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
What Is THIS All About?
NBC News is reporting that Trump’s bodyguard basically “raided” his personal doctor’s office and stole all Trump’s medical records. In February 2017, a top White House aide who was Trump’s longtime personal bodyguard, along with the top lawyer at the Trump Organization and a third man, showed up at the office of Trump’s New York doctor without notice and took … 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)
Ronny Jackson Bows Out
Although “the allegations against [him] are completely false and fabricated,” Dr. Ronny Jackson is withdrawing from consideration as the head of the Department of Veterans Affairs. Those allegations, which come from more than 20 sources, include passing out drunk while on an overseas trip with then-President Barack Obama, drunkenly pounding on the door of a female employee while on an overseas … Read More
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
Mulvaney, The Head Of The Consumer Finance Protection Bureau, Is The Wolf Guarding The Henhouse
The man is very Trumpian in his dealings: Mick Mulvaney, the interim director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, told banking industry executives on Tuesday that they should press lawmakers hard to pursue their agenda, and revealed that, as a congressman, he would meet only with lobbyists if they had contributed to his campaign. “We had a hierarchy in my office … Read More
White House Didn’t Vet Their Guy To Head The Vet Administration And Now He’s In Trouble
Republicans and Democrats on the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee are raising concerns about allegations involving Rear Adm. Ronny Jackson, President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Department of Veterans Affairs, and are reviewing them to determine if they are substantial enough to upend his nomination. Committee members have been told about allegations related to improper conduct in various stages of … 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