposed in the Panama Papers. “Police officers and tax inspectors entered Deutsche Bank’s headquarters in Frankfurt early Thursday morning and seized documents,” reports NPR. “Prosecutors … Read More
Breaking: Michael Cohen Pleads Guilty To Lying To Congress And Investigators
Michael Cohen made a surprise appearance in a Manhattan courtroom this morning and pleaded guilty to a new criminal charge. Cohen admitted to making false statements to Congress about his efforts to build a Trump Tower deal in Moscow during the 2016 presidential campaign. That real estate deal has been a focus of the special counsel investigation into whether the Trump … Read More
Two Answers To Mueller Questions
You always have to question the veracity of exclusive reports like this, and the unnamed sources. We don’t know who they are, or if they are knowledgeable. But here goes. From CNN: President Donald Trump told special counsel Robert Mueller in writing that Roger Stone did not tell him about WikiLeaks, nor was he told about the 2016 Trump Tower … Read More
The Blue Dye Theory
Seems like every news outlet is discussing the fact that Manafort’s lawyers shared information with Trump lawyers — specifically, Manafort has insight into what Mueller knows, and he’s sharing it with Trump (via the lawyers). My first reaction was “So what?” This happens all the time, especially when there are several potential targets of criminal wrongdoing. There’s nothing illegal with … Read More
Another Mueller Investigation Bombshell Drops — Ties Corsi And Stone To Assange
NBC: Two months before WikiLeaks released emails stolen from the Clinton campaign, right-wing conspiracy theorist Jerome Corsi sent an email to former Trump campaign adviser Roger Stone anticipating the document dump, according to draft court papers obtained by NBC News.“Word is friend in embassy plans 2 more dumps,” Corsi wrote on Aug. 2, 2016, referring to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, according to … Read More
Breaking: Manafort Colluded
Last night: Prosecutors with special counsel Robert S. Mueller III said Monday that Paul Manafort breached his plea agreement, accusing President Trump’s former campaign chairman of lying repeatedly to them in their investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.Manafort denied doing so intentionally, but both sides agreed in a court filing that U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson of … Read More
Trump Wanted DOJ To Prosecute Hillary Clinton and James Comey Because Of Course He Did
NY Times “bombshell”: President Trump told the White House counsel in the spring that he wanted to order the Justice Department to prosecute two of his political adversaries: his 2016 challenger, Hillary Clinton, and the former F.B.I. director James B. Comey, according to two people familiar with the conversation. The lawyer, Donald F. McGahn II, rebuffed the president, saying that … Read More