Thanks to Stormy Daniels’s attorney, Michael Avenatti, we learned last night that Michael Cohen’s shell company, Essential Consultants LLC, whose existence came to light as the vehicle for the hush money payments to Daniels, also had considerable income from Russian billionaire Viktor Vekselberg as well as corporations including AT&T and Novartis. Billionaire Viktor Vekselberg chairs a company called the Renova Group, and a US-based subsidiary of that company sent hundreds of thousands of dollars … Read More
Cohen Isn’t A Fixer So Much As A Bagman
From an anonymous person “steeped in anti-corruption enforcement (both domestic and foreign) on the prosecution and defense side”: As we already know, Michael Cohen is the prototypical fixer or bagman…. The bagman’s job is to get bribe money to people while insulating and giving deniability to the ultimate payor of the bribe. Having a dirty lawyer as a bagman provides a … Read More
Like Nixon And Dean, Trump And Cohen Are Not On The Same Page
Let’s start with yesterday afternoon, when Giuliani did a little clean-up on aisle five. Trump’s most visible attorney was back on the air on Wednesday to “clarify” what he said the previous two days by throwing over them a blanket claim of ignorance. President Donald Trump only recently found out that he reimbursed his personal attorney, Michael Cohen, for a $130,000 nondisclosure agreement … Read More
Breaking: Feds Tapped Cohen’s Phones [UPDATE: Not Quite]
NBC: Federal investigators have wiretapped the phone lines of Michael Cohen, the longtime personal lawyer for President Donald Trump who is under investigation for a payment he made to an adult film star who alleged she had an affair with Trump, according to two people with knowledge of the legal proceedings involving Cohen. It is not clear how long the wiretap has been … Read More
Rudy’s Blunder
Rudy Giuliani on Sean Hannity’s show last night turned into a bombshell. It was a very strange interview for Trump’s new lawyer. The former head of the SDNY and New York mayor talked in a Fox News-y kind of way, but not like a lawyer well-versed in the issues. He called Hillary a “criminal”, etc. He said that the public … Read More
Trump Threatens Rosenstein
A Rigged System – They don’t want to turn over Documents to Congress. What are they afraid of? Why so much redacting? Why such unequal “justice?” At some point I will have no choice but to use the powers granted to the Presidency and get involved! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 2, 2018 Trump appears to be responding to … Read More
What’s The Strategy Relating To A Possible Mueller Subpoena? [UPDATE: Ty Cobb Out As Trump Lawyer]
The Washington Post reported yesterday that Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s office has threatened to subpoena the president’s testimony in the Russia probe: In a tense meeting in early March with special counsel Robert S. Mueller III, President Trump’s lawyers insisted he had no obligation to talk with federal investigators probing Russia’s interference in the 2016 presidential campaign. But Mueller responded that he … Read More
Now You’re Talking My Language
Trump takes a foray into legal argument: “The questions are an intrusion into the President’s Article 2 powers under the Constitution to fire any Executive Branch Employee…what the President was thinking is an outrageous…..as to the President’s unfettered power to fire anyone…” Joe Digenova, former US Attorney — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 2, 2018 Yeah, he’s actually quoting his … Read More
49 (or so) Questions
A pretty big bombshell yesterday, as the NY Times published a list of questions that Mueller wants to ask Trump. This is a HUGE read on what Mueller is doing and has investigated. Before I get to the questions, there is one BIG question about these questions: Where did they come from and how did the Times get them? (Okay, … Read More
Trump Campaign Trying To Break Every Campaign Finance Law Ever Written
Or so it seems. ABC News reports: The Trump campaign has spent nearly $228,000 to cover some of the legal expenses for President Donald Trump’s personal attorney Michael Cohen, sources familiar with the payments tell ABC News, raising questions about whether the Trump campaign may have violated campaign finance laws. Federal Election Commission records show three payments made from the Trump … Read More
Document Dump: The Terrible Horrible Self-Serving GOP House Intel Committee Report
Guess what, Devin Nunes and company didn’t find collusion! This allows the President to tweet… Just Out: House Intelligence Committee Report released. “No evidence” that the Trump Campaign “colluded, coordinated or conspired with Russia.” Clinton Campaign paid for Opposition Research obtained from Russia- Wow! A total Witch Hunt! MUST END NOW! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 27, 2018 The … Read More
That Was Quick
Government lawyers are using Trump’s self-damaging rant on Fox & Friends this morning to argue that very few documents seized from Cohen will have little attorney-client privilege because — according to Trump — Cohen does “a tiny tiny little fraction” of legal work for him. (See page 4, footnote 3)
Reminder: This Is Not Normal – Unhinged President Rants On TV And Hurts His Legal Battles
The President of the United States went on a rant on Fox & Friends this morning. Trump went on long, loopy, repetitive riffs about how “fake” and “phony” everything is: the Jackson allegations, Comey’s memos, Stormy Daniels’s assertions, the Robert Mueller investigation. The hosts kept trying to bring up Kanye West’s pro-Trump tweets, but all they got were warmed-over campaign lines … Read More
Why The Nunes Release Of The Comey Memos Backfired
David Frum gets it right: It’s another familiar story that conservatives have built themselves a closed information system. The system generates and repeats agreed fictions, and people are rewarded according to their ability to internalize, repeat, and embellish these fictions. The system has revved itself into hyper-activity in the Trump years. And no Trump-era fiction has been more profoundly internalized … Read More
DNC Files Lawsuit Against Russia, WikiLeaks, and the Donald Trump Campaign
It looks like Democrats, like the Republicans in Congress, want to take a look at what Mueller has. The Democratic National Committee is ready to take things to court. The complaint, filed in federal district court in Manhattan, alleges that top Trump campaign officials conspired with the Russian government and its military spy agency to hurt Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton … Read More