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That Michael Cohen x Russia x Stormy Daniels thing

General Discussion
#3

More bits of news re: Cohen’s LLC coming from Committee to Investigate Russia - also an aggregator of what’s going on w/ these moment-to-moment revelations.

Like money going directly to the RNC, which has been reported and gets to reflect on all levels of RNC even the top tier Republicans may have known that money was coming from Russia (rumors about Ryan, McConnell swirl) And that CREW (Former GW Bush lawyer, Richard Painter and Harvard Law professor Lawrence Tribe’s entity) are making an inquiry as what Trump’s role may have been vis-a-vis Cohen’s alleged pay-for-play money grab.

We can already hear the denials coming.

Take a look here…Cohen's LLC: The Latest | Committee to Investigate Russia

A couple of excerpts
NBC News:

A review of public election filings shows that the CEO of Columbus Nova, Andrew Intrater, made several political donations over the past two years.

According to public record filings he donated $29,600 to the Republican National Committee in June 2017, $35,000 to the Trump Victory PAC the same month, and then $250,000 to the Trump Inauguration Fund.

And coming from CNN (linked within the body of the first link)

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), a government watchdog, sent a letter to the Office of Government Ethics in March asking for an inquiry into whether President Trump had an interest in Cohen’s company:

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (“CREW”) respectfully requests that the Office of Government Ethics (“OGE”) exercise its oversight responsibilities to determine whether President Donald J. Trump held a beneficial interest in a limited liability company (“LLC”) that was used by his personal lawyer to make a surreptitious payment to a third party in the weeks before the 2016 presidential election. If he did, the LLC should have been reported as an “interest in property” on the public financial disclosure report (“OGE 278”) President Trump filed with OGE in June 2017.

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#4

(I updated your post to use the blockquote instead of the pre-formatted text shortcode)

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#6

Thanks for compiling this, Matt. It’s just–wow–jaw-dropping. Like so much else. . . .

#7

Cohen Watch :eyes:

Michael Cohen’s Business Partner Agrees to Cooperate as Part of Plea Deal

Under the deal reached with the New York attorney general’s office, the partner, Evgeny A. Freidman, a Russian immigrant who is known as the Taxi King, specifically agreed to assist government prosecutors in state or federal investigations, according to a person briefed on the matter.

Mr. Freidman, who was disbarred earlier this month, had been accused of failing to pay more than $5 million in taxes and faced four counts of criminal tax fraud and one of grand larceny — all B felonies. Each carries a maximum prison sentence of up to 25 years in prison.

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#8

Avenatti is basically saying, “Lordy, let’s hear all the tapes, including the ones with Trump.”

Here’s a copy of the letter Avenatti filed with court today:

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#9

Cohen Watch :eyes:

Trump lawyer ‘paid by Ukraine’ to arrange White House talks

Donald Trump’s personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, received a secret payment of at least $400,000 (£300,000) to fix talks between the Ukrainian president and President Trump, according to sources in Kiev close to those involved.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-44215656

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#10

Cohen Watch :eyes:

Eleven days before the inauguration, a Russian Oligarch paid Cohen $1 million in exchange for a consulting contract with the purpose of strengthening US, Russian relations under President Trump.

Holy guacamole guys! Cohen is going to be in so much trouble!

At Trump Tower, Michael Cohen and Oligarch Discussed Russian Relations

Eleven days before the presidential inauguration last year, a billionaire Russian businessman with ties to the Kremlin visited Trump Tower in Manhattan to meet with Donald J. Trump’s personal lawyer and fixer, Michael D. Cohen, according to video footage and another person who attended the meeting.

In Mr. Cohen’s office on the 26th floor, he and the oligarch, Viktor Vekselberg, discussed a mutual desire to strengthen Russia’s relations with the United States under President Trump, according to Andrew Intrater, an American businessman who attended the meeting and invests money for Mr. Vekselberg. The men also arranged to see one another during the inauguration festivities, the second of their three meetings, Mr. Intrater said.

Days after the inauguration, Mr. Intrater’s private equity firm, Columbus Nova, awarded Mr. Cohen a $1 million consulting contract, a deal that has drawn the attention of federal authorities investigating Mr. Cohen, according to people briefed on the inquiry.

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#11

@Pet_Proletariat

At Trump Tower, Michael Cohen and Oligarch Discussed Russian Relations

Shocking, but not surprising, right?

This is almost an aside, but I’m kind of p.o.'d at the NYT’s coverage of this event (don’t get me wrong, all things considered, NYT reporters are my heroes). The tone of this article appears uncharacteristically biased in favor of Cohen and the Trump-camp. Take the headline: “At Trump Tower, Michael Cohen and Oligarch Discussed Russian Relations” – the purpose of the meeting is presented as fact here, even though, later in the article, we find that the only source for the meeting’s agenda is one of the participants who has a strong motive for twisting the truth. A more accurate headline might be the one used by CNN “Russian oligarch met with Michael Cohen at Trump Tower during transition.”

Mmm . . . I guess in the great scheme of things, pointing out this distinction isn’t that important – maybe I should grab another cup of coffee and get outside.

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#12

I thoroughly agree, whomever writes their headlines isn’t very good at their job. It can be misleading.

#13

We’re all watching and waiting :smirk:

According to a source close to Cohen, Cohen has told friends that he expects to be arrested any day now. (Reached for comment, Cohen wrote in a text message, “Your alleged source is wrong!”) The specter of Cohen flipping has Trump advisers on edge. “Trump should be super worried about Michael Cohen,” a former White House official said. “If anyone can blow up Trump, it’s him.”

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#14

It’s happening

President Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen has surrendered to the FBI in New York as he prepares to plead guilty Tuesday afternoon in an investigation into his activities and business dealings, according to people familiar with the matter.

Cohen is expected to plead guilty to charges related to bank fraud, tax fraud and a campaign finance violation, according to two people with knowledge of the situation.

A hearing in the case is scheduled for 4 p.m. Tuesday at a federal courthouse in Manhattan. Afterward, Deputy U.S. Attorney Robert Khuzami, who has been overseeing the probe, is scheduled to make public remarks.

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#15

The number of the day seems to be 8

President Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen pleaded guilty Tuesday in a Manhattan courthouse to eight violations of banking, tax and campaign finance laws in a federal investigation that scrutinized his business dealings and his efforts to silence women with negative stories about Trump.

In an appearance in a Manhattan courthouse Tuesday afternoon, Cohen pleaded to five counts of tax evasion, one count of making a false statement to a bank and two campaign finance violations: making an unlawful corporate campaign contribution and making an excessive campaign contribution.

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#16

KaBOOM

Implicates T here.

BREAKING: Michael Cohen says he was directed to violate campaign law at the direction of a candidate for federal office

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-08-21/michael-cohen-appears-in-court-over-hush-payments-plea-update?utm_content=business&utm_campaign=socialflow-organic&cmpid=socialflow-twitter-business&utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social

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#17

The NY Times confirms

Michael D. Cohen, President Trump’s former fixer, pleaded guilty on Tuesday to campaign finance and other charges. He made the extraordinary admission that he paid a pornographic actress “at the direction of the candidate,” referring to Mr. Trump, to secure her silence about an affair she said she had with Mr. Trump.

Mr. Cohen told a judge in United States District Court in Manhattan that the payment was “for the principal purpose of influencing the election” for president in 2016.

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#18

Hallmark sound to something big - BOOM from Ben Wittes/Lawfare Blog.

On the Lawfare Blog is the plea agreement that Cohen is asking. check out document on the link.

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#19

The 2nd document in that Lawfare article is the charging document. I just finished reading it, tells the whole story. I can’t wait for Lawfare’s analysis!

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#20

Cohen’s lawyer, Lanny Davis on Twitter :astonished:

image
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#21

So I was reading this article :point_down:

And I come across this line

The deal doesn’t preclude further prosecutions, including other charges against Mr. Cohen.

And this

In May, Michael Avenatti, a lawyer for Ms. Clifford, released a memo detailing payments made to Mr. Cohen from companies including AT&T Inc. and Novartis AG, as well as an investment firm linked to a Russian oligarch. Federal agents investigated whether Mr. Cohen lobbied Trump administration officials on the companies’ behalf without registering as a lobbyist, the Journal previously reported.

When is all this :point_up_2:going to come up again?

Here’s The NY Times story from May again. :eyes:

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#22

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#5

Thanks… :slight_smile:

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