FBI raids Cohen's office

nighttimer said:

President Whiny McBaby Hands called in to Faux and Friends and gave his typically moronic and deranged ramblings, but he did hand Stormy Daniels a nice gift when he brought up Michael Cohen:

Michael is in business. He’s really a businessman. A fairly big business, as I understand it. I don’t know his business. But this doesn’t have to do with me. Michael is a businessman. He’s got a business—he also practices law, I would say probably the big thing is his business, and they’re looking into something having to do with his business. I have nothing to do with his business. I can tell you … I have many, many—just so you understand, I have many attorneys, sadly I have so many attorneys you wouldn’t even believe it. Michael is somebody … Well, as a percentage of my overall legal work, [he did] a tiny, tiny little fraction. But Michael would represent me, and represent me on some things. He represents me, like with this crazy Stormy Daniels deal, he represented me, and, you know, from what I see, he did absolutely nothing wrong. … From what I understand, they’re looking at his businesses. I’m not involved, and I’ve been told I’m not involved.

Federal prosecutors immediately seized upon this revelation during a hearing before Judge Kimba Wood.

Interesting.

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I hadn't seen it pointed out that Trump's comment means very little of the files Cohen claims attorney-client priviledge over would actually be safe from scrutiny.

I HAD seen it pointed out that Trump's comment of Cohen representing him in the Stormy Daniels case effectively means he admits he lied about not knowing anything about Stormy Daniels or Cohen's deals/interactions.

nighttimer said:

Michael is in business. He’s really a businessman. A fairly big business, as I understand it. I don’t know his business. But this doesn’t have to do with me. Michael is a businessman. He’s got a business—he also practices law, I would say probably the big thing is his business, and they’re looking into something having to do with his business. I have nothing to do with his business. I can tell you … I have many, many—just so you understand, I have many attorneys, sadly I have so many attorneys you wouldn’t even believe it. Michael is somebody … Well, as a percentage of my overall legal work, [he did] a tiny, tiny little fraction. But Michael would represent me, and represent me on some things. He represents me, like with this crazy Stormy Daniels deal, he represented me, and, you know, from what I see, he did absolutely nothing wrong. … From what I understand, they’re looking at his businesses. I’m not involved, and I’ve been told I’m not involved.

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Justobuddies said:

Every time he speaks I cringe at the grammar.

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DarienW said:

In one paragraph, business in some form: 10 times.

Represented: 4 times.

A stable genius indeed!

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The business of businessmen is business.

Makes perfect sense to me!

Oh, and why does Michael Cohen have 16 cell phones? I mean, who needs that many phones including a Blackberry? In 2018? For reals?

The entire segment is worth watching. The looks on the faces of the hosts are pretty clear. A few minutes in, they're embarrased to have this child-man talking on their show.

https://youtu.be/0XyxIZnnGwg

Hugh Hewitt tweeted his own take on the call-in:

Listening to @realDonaldTrump having fun and swinging from the hips on @foxandfriends and wondering why he hasn't been doing this more. This works. He's the best promoter of his own record and people.

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Maybe he genuinely sees it that way, but reminds me of the dog in the burning house saying 'everything is fine'.

Trump certainly is the most prolific promoter of his own record and people. He does it ceaselessly, facts be damned.

Decades ago, a co-worker and I took a long lunch hour to test-drive a couple of cars I was maybe kinda interested in, from two different dealers. When we later compared notes, his opinion on the salesmen we dealt with were exactly opposite of mine. The guy I found professional and not pushy, he found disinterested and aloof. The guy I thought was the stereotype of “loud used-car salesman” he found friendly and engaging.

I’ve no interest in trying to understand why anyone who reads or watches real news thinks Trump is doing well in examples like that rambly word-salad doddering-grandpa interview. We live in very different worlds.

Business Insider: Investigators are known to be focusing on at least three Trump-Russia events that Cohen was involved in.

Concise summary of the three areas of interest to Mueller: The Trump Tower meeting, the "mysterious" Prague trip, and "A Moscow-friendly 'peace plan'".

That's pretty clearly all connected to Trump.

TRUMP: "I have foreign friends. Lots of friends EVERYWHERE. BIG friends in a lot of BIG places like China, Europe and New-York. Not Russia. I have nothing with Russia. There is no collusion with Russia. No collusion at all. It's all a big witch hunt by the obstructionists Democrats in cahoots with Comey. They don't want a wall. We need a wall. And Mexico will pay for it. Or else. What was the question again?"

INTERVIEWER: "Do you have a coherent foreign policy?"

-cb

Cohen may (or may not) be ready to flip.

I think it's inevitable he will, but any deities you wanna pray to in the meantime would be helpful. Thx.

I'm eager to see Mueller's team raid the NRA's offices. They got money from Russians and the NRA funneled that money to the GOP. That raid is unavoidable. It's written on the wall.

Pray the deities this happens before November...

-cb

cbenoi1 said:

I'm eager to see Mueller's team raid the NRA's offices. They got money from Russians and the NRA funneled that money to the GOP. That raid is unavoidable. It's written on the wall.

Pray the deities this happens before November...

-cb

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Really? That's a new one on me. That sounds like it came from late-night AM radio. Do you have a legitimate source for that?

R.A. Lundberg said:

Really? That's a new one on me. That sounds like it came from late-night AM radio. Do you have a legitimate source for that?

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Here's NPR on the subject: https://www.npr.org/2018/03/01/5900...-politicians-cultivation-of-nra-ties-revealed

A prominent Kremlin-linked Russian politician has methodically cultivated ties with leaders of the National Rifle Association and documented efforts in real time over six years to leverage those connections and gain deeper access into American politics, NPR has learned.

Russian politician Alexander Torshin said his ties to the NRA provided him access to Donald Trump — and the opportunity to serve as a foreign election observer in the United States during the 2012 election...

These revelations come amid news that the FBI is investigating whether Torshin, the deputy governor of the Bank of Russia, illegally funneled money to the NRA to assist the Trump campaign in 2016, McClatchy reported in January.

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I heard this months ago from a Canadian friend. At the time I said "whoa! That is clearly an unfounded rumor. Much as I detest Trump and the alt right, I cannot swallow this one." BUT then NPR backed my friend's claims. I no longer believe this is an unfounded rumor. NPR is an impeccable source. By the way, NPR stands for National Public Radio. NOT a late night radio program. There is no comparison between late night lunacy radio and our nation's public radio station. --s6

U.S. prosecutors pull encrypted messages from phones seized in Cohen raids

Federal prosecutors investigating U.S. President Donald Trump’s longtime personal lawyer Michael Cohen have extracted more than 700 pages of messages sent using encrypted programs like WhatsApp and Signal on phones seized from Cohen, according to a court filing on Friday.

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This could get interesting.

But her emails.

-cb

WSJ: Top Trump Organization official subpoenaed to testify in Michael Cohen probe
https://www.cnn.com/2018/07/26/politics/michael-cohen-allen-weisselberg-subpoena/index.html

A former Trump Organization employee told CNN that Weisselberg being subpoenaed as part of the Cohen probe is the "ultimate nightmare scenario for Trump" because Weisselberg knows "anything and everything" about the finances of the Trump Organization.

"Allen knows where all the financial bodies are buried. Allen knows every deal, he knows every dealership, he knows every sale, anything and everything that's been done -- he knows every membership. Anything you can think of," the person said.

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Mueller. Love the guy.

-cb

Months ago, my Canadian friend also told me to look for the name Maria Butina. --s6

Citations please

SandyH said:

No body seem to care about economy, jobs, secure borders, less crime and all that good stuff happening in our country....

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Oh, I care. I just want the truth, not propaganda.

If the propaganda is false, is reporting that fact "negative", do you think?

Cohen pleads guilty to eight charges, implicates Trump.

Manafort found guilty of eight charges, declared mistrial on ten.

Just placeholder articles atm while more news develops and the hot takes drop.

Gonna be a fun week.

Kjbartolotta said:

Cohen pleads guilty to eight charges, implicates Trump.

Manafort found guilty of eight charges, declared mistrial on ten.

Just placeholder articles atm while more news develops and the hot takes drop.

Gonna be a fun week.

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Fun, indeed.

I want to believe... *pokes news with stick, waits for it to turn to crud like so much other possibly-hopeful news*

Reports: Trump Organization finance chief gets immunity

Media outlets are reporting that President Donald Trump’s bookkeeper for his personal and business affairs for decades has been granted immunity in the federal probe of former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen.

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He's been with the family since the 70s.

I agree with a take I've seen all over Twitter: he wasn't given immunity just to go after Cohen.

Whatever *45 does, it won't be good. But this, overall, imo, is good news.

But, but, but...the only kind of flipping that should be legal is real estate flipping!

Speaking of flipping:

David Pecker Of 'National Enquirer' Publisher Said To Have Immunity In Cohen Case

If you were writing this as fiction, you couldn't use "Pecker" as his last name. But since it is, the world is having fun. MSNBC did not use a chyron that read, "Trump Worried About Pecker Leaking," but how many of us were already thinking it?