WTF Community

Day 659

Updated 11/9/2018 1:24 PM PST

1/ Trump was involved in "nearly every step" of the hush-money payments to Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal and he may have violated federal campaign-finance laws by participating in the deals for their silence. David Pecker, chief executive of American Media Inc., offered to use the National Enquirer to buy their silence, eventually paying McDougal $150,000 after Trump asked Pecker to squash her story. As a presidential candidate, Trump "directed deals in phone calls and meetings" related to the two women with Michael Cohen, who pleaded guilty in August to campaign-finance violations. Cohen also admitted that he made payments to Daniels and McDougal at the direction of "a candidate for federal office" with the intention of influencing the outcome of the 2016 presidential election. (Wall Street Journal)


This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://whatthefuckjusthappenedtoday.com/2018/11/09/day-659/
4 Likes

Senator Collins is making a statement regarding Mueller, and wonder if it has any traction with the R’s. So far, McConnell 'n co are never going to go against T.

GOP Sen. Susan Collins (Maine) on Wednesday warned the Trump administration against interfering with special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation, saying he “must be allowed” to finish it.

“It is imperative that the Administration not impede the Mueller investigation. I’m concerned Rod Rosenstein will no longer be overseeing the probe,” Collins said in a string of tweets.

Collins, a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, also said that Mueller “must be allowed to complete his work without interference” regardless of who is the attorney general.

2 Likes

Here’s our man, Benjamin Wittes of Lawfare…he’s got a BOOM! - article regarding how much T must/may have known about the payments to Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal.

Article is from WSJ…is very long with a timeline of Michael Cohen’s and David Pecker’s involvement in paying for women’s silence and what T’s involvement in this may be. As imagined, it does look like that indeed T was very much involved with these payments, had knowledge of how to handle the payments, etc.

These comments must be coming from Cohen’s end or perhaps David Pecker, of American Media. As we know, David Pecker has some sought to plea bargain with Special Counsel. But the WSJ, a conservative paper, does analyze with great acuity T’s potential (and undeniable) influence in these activities.

BOOM :boom: indeed!

Donald Trump Played Central Role in Hush Payoffs to Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal

As a presidential candidate in August 2015, Donald Trump huddled with a longtime friend, media executive David Pecker, in his cluttered 26th floor Trump Tower office and made a request.

What can you do to help my campaign? he asked, according to people familiar with the meeting.

Mr. Pecker, chief executive of American Media Inc., offered to use his National Enquirer tabloid to buy the silence of women if they tried to publicize alleged sexual encounters with Mr. Trump.

Less than a year later, Mr. Trump asked Mr. Pecker to quash the story of a former Playboy model who said they’d had an affair. Mr. Pecker’s company soon paid $150,000 to the model, Karen McDougal, to keep her from speaking publicly about it. Mr. Trump later thanked Mr. Pecker for the assistance.

The Trump Tower meeting and its aftermath are among several previously unreported instances in which Mr. Trump intervened directly to suppress stories about his alleged sexual encounters with women, according to interviews with three dozen people who have direct knowledge of the events or who have been briefed on them, as well as court papers, corporate records and other documents.

2 Likes

Which is now under investigation by the FBI. :smirk:

4 Likes

Breaking news about Whitaker’s involvement in World Patent Marketing, the company that scammed millions from investors. It’s now been revealed that the FTC didn’t just investigate the company; they also investigated Whitaker himself and the role he played in silencing its victims. However, the Feds’ investigation of him was never completed because he “rebuffed” a subpoena! He told them he was “too busy.” Say what? Anyway, it’s good to know that the next time I’m served a subpoena, I can just throw it in the trash and claim I’m fully booked. That’s a neat trick. :tophat::rabbit2:

This whole thing smelled fishy from the start and now it’s really starting to stink. :fish::sunny:

Federal investigators last year looked into whether Matthew G. Whitaker, as an advisory board member of a Miami patent company accused of fraud by customers, played a role in trying to help the company silence critics by threatening legal action, according to two people with knowledge of the inquiry.

Whitaker, named this week by President Trump as acting attorney general, occasionally served as an outside legal adviser to the company, World Patent Marketing, writing a series of letters on its behalf, according to people familiar with his role.

But he rebuffed an October 2017 subpoena from the Federal Trade Commission seeking his records related to the company, according to two people with knowledge of the case.

When the FTC subpoenaed Whitaker for his records related to the company in October 2017, he failed to provide any information, telling investigators that he was busy at that time moving from Iowa to Washington for a new job, according to people with knowledge of the case.

At the time, Whitaker was preparing to assume a new post: chief of staff to then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

I say we renew that subpoena today! :writing_hand:

5 Likes

This good news is courtesy of a link from currentstatus.io.

The :ocean: rolls on!

5 Likes

Trump really, really wants to tell you that he absolutely does not know Matt Whitaker.*

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nITGkfOiWCs

This is so hilarious I almost posted it in the humor thread, but when I stopped laughing I remembered how serious this actually is. Yesterday, Trump tried to obstruct justice in broad daylight by appointing an utterly unqualified, scamster lackey as the head of the DOJ. And now, today, before the guy has even unpacked his stapler, Trump appears to be positioning him for a quick nudge under the bus.

 

* One month ago Trump said he did know Matt Whitaker and that Matt Whitaker is a great guy, but never mind that.

4 Likes

This topic was automatically closed 15 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.

Anybody that can potentially help him out of this mess is “great” it seems.

2 Likes