Hopefully Donald Trump will serve one term or less, and his corrupt administration will go down in history as an anomoly. But what about all of the Republican Senators and Representatives who stood by him or said nothing, and will continue to be re-elected? The whole party deserves to be voted out of office. As long as they "serve," they will try to bring down the country. The Republican party created and enabled Trump. They are all deplorable.
9
Place Cohen and his family under federal protection. He is at risk until he testifies under oath. Too much risk.
2
Wait for episode 5, don't waste energy.
1
Manafort and Cohen seemed cut from the same cloth. I wonder how widespread is this among Trump's cronies and hanger-ons. This pattern of buying mega-expensive properties and living extravagant lifestyles on the banks money cheating the banks. It looks like several of these people will be down-sizing from mega-expensive condos and mansions into federal and/or state "tiny houses". I wonder what we are going to find out about Kushner, Don Jr., Eric and the rest of Trump's family that are involved in the "family business". Drain the swamp indeed.
7
The Times forgot a major takeaway:
New York State immediately issued a subpoena for Cohen in their case ongoing against Trump Co. This is where Trump's taxes (and likely crimes) are exposed to the public.
As far as I've seen, only the Associated Press was reporting this. Cohen's lawyer has assured full cooperation with this State investigation, and because these are State crimes, there can be no pardons or self pardons for Trump or Kushner or Jr or Ivanka or any of these low-lifes of which entirely compose Trump's criminal enterprises.
The Times left out some good news! The only thing most people are combing the papers for.
10
When Cohens office/home/hotel, was raided, it was like Mueller just positioned his knight to where it could take either of 2 valuable pieces next move. There was no way Trump could shut up both Cohen & Manafort. One, maybe, but definitely not both. Then came Trumps turn to move and instead of studying the board he called to the audience: "I'm the best at this, right? It doesn't really matter what I do, right??" And all the simpleminded cheered!
10
Ya gotta wonder at the level of anxiety someone undergoes weaving such a web of lies, fraud, and secrets. I don't think most people could take the stress, not even a lawyer for the president.
4
Is it possible the ease with which Cohen plead guilty to eight charges was to protect his wife? I am led to believe that the fraudulent documents submitted for his loans was co-signed by his wife. This to me, a non lawyer, would suggest her being complicit in his crimes. If so, then his plea would have been tendered to have her participation go without any prosecution.
6
We clearly should be cheering politically motivated prosecution ... the republicans clearly wouldn't use the same tool.
1
Nothing will happen people , it’s sad but many people have no idea of how the govt works , there will be NO impeachment. Republican controlled congress and soon a conservative Supreme Court . The coasts do not control this country . As soon as democrats realize that they can take back the govt .
2
Reading these comments, people don't understand why the Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal affairs are a problem. It has nothing to do with the sex. It has everything to do with the payoffs, which are considered illegal campaign contributions because they weren't disclosed.
15
Reading the plea agreement it seems Cohen got nothing but a recommendation from the prosecutors to the judge that his sentence not be the statutory maximum and that his fines be established at a certain level.
It says that the court is not compelled whatsoever to abide by these recommendations and the prosecutor's provide no guarantees that the sentencing judge will follow their guidance.
Even the sentencing recommendations are predicated upon his good behavior; that is, his cooperation.
Cohen will tell them everything he knows and if its not enough he'll start making stuff up.
3
A fact not yet discussed is the tax implications of the 2 payments and their characterization.
The payments would ordinarily be considered as personal expenses and not deductible as business expenses.
Yet by characterizing them as a legal retainer, the amounts are being listed as legal fees and written off.
Interesting dilemma for Trump--does he file an amended return and acknowledge the problem or does he leave matters as they are and then face an evasion issue.
4
@ken - geat question, along those lines, did Stormy report her receipt of the money as income as well? That'd be awkward if she didn't.
2
Theses are the people who run the world?
13
One of the ironies in the Cohn case is how remarkably it resembles James McDougal's financial troubles that all unraveled during the Whitewater investigation.
Both ended up delving into routine financial matters as well as the sexual proclivities of Trump and Clinton.
With even greater irony, everyone knew Trump was a dog and his affairs probably wouldn't have mattered to those who voted for him. After all, if he can "grab them by the ..." having a full-blown affair is just par for the course.
At least Clinton had some incentive to cover up the Jennifer Flowers affair, along with the many others that he was involved in.
But Trump was an arrogant, misogynist dog from day one. But as they say, every dog has his day.
10
GREED
Trump, Manafort, and Cohen are all so greedy and make stupid decisions because of that.
My husband has been out of work since May and we have a special needs child who lives with us. This is what the real world is like. They have no clue. They get what they deserve.
12
That "universe of shady dealings and unsavory characters" has played the leading politics in America's political theater for at least a century. Look at the list of these characters in the administrations since Nixon's Watergate: hundreds indicted or charged for tax evasion, kickbacks. embezzlement. fraud, perjury, obstruction of justice, illegal campaign contributions and conspiracy--and not just in the White House, but in Congress and state houses and legislatures as well. Lists of names are easily Googled. Henry Adams observed this during our first Gilded Age: "The whole fabric of our society will go to wrack if we really lay hands of reform on our rotten institutions." (1910) Fat chance.
3
Despite the fact that we have been going through a long national nightmare for nearly two years, I think yesterday we saw the first stirrings of consciousness and the possible promise that as we awaken, this will finally end.
14
Since given up and just said we’re all going to die in the end anyway so might as well just think of little things like your own backyard and forget about the big political picture… Or the world for that matter e.g. global warming, etc.
I want to know the name of the bank(s) that didn’t verify Mr. Cohen’s financial situation before approving the loans. How can they be so dumb!
17
And Republicans shamed Hillary for sticking with Bill
24
And what do you think Mike Pence is thinking now?
10
@Mia Henning I don't know, but read this: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/28/opinion/sunday/mike-pence-holy-terror...
1
@Mia Henning - He's thinking that perhaps if he stays quietly tucked away no one will question his part in all this.
8
When I read this, and the proposed sentencing, I think about the 13 years that Rod Blagojevich got and is still serving.
Maybe it's because he was a sitting governor, but it all amounted to 'the ntent' to commit a crime (the selling of a Senate Seat or at least had serious thoughts about it) as opposed to actually committing it.
Cohen actually committed these crimes he's being charged and has confessed to.
Is it that if you 'force' the govt to take you to trial, you run the risk of making the court mad.
When and if we finally get around to a trial for Trump, wonder how he will plead?
Just saying.....asking...wondering....
7
They are all sleazeballs who need to just "go away".
One takeaway though, that most New Yorkers dont seem to care enough about........Cohen was involved in the Taxi Medallion business. It was always notorious for being controlled by shady dealers.
The New York elected officials just voted to protect those guys. Bottom line, the Rich will always get richer unless all money (even on the local level) is taken out of politics.
8
But how will all of this affect the non-colluder in the White House? Cohen pleaded guilty. Trump will never plead guilty to anything. He is the most perfect stable genius in the whole wide world. He knows more than God. And he is more wonderful than Jesus.
12
I don't understand how it is that some folks can rack up millions and millions in debt and continue to go about their daily lives, but if I'm late on a payment the dunning emails/calls begin.
22
Grateful for our Judicial System! The Founders got it right. Thank God, because the Judicial system is all that has kept us from falling into total tyranny at the hands of Donald!
I want to have sympathy for Cohen, but my husband reminds me that he is a criminal and like all criminal he wants to avoid jail.
Mr. Cohen, a REAL patriot would have gone to the FBI as soon as he heard Russia wanted a meeting in Donald's lair!
I've got to speak up and ask the New York Times to investigate the cost of Donald's "ego rallies".....what do they cost, us, hard working American Tax Payers?
26
@Mari
Great Question!!! How about an investigative report series NYT?
10
Never thought I could find any sympathy for a trump crony but Cohen's face in this photo is the first time I've seen him look human without guile or bravado.
4
I said the same thing, but my husband reminded me that Cohen is a criminal and a thief. So no sympathy.
3
Yes Mari. He had a choice to make and he chose to break the law rather than break with Trump. I feel for his family but feel worse that Trump remains while those around him fall
6
When the "government" is being referred to in this article, does this mean the prosecution?
3
Yes, in criminal trials when a law has been broken it is the government that brings the case and becomes the plaintiff, be it federal, state or local. This is why such cases are named “The people Versus...” because the government is (in theory at least) representative of the people, by the people, and for the people. So any individual who breaks laws our government (representing “us”) has made is said to have committed a crime against the people.
7
It's interesting how people like Manafort, Gates, Cohen, Flynn and on and on recognized a kindred con in Trump. They were drawn to him, and he to them, just as magnetically as they were all repulsed and frightened by people like Mueller, who have records of integrity and probity and who do not share a penchant for the ostrich leather and fake Louis IV gilt vulgarity that Trump & Co. find so irresistible
It almost seems biological, an innate clubbiness of criminality, greed and ruthless selfishness that is then reflected in Trump's racist, sexist and elitist attacks on groups and individuals who either reject or don't belong in his personal soiled orbit.
23
If Mr. Cohen has this great dirt, why hasn’t Mr. Mueller already locked him in with a cooperation agreement? Mr. Mueller is a cautious man; Mr. Cohen, manifestly, is not. If the special counsel enlisted Mr. Cohen formally, that agreement would come with all of his credibility problems and tendency to act impetuously. Now Mr. Cohen’s plea has thoroughly rattled the administration. Mr. Trump and his gaffe-prone lawyer Rudy Giuliani react badly to pressure and will likely respond with incriminating statements. And Mr. Mueller will no doubt be watching. This is what federal prosecutors do best: provoke foolish reactions.
12
Lou,
Prosecutors just this week got access to the mountains of potential evidence seized from Cohen's office.
It will be a while before they can sift through it all and work out a deal with Michael Cohen.
But based on yesterday's statement by Mr. Cohen's attorney, it's certain that Cohen will be cooperating not only with prosecutors in NY, but also with the special counsel.
12
We don’t know that Mueller hasn’t locked Cohen into giving up what he knows about Trump. Why wouldn’t he Lou? He hasn’t anything to lose since Herr Donald has already kicked him to the curb. Less jail time to him would be very worth it
4
@Lou
Dear Lou,
If you read that plea agreement you will see that he could still be sentenced to up to 65 years in prison.
The prosecutors have recommended that the sentence be in the range of 46 to 63 months (rather than years), but the judge is not compelled to follow their recommendations.
It is clear if he wants to reduce his time served he had better keep on talking and it sounds very much like that is what he is doing.
4
Denial isn't a river in Egypt. Denial is a psychological defense mechanism, not a legal defense strategy.
But, denial is all the Republicans have left, soon that too will be gone.
21
Why do Trump supporters give him so many passes? Some of them believe in the power of prayer, and no doubt that that keeps VP Pence and the rest of the Evangelicals on the cabinet busy (which also explains the terrible job they are doing for the country).
This criminal entanglement should come as no surprise to anyone who have had a half an eye open; I mean just think back to Trump hosting small time mobster Joey 'No Socks' Cinque at his New Year's Eve party AFTER he was elected President of the USA. No doubt Joey No Socks is just one of the many unsavory characters that our Fake President has on his phone and in his portfolio of bad/illegal deals going back decades.
But the Trumpists seem to have an almost infinite capacity to shoot the messengers that bring them the news about their leader, including the Republican House and Senate leaders. Has it occurred to anyone out there that maybe Putin's apparatus might have something on these Republicans as well?
It would explain a lot of their behavior this past year.
16
their hatred for liberals/diversity/change/ and loss of power means they would vote for Trump for a lifetime.
he is the antithesis of grace and equality, taste, patriotism, self made, intellectually well versed they so despise.
they don't care what happens as long as a hater is their leader.
5
@Bill Cullen, Author I think the turn to irrationality came with the loss of the Vietnam war. A portion of the country could not (and does not) accept the loss of "the noble cause" and needs an explanation and a scapegoat (other than the very leaders responsible for the war).
The overall target of choice became, and remains, the "counter culture" and everything associated with it or sympathetic to it. Provided the proper codes are used a manipulative politician can feign ignorance and deny any personal responsibility for their own actions.
In action it seems quite similar to the "stabbed in the back" myth that Germans embraced after the loss of First World War.
I expect to hear a lot of internal deflection from Trumpistas how his ex-"best people" are the one's responsible for Trump's problems because they "betrayed" him.
1
So, let's be clear here. Implicating the president in ordering Cohen to commit a campaign finance violation is not exactly going to upset Planet Trump and its various satellites. And, the fact that the violations were associated with covering up marital infidelity probably helps Trump ("we know he's no saint") more than it hurts him.
What IS consequential are the hints Lanny Davis is dropping about Trump knowing in advance about Democratic Party computer system hacks. If these assertions can be corroborated, we're about to see the end of the Trump presidency. Trump will most certainly be indicted, and even sycophantic House Republicans will see Trump conspiring with Russia as a bridge too far.
16
Don’t count on Congress just yet AB. As long as his base is behind Trump, the sycophants in Congress will hold back. The November elections, we can only hope, will swing the House to the left and against this fraud in the WH.
5
Why do I have the feeling that Donald Trump's financial situation is similar to Michael Cohen's?
After this fiasco, it must be required by law that all candidates for public office release their tax returns. No exceptions.
25
As always, it seems, "It's hard to say." I'm beginning to think that none of these indictments, prosecutions and convictions will be sufficient to send a delegation of Republicans to the White House to "strongly suggest" Trump's resignation, as happened with Nixon.
In Nixon's case, there was indeed a "smoking gun" (the tapes) which constituted undeniable forensic evidence. In Trump's case, it's all circumstantial. The case that the payoffs to the women with whom Trump evidently had affairs is circumstantial as to intent to "influence the election", no matter how clear it seems.
The case that Trump's Twitterstorms constitute obstruction of justice is circumstantial, as are his threats against Sessions, Rosenstein and others.
In Trump, I fear that we have a new "Teflon Man". If Reagan could get away with Iran/Contra, what are the limits of Trump's slipperiness?
Absent undeniable forensic evidence allowing only one conclusion - none of this "It's hard to say" - I fear we Democrats may end up looking like the crazed fanatics who hounded President Obama for eight years.
We are NOT! But we could end up looking that way.
2
Fear not, I believe there is a paper trail more than a mile long. Also access to emails, texts, etc. Took two years for the Watergate Investigation to indict, it's been a year for the Russia Investigation. Plus, Cohen will cooperate, he wants to stay out of prison, and there are others. Wait for it....
10
There is a seventh takeaway.
The prosecutor knowingly avoided a review of these campaign finance allegations by the Federal Election Commission by securing this plea agreement.
This, because like the Edwards case, he knew that the FEC would determine this a personal, and not campaign finance related, transaction.
Wow.
What a coincidence.
4
He made the payments to the women to influence an election making him, indeed, guilty of campaign finance violations.
14
@DDC
That's not true.
If it were true, then every campaign that ever hired an advertising agency would also be guilty of campaign finance irregularities, because the payments were made with the express purpose of altering peoples perceptions to affect the election results.
There were no donations involved. There were no campaign staff involved.
There was nothing to tie this payment to a campaign spending regulation.
There's an enormous additional "takeaway" that the media is totally ignoring -- Trump's eventual exposure to civil liabilities once he leaves office due to impeachment or resignation with a pardon from his successor. A pardon will not shield him from a civil action by the DoJ, other government law enforcers and perhaps even private parties.
This means Mr. Trump can be sued for the billions of dollars it has cost our government to pursue his crimes and other infractions, including those which have harmed America's global image, trustworthiness, economic interests and more. These very real possibilities might spook Trump more than everything else, because they would bankrupt him and incinerate his various personal and business brands forever. He would become the "T" word until the last syllable of recorded time.
16
Think of Trump as any other authoritarian leader. They will always have between a fifth and a third of the population forever believing in them and agreeing with them. I think we will find that the Cohen and Manafort convictions will change absolutely nothing for this group of supporters nor for those in the Congress of the Republican persuasion.
7
@B. Rothman, Let's face it. Demagoguery works on people all too often.
6
True, but I know a few conservatives and they are paying attention. Looking forward to next week's poll numbers to see how his very naive base took all of this.
1
In law enforcement there is a saying, "if it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it's a duck."
No one should be surprised by this outcome. A blind person could see that Donald Trump is a thug, a person who under Roy Cohn learned to weaponize the legal system so he could bully his way out of contractual obligations, lie with impunity, and act without any moral compass.
He is long overdue for a legal (and political) comeuppance. While I don't hate Trump, I loathe him and what he has tried to do to undermine our democracy and our legal institutions.
The sooner he leaves office the better it will be for the nation.
23
and the world
3
I’m sure someone smarter than I has already beaten me to the punch; but with all the hush money careening around this sorry affair, obviously to silence sexual partners - the irony that it ultimately didn’t matter (and still doesn’t) to the base - should not be lost on anyone. They would have accepted him, grime, graft and greed for free.
Once again, with the way Trump handles money, is it any wonder why he declared bankruptcy six times? Rubetown and Flyoverville, USA, please explain again to the rest of us why you’re still clinging to this calamity in humanoid form?
16
There's no way that the President can pardon someone for a a crime that he is directly involved with... right? RIGHT?!
7
@Myles, Justice should require it.
2
Hopefully this "show" will bring out voters for these mid term elections. Timing is good. If the Republican's can't find their backbones to defend our country and take steps towards fighting election meddling for the mid terms, then they go down with the Trump-tanic ship too! Republican's are enabling this behavior and tolerating it for their own agenda. This is bad...come on Millennials get rid of these old goats in office.
14
As trump watches Cohen and Manafort go down, he must be realizing that his tax returns are his Achilles' heel. That's what got Al Capone and he was at least sharp enough not to have bankrupted a casino.
16
We all know what happened during Trump's presidential debate with Hillary Rodham Clinton: HRC challenged Trump on not releasing his tax returns. Here's the exact exchange:
"The only years that anybody's ever seen were a couple of years when he had to turn them over to state authorities when he was trying to get a casino license, and they showed he didn't pay any federal income tax," Clinton said.
Trump quickly retorted: "That makes me smart."
Michael Cohen, Paul Manafort, Rick Gates--all now convicted tax cheats--certainly learned from the very best people. Like our president.
Conversely, obviously I'm a total idiot for dutifully paying my taxes, year after year after year. My question to all of his supporters is simple: What about you?
13
@Terry Malouf That's exactly what the GOP has been telling them for years.
The only way they will turn against Trump is if he enrages elites like the Kochs and the Mercers and the Adelsons and Fox turns against him. That's it.
1
Mr.Cohen was up to his neck in the swamp even without the "work" he did for Mr.Trump.How ironic that Mr.Trump declared that he was going to Washington to "drain the swamp".Mr.Trump spent his life paling around with questionable characters.I am willing to bet that no president has had such a tawdry resume-some may come close. Anything that Cohen is found guilty of in New York cannot be pardoned by Mr.Trump.Mr.Cohen may have to do a lot of truth telling to even reduce the sentence he may receive in New York.
50
@Janet Michael
Cohen was not found quilty by NYS, but by the federal gov't, so the president can pardon him
@Janet Michael FEC has said paying a former lover for silence isn’t a campaign expense and can’t be written of as such. The govt tried to hide this during the John Edwards trail but how can the govt have it both ways. If it’s not as defined by the fec a legal campaign expense how can it be called a campaign donation in this case or any case?
One lesson from the guilty pleas of Cohen and the guilty verdicts of Manafort this tells me is how infrequently white collar crimes are prosecuted especially if you are white and well connected. Their crimes, and those of other Trump associates, have been going on for years. The FBI even investigated Manafort years ago and did nothing. And surely the IRS knew they weren't paying their fair share of taxes if even paying any at all. Remember, what these tax cheats don't pay in taxes the rest of us "little people" pick up the tab as the late Leona Helmsley famously said.
How about investigating and prosecuting white collar crime and tax evasion with the same zeal as is put into locking immigrant children in cages and locking away people for possession of small amounts of marijuana? If Trump and his henchmen had been put away for their crimes a long time ago our country wouldn't be in the disaster it is now with criminals running it into the ground as they stuff their pockets with our money.
209
@Mary The Republicans like to starve the IRS. They don't have the investigatory budget to go after this kind of thing.
3
@Mary
Reply to your comment: "this tells me how infrequently white collar crimes are prosecuted." You're correct. They aren't prosecuted until some event causes investigators to dig into the financial background of the specific crook they have their eyes on. Most of the money is well hidden from normal types of financial revue.
2
@Mary I had an accountant that years ago told me that the IRS goes after the "little people" because they often cannot afford a lawyer and an accountant. They send you a letter saying you have been assessed an amount including penalties. The agents get promoted based on how many "cases" they complete. If an agent were to go after someone like Trump it would cost the IRS enormous amount of time and money. As an agent you want to close as many cases as possible in the shortest amount of time.
8
Two women had sexual relations with Donald Trump years ago. Both accepted money in return for silence at a time that Donald Trump's election seemed impossible. Both were represented by attorneys. Trump was elected. What seemed like a good deal to these women now looked like a bad deal. Both are now suing to invalidate their prior agreement. Not really victims but bad negotiators. Trump is a bad guy personally. So are most politicians. Why should this make the voters choose Socialism? Ocassio, Sanders, D Blasio, Warren, are declared Socialists. The leftward turn toward Socialism (communism light) by the Democrats is somewhat ironic coupled with their complaints about communist Russia. Venezuela here we come.
14
@Eddie Your account is not correct on a number of points. The payments were made at a time when Trump was the Republican nominee and therefore a quite credible candidate. The purpose of the transaction was to fraudulently conceal Trump's history of sleazy behavior from the public. And, finally, because the express purpose of the transaction were to influence the outcome of the election, based on the amounts of money involved and way the transactions were structured the transactions manifestly violated our federal campaign finance laws.
Your attempt to say that these transaction were "no big deal" doesn't even come close to passing the sniff test. Trump has a history going back to the 1970's of being a con man and grifter. He demonstrates every day that he thinks he can continue that behavior in the Oval Office. The American people are reluctantly coming to the conclusion that this cancer on the republic has to be removed.
6
@Eddie Socialism, shmocialism. To be a socialist, one must believe that the means of production and distribution of all goods belong to the "state".
The politicians you cite have made no declarations that come within a country mile of supporting that critical element of socialism. We've had a functioning mixed economy from FDR's presidency to this day. Trump and his GOP cronies are determined to dismantle that and throw the country back to the "every man for himself" Gilded Age, where he and his cronies stand to "win", and the rest of us lose.
The nation saw where that led when the Great Depression sank its claws into the land, and rejected it out of hand.
I see that Arizona is the 10th highest-ranking state most reliant on federal money, getting back $1.62 for each dollar it pays in taxes. Give us our money back!
2
@Eddie
The assumed badness of politicians generally notwithstanding, the identification of the named individuals as "declared socialists" and the assertion of a "...leftward turn toward Socialism...by the Democrats..." doesn't amount to a subatomic particle of evidence that voters are being made to choose socialism.
In fact, as written, the contention partakes of the preposterous. Makes a certain amount of sense if what is meant is that declared socialists are somewhat more likely to run for office based on what's befallen Messrs Cohen & Manafort.
Not unwilling to consider either - voters made to choose, socialists likely to run - but what else you got, Eddie?
2
Isn’t Cohen’s open admission in his plea that he was acting at the instruction of his client support criminal charges against Trump, regardless of whether he’s ultimately pardoned? A guilty plea remains a legal document, and his admission directly implicated the President in illegal campaign activity. Please explain!
5
@Art123
Art123,
Mr. Cohen has made some statements that implicate Mr. Trump, but unless prosecutors file charges against Mr. Trump it really doesn't mean much from a legal perspective what he said.
1
"The $50, 000 represented a claimed payment for "tech services, " which in fact related to work COHEN had solicited
from a technology company during and in connection with the campaign. "
What could this possibly be? I may be stretching here, but, didn't we recently hear from the news that Roger Stone's long time associate and close friend was involved in Web design, or some other "tech services"? I will be interested to see if we ever find out what that 50K was actually used for. It may be nothing, but what possible kind of "tech services" could someone like Michael Cohen possibly be paying for so close to the election that he wrapped it into this transaction? Interesting, yes?
6
I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for a pardon. Even if Trump were eager to grant a pardon, which is doubtful, he's politically and legally constrained. At best, Cohen would sit around in prison until the end of Trump's presidency hoping Trump pulls through in the end. Even then, you're making a gamble. Trump may never have the political and legal leeway to grant pardons to Mueller suspects. Placing your trust in Trump is not a good bet in this matter.
Besides, Cohen's evidence supersedes his testimony. He's already betrayed his boss. Maybe not intentionally but the effect is the same. There's little reason to expect compassion from the notoriously vain and vindictive man. Cohen might as well piggyback the betrayal to the best of his advantage.
Obviously the pardon isn't worth very much to Cohen either. He'd need to fight these charges through federal court, await a pardon, then re-litigate against state charges, and somehow avoid prison a second time. The legal fees alone would be astronomical. Cohen could also end up spending a much longer time in prison.
The math doesn't add up. Cohen is better off turning to Mueller. How openly and entirely he cooperates is an open question. However, he's clearly not coming out better for sticking with team Trump. I'd cut my loses and get out quick.
16
According to Cohen's attorney, Cohen will be able to answer Trump's question "where's the collusion?".
Cohen represents a significant legal risk to Trump, beyond what occurred yesterday.
Trump is already an unindicted co-conspirator on two federal felonies - just as Nixon was. If Trump knew about the emails prior to the WikiLeaks release, a number of people will be going to prison.
It's interesting that federal prosecutors coordinated Cohen's plea agreement to occur during Manafort's trial.
6
@Henry Wilburn Carroll
Trump most assuredly knew about the emails hacked by Russians prior to their public disclosure through Wiki leaks.
Roger Stone was crowing about these, as was Bannon, well before their release. It was Bannon and Stone that said it will be "Podesta's time in the barrel."
1
Mueller and team are nibbling away at the edges of several conspiracies, perhaps with the aim of proving a single sweeping conspiracy to commit campaign violations. One, currently revealed in the Cohen plea, is violations through undisclosed sleazy payoffs to former lovers.
Another is Paul Manafort’s substantial financial connections to Russian oligarchs and Putin stooges in Ukraine, who paid him millions of dollars of income that he failed to report on his taxes.
The last will be the eager embrace of Russian email hacking at the Trump Tower meeting and subsequent approval by Candidate Trump.
No matter that Trump and Co. will say that the first two conspiracies are unrelated to Russia; their existence will corroborate a proclivity toward criminal misconduct during the campaign.
With multiple witnesses now apparently willing to testify about the Trump Tower meeting, there is a possibility that there will be testimony asserting a conspiracy to unlawfully hack email accounts.
Proving a tangled web of campaign conspiracies by Trump devotees is not idle waste by Mueller. The cumulative weight of all of the conspiracies will corroborate the willingness of Trump and Co. to utilize illegal means during the campaign. All of these misdeeds may eventually merge into a single conspiracy to commit campaign violations, some of which involve Russian assistance.
11
Cohen's giddy accumulation of debt mirrors that of his grandiose patron, a familiar pattern of the servant imitating the master. The major difference is that the name "Cohen" did not carry the same weight as the name "Trump," which the master had cleverly branded into as asset that could be used to gull his lenders into reducing the millions owed - but never paid - after his numerous bankruptcies.
6
If Trump pardons Cohen and Manafort for tax evasion and lying to banks, can I get a pardon if I decide not to pay my taxes?
18
#1 take away/ we are damaging the soul of our country and children around the world with this role modeling in our leaders. I am mostly worried about that and hope the full extent of the law takes down these very shady people and their lasting psychological impressions on our children.
25
I understand the concept of presidential pardons, but can we really tolerate any potential pardons that benefit or exonerate the pardoner? When have presidential pardons in the past directly benefited the president?
13
Manafort: tax fraud.
Cohen: tax fraud.
Trump: tax fraud? We don’t know because he refused to release his taxes. He refused to release his taxes, he said, because the exposure would have lost him the election.
One more reason, in other words, to treat him as an illegitimate president.
And one more reason for Congress to refuse to honor his nomination to the Supreme Court.
19
I think this is a clear signal to Trump that if he doesn't pardon Cohen and soon, Cohen will help the prosecutors get Trump. Trump is undoubtedly talking about this with his lawyers. We will soon see if they think a pardon is less problematic for Trump than Cohen talking to Mueller would be. Stay tuned to the corruption in the White House. It will soon get even bigger.
5
No one is above the law. That was settled during the impeachment of Richard Nixon. Even if Trump pardons Cohen, and even if Trump can't be indicted while still in office, Trump is still not above the law. Justice will prevail in the end.
Trump has been involved with shady real estate deals his entire life; and so far he has gotten away with it. He is surrounded by people who have committed crimes. 'Follow the money' is another holdover from the Nixon impeachment. Mueller is taking his time, following the trail of LLC's and money laundering and Russian "investments" in Trump properties.
If he wasn't President, no one would have cared about his criminal past. But he has gone too far; he is abusing power; he is denigrating the office of the President; he sought help to get elected from the Russians and Wikileaks and apparently from his fixer, Micheal Cohen.
Once he leaves office Trump will be indicted. Two and a half years will fly by and justice will be done.
151
@thetruthfirst Hope springs eternal.
3
@thetruthfirst What makes you think he will "leave office"? Continuing his reign is the only guarantee of safety for him, and I'm pretty sure he has no qualms about cancelling elections. He's already mentioned it, and that was before all this Cohen etc. stuff started. He does it at rallies, too. Saying he's so popular and beloved, we may not need elections. The crowds love it, cheer wildly, and then chant "Lock her up!". I've seen the videos, and it gives me chills.
2
@thetruthfirst Nixon wasn't impeached and in a sense he was above the law. He was pardoned by President Ford. I'm thinking that as the Trump situation worsens he'll strike a similar deal with Pence in order to avoid prosecution and punishment.
1
Overwhelming evidence; Trump and his attack dog Guilliani will attempt to change the topic, to focus on irrelevancies; I am certain that Trump will now slip into his "there was no collusion" mantra. Actually there is abundant evidence--not yet proved in a court of law, but still convincing that collusion did take place--the famous Trump tower meeting arranged by Donald T., attended by Russians and Trump followers, including the felon Manafort. To believe that Trump knew nothing about this, was not informed by Donald, strains credulity. Trump is trying desperately to stop the courts from looking too deeply into all the illegal, immoral, and unethical actions he has been involved in---because his base , brainwashed by Fox and company, seems to be standing by him and accepting the new lies he is manufacturing. Trump's approach seems to be that once a lie is uncovered, obfuscate and distract with a new lie. Now it is "no collusion" , "happened before Trump became a candidate"--but the circumstantial evidence of Trump's total unreliability started even before the "birther movement" and before the six bankruptcies and before he took some courses at Wharton, declaring himself a bona fide MBA-student. His entire success has been built on deceit and fabrications. His life has been dedicated to stealing from others (as with his Fake Trump University that made not one student rich) and pursuing immoral pleasures and then covering up his misdeeds--always ready to lie.
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@shimr
My Uncle (who passed away 5 years ago at age 91) owned a very small company in Paterson NJ that made electrical circuit panels for apartment buildings, businesses etc...most of his clients were in NYC. He did a job for the Trumps many many years ago and when they submitted the invoice the Trumps told him they did not like the work done and where not going to pay him 100% of the agreed price and if he did not like this talk to our lawyers. My Uncle said this was standard business practice for Trumps. He could not afford to fight this in court and took what he could get. He told me the story along time ago...while all the construction companies where not getting paid from Trump in Atlantic City was in the news.
6
“It’s hard to say”? ( how Cohen implicating Trump in what is certainly a crime)? Is the NYT’s kidding?
Listening to NPR this morning and I hear countless comparisons and referenced to Bill Clinton and his hush money to cover up sexual affairs.
When the two leading national “ left - leaning” media sources in this country are parsing words and drawing meaningless comparisons you know we are in trouble.
Grow a spine. Do what you did in the 1970’s when we still had a watch dog news media. Call this what it clearly is - trump committed an impeachable crime. Period. Put the pressure on Congress to start impeachment proceedings now. Not in November after the election. Now. Don’t make excuses that the republicans will never allow impeachment proceedings. Start the continuous drum beat for impeachment. And start now.
60-70% of the American public can still be reached. Forget the close-minded Americans who can’t be reached. The news media, or what’s left of it in America, needs to step up. Now.
Do your jobs. Americans will follow. Report the truth. Report the facts. Don’t spin it. Don’t sensationalize it. Don’t normalize it. Don’t minimize or excuse it. Stop that. Now.
And start reporting just the simple fact that the President is, and now we know it is a fact, a crook.
52
@Van Owen - Unfortunately the Times is correct. This Congress has shown no willingness to impeach him no matter what he does. And, there are issues about a sitting President and what he can be charged with. If we are forced to wait until his term is up - if we still have a country then - we will see what happens.
7
The more the seamier details are revealed; the more one can see just how all these characters conspire to keep the truth hidden from the general public; what ever the cost. If the Trump base still continues Trump; it speaks volumes about their character. Trump is a walking swamp onto his own lying self; so self-absorbed nothing and no one matters except those who are willing to kiss his (fill in the blank.) Now his loyal henchman has finally realized that if you is not serving Trump; under the bus you go. Sad it took him this long to realize the truth. As someone has written ,"Everything that Trump touches Dies."
5
A presidential pardon of Cohen does nothing for Trump. Cohen has already spilled the beans and the incriminating evidence is in evidence. If he’s pardoned, Cohen is still a witness against Trump. Moreover, Cohen can’t use the 5th Amendment to prevent testimony if he’s pardoned.
Trump is screwed.
16
If Trump pardons these two men, he will be admitting his guilt and involvement with them and their crimes. Standing right beside Trump is the failing Republican Party. As this travesty continues, the worst to come of it will be our inability to indite a sitting president.
I would say our Constitution has failed us. Trump should be gone as should most of his congressional minions.
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@Cone
I thiink men have failed us. Perhaps it's inevitable.
One problem with rule of law - which is still, like democracy, better than other choices, is that a very large industry develops around how to exploit, elude or otherwise ignore the spirit of the law - the essential spirit flowing from the Constitution.
10
@Cone It's not our Constitution that has failed us, it's the GOP Senators who are choosing to look the other way and allow the shenanigans of this White House to take place. They are as guilty as Mr. Cohen and Mr. Manafort.
9
@Cone
Trump cannot pardon Cohen, nor Manafort, nor himself for New York State Crimes.
And yes, our Constitution has failed us. Or more aptly, we have failed it. Sure, vote by the bajillions, but much more direct and proper is to remove this President through provision in the Constitution as well as it's 25th Amendment.
1
Yawn, a little lie about a personal sexual matter. Paying money to a blackmailer, the subject of which is already out at this point, yawn. Stretching a buying votes statute to paying a blackmailer, nah, nothing here. Little fine maybe. Sorry folks, turned over two big rocks some sleze slid out, nothing criminal on Trump. Nothing on Trump and Russia. It was a fun ride.
13
@Mkm
The ride has just started.
7
@Mkm
As we can see its all "fake News".
I'm surprised you didn't work HRC e-mails into the mix...lol
@Mkm Yeah, I definitely trust people who make payoffs to multiple blackmailers. "If it's what you say it is, I love it."
If it was such a snooze, why didn't he let them talk?
Hillary had to lose. If she hadn't, it would have been the same old same old in our govt. So looked what happened.
Trump promised change. He delivered, but not in the way he or his supporters expected. What's happening as a result is the beginning of a purging, a "draining of the swamp" where pond scum, like cream, rises to the top. We now know who the "bad guys and girls" are because they now proudly show themselves to the world and are starting to be brought to justice.
The resistance formed and look at the "change." Dems are energized like back in the '60s. More women, young people, gay and other minorities are becoming leaders. Repubs are resigning or not running for re-election. The light is revealing the greedy, the lawless and the complicit. We Dems have momentum. We must continue to be vigilant against foreign interference, be proactive and fill the holes in our Constitution and laws so this attempted anarchy never happens again.
Secretary Clinton, I'm sorry for your defeat, but you--and those of us who supprted you--unknowingly helped our country beyond your and our wildest dreams.
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Astute analysis Karl, well done
@Karl LaFong
"Secretary Clinton, I'm sorry for your defeat, but you--and those of us who supported you--unknowingly helped our country beyond your and our wildest dreams."
I could not agree more. From day 1 of DT being elected, I have said that in the end he will be doing us a favor by being the worst President ever and swinging the pendulum back toward a truthfully representative government in reaction to his presidency. I also provide the caveat, "if we survive it". Those who have been complicit must pay and be voted out. Mr Mueller cannot act soon enough. VOTE.
@Karl LaFong This is an absurd and frankly craven take. Throwing entire classes of vulnerable people under the bus so we could indict a few morons isn't helping anything. There's still a strong chance that Congress will remain under GOP control, and I shudder to speculate at what 2020 might bring. This isn't a palace intrigue novel, it's people's lives. Have some humility.
Another big takeaway is that Cohen just fingered Trump for a campaign finance violation. He confessed that:
1) The intent of the payment to Stephanie Clifford was to influence the election;
2) Trump ordered it.
And isn't there a recording to corroborate this?
14
Enough of the wheeling-dealing. Send Cohen to jail, where he belongs and go after Trump. Telling the truth should be its own reward. Lesser sentences is a way of bribing witnesses and it therefore weakens, not strengthens, the Government's case against Trump and the other swamp dwellers. No. Cohen earned his jail time. Let Trump now earn his!
11
"Mr. Cohen began to rack up debts with one bank that ultimately totaled about $20 million, according to court papers." Simply appalling that this smug crook and untold others (i.e., POTU), could summarily get untold amounts of money with, what would appear, very little vetting or any type of fact checking by the lending institutions. Little wonder the banks and big financial institutions went under but were bailed out by the government back in 2008. Who are the bigger crooks in this expose.
17
I wonder if Cohens relationship with Trump influenced bank officials willingness to lend this kind of money to Cohen?
1
There is a seventh...
Attorney-client privilege is dead.
@Kimbo Perhaps you've heard of the "crime/fraud" exception to the privilege, meaning that a lawyer cannot help a client conceal a crime or perpetrate a fraud by hiding behind the privilege. Even someone as sleazy as Cohen knows this. Consider whether you want to hire an attorney if you knew she could mislead the court to cover up crimes. Is that someone in whom you'd place your trust?
4
Good morning, Congressional Republicans, and a fine morning it is in America, too:
In light of Mr Cohen's in-court admission regarding his engagement in tax fraud, and in light of the fact that Mr. Cohen has been "President Trump's onetime fixer and personal lawyer," as well as a vice-president of the Trump Organization, don't you think that it's time for all of us to finally take a look at the small-"p" president's own income tax returns?
Well? Don't you? Own up time is nigh.
23
@DJ McConnell Agreed, djt is long over due for his comeuppance! AND for ALL of his GOP enablers; 'swamp creatures McConnell & Pence for starters!
2
Trump ran on a platform of draining the swamp, nit creating a swamp. Which is what he has been doing successfully.
I can only hope that his base will open their eyes at least now.
9
David Pecker should be prosecuted as well. He has made a career out of sleazy and baseless attacks against actors, while refusing to say anything about Republicans except to canonize them.
Manafort will soon get what's coming to him, not just for financial fraud, but for making a habit of hanging around some of the most evil men of the last century, like Mobutu, Marcos, and Yanukovych. Trump fits right in, but the damage will be worse, since he is dismantling our environment, and eviscerating democracy while he's at it.
Cohen is a sad figure, who found himself making big money and didn't know how to hang onto it. He might be the only one in the whole Trump crowd who deserves a little sympathy. Let's hope his epiphany leads to further exposing the President, and showing in detail what a monster he really is. When he does, let's not bring popcorn. Hard liquor is called for, to soothe the pain of even more horrifying revelations. It won't do Trump any good to pardon Cohen. That ship has sailed, and the truth is already out there.
21
Focus with regard to Trump seems to be all on the campaign finance violations. While these are for sure sexier than the bank fraud (in more ways than one but whoever doesn't already know that can stop reading here), the fraud carries a much heavier sanction (10 years vs. 3?). While Trump may not have known that Cohen would finance the payments with a home equity loan, their joint efforts together would qualify for conspiracy which would put Trump on the hook for the bank fraud as well.
That could be important insofar as campaign law violations don't seem to be treated as seriously as others, at least until now.
Or am I missing something?
11
Mueller's investigation seems to uncover a lot of shady business dealings among Trump's men but so little of it seems to validate the original thesis, that Trump colluded with the Russians. Most of these people have been outed for their sleazy and illegal business practices unrelated to Trump specifically.
Cohen's admission of involvement in silencing Stormy Daniels and McDougal is at best some kind of campaign finance fraud, not collusion with Russia. Manafort was a tax evader and unregistered foreign agent with ties to regions of Russian influence, but again, no hard links to Trump/Russia collusion.
If Trump goes down, it seems like another version of Al Capone's fall. Not taken down for his specific criminal behavior, but taken down for ignoring the other rules and fine print.
4
@Mobocracy This is FOX TV and Trump defense--it does not prove any Russia collusion. Just wait. Castle falls down one brick and one wall at a time. The sky is opening up and the big one is coming.
15
@Mobocracy To be fair, with regard to the Cohen case you must acknowledge that while Mueller came across the evidence that got the ball rolling he did pass it along to the New York Southern District authorities based on his view that it was more within their jurisdiction than his own mandate.
As for Manafort, it's Russian Kompromat 101 to take advantage of a target's (Manafort) compromising circumstances in order to coerce the target to doing other things more serious, for example pushing the Trump team and campaign into positions and actions favorable to the Russian government. Even the narrowest view of Mueller's mandate encompasses this. It must also be recognized that a consistent thread running through every public action by Mueller is that the action suggests he is about six months ahead of what is publicly known. If he had everything he thought he could get today, he would probably finish today. The fact that he he's continuing and with more energy suggests yesterday's events are a tip-of-the-iceberg preview of more to come.
10
Capone's tax fraud was undoubtedly criminal behaviour, though it seems much less regarded as such in the US than in the UK. If these were prosecutions here then I would have expected the reporting to be much more focussed on cheating public finances than privately owned banks.
1
There are honest, hardworking lawyers and then there's the likes of Cohen. Con-men and sharks with law degrees. The spectators who are looking the other way, standing next to this bomb in the manure heap should remember that the stain outlives the smell! All those pathetic GOP apologists and those that "need to know more", before standing up, beware!!! Your legacy will remain what you didn't have the courage to say! Detergent alone will not make the GOP clean again.
39
Magna Carta dateline1215 and Mr Manafort 2018
The jury system has been a practice for some years best seen in the film and play "12 Angry Men.''
The decision of the jury may not please everyone but they the jurors should be applauded as an assertion of the public to judge a peer independent of status.
The jury system predates and underpins democracy and the Magna Carta circumscribes to an extent autocracy.
Sadly the judge has been the subject of threats and by implication the the jury.
Americans should be proud of its system of judicial and law enforcement practices.
I do not support being light on incarcerated criminals but the conditions experienced potentially by convicted criminals such as Mr Manafort and Mr Cohen are unlikely to be pleasant.
The looming "prison strike" as reported by NPR today is concerning.
Prisons for profit is the issue that these gents may endure and focus the GOP on what happens when illegal activity is captured by evidence.
When personal integrity and ethics fail we live in a tradition of justice predating 1215.
The Romans encapsulated Justilia in a statue.
The woman as a judge heard only evidence and held in one hand scales and the other a sword.
I am confident that over two millennia of law Lady Justice will achieve a fair outcome.
Really sad to see that guys such as Manafort and Cohen who had more opportunities than others to make a positive contribution to the US simply blew it.
Gatsby warned.
8
Here's one more takeaway: The House must bring justice to Devin Nunes and the eleven house members who signed impeachment orders against Rod Rosenstein for his role in the Russia investigation, which included personally approving the raid on Cohen's office. Rod Rosenstein is doing his job. These members of the GOP are attempting to impede justice.
200
His attorney is hitting the airwaves hawking his go fund me type page to "get at the truth". So clearly he's out of money and options. Five years is pretty light. He sang like a bird.
What is truly amazing is so far Trump hasn't tweeted anything yet.
19
I guess this is why the wealthy needed a tax cut!
And like a shmuck, I always paid my taxes and told the truth on loans. I guess that's why medicare and SS are important to me and all the other shmucks.
237
@tom
Bamboozled, I'd call it. It could be the only issue that could breach the gap with some Trump supporters - understanding that the different rules for those with connections have been cast in stone with the "tax cuts." And that the ones who have ample ways to escape income taxes, and cheat besides, are not the ones who will suffer.
Reductions in Social Security and Medicare coverage can be seen as a kind of 20 years to life sentence to deprivation for those who depend on them.
21
This is the price of the bigotry, xenophobia, and fear that put trump in office.
As we will now see, his base will just double down in their support of him.
The only price high enough to sway his base would be a renunciation of the very bigotry that got him elected.
26
Meanwhile, on the Fox News Channel, none of this has anything to do with the President and all is well
63
"Then, on Oct. 27, in an effort to influence the 2016 presidential election, prosecutors say, he wired $130,000 to Ms. Clifford’s lawyer ... "
... and on Oct. 28, the Comey letter went public. Not hard to see how the election might've ended if those two events never happened, no Russian interference needed. But I suppose businesspeople who are really good at corruption don't leave anything to chance.
" ... apparently keeping the extra $1,000 for himself."
Cheapest lawyer ever.
28
If Cohen or Manafort receive pardons from 45, there would probably be strings, for example, pay off, attached. Could that be construed as influence peddling? If that were the case, wouldn't the pardon be illegal?
17
This prosecution having no purpose other than politics, the President would be justified in issuing a pardon.
4
Because people plead guilty every day and look forward to multi-year sentences in cases with no bases? Thirty-six years of practice, and have never seen that.
20
@Mike Livingston Well, putting politics aside, Mike, are you asserting that the things Cohen did are legal?
15
@Mike Livingston
So you think the fact that actual crimes were committed is irrelevant? Payoffs in violation of the law and financial fraud are o.k. with you, amirite?
2
„What does this mean for Trump? It’s hard to say“
What a disclosure that we are simply helpless and in the hands of a criminal aka literally a dictator who can commit crimes without consequences.
I mean, does anyone believe Cohen payed money to silence pornstars just for fun?
Is Trump too big to fail?
Reading that Trump could pardon his henchmen I got sick. This is a banana republic.
No checks and balances - what a weak constitution America has that obviously has no answer to deal with the pink elephant in the room...
53
@Oliver I don't believe the Constitution is the point of weakness. I believe the Congress, dominated by the GOP is the weak, spineless, groveling, greedy problem here. They refuse to bring the strength of the Constitution to bear on this administration.
20
@mouseone
Your comment cuts to the bone and deserves 1000000+recommends!!!
None of this is going to have any effect on Trump's base. Trump's supporters are fundamentally tribalists or, even more accurately, members of a cult. They will believe anything their leader tells them and, quite frankly, all of them already believe that Trump was having affairs with porn stars and Playboy models and they simply don't care. Lots of them are cheering him on. The issue of campaign finance is too arcane for most of them to grasp and, quite frankly, in the age of Citizens United and unlimited legal funding from anonymous sources, $280,000 is chump change. I suspect that a good number of Trump's supporters also believe that he is every bit the criminal that his opponents believe him to be but, to them, the fact that he has gotten away with it for so long is a further recommendation. To Trump's more religious supporters, they have already made the political calculation that as long as he gives them what they want, they will hold their noses and look the other way. The upshot of all this is that the Republicans will continue to support Trump and, if Trump pardons Cohen or otherwise further abuses his office, the GOP will go along for the ride. The GOP ceased to be real political party long ago and became a collection of anti-government, anti-tax fanatics who will do anything so long as that narrow agenda is advanced. Now that Trump's supporters have taken control, the party has nowhere left to go.
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@Shaun Narine Sadly, I think you hit the nail on the head with this comment.
If Trump pardons him to buy his silence, will that further be added to the Obstruction charges?
18
Reading the sheer number and variety of Mr. Cohen's criminal enterprises, I am reminded of a street performer who solicited donations by chainsaw juggling.
15
Trump will pardon Cohen, this is a non-story and a non-issue.
Furthermore, anyone talking impeachment has no idea what the process involves in the standard that must be achieved, that's also out.
Bottom line, the president takes some heat and is put in some uncomfortable situations until the mid terms, then life goes on....
5
If Cohen is pardoned he can still be subpeoned and cannot take the 5th, one way or another trump is going to get fried.
27
@Joseph C Bickford
...from your lips to God's ears...
@Joseph C Bickford This wont hurt Trump. I did not vote for him but he is what we have. Best to let Trump keep doing what he is doing. A disruption right now will affect the markets. We cannot have that.
If Trump pardons him, then the millions of pieces of evidence are resurrected for further criminal cases in STATE Court. Gotcha.
48
@Mike7. Or double jeopardy protections kill the state case.
@TVM
Double jeopardy does not preclude multiple prosecutions. Even if the evidence used in a Federal trial is exactly the same evidence in a State trial, The elements of the Federal laws and the State laws differ. Double jeopardy doesn't even enter the proceedings.
Two different crimes. Failure to pay federal taxes is not the same as failing to pay state taxes. Same deal for Manafort too.
Trump pardons Cohen to mitigate the after Grand Jury indicts Trump. Case goes to USSCOTUS where they rule sitting President is immune from prosecution. Congress impeaches Trump after Dems win House. Senate fails to convict DJT. This is all we talk and read about until 2020 election. Democracy has failed.
41
@Mark
Maybe by the time it gets to the Senate they will have been able to find their feet and their voices. Or feel the shame for what their silence enabled.
4
@Mark
But at the very least Trump will be forced to pay taxes on all his ill-gotten gains. Trump is terrified of being poor and just like all the other "losers" out there.
None of this absolves the head-in-the-sand Republicans.
Each and every incumbent Republican up and down the ballot needs to be voted out of office for being complicit in the president’s treasonous behavior.
350
It's doubtful any of this or Manafort's case will have any affect on Trump. He'll simply deny it, Congress will pass it all off as another Bill Clinton-style adventure, and Trump's fans will laugh it up that Trump will once again get away with being a perverted, cheating son-of-a-gun. Why should the president be held to a standard defined by God or the morals touted in schools and churches around the world? If the truth were to be told, more than half of his fans secretly or publicly wish they could get away with the same immorality.
101
Let the punishment fit the crimes. How about redistributing all his millions to several poor communities and instead of jail time he works free legal defense for the poor and immigrants for the next 30 years? Thinking that in 5 years he will still be a multi-millionaire is nauseating.
84
@Thankful68 Good idea, but free legal defense for the disadvantaged would be disastrous for them, since he's a lousy lawyer.
19
@Thankful68
"How about redistributing all his millions to several poor communities and instead of jail time he works free legal defense for the poor and immigrants for the next 30 years?"
Cohen can be a jailhouse lawyer. Actually, he's such an incompetent lawyer, he would be doing those poor people and immigrants a disfavor.
1
As the saying goes....
Tell me who your friends are (Mr. President) and I can tell you who you are.
146
Curious as to why Cohen needed to borrow so much money if he was the personal lawyer for billionaire Donald Trump. Unless...
95
@Szeldim Wright
Unless he doesn't pay his bills.
Just his beaming face and the hope that his mere presence (brand) generates money is enough for his acolytes
1
If a president in his last 11 months of his presidency can't nominate a Supreme Court justice can a president who is an un indicted co conspirator to a felony be allowed to nominate a Supreme Court justice? Someone needs from Republican leadership needs to answer this question.
399
@Chris
The irony is, Trump may only have less than 11 months left to go.
6
@Chris. Do not hold your breath. The answer to this question is, “yes,” a President can nominate whoever he wants so long as the Senate agrees to go along. And guess what? They don’t care who he nominates so long as they get their super Conservative on that decision making body for life, which could be 40 or 50 years. No price to the nation is too high for them to acquiesce to.
2
The ocean of sleaze that Trump has floated in for years is only now becoming apparent. He has surrounded himself with people who committed serious financial crimes as a matter of course. What does that say about Trump and what he really values? Supporters of this hugely flawed and compromised individual need to take a long, hard look at themselves in the mirror and ask the question: I know I voted for him then, but given what we know NOW, is this the person I want running the country? The sooner the infection is lanced and drained the sooner we can stop the spread of Trump's corrupting influence and the sooner the country can recover. The Trump presidency is a dark stain on America's once-proud democracy. It needs to brought to an end as soon as humanly possible.
247
You need to understand these people: they willingly support these crimes if it keeps a democrat out of office.
86
@Mark Crozier Voters knew what they were getting. That Trump was a philanderer who used bankruptcy as a wealth building tool, and failed to pay contractors for their work was widely known before the election. It wasn’t that Republican voters needed proof of these allegations, they simply didn’t care. He was elected because wealthy so called mainstream Republicans do not care about anything besides lower taxes & fewer regulations. They still don’t. The proof of his misdeeds would only matter if people were concerned about them in the first place.
1
Cohen walks into jail, admits guilt on a few money games everyone already knows about, and there are no court documents mentioning plea deals or bargains. Hours later his lawyer Lanny Davis appears on The Rachel Maddow show and implies that Cohen has information about Hillary's stolen emails and Russia that Mueller would be interested in hearing. He said Cohen was ready to "speak truth to power", that he felt "liberated" now that he has made his decision and that he was willing to speak with Mueller. I think he's already spoken to Mueller and he has information so explosive and obviously verifiable that he needed to be put in protective custody. Why not just walk into jail in full view of the entire world and instead be whisked away to a secure isolated location. Russia assassinates people for less than this and Trump bragged about shooting someone in the middle of 5th Avenue. I think there is more to this than just money and porn stars.. He's scared for his life. Better inside than out, in the middle of 5th Avenue.
91
Well, he walked out of court. Wrong analysis. Good luck to him..
4
He hasn't been sentenced yet.
6
Curious what happens when the stay is lifted in Avenatti's civil case in Sept and how successful he will be in securing an expedited deposition of the President under oath.
30
I don’t think this means much for the President, for the simple reason that Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is 85 years old.
4