US Politics December 2018: ~very legal and very cool~

let's run the country like a business ; )

"Federal prosecutors said in a new court filing that President Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen should spend significant time in prison — saying his assistance to investigators probing the president does not outweigh his past crimes."

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/federal-prosecutors-recommend-substantial-prison-term-for-former-trump-lawyer-michael-cohen/2018/12/07/e144f248-f7f3-11e8-8c9a-860ce2a8148f_story.html?utm_term=.f965526d9158

here we go

wait, so he *didn't* have/give up the dirt on Trump? *sigh*

This is all for stuff done at trump’s instruction right? Not the taxi stuff?

I would read it but i’m lazy and like to impose on people

only according to Cohen, Trump denies it, there's no proof

aiui

“He seeks extraordinary leniency — a sentence of no jail time — based principally on his rose-colored view of the seriousness of the crimes; his claims to a sympathetic personal history; and his provision of certain information to law enforcement,” prosecutors wrote in their filing. “But the crimes committed by Cohen were more serious than his submission allows and were marked by a pattern of deception that permeated his professional life.”

The filing also suggests Cohen’s cooperation with law enforcement was not so significant to the investigations swirling around the president.
"To be clear: Cohen does not have a cooperation agreement and is not receiving a Section 5K1.1 letter either from this Office or (special counsel Robert S. Mueller III), and therefore is not properly described as a ‘cooperating witness,’ as that term is commonly used in this district.”

wait, so he *didn't* have/give up the dirt on Trump? *sigh*

― Οὖτις, Friday, December 7, 2018 5:11 PM (one minute ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I first interpreted it as the crimes were too bad or too many to be completely forgiven despite the information he had. So opposite.

Which is it really?

maybe his testimony is important as a corroborating account but they have other supporting evidence so it's not like it hinged on cohen? dunno

like, thanks for your testimony that booth shot lincoln, but it was a crowded theater

yeah that's what I thought, that "not so significant to the investigations" means they already had plenty of proof

The stormy daniels payments were proven to have been ordered by trump by that tape. And that seems to be one of the more serious charges (campaign finance stuff, misleading banks, etc)

THREAD: What should we make of the conclusion by federal prosecutors in New York that Donald Trump directed Michael Cohen to commit a crime?

— Renato Mariotti (@renato_mariotti) December 7, 2018

He's probably not even mad.

"In particular, and as Cohen himself has now admitted, with respect to both payments, he acted in coordination with and at the direction of Individual-1."

elsewhere they note Individual-1 was elected president, so this could be jimmy carter i suppose

hey, Carter only lusts in his heart!

the mueller memo too
https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/5453418-Mueller-Cohen-filing.html

hmm "information provided has been credible and consistent" = yeah they have other corroborating evidence

elsewhere they note Individual-1 was elected president, so this could be jimmy carter i suppose

― 𝔠𝔞𝔢𝔨 (caek), Friday, December 7, 2018 2:20 PM (three minutes ago)

No way man, lock her up!

The defendant, without prompting by the SCO, also corrected other false and misleading statements that he had made concerning his outreach to and contacts with Russian officials during the course of the campaign. For example, in a radio interview in September 2015, the defendant suggested that Individual 1 meet with the President of Russia in New York City during his visit for the United Nations General Assembly. When asked previously about these events, the defendant claimed his public comments had been spontaneous and had not been discussed within the campaign or the Company. During his proffer sessions, the defendant admitted that this account was false and that he had in fact conferred with Individual 1 about contacting the Russian government before reaching out to gauge Russia’s interest in such a meeting. The meeting ultimately did not take place.

xpost yeah, pundit and legal expert take away seems to be that mueller must be swimming in evidence.

dibs on the moscow project as a queens nightclub name

prime example of the reality that if this asshole didn’t completely shit himself everyday the fake failing news media would be propping this guy up beyond belief.

otm x 100

Incredibly, based on some of the details being revealed, the Russia outreach to Trump Inc began at least as early as 2015 and continued, per references, though 2017/2018, which is pretty incredible. That means All throughout the campaign, when he talked about Russia or denied Russian involvement, they totally knew, and Russia was totally involved. That casts a shadow across everything, even stuff that seemed minor. Many suspected this stuff, but this confirms it, because Mueller is operating on evidence, not suspicions.

Or, as being noted elsewhere, proof or indication that Trump has apparently committed many felonies of varying degrees, and if he was anyone other than President he'd be indicted.

Now, DJTJ or others on the periphery ... they should probably be even more concerned than they were before.

Jury finds James Fields guilty of first-degree murder of Heather Heyer. Guilty on 5 counts aggravated malicious wounding and 3 counts malicious wounding.

— C-VILLE Weekly (@cvillenews_desk) December 7, 2018

IANAL, does that mean life?

it seems like having a guilty plea in a sentencing deal that implicates Individual-1 would mean there has to be an indictment coming once that sentencing is complete... right? and then we're back to "can a sitting president be indicted" territory

xp

buzzkill: 'manafort filing to be mostly secret'

https://www.cnn.com/2018/12/07/politics/paul-manafort-robert-mueller-donald-trump/index.html

he has another trial where he will be facing the death penalty (federal hate crime charge)

xp

Incredibly, based on some of the details being revealed, the Russia outreach to Trump Inc began at least as early as 2015

I think it's a surprise not that he was dealing with Russians, but that it had a specifically political goal in mind, no?

Hear me out: Valentine's Day cards... #Individual1 pic.twitter.com/K3cwSlrpaF

— Parker Molloy (@ParkerMolloy) December 7, 2018

https://www.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.190597/gov.uscourts.dcd.190597.460.0.pdf

someone had a pretty otm tweet last week about how the Russia stuff never gets better for him, it just increasingly gets worse and worse. pretty incredible really.

although Trump seems to see it a bit differently...

Totally clears the President. Thank you!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 7, 2018

When you've lost the Russians...

Senior members of the ruling United Russia party even regretted Trump’s victory, though Putin has dismissed the notion that a presidency of Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton would have averted the current frictions.

“It’s far worse than it would have been under Clinton,” said Frants Klintsevich, a senator who sits on United Russia’s governing council. “She’s an experienced politician and any of her actions would have been based on logic and some kind of discussion. Here we’re seeing huge swings in one direction and another.”

Putin’s foreign policy adviser, Yuri Ushakov, insisted there was “no offense taken” after the Kremlin had talked up the Argentina meeting only to be left embarrassed. Still, “We won’t beg the American side” for talks, he said.

xpost That's what I've been saying, too. This shit has been going on for years - years! - and not only has not a single week has gone by without things looking worse, never, not once, have we learned anything exculpatory.

Which is to say, not only are the folks around Trump bad people, but I'm beginning to think he might not be a good person, either.

I want to line up every person who favored the installation of DJT because they thought they had a firm grip on the Dipshit-Bot 5000 remote control (Putin, you can be first) and slap the living shit out of them, one-by-one.

surely slapping is not harsh enough

how about stabbing

It is amusing how even the Russians seem to have underestimated his incompetent turdiness.

this shit has been so obvious since day 1, the only shocking thing is that so few people have managed to convince so many others that it wasn't

Totally clears the President. Thank you!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 7, 2018

This is a creepy level of gaslighting

"That Individual-1 guy, on the other hand..."

all the redacted stuff is about hillary and soetero, right?

The aforementioned felony is not related to Russia though, it's about DJT directing Cohen to use his campaign finances for the payouts of hush money... which he (and now obviously Rudy) lied about several times in public as well as most likely in writing to the SCO.

xxxpost What does he have to lose by positing the polar opposite of reality at this point, really.