The very weak noise emanating from the American public is so deafening.
5
If the president cannot be prosecuted while in office, can he be prevented from running for a second term?
11
Of course Trump knew. To think Cohen would be allowed to write checks to just anyone on their say so w/o consulting Trump is absurd.
12
Michael Cohen just demonstrated that he has a backbone. When will the single-celled creatures in the Republican Party develop them?
At our house last night, we agreed that this was a sad day for America. There will be nothing to celebrate unless this mess results in a sweep of Republicans from Congress in November, impeachment and conviction of this Presidential Pretender and a Democratic President in 2020.
18
Can we get a real lawyer to chime in here? From what I understand Trump should have just written the check(s) himself, instead of asking Cohen to do it. I don't know if that was laziness or stupidity? If Cohen was told to write the check the bells go off. From what I understand, this is a bit like a jaywalking fine, but I'm not a lawyer so lets hear from one.
6
I hung my flag outside today to celebrate the beginning of the end of this corrupt administration.
18
The shot in this piece with Mr. Cohen leaving the courthouse says on the door window, "No Smoking Within 25 Feet of Entrance". Too late, this is a full-blown dumpster fire on the grounds of our White House. Does anyone else see or smell that?
3
Is there any way we taxpayers can bring a charge of theft against Cohen and Manafort? Look at all of the taxes they didn't pay! Money that should have been in the mix. Instead, those of us who are honest and pay our taxes presumably had to pay more because these two--and who knows how many others!--cheat and lie and, yes, steal. There's a reason greed is considered one of the seven deadly sins.
5
Trump will resign. Time to shift focus to Pence who will likely prove to be a much bigger problem.
6
We now know that the President is guilty of federal crimes. His own lawyer admitted it under oath. The question is what will people, especially Republicans in Congress and reasonably minded voters, do about it? Will they put country before party and kick him out of office? The fate of America depends on it
7
Meanwhile back in West Virginia last night..."Lock HER up!"
This is what we should be worried about at this point. Hopefully, our legal system won't go down the rabbit hole where Congress resides, but the fact that it truly doesn't matter to Trump's base is becoming more terrifying by the day. Knowing he was going to West Virginia, he decides to roll back portions of the Clean Air Act to give the coal miners some misbegotten idea that suddenly coal mines will be springing up all over their state-and apparently they believe, despite all evidence to the contrary. Frustrating, and yes, heartbreaking. Selling their very souls to a devil that could care less.
15
While our legal system works mostly as expected for ordinary citizens, it’s monumental, expensive and taxing on the country to make our presidents accountable for their criminal offenses. For the Office of the presidency, shouldn’t the bar be so low for criminal tolerance, so that we have an honest and the most ethical leader ?. A crime is a crime, whether it meets be threshold of an impeachable offense or not. Moreover, the current president is implicated in crimes committed before he became the president. Shouldn’t he be treated as an ordinary citizen for those crimes?
Right now, we have two different due processes, one for ordinary citizens, and one exclusively for president that drains the entire country. While we confiscate toddlers, who in the hope of life, committing a crime of trespassing into our borders, we are expected to maintain infinite patience for our president’s offenses including those implicated in a crime.
15
There is a real apathy going on when it comes to Trump. Each time (and there are many) that Trump lies, insults, threatens, fires people, & his erratic behavior, etc.....nothing comes of it. I fear that Americans have heard too often that 'this time Trump has gone too far', by basically the same critics. It's the story of 'the boy who cried wolf'.
His approval rating is over 40% & there is never a substantial public outcry from Republicans in office. NY Times have written countless articles on this presidency. Trump just slithers thru. Even if Mueller does find that Trump allowed Russia to interfere with the election, it won't make a difference UNLESS his supporters & Republicans stop supporting him.
2
Trump went too far in his initial “I’m running for President” speech and has been going too far every time he opens his mouth. The Republicans seem to have lost their spines and shed their skins on the Trump Tower escalator.
I suspect that most of us who pay our taxes and vote knew from day 1 that trump was keeping his tax returns under wraps for a reason. Turns out his entire circle has created a structure of lies, lies, and more lies to hide their income, steal their income, and avoid paying taxes.
Let us, dear God, finally learn the depths of trump's lies, theft, chicanery, money laundering, and treason.
18
Giuliani is obviously on some mind-altering drug that he takes every day after re-reading and re-reading "1984." Of course, Cohen was referring to Trump regarding the latter's ordering Cohen to bribe the women with whom he, Trump, had had had affairs. But that's where we are these days. Short of murder by Trump and, perhaps, not even that will have any effect on the ignorant mass of people who voted for Trump and probably would do so again.
Such is the state of our pathetic nation.
7
He said she said, nothing here.
1
"There you go again". It looks like President Pinhead will be busy pardoning his criminal buddies. Let's see if he tries to pardon himself. The last head of state to be able to do this was King John of England before the Magna Carta was forced on him in 1215. Where are the responsible Republican congressmen, or are there none left, having left their integrity at the door.
6
And still the supine Republicans in Congress not only do nothing, they make flimsy excuses for the criminal in the White House. There isn't a shred of integrity remaining in the lot of them.
6
Violation of Election Laws is tantamount to Jaywalking.... I don't get the hysteria around the left's hair trigger conclusion that Trump should now be impeached for violation of election laws.. I get that he's jerk but geez.. Violation of Election Laws??
1
That’s just the starter. Fasten your seatbelt for the rest of the ride. The Truth Train is just now gathering speed.
6
This is a puzzler. Cohen basically pleads guilty to being an habitual liar, fraud and cheat. He especially tended to lie, cheat and defraud big banks in Manhattan, which is kind of ironic when you think about it. The big banks in Manhattan lied, cheated and defrauded customers and clients out of billions, maybe trillions, of dollars and dumped the Great Recession on the world. They walked away unscathed, thanks to AG Eric Holder. But, that's another story. Back to the liar, cheat and fraud. Cohen plea bargained a deal to keep his jail time for bank fraud from being a life sentence. In exchange for an orange jumpsuit, he served up a slow pitch right over the plate that even a pitcher could drive over the fence in deep left center field at Yankee Stadium. He gave Mueller the smoking gun. Cohen said "I did it, but Trump made me do it". In open court. Under oath. On the record. What a witness for the prosecution. A self-confessed liar, cheat and fraud. But, what the heck. NEVER TRUMP justifies anything. I wonder if lawyers are allowed in socialism? If not, then Bernie is looking better all the time.
Giuliani appears to be whistling in the dark. He contradicts himself with muddled statements about the president. Cohen pleaded guilty yesterday under oath in a court of law. If he had lied, he would have perjured himself, adding to his criminal woes. Of course, the president and his coterie of sycophants are now damning Cohen as a liar, but Giuliani should know better.
As complex as the web of dealings is between the president, Cohen, AMI, and other interested parties in keeping candidate Trump’s alleged sexual affairs with Daniels and McDougal secret, the truth came out through diligent judicial work. We can be glad that officers of the court and the FBI and other law enforcement agencies pursued the Cohen case as thoroughly as they did. There may be more revelations to come, but Cohen has pleaded guilty and is due for sentencing. A presidential pardon would be the epitome of corruption in the Oval Office and would further implicate the president in criminal activities during the 2016 campaign and afterward.
This judicial work demonstrates what it means when we say we live in the greatest country on earth. We have independent judiciaries at national and state levels that pursue evidence where it leads them (follow the money) and apply laws to indict and prosecute people that have committed crimes. We should be thankful that law enforcement and court authorities have carried out their responsibilities despite political vitriol rolling from the president’s Twitter rants.
4
Simply was not a campaign contribution at all. It was not paid out of campaign monies and was simply a hush payment for immoral sexual behavior. If hush money is illegal than the Southern District office, congress, the senate, and every major player in corporate America needs to be arrested. Hush money is a transaction for a good per service and not influence. Would have been laughed out of court and hence the plea deal. Obama was smacked with a 375,000.00 campaign finance fine and not a peep concerning impeachment Still heard nothing about Trump and Russia yet... Oh and love my several thousand dollar tax cut crumbs!
Wrong, NYT and Trump-hating posters.
Former Federal Election Commission chairman Bradley Smith has said that the hush money in question is NOT a campaign contribution. Why? Because Trump did NOT use campaign funds, but his own money.
From the Smith's column in the Wall Street Journal today:
“If paying hush money is a campaign expense, a candidate would be required to make that payment with campaign funds,” Bradley said. “How ironic, given that using campaign funds as hush money was one of the articles of impeachment in the Watergate scandal, which gave rise to modern campaign-finance law.”
4
I would love to see Trump out. He is such a crook, but in my opinion, he could shoot someone on the street and the Republicans would sit idly by and allow to happen. This has nothing to do with political parties. This has to do with the crook who sits in the White House. I don't agree politically with Pence, but at least I don't think he is a crook, so he is better than Trump.
4
The Cohen story is another proof of the truth of the old adage that if you go to bed with a dog, you wake up with fleas.
5
Question for reporter:
Is it the case that the Trump Campaign organization used campaign donations to pay off the two women? I am just trying to get clarity on the facts of story, so I can express it accurately. Thank you.
Other readers, please note: I am not defending Trump here. Just wanting clarity.
1
Our country is going completely down the drain because of this three minute video seven years when Barack Obama roasted Donald Trump. That's why he conspired with the Russians and decided to do anything necessary - even throwing his own country under the bus - to win the election:
http://mankabros.com/blogs/onmedea/2018/08/05/the-reason-donald-trump-co...
3
@Robin Rafe... That 3 minute video was a result of Trump's incessant months-long "birther" story. President Obama ridiculed citizen Trump brilliantly, and Trump deserved every precious second of those 3 minutes.
9
You will continue to crush the presidency of a duly elected president with your agenda of Liberal America. Inspect anyone and you can find some dirt, just press hard enough and it appears. Not to say that anyone on the other side would suffer the same consequences if put to the same degree of squash....... Pushing the place to the edge like what's happening in South Africa will only hasten the real challenges and end.
Paying off a woman who you had an affair with is a crime?Why was Obama not indicted?
"BARACK OBAMA'S presidential campaign has been fined $375,000 by the Federal Election Commission for violating federal disclosure laws, Politico reports.
"An FEC audit of Obama for America's 2008 records found the committee failed to disclose millions of dollars in contributions and dragged its feet in refunding millions more in excess contributions.
The resulting fine, one of the largest ever handed down by the FEC, is the result of a failure to disclose or improperly disclosing thousands of contributions to Obama for America during the then-senator's 2008 presidential run, documents show."
https://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2013/01/07/obama-campaign-fined-big...
1
My God! Lanny Davis was on Rachel Maddow saying that a now "liberated" Michael Cohen is going to begin speaking "the truth to power". Seriously! This is epic!
Cohen is apparently going to say that Trump knew of the Russians DNC hacking before it happened and that he privately encouraged it before acknowledging that he knew about it.
Cohen is also apparently going to provide evidence that Trump participated in a conspiracy to collude with Russian agents to illegally influence the outcome of the 2016 presidential election.
Again, this is epic and I hope the NYT starts reporting on it soon.
This is going to be the most glorious betrayal in history.
It was an obscenity against human history that Trump could become president of the United States. It is only fitting that it be demonstrated to history that the only way that could happen was through a determined, ongoing criminal conspiracy that amounts to treason.
I want to see Trump pardon himself and then be arrested through a special Act of Congress retrospectively confirming that the power of pardon does not extend to crimes committed in the criminal's election to office.
Trump in prison for the rest of his natural life would be a fitting outcome to the disgrace to the human race the United States electoral system delivered to the world in the form of Trump.
You can feel the momentum building just like you could feel it during Watergate - only much, much, much faster and more certainly. Trump is going to prison for life.
4
Will be interesting to see who contributes to Cohen's Go Fund Me initiative, talk about chutzpah!!
2
In spite of the charges ringing from every Main Street media outlets like the NYT I think you left out a BOOMING ECONOMY, World wide reduction in fear of North Korean and Iranian activities. In addition to the attempt to keep our borders intact and the observation of our laws. None of which would have been possible under the Hillary Clinton presidency.
We all abhor the Oaf in the White House, but I for one am glad he is proceeding to live up to his promises. Who cares if he spent some of his own money in agreement for someone to remain silent regarding SEX. So as we watch the further efforts of the Establishment attempt to bring him down, remember we are all watching, and hoping that he turns his full fury on those who will try to bring this down. The damage and fury he can muster as the President is hardly visible in the present narrative. Watch.......
DEATH THROES
Squeeze Trump foes,
All “compose.”
It’s Mueller’s collusion,
Not Moscow’s.
1
So first the Times drops this (paragraph 6):
"Mr. Cohen also pleaded guilty to multiple counts of tax evasion and a single count of bank fraud, capping a monthslong investigation by Manhattan federal prosecutors who examined his personal business dealings and his role in helping to arrange the financial deals with women connected to Mr. Trump."
Then, way way down:
"Mr. Cohen pleaded guilty to five counts of tax evasion for concealing more than $4 million in personal income from 2012 to 2016 and to one count of bank fraud, for failing to disclose $14 million in debts in an application for a $500,000 home equity line of credit — the source of his payment to Ms. Clifford."
Gee, Times.... putting family and country before loyalty to Trump, huh?
How much of a sentence would "five counts of tax evasion for concealing more than $4 million in personal income" get, I wonder. Guess we'll never know.
Is it against the law to pay someone for their silence? Because if it is, then we better open up special courts to deal with the deluge. Also, when he said he did so to 'influence the election' I suspect that language was selected to minimize prison time by the prosecutors. Trump is not a good guy, not my choice for the office, but this does continue to look like a witch hunt.
First off, that's not what Cohen copped to.
Second off, a bit weird if a defendant, his lawyer, the prosecution and a judge all said, "Okay sure, it's not a crime, but confess and you get jail time anyway."
Third, I continue amazed by the way Trumpists never mind being lied to over and over.
Fourth: aure are a look of broomsticks in this White House.
3
@MaIt it is illegal to use money to silence someone if done in order to influence an election.
More plainly, it is illegal to "financially contribute" to an election in this way.
A witch hunt looks for something that doesn't exist; this payment, and others, DID exist. Trump lied. Trump lied about it all. More importantly he comitted election fraud by commissioning this payment.
6
@Amazonia-Love
This is all wrong. The campaign finance violation is a disclusure issue
Give Cohen and Hannity a break: they are history-illiterate men in their fifties.
But Trump, Manafort and Giuliani are old enough to remember a man speaking at the White House in January 1961:
“Ask not what your country….
One can only hope that ‘their’ country will now do for them what the rest of us sincerely wish for.
Trump has been shown to be involved in criminal acts and needs to be impeached ./period !
6
Its not illegal to pay someone to be quiet. No, its actually legal. Trump never said why, you are putting words in his mouth, because you hate him. Stop slandering him. You are breaking the law.
2
@Patrick McCord - Feel free to tell that to a judge and then get back to us.
5
@Patrick McCord Everyone always says Trump supporters will keep supporting him, no matter what he does, and you've just proven that to be true. Tell me so I can understand - why though? Has he really improved your life that much? You know his tax cuts are bogus, right? You're cool with him being a racist, misogynist, and xenophobe? It's ok that he likely committed quite a few crimes? Please, enlighten us all because I guarantee you everyone else on here is just as confused as I am.
6
@Patrick McCord you miss the point. When you contribute to an election campaign in this way, you break the law.
Telling the truth is not slander. Trump colluded with Cohen to conceal these stories, and he laundered the payments in doing so.
4
What I find very interesting is the same people who were saying that Mr. Cohen was a big liar when he was defending Mr. Trump are suddenly convinced that in implicating Mr Trump he is the most honest man since Diogenes.
Liars lie, that is a constant in the world.
2
@mikecody
The opposite of a lie is the truth.
@mikecody - Nice try but Cohen was called out on his lies when he claimed Trump knew nothing about all this.
btw you're forgetting the paper trail and the audio tapes.
3
Thank you, Stormy Daniels
and Avenatti, too!
6
Trump lies all the time. No credibility at all.Republican party is now Trump's party. Republicans prostate themselves to Trump; back up everything Trump says or does. Nothing will change until we vote out Republicans. Republicans are plotting to gut Medicare; Social Security and Health Care after mid terms. Vote out GOP for jobs; living wages and health care. Ray Sipe
9
Bill Clinton was impeached for having a consensual extra-marital affair. Donald Trump? He's a Republican.
9
@Chicago Guy Bill Clinton was actually impeached for *lying* about having an extra-marital affair. Monica may have consented, but it's also important to acknowledge the power dynamic in that relationship. He was much older and her superior in the White House and he took advantage. He should have known better.
1
Clinton was impeached for lying, nor the affair. If Trump is impeached, it won’t be for any of his multiple affairs, either. It’ll be for lying, cheating, laundering money or something else m, but not for his infidelities to his wives.
1
Our Reichstag fire is coming...
1
Trump is beyond unfit for highest office. He is unfit for any office. Where is the GOP? What will they do if/when Trump is shown to have laundered Russian oligarch dirty money and conspired to undermine our democracy with help from Putin?
8
I fail to see the crime in a personal payment to a couple of skanks who were trying to shake down Trump for money, to make them go away. Where's the crime? Cohen was reading a script written by the corrupt democrud prosecutors to create an illusion of a crime and wrong doing. Cohen was being held hostage because of his illegal hiding of income and failure to pay taxes, NOT on "illegal payments to influence the outcome of the election." Maybe the NY Times needs to seek out competent legal opinions before writing such rubbish and partisan articles.
2
Cohan is the legal representation of Trump, so Trump taking his legal advice as to what is legal, so how can now this guy be a witness against his client?
Even if you hate Trump does this not set a bad precedence in other cases for the FBI to seize your attorney's records and use them against you!
Why did not Mueller uses this technigue against the Wall Street bandits friends of Obama for the Financial Crisis that he did not bring a single indictment of a bank executive?
So the money Mr. Trump had his fixer pay those women is a campaign contribution, because Mr. Cohen said the purpose of those payments were to prevent damage to the campaign? Maybe Mr. Trump just didn't want the world to know about his indiscretions. Maybe he just enjoyed the company of those women so much he thought they deserved a bonus. It just seems weak. Are we really going to try to bring down a sitting President because he paid off some hookers? Isn't he on his 4th wife? Does this surprise anyone? Does anyone really care?
1
Russian collusion? No. High crimes and misdemeanors? No. Paid off some hookers? YES! Victory! Now, how long did that take? How much did it cost? Is anyone surprised? Does anyone care?
1
@IMiss America
Just wait for it, collusion part hasn't come out yet...........were getting close.
And yes you should care if you care about the freedom you have been living with!
4
@IMiss America Oh, Miss America - just you wait. The investigation appears far from over and you are not privy to the information that they've found. It's quite sad how desensitized this country has become to all the crime and corruption in the White House that you're questioning whether or not we care.
5
From some of the pro-Trump comments below, it seems that no behavior, however crass or criminal, will break the trance he has over his base. We just need to vote him out in 2020.
4
@styleman - It's not just Trump. A person can barbecue live kittens while cheating on his wife and foreclosing on an orphanage and as long as he has an "R" after his name and mentions God now and then right wingers will support him.
3
If one looks at photos and footage of Michael Cohen from the past, one will only see a man with stars in his eyes, one who is thoroughly mesmerized by DJ Trump, a man who has been unreservedly under Trump’s thumb for a decade.
Cohen emulated every move that Trump made both in vernacular and demeanor to the point that he has been viewed a thug; something that could be damaging to his credibility in the days to come. His loyalty to Trump was legendary. He would take a bullet for Trump, but then he saw the light.
The light? Some say it was when he saw that Trump didn't come to his aid when his home and office was raided and left Cohen in the cold. Others say it was when he saw Trump aligned with Putin in Helsinki, an affront to democracy. It could have been both, or maybe more. Who knows for sure?
If one looks at photos and footage of Michael Cohen now, one sees a man who is hurt and destroyed, a man who did not get what he bargained for, a man who gave his entire entity to someone who slowly destroyed him without any care. Mr. Cohen did not know he was working for a man who had a extreme lack of conscience. He was blinded by Trump’s lies. He finally awoke, and unfortunately, there will be consequences to pay.
Mr. Cohen discovered, perhaps too late that he is a man of conscience. He loves his family and cares that they are not tainted by all these unfortunate events. Regrettably, to some extent, they will. For their sake, let us hope, not too much.
1
Investigate Trump. Manafort and Cohen both are guilty. Both worked closely under Trump's direction.Cohen admits that Trump broke election laws. Congress needs to be responsible and investigate Trump. Ray Sipe
3
Trump (not that I believe anything he says) claims Manafort is a person. Wrong. A good person is one who declares all of their income and pays taxes based it. A person who is convicted or pleads to the serious charge of tax evasion is not a good person. Full stop.
Look, there is no crime! It is not a crime for a candidate to pay hush money for something done before the campaign that, in itself, wasn't illegal.
It was a personal expense unassociated with the campaign.
2
@batazoidnot
Wrong, it was done so it wouldn't come out in the campaign.
3
Unfortunately this won't have any affect on the rabid supports of Donald Trump. They know what he is - a con artist and liar-but they still support him. The same can be said of most GOP politicians. The ones who have disavowed him and few and far between - and not running for re-election. The broader point to me isn't that Trump associated himself with frauds and criminals, it's that one of our two major political parties and it's members apparently think this is OK because they are benefiting either politically or financially. Unless they suffer by a massive defeat in the elections coming up, they will continue to protect and support Mr. Trump. What I find incredibly disheartening is the willingness of people to support such a person, and the willingness of our elected officials to brush off Trump's actions and justify his lies. They took an oath to this country -not Donal Trump. I guess that doesn't stand for much anymore.
6
The only good thing to come of this is that Trump must be really angry annoyed that he wasted his money on the pay off. Even if the accusations he was paying to bury had come out in the election, it would have had no more effect that the Access Hollywood tape actually did.
Now we know for sure: the President of the United States broke the law in order to get himself elected. Trump ordered Michael Cohen to cover up his own sleazy behavior with several women by buying the silence of these women.
We don't know yet whether he also broke the law by conspiring with Russian agents who were trying to manipulate public opinion.
Trump's actions were BOTH illegal and unethical. We don't need a trial to tell us this is true.
We know further that every Republican in Congress is engaging in a coverup of the President's behavior. They are also acting unlawfully
What Americans chose to do at the ballot box this fall will tell us whether this country will survive as a democracy or whether it will become an oligarchy ruled by and for the benefit of a small group of wealthy white citizens and their pals, here and around the world
Will this end up with the grand orange up for tax evasion and fraud? We should all be outraged when we file our 1040's that the rich get richer, not just by congressional gifting, but also by corruption. It is a society turned upside down---to empty the pockets of the poor and middle class for the 'entitled' rich. Jesus weeps.
2
One of the great mistakes we have made as a country over the centuries is to endow the president with too much power. It should not be so difficult to get a criminal out of the White House. We have elevated the president to king. This much change. The president cannot be above the law. Congress needs to address this problem now. We are not Russia yet!
5
Someone I know said, "what's the big deal?;this is the way business is done in NYC". I hope that's not true.
All this corruption while a Republican Congress sits quietly. Who are these representatives? Scared to think that Republican corruption runs from top to bottom.
6
This is the beginning of the end for Trump. Cohen's forthright implication of him will end the nonsense.
1
Couple of new frontiers to ponder about:
1. What is the punishment for a President found guilty of treason?
2. What state secrets or under cover agents whose cover would have been blown as they have been exposed to a President who is compromised? Who is protecting that? Is the entire information on NATO now in Russia's hands?
3. Should Mueller offer a guilty plea deal to Trump so that he can save a bit of his empire, otherwise he could face complete personal and financial ruin?
4. Should there be reasonable limits imposed on Trump so that he does not flee the country and take asylum and that too on Airforce One!!
1
.."spectators seemed to listen raptly, with no gasps or audible reactions."
No gasps? There should have been at least one! Lions and tigers and bears,oh my!
2
Remember all that Republican outrage over Clinton's improper use of an email server? Clearly it was just theatrics when the crimes, scandals, convictions and investigations of this administration are off the charts.
3
If Trump wanted to "spare his wife" he would have covered his tracks years ago, not right before the election.
3
There is no doubt that Trump - via Cohen - paid Stormy Daniels to sign an NDA.
There is no doubt that Stormy Daniels took the money and then broke the NDA.
And we will probably never know for certain whether or not Trump and Stormy engaged in sexual contact although in my mind it is 99% certain.
However, was it illegal and was it even a campaign contribution? As a matter of law, if Trump directed the payment to avoid a problem with his wife that was only going to come out because of his run for the presidency - a problem that began in 2011 - what does that have to do with campaign finance? I don't see how the argument can be made that this payment had more to do with influencing the election then to prevent marital woes.
I can see how this payment will be spun politically, but for Cohen to stand there and say it was to influence the election rather than Melania is, it seems, untrue.
For Trump haters/Hillary voters, to point fingers - given Hillary's marriage and her husband's antics - is hypocritical.
I am getting exhausted by the drama, however.
2
@Arthur Taylor – “ marital woes”?? Are you kidding? Trump’s affairs and behavior were legendary long before he thought of running for president! How you can look at a man who is such an unapologetic and transparent liar and think that he ever cared one bit about sparing his wife is baffling. Your willingness to excuse Trump of any wrongdoing against this country is even more depressing than the fact that you elected him.
No laws were broken, no campaign money was spent, this was not a Mueller case and a desperate lawyer cops a plea with a silly opinion in order to avoid prison time.
2
@to make waves - Our entire legal system seems to disagree with you. I'll take the word of a judge over yours.
2
Does Trump represent you or your values and how you would like to viewed by the rest of the world? No, then stand up and be counted.
Are you pleased with his political and social views and the results of his policy choices? No, then stand up and be counted.
Do you like having a President who makes up his own narrative, disregards the truth and leads by deception? No, then stand up and be counted.
Don't let the justice department be the voice of the people. The power is in your hands. Vote him and
his band of thugs out.
7
Dear Northern Neighbor
We are truly sorry to have foisted this buffoon on you and the world, not to mention on ourselves. However, in this year’s elections we can only vote out the House of Representatives and 1/3 of the Senate. We can’t vote out the President until 2020.
So we pray for the investigation to show that Trump should be impeached; that there is a Democratic controlled House to impeach him; and a Senate with enough Senators with spines to convict him.
But be careful what you pray for. While a President Pence may be more civilized and diplomatic on the surface, his policies would most likely be even more horrific for the people of the planet.
1
Among the pleasures of today: watching assorted trumpists and fellow-travellers scrabble around to come up with enough squid ink, alibis, whataboutisms, bizarre logics, willful ignorances, warpings of the law, and invectives to paper over this one.
Not doing too good with Manafort or the latest felony indictments of a Congressional Trump Cheerer, either.
Good luck, folks.
3
When Trump spoke of his mother last night, a chill went down my spine. I have a clear memory of my father chastising Nixon for bringing up his mother at some point while he was under fire. My father said Nixon was losing his mind. This is a clear omen.
4
The man who once called his political opponent crooked and said that her presidency would be riddled with scandal if elected was talking about himself. The stench of corruption seeps from that White House consistently. And no one within can inoculate themselves from it.
The State of the Union in America is disunion. And at the apex of that calamity is Donald J. Trump.
49
I don't get it. 20 years ago with all this the Public would be up in Arms. Is this where we have come to, that bar is Low the Public just pooh poohs it? Maybe Trump is right he can go out onto Fifth Ave. shoot someone and his supporters still back him.
37
@frank monaco
It is all about desensitizing the masses.
1
@frank monaco: there is something truly wrong in America. Sick nation - sick at soul, sick at heart. Maybe it never was what it has always claimed to be. We've all been had.
Is David Pecker in legal trouble? Will he be indicted for anything?
2
I would respectfully ask whether impeaching Donald Trump would materially alter the political landscape (bluster and Tweets aside) given that even such an extreme measure would place Mike Pence in the Oval Office, a Conservative to the right of Donald Trump. It would be a service to America if the Times and others began discussing Mr. Pence, his perspectives, objectives and stated positions. aka be careful what you wish for.
5
Even on the other side of the ocean, my life, my children and grandchildren's lives are affected now, and for a long time, by what happens in the No 1 country in the world with an abysmal president. Since I can't do anything about it, I might as well try to find the funny side. Events today mean that close-up photos of Trump are published, I suppose to show eyes and character. Without going into equally obvious monumental flaws, how can anyone vote for a man who, trying to fool the public into believing that at 72 his hair is still in full colour, and that he has a permanent tan all year round, fails to find people good enough to dye his hair convincingly, and conceal the mark of goggles for fake tanning purposes? If someone is so bad at choosing people to do things for him at such level of simplicity of the task, how can he be in charge of greater things?
12
So its perfectly legal for the NY Times corporate advertisers to force 10's of thousands of US citizens to sign none disclosure agreements when their jobs are given to foreigners imported on fake H visas and the same applies to slave-wage workers in burger joints, but in the case of Trump (and the whole rest of the 1%) a month or two difference that coincides with a political campaign this same behavior has been declared by our elites, in some obscure law that the citizens were never "asked about", to be a supposedly highly treasonous crime? I don't think so! The supreme court will die laughing about the illogic of this one minute legal and the next minute allegedly illegal "crime".
1
It now seems virtually certain that Trump will face impeachment and removal from office in disgrace.
But it may be worthwhile to reflect on how the US got to the start of a divisive impeachment battle.
In the 2016 election, we faced two corrupt presidential candidates. And if it was clear that Trump was a womanizer, with a series of beautiful trophy wives, but unable to remain faithful to any of them, Hillary Clinton was in many respects even worse.
At the start of Bill Clinton's presidency, Hillary championed universal health care. But by the time she ran for president she had been captured by the health care lobby. The problem with Obamacare is that it leaves too many people out, often for capricious reasons. Health insurance companies have written rules which maximize profits not health outcomes. Thus when people move from state to state, they often find themselves between insurance plans, not covered except for emergencies. Others get denied because they filled out paperwork incorrectly.
Some cannot afford the high deductibles and the cost of health care keeps rising.
Yet what set Hillary Clinton apart for me was the video footage of her laughing as a mob murdered Muammar Gaddafi. Yes Gaddafi was a tyrant. But a presidential candidate should have a respect for law, for due process, for a trial.
Liberals have made a travesty of due process with the Me Too movement, which shames men in the media on the basis of a mere accusation.
Liberals deserve to fail.
3
@Jake Wagner
It would take you about 2 seconds to google comparisons of the state of USA 'health' care.
The USA spends 2 to 3 times more GDP than any of the OPEC countries who invest in their citizens. The USA has the highest child mortality rate, the lowest length of live, the highest obesity rate, and the highest rate of diabetes. You spend 2 to 3 time as much for lower outcomes.
The solutions? BigPharma is the No 1 profit making industry in the USA, and one of the biggest donors to the GOP. Control the costs, cut fees to doctors, and become a civilised country.
The solutions are in your hands.
Donald Trump tweeted today, "I feel very badly for Paul Manafort and his wonderful family. “Justice” took a 12 year old tax case, among other things, applied tremendous pressure on him and, unlike Michael Cohen, he refused to “break” - make up stories in order to get a “deal.” Such respect for a brave man!"
Spoken like a true mob boss. Never mind the rule of law. Never mind public corruption or high crimes and misdemeanors. In Trump's mind, it's all about who remains loyal to him. This guy's a mobster. A crook. He has to go.
13
Cohen's expression evokes that of vulnerable Cosette (Les Miserables). But in reality, Cohen is the Mafia soldier who got caught, was abandoned by the Boss, and was left with no options but surrendering.
5
What is that smell? It's horrible. Did I step in something? Let me check my shoes. Oh wait, that smell is our government
1
@Costantino Volpe Yes, and you'll find that the Obama shoe smells just as bad -- if you care to sniff.
@spade piccolo
You have been fooled by a crooked thug. Hide your head in shame. Or cry for the rest of your life. Who cares?
@Costantino Volpe
Our government as we have known it is not the problem, it is this sitting president and his administration that is the smell.
Rather pathetic that all Giuliani can say is that none of the CHARGES against Cohen incriminate the Fake President.
..without noting that Cohen's allocution under oath implicates Giuliani's doomed client not only in election fraud, but as lead conspirator to commit the fraud, and lead conspirator in the cover-up to obstruct justice.
And conspiracy is always more serious than the crime itself.
6
Let's just look at the facts of this situation, shall we?
1)-We will never know if these hush money payments that Cohen pleaded guilty to under oath would have tipped the election or not so why speculate? Russian desire to have DT elected and Comey did it.
2)-What we do know is that the Trump Adminstartion is one of, if not the most corrupt adminstration in our countries history. All you have to do is know the litany of former Trump associates to know that this is true. And don't forget the scurvy cheaters "Witch Doctor Tom-If the price isn't right just book me" and Scott "There is no limit to how much I will cheat the taxpayers out of their money and pollute the USA all at the same time" Pruitt.
3)-The Republicans are simply a pathetic bunch of spineless jelly fish. It seems to me that they accept that historically when at President has a 40% approval rating the party in power has their "clock cleaned." They seem to be just waiting around for the mid-terms because they know when the gavel comes down on a Democratic Majority House the impeachment proceeding will start. There is now tangible evidence that DT broke the law as a private citizen so let the proceedings begin.
4)-The best the Republicans can do is to call MC "a liar". Why would MC facing 46 to 64 months in a Federal Prison lie under oath? Maybe if he wants to be found guilty of perjury and add to his sentence? Besides there is corroborating evidence that DT did, in fact, order him to pay off his mistresses.
5
When you're a Trump you're a con all the way.
From your first scamming scheme to your last lying day...
Show US your tax returns Conald.
"Lock him up."
"A very very bad man"
"Sad"
5
The Mafia mentality of this poor excuse for a President is a clear and present danger to our Democracy. His enablers include the GOP who are complicit with these crimes and with the Russians by their inaction and lack of backbones. The so called " religious " right and working class Americans who support him should be ashamed of themselves. And these are the people that criticized a decent Human being we had as President before this corrupt, narcissistic , unstable excuse.
9
b-b-b-b-b-b-u-u-u-u-u-t-t Hillary Clinton had a private email account !!!
Shame on us voters, but we have a chance for redemption in November.
10
Department of Justice, with all due respect, you rock!
10
its okay
Trump is the most dishonest president I have ever witnessed. The non-stop lying, and also the non-stop attempt to incite hatred. Hatred of muslims, hatreds of immigrants, hatred of people from Mexico, hatred of "liberals," hatred of science, and above all, the man appears to despise the very mechanisms of Democracy that he was elected to uphold. Vile thug.
5
"The tabloid company agreed to identify those stories “so they could be purchased and their publication avoided,” the prosecutors said on Tuesday — an inverted role for a tabloid scandal sheet such as The Enquirer, which went on to savage Mr. Trump’s opponents while promoting and protecting him."
So, will we see the aptly named Mr. Pecker indicted on similar election violations? Sure hope so.
Does anyone doubt that Fox News had a similar plan to kill those type of stories? Only problem is proving the agreement with Trump. Likely no one is taping those bedtime chats between the pres and his besties at Fox. It would be delicious to see the Fox talking heads in court explaining how this happened in their efforts to protect America from "crooked Hillary".
3
Sadly the Trump voters vote for a racist. Simple as that. They may try to cover it up but it is there.
They aren't stupid (in a sense) but they are primarily racist and Donald Trump plays to that base. Another shared action of Nixon.
5
@NLG - Trump voters are cheering him on while he poisons their air and water and jeopardizes their health care. They're stupid.
2
Who knew there were so many creatures in the swamp?
The indicted or guilty ones:
Michael Cohen
Paul Manafort
George Papadopoulos
Mike Flynn
Rick Gates
Alex van der Zwaan
Many Russians
Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-CA)
Rep. Chris Collins (R-NY)
The unindicted co-conspirators
Donald J. Trump (who will Make America Great Again the day he goes to prison)
Donald Trump Jr.
Jared Kushner
Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA)
Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III
I know I am leaving a bunch of creatures out.
We need a bigger scorecard. The story when written will not fit in a single volume, but a series of volumes. Where is Dostoevsky when we really need him?
And if you wrote the story and offered it to Hollywood, they would laugh you out of the room, because it would be viewed as totally improbable.
Truth really is stranger than fiction.
9
Fantasy.
1
Thank you Mister Cohen I don't why I only care what!
2
Reading these comments - it's clear that the trolls are on the clock.
10
Although trump the chicken, and the gop "chickens" are running around like they have had their heads cut off, it seems that there are OTHER "chickens" who are finally coming home to roost. And it is enough with Hillary Clinton! Good God, blaming everything on Clinton and Obama is not just bizarre, it is without sense or reason. Yes, Hillary would have been a WAY better president than trump, and yes, she would have done something beneficial with the health care system, if she could have. With republicans in charge, you cannot do anything to help the average American citizen; they just want to destroy and dismantle anything that helps the common man. Both the Dems and the gop have their billionaire donors, but Hillary Clinton, imperfect human being that she is, has more integrity in her little finger than trump has in his entire bloated body. Is she a bastion of integrity and character? I don't know, but I do know that The Clinton Foundation does marvelous charitable works globally, and as such, is revered, and that says a lot to me. She also has an intelligent head on her shoulders, is a superb critical thinker, and what we have now in The White House is an abject moron who is ONLY interested in stealing as much as he can get away with, as does his complicit cabinet, and complicit congress. In my life I never thought the my government would have turned into a Mafia-like crime syndicate. ~ @David MD: As for trump being like FDR, Truman, JFK, and LBJ, are you NUTS?????
10
I'd take a bullet for him, LOL
@IJonah
Hopefully he won't. Remember trumps comment "I could stand in the middle of Fifth Ave. and shoot somebody and not lose any voters". Did you vote for that man? I don't think any of it is funny.
1
As somewhat of a side issue, what about Mr. Pecker and the editor at the National Enquirer? Along with Mr. Trump, they were allegedly in on the hush-up conspiracy as well.
1
A good day for all of us, perhaps the tide is turning.
As much as Cohen has broken the law, he has decided to do the right thing for his family and country. It is refreshing to see a conscience in an unconscionable group of people. I know people will say it has nothing to do with conscience, only to save himself. Whatever the reason, I give him credit. I only hope the government is providing security for this man and his family.
You know trump and family are sick over the recent incidents. Laying low is indicative of the fear they are all feeling and several have been laying very low for some time.
Where has Jared been? Ivanka? Rudy suddenly took a vacation. trump can't hide and he looks like the hell he has created in this country and the world.
2
@smf "As much as Cohen has broken the law, he has decided to do the right thing for his family and country."
Ha ha ha ha.
The perfect citizen.
@spade piccolo
As I stated, "what ever the reason, I give him credit". He did not have to come forward. No one has said he is the perfect citizen, he has lived a life of crime, with and for a man who excels in criminal activity. He is about to pay for his part in it and hopefully the man he worked for will go down as well and finally pay for the disruption and disgust he has created in his lifetime at the expense of many.
Rudolph Giuliani's reputation has so dramatically tumbled since Sept 11, 2001 its hard to fathom how one can achieve this kind of drop in public opinion. By the end of Trump's presidency Giuliani may be the most loathed man in American politics of any generation. This is a man, after all, who seemingly has taken it upon himself to knowingly lie to the American people for the glorification of Trump's ego.
4
Pleading guilty simply confirms that the public already know. It may put some restrictions on Trumps tweets for few days. He will be back to his usual rants. Sexual scandals in churches, combined with obscene character of Trump, all Republicans are saying forget about all the families values they campaigned on, it is more important to provide tax breaks for the rich and polluters. Now, it is up to the people to decide what kind of country we want to live in. Is president’s moral behavior is acceptable to our children? Should we allow erosion of democracy and independence of its institutions? The November elections would show whether Republican supporters have any descency or continue to live in their imagination that what Republicans are doing is god’s work.
5
Trump won as a symptom of dysfunction in the Democratic Party.
All this press and publicity of the elites trying to unseat Trump only makes his position stronger among the electorate.
They saw how Clinton received $675,000 for 3 talks from Goldman the contents which she refused to disclose despite frequent requests from fellow Democratic candidate Sanders for disclosure. Fortunately WikiLeaks disclosed the information that amply demonstrated that Clinton and the Democratic Party favored the billionaire class over workers.
Trump and to a lesser degree Sanders are the legitimate ideological descendants of FDR, Truman, JFK, and LBJ: They represent the worker over the billionaire class as does Trump.
As proof, look the the "Gang of Eight Senators" for immigration: They want to triple the number of H1-B Visas instead of lowering the number. H1-B visas are misused by firms such as Disney to replace Americans with Indian import STEM workers. Democratic Senators Schumer (NY), Bennett (CO), Durbin (IL), and Menendez (NJ) are all for this anti-labor legislation.
Trump and his supporters are against that anti-labor legislation. Don't take my word for it. Check it out. Trump is pro-labor, the Democrats are anti-labor but pro-billionaire elites.
3
David MD....Trump and the Reverse Robin Hood Republicans Congress passed a 2017 Christmas Gift Tax Cut for millionaires and billionaires...they also threw a few nickels at the peasant class.
The GOP and Trump have also been trying to shred healthcare; the GOP Supreme Court just did their best to gut worker unions and eliminate class-action consumer suits.
What are you smoking ? Coal ?
Sad.
21
David, I must ask: what reality do you live in? are you a comic? Because everything you’ve stated is absurd, untrue, out of context, and misguided.
7
@David MD
Your comment is proof that the NY Times practices "equal opportunity" when it comes to printing comments. Sometimes we need to see the absurd so that we know your type is out there. Good to know.
8
Is there still anyone out there who believes that a Hillary presidency would have been equal to Trump's?
9
Gian Piero....yes, Trump Trash Nation is still hellbent on their Hillary Hatred Witch Trial; they cannot be reached with reason, facts or evidence.
9
Socrates......there's simply no fixing stupid so why waste time and energy trying. Remember in school there was always one or two kids who simply couldn't comprehend the information and constantly tried disrupt others from learning? That's who the "deplorables" are. They're the dumb kids in class that can't comprehend or think critically. Don't be concerned because I'm certain the brilliant Betsy DeVos has just the right answer to get all them there deplorables just the right type of ed'dumb'action.
Please keep providing your thoughts and comments. Many of them make my day. Cheers!
1
@Gian Piero In which direction? Of course Hillary would be working for all American people, not just the wealthy.
2
I used to think that the United States is a democracy but two facts militate against that misconception.
1. The president is above the law because he/she cannot be indicted in a crime.
2. Presidential elections are not "one-person one-vote" because votes one vote from the correct state can swing all of that state's electoral votes to one candidate, and winning the popular vote is not necessary to become president.
14
While democracy is imperfect in the United States, or anywhere in the world, it is a democracy. If you don't believe it try living in Russia or N. Korea. I understand your frustrations but your comment is a bit exaggerated.
1
@Ajoy Bhatia: It is not that the president CANNOT be indicted for a crime; there is no LAW to that effect. But it has been protocol or precedent that it has been so. There is nothing to say that cannot change, based on the severity/reprehensibility of the crime(s). -- Also, our elections SHOULD BE one person, one vote. The reasons for the creation of The Electoral College are antiquated, and with the 2016 election, in particular, we saw a partisan, corrupt E.C. that did not adhere to the law with which it had been charged, which is that it is PROHIBITED from installing an unfit person into the American presidency. They saw, just as we did, that he was racist, hate-mongering, inciting violence, cruel, sadistic, misogynist, xenophobic, a sexual and financial predator, a liar, arrogant, corrupt, without sufficient intellect and critical thinking skills, mentally challenged/having severe psychological issues...all this was on full, glaring display during his campaign...but they saw fit ANYWAY to hand him the presidency on a silver platter. Conclusion: The E.C. is partisan and corrupt, and should be abolished.
1
Well, OK. Not a perfect democracy, but then nothing is perfect, and perfection is only a matter of perspective. I am just very frustrated by these two facts.
1
Forgive me, but I must appropriate a quote from T.S. Eliot here:
This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
Not with a bang but an admission.
Life, as Eliot wrote, is very long. So, apparently, is jail time. It would behoove Trump and all his apologists to remember that, for it seems as though Mr. Cohen has already come face to face with this truth. And yes, Mr. Giuliani, truth is still truth and, in this case, it comes with a prison term.
22
The President is a very bad businessman. There are much cheaper, and legal ways to have sex with women. Let's face it,
Trump is no John Kennedy.
22
@Keith - No woman in her right mind is going to have sex with Trump for free.
6
And Michael Cohen is no Ted Sorenson!
In both cases, the individuals (Trump, Cohen) in question are in roles far beyond their all-to-obvious, extreme limitations, a situation brutally compounded by their narcissistic oblivion about this fact.
But here's my take on the Trump-Cohen dynamic, & though I despise Trump, it comes out better for him than his turncoat attorney.
Trump has an overabundance of defects. But increasingly, I think for all his vulgarity, self-aggrandizing narcissism, & recklessness in most spheres of his life & work, he has a kindly streak that manifests in caring & loyalty to the people in his life, such that he cares about sustaining the relationships he builds & seeking good for & finding good in the people around him. E.g., that's part of his ostensibly facile detente w/ Kim.
One manifestation of this is that he surrounds himself to an extent w/ clearly undeserving lightweights promoted to responsibilities far beyond their talents/ characterological qualifications, like Amorosa & Cohen. Without Trump's "these are my people, I care about them" orientation, they'd never get within miles of their positions under Trump.
This brings me to Cohen, with his delusional "consigliere" posturings. Cohen is such a lightweight on every level, he should be one of those sheysters making penny ante (but still legit) cases in small claims court. He's a garden variety lawyer-bulldog, as average-mediocre as they come. Trump & Cohen are simply blind to all this.
1
@Keith: John Kennedy was handsome, charismatic, elegant, dignified, charming, intelligent...What are we comparing here? It is like comparing Bozo the Clown to Cary Grant! trump HAS TO PAY for sex; thank goodness he has the financial means.
4
Mr. Cohen looks so drawn and tired I feel a little sorry for him; just a little.
11
"Even when Mr. Cohen made obvious references to Mr. Trump, referring to him as “the candidate” and “a candidate for federal office,” spectators seemed to listen raptly, with no gasps or audible reactions." So, it wasn't a bombshell to learn that trump authorized the payoffs to a porn star and a mistress.... how jaw-droppingly sad that this is not shocking.
14
Michael Cohen will ultimately be remembered in American History as the guy who told the truth. How about you Rudy? How will you be remembered?
27
@sues As a nut-job.
2
@sues Sadly Rudy will be remembered for profiting from 9/11 and lying/spreading disinformation in an effort to protect Donald J. Trump.
@sues:
" How about you Rudy? How will you be remembered?"
I would say: NOT ALL THERE.
2
I can understand (sort of) the logic of not being able to press charges against the President while in office for actions committed during his tenure, it could lead to endless attempts to oust him. But crimes of felonies committed by a candidate to office, i.e. an ordinary citizen, surely can't be postponed any more than if a plumber working in Trump Tower were to find the remains of a Playmate disappeared without trace years ago. It seems undemocratic, to put it mildly, for the President to be above the law for acts committed before being elected.
13
I agree with you in regard to this president, but if you look at the big picture it makes sense.
In a normal time, the sitting congress and senate should do the right thing and impeach so a president can be removed from office and be charged appropriately.
6
This has shown me that the United States is not really a democracy - president above the law, and being able to become president without winning popular vote. The cover has been blown.
5
@Ajoy Bhatia
Wait for it...................it's not over yet.
So trump paid someone to keep her mouth shut. Who cares? Where was your outrage when Bill Clinton was assaulting women?
6
If you were outraged then, you should be outraged now.
5
Where’s yours now?
5
@george. Where was the outrage? Uhhh... he was impeached.
1
Go to foxnews.com right now. Front page news is about an illegal immigrant commiting murdering a white girl. This is why discourse in this country is so fractured. We are literally not on the same page.
34
@John Followed your suggestion. Now I'm going to go take a shower.
2
@John, And as of yesterday, there was nothing about this story in the NYT when I tried to find out more about it. So sometimes we must look to other resources for information, although I would not use FOX. The NYT must keep reporting other news too or at least you'd hope that they would. Or you can just rename it the Trump Times.
2
@rms
Love it! Gave me the good laugh I needed.
At what point should we ask his base:
Look folks, sorry but your president is a criminal crook, your congressmen are mostly crooks including the recent ones, Collins and Hunter.
Do you want this kind of government going forward?
Is this the Government you deserve?
Are you going to vote for public officials who are lining their own pockets and robbing all of us in a open day light?
Do you like the fact that Putin choses your president?
I doubt the answer is YES, but just in case there is a plan B.
Russia would welcome you with open heart.
18
It's all about the body language. Compare the petty-thug-swagger he had when he didn't bother to show up for Judge Wood's hearings....vs the way he looked walking out of the Court this time.
Manafort is safer in Jail than with Russian Oligarchs putting out a contract.....
Cohen is going to flip to see his kids before they have kids.
Short of first degree relatives, is anyone left ?
12
Michael Avenatti's comment to Trump's lawyer sums it all up..."Buckle up Buttercup".
20
@JM: I LIKE Michael Avenatti! Who would you rather have defending you--Avenatti or Giuliani? And , too, Avenatti is on the side of what is right and fair. (At least in this case.)
1
The Information indicates Michael Cohen’s wife signed the false tax returns too.
7
@Jim Levine: There is something called "an innocent spouse rule" under IRS regulations. But I am not sure what Cohen's wife would have to do to be considered under this rule. Perhaps part of the "deal" was that she not be implicated. It is probably unlikely, unless she was involved in his "business," that she had knowledge of these frauds. Some wives do; some wives don't.
2
The next test of how far Russian interests will go to protect "their man" in the White House will be to see if Mr. Cohen lives to testify in any possible impeachment hearings down the road. Polonium-120 in a cup of tea, ricin delivered by an umbrella, just plain shootings or other murders of dissidents and critics mark the history of the KGB and/or Putin regime getting rid of critics or potential "troublemakers." Since Cohen has effectively named Trump in felonious activities, he'd better watch his back. I don't want to seem overly paranoid, but should Mr. Cohen meet an untimely demise before he can bring any testimony against Trump, I wouldn't be surprised by such news.
22
It seems well established that a sitting president cannot be criminally indicted and convicted while in office. He may be deposed in the months ahead and/or charges levied after leaving office.
Just because its established doesn't mean it can't be challenged, don't let tradition stand in the way of justice.
15
President Trump wants to make “history.” First sitting president whose campaign chairman was found guilty of eight felonies. First sitting president whose personal lawyer and self-avowed “fixer” pleaded guilty to eight felonies, two of which involved trying to ensure his election by paying hush money to a playmate and a porn star. And these happened within an hour of each other! First sitting president whose national security adviser pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI. Great reality TV. Pathetic leadership.
History? Mission Accomplished!
21
Calling a hush payment to a hooker a political contribution to influence the election is a real stretch. Good luck with that NYTimes. Who cares! I would have done the same thing. The bigger story should be why the media is making such an effort to tear down this country and the accomplishments of the only president who can get anything done in modern history.
2
@David "The bigger story should be why Drumpf and the complicit GOP are making such an effort to tear down this country for their, and their "donors" short term profit$. And why a third of the country still thinks this is a good thing.
19
@David
You could run for President
2
@David Thanks for making me laugh. It's been kinda hard to find something to laugh about since the electoral college appointed trump, the loser, to soil the White House.
"... for the principal purpose of influencing the election."
Note: NOT "... for the principal purpose of protecting his lovely wife from the pain of discovering these terrible mistakes he made."
Melania, hon, he's just not that into you.
19
@AG ...and, for that she is thankful.
1
It would be one thing for Trump to argue that he did not know the people he hired were criminals and cite the many presidents they worked for. But for Trump to call Manafort “a good man” after he is convicted by a jury of his peers of several serious crimes, including cheating on his is taxes to the tune of millions of dollars in hidden income is reprehensible. It also appears to be a clear attempt at obstructing justice by dangling a pardon before Manafort.
Both Manafort and Cohen have committed serious tax fraud cheating the country out of millions of dollars of revenue. That point is incontrovertible. A question for McConnell and Ryan, and all Trump supporters: how can you continue to support a man to be President who would say at the conclusion of a jury trial where a preponderance of documented evidence led to his becoming a convicted felon for serious fraud that he is “a good man?”
What are we if the rule of law means nothing? What bizarre conspiracy theories do you believe in that allow you to support such an assertion. McConnel and Ryan, you have stood by silently while Trump tears down the very foundations of this country. Have you no shame? Do you understand your responsibility to uphold the law and protect public safety?
I am concerned that when the rule of law is ignored and debased violence will follow. Your silence is as threatening to the welfare of the American people as those quizzlings who ran the Vichy government in France under Nazi occupation.
16
Is no one concerned that Putin and his goons will attempt a poison attack on the people that can bring Trump down?
8
@myasara
I am sure Manafort and Cohen are well aware. What would you have us do? Protect them?
Is no one concerned that Putin will poison Trump? I guess Trump is safe as long as he is the alleged resident of the White House. One more thing for him to ponder whilst his fingers hover over the tweet app on his phone.
I hope the prospect of assassination eats away at him.
Maybe I missed it, but if Cohen paid AMI to buy the story (to kill it) from Ms. Clifford for $150,000, who paid AMI? Where was their cut? No one something for nothing it seems, or do they?
1
Tearing away babies and kids from their parents at the border and putiing parents in prison, leaving the kids and families helpless is a tragedy no less worse than slavery and other barbarism. The states should reunite these people and compensate them.
8
I don't get it. So what if Trump paid money for a prostitute before he was elected. Big deal. How is that a violation of campaign finance laws?
John F Kennedy had sex with two prostitutes in Havana, Cuba before he was elected president.
3
@Aristotle Gluteus Maximus Ummm, he paid her off right before the election to NOT talk about their fling - for the purpose of impacting the election.
3
@Aristotle Gluteus Maximus 1st off the actions of the 2 presidents are very different. If no money had exchanged hands during the 2016 primaries then Trump's actions would be no different than Jfk's actions. One crime involves an alleged attempt to conceal questionable actions that could hurt Trump's campaign for presidency with a payoff. JFK's conduct, while questionable, does not involve an attempted coverup. Put aside the fact that this involves a porn star and a Playboy model. There are no charges being levied that allude to sexual conduct. All charges being levied involve financial activities and coverups during a bid for Presidency. Let's say Trump stole a candy bar, a petty offense. Now let's say there was an alleged attempt to hide this petty offense using hush money, during a political campaign, to protect the image of said candidate.
Our president is a crook and everyone knows it. Our country has a remedy for that; impeachment and indictment. Congress needs to do it's duty or face the wrath of this country.
17
New York Times,
Please do a piece on every complicit republican in this administration and find out what exactly holds them back from doing the right thing by impeaching this hideous president.
Other than that, great reporting on these important, very real stories.
16
Man, Trump brought down for paying for catch and kill. The media caught and killed a photo of Obama palling around with Farrakhan for 10 years - for free! Trump should have run as a Democrat, you get unlimited free catch and kill. And if they can't can't catch it, they'll bury it - like Hillary paying Russians for a dossier or Donna Brazile giving debate questions to Hillary, or even Cuomo saying America was never great. That stuff gets buried and never again discussed pretty quick.
1
@TL I'm sure you could still find old "Enquirer" copies somewhere. Just because you believe anything stupid written about Democrats doesn't make it true or criminal.
4
Trumpsters can't help lying. Just like they can't help going to jail.
2
@TL
Hey matey. Whataboutism, or logical fallacies, are a political tool perfected by the Russians, but we know that crooked Donnie, has told you that a foreign, often hostile power, is now our best friend, so hey ho.
But, a bit of advice. Give it up!
At best it is irritating. At worst, I find it insulting. Insulting that you imagine, that anybody but yourself and your deluded companions, are going to be fooled by dragging up some nonsense about people who are NOT the alleged resident of the White House.
Your hero, is a criminal. Deal with it.
2
Lock him up!
14
If Cohen is truly now committed to the truth, he needs to sit down with the Special Counsel immediately and tell him everything he knows. If that happens, Trump won't survive.
12
Here is a letter Judge Brett Kavanaugh should send to the President:
Mr. President:
It is clear that Russian influence helped decide the 2016 presidential election; hush money, paid to women to influence the 2016 presidential election, was likely paid with your knowledge; you were elected President of the United States as a result of these illegal activities; therefore, any appointment you make to the court is as illegitimate as your victory.
Much as I would like to serve on the Supreme Court for the next thirty years, I request that you withdraw my name as your nominee for Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States;
I invite Justice Gorsuch to resign from the court in solidarity with my actions and in recognition of the illegitimacy of his nomination. What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world but loses his own soul?
Brett Kavanaugh
Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals
18
@Jack Hailey Agreed, but don't hold you breath.
Money paid to people who come out of the woodwork and shake down people under threat of revealing bad sexual stories are not legitimate campaign expenditures. They are personal expenditures. That is true for both candidates we like and candidates we don’t.
If impeachment rests on this alone it wont fly with the American people. Nobody other than a fine print election lawyer would see this as anything but paying a porn star to keep quiet after she blackmails a candidate by threatening to go public with a story.
5
It's never the crime. It's the cover up. If you're ok with that...
#deplorables
2
To believe that "... impeachment rests on this alone" suggests you may have missed several facts that have come to light.
1
There are many many biblical tracts and verses in the bible ,the literal word of god , that will explain and absolve all of the sins and short comings of Trump and his Gang . Bet on it !
3
Just vote him out.
2
In the mean time an innocent American college girl is brutally murdered by an illegal immigrant. Where's the
Russian collusion? We need the wall, we need Trump.
4
@Steve
Poor attempt at deflection.
"We" = 1/3 of the country.
The rest of us need Social Security, REAL Health Care, environmental and consumer protection, equal rights, affordable education ...
20
@Steve - An innocent American woman and her two young children were also brutally murdered by her husband last week in Colorado. The guy is a white American citizen who was apparently having an affair with a co-worker yet went on TV pleading for the return of his family. The children's bodies were found in a crude oil well on the grounds of the company where he worked until his arrest.
What do you suggest we do about that? Is the wall going to keep psychotic American citizens from committing murder or cheating on their spouses? What's Trump going to do about guys like that who pose a grave and present danger to their families?
The answer: nothing.
We don't need the wall and we don't need Donald Trump. If you're concerned about illegal immigration, then Trump and the wall aren't going to make us any safer or create more humane policies. If you're concerned about violence, Trump is not going to help us in that area. He's nothing more than an albatross slung around our collective national neck. The sooner we're rid of him, the better. Also, in your shoddy attempt at deflection, you discounted the Russian collusion. Give it time, Steve. There's a lot of stuff hiding under Trump's rock. Try to pay attention to the man behind the curtain. He's selling something, and it's nothing worth buying.
3
Sorry to mention, but how many innocent schoolgirls were killed by homegrown shooters? Please get some sense of perspective.
1
If Trump is guilty of fraud underlying his election and campaign, America should not accept his (obsequious? enabling?) Vice President Pence to move into the White House. We may never know what Pence did know, and when he knew of it. When you find out that the head of the Longshoreman's Association or Head of a Gambling Commission is a John Gotti type-crook you don't install his partner-in-crime No. 2 to take his place.
16
If I were Cohen, I would get myself a team of bodyguards.
13
Congratulations. The Russia investigation has created a lot of noise and has come up with a dry hole on the Russia front. Mueller's investigation, much as the Starr investigation has expanded beyond the original parameters and the Cohen matter came up. Manafort is another in a long line of corrupt individuals who gravitate to the likes of Trump.
1
@c harris ... Russia is on deck and batting clean-up.
All actions by trump should be stopped.
No tarifs, no judicial appointments, nothing.
Looks like he's a co-conspirator to at least one felony that we know about.
9
We'll see if this lowers Trump's 90% support with Republicans. I doubt it; there is no threshold for moral turpitude or economic malfeasance that seems to override Making America White Again as a Republican priority.
11
Where are the leaders? Where are the political leaders? Where are the social leaders? Where are the economic leaders? Where are the religious leaders? Where are intellectual leaders? Where are the community leaders? This is the biggest vacuum of moral leadership in this nation's history!
4
Reality TV. We've seen this show before. it could end like Capone's.
2
Now it is up to Giuliani to prove that "The truth isn't the truth".
3
No big deal, really. Cohen and Manafort, two thoroughly disreputable people, each hoping to trade a story for lenient treatment on charges of failing to declare millions in income. They will make Trump look bad, but that is just more water off the duck’s back. THis will be seen as nothing more than another shabby attempt to discredit the President.
5
@LarryYou are calling Cohen "disreputable." I am not saying you are wrong, but there is enough other evidence and hearsay that clearly implicates Trump and his family and cohorts. Cohen just pushes Trump closer to the "END" of his Presidency.
Russia is one of the slimiest and most corrupt nations on earth. Trump and his crew "knew" they were going to get something good regarding Hilary Clinton. TRAITORS unquestionably. Makes Richard Nixon's Watergate look like nothing.
@Larry ... "two thoroughly disreputable people" that worked for drumpf and were major players in getting the "duck" selected through unlawful activities, which donnie directed. That's not water to anyone with ethics and morals.
Actually discrediting an "alleged felon" is what happens when the facts are proven - no extra effort needed. One way to think of it is an alt-felon has there same credibility as a felon - alt-credibility. I am concerned that Rudy don't be able to parse this out for the TV viewers - honestly, he's not helping and I can't imagine anyone wants to hear another word from him.
I am outraged! The economy is at 4% GDP, the trade deals are putting American to work, minority unemployment at all-time low, women unemployment at 65-year low, the Russians are being sanctioned, an EO was signed to finally stop the separation of families that was rampant under previous administrations, teen unemployment at all-time low. These are all dangerous situations and we need to get rid of this president!
2
@TravelingProfessor Separation of families, especially infants and toddlers from their mothers, is totally a trump Nazi first in the USA.
2
Oh yeah, and don't forget, real wages are flat, people need to work more than one job to pay rent, our deficit is about to set new records, climate change is causing out of control fires in California and flooding on the east coast and mass shootings have become so common, they don't even make the top news story of the day anymore.
2
@Norma Give me a break. Obama did it, Bush did it. Trump signed the EO so it could not be done anymore. Impeach!
Trump had an affair, paid the woman to shut up about it.
All of this before he took office. No crime here. This solidifies his 2020 bid. Reference John Edwards the Democratic vice presidential candidate who fathered a child with his mistress while a candidate, and while his wife was fighting cancer. Dems shuffled a lot of money to cover it up. He was charged, but nothing stuck, charges dropped. The precedent has been set. Move on liberals, people are tired of it, plus Trump has the country going in the right direction instead of the 8 years of the apologetic quagmire that Obama created. I can't resist, no pun intended, on thanking you for the votes for Trump, keep up the good work!
6
@Steve - If you call shoddy behavior, criminal activity, and possible collusion "good work" then yes, by all means, Trump should keep it up right into impeachment, resignation, and/or jail, whichever comes first.
Trump doesn't have the country going anywhere save down the drain, but if it gets you to sleep at night to live in denial, go for it. It's still a free country and you're certainly free to stand up to be counted with the likes of a man who, had he lived in the old West, would have been hawking trumped-up potions (I couldn't resist - no pun intended) and nonsense out of the back of a covered wagon. As for John Edwards, please note that his behavior cost him his political career. He didn't shuffle into the White House on his cover ups and, if he had, Republicans would have howled for justice. It's about time Trump bid his smarmy life of public service goodbye. People are tired of it.
1
What has Trump done to make the country better? What is his good work? Dismantling environmental protections? Nominating judges to the judicial bench that are unqualified due to lack of experience and expertise? Pardoning convicted felons who blatantly floated the law and basically tortured people in his jail? Putting our country in financial jeopardy by creating debt to rival all previous president's and their budgets? Cozying up to a former KBG Agent who has poisoned and killed people in Great Britain, our ally? Selling arms to Saudi Arabia and having them use them to bomb innocent children in Yemen? Disrespecting Gold Star families, when he avoided serving himself, and no one in his family serves in our armed forces? Spending taxpayer money to travel to his personal properties to play golf every weekend and literally making money off it when he charges the Secret Service to stay in his hotels and rent golf carts at a premium to protect him?
I'm being serious, please explain how his actions have made lives better for ordinary citizens in this country. I am trying to understand.
2
@SteveSorry, I accidently pressed the "Recommend" button.
The Faux Noise distortion field is strong this morning. Top story, which btw takes up the entire homepage of Fox so-called-News, is in gigantic lettering decrying an alleged illegal immigrant murderer. This is followed by a seemingly endless number of op-eds with titles like 'Murder ... is wake up call on illegal immigration'.
The only mention at first glance of Cohen implicating the President of the United States in campaign finance fraud and potentially providing serious grounds for impeachment was a brief popup (which hasn't reappeared since) asking if Cohen means 'legal trouble for Trump?'.
Sorry to burst your bubble liberals, but so long as Fox is backing the so-called president, it's unlikely many people will ever so much as hear about this story. If they do, they'll put it second to the supposed immigrant crime spree that's been gripping the country since 2016 (or, since Fox started their Trump campaign I guess? It's difficult to tell with this alt-facts, but whatever).
7
@Mr. Adams
FACTS. Fox Spews propaganda, but fortunately, it is watched by 0.6% of the population. The demographic is largely 50+. If I had any say, i would shut them down, for elderly abuse, but then we kicked Murdoch out of the UK for criminal phone hacking.
But you guys must have your 'free speech'. Maybe time to kill the propaganda machine?
Is Stormy a Russian agent? I thought this was supposed to be about collusion with Russia to affect the outcome of the presidential election. Even Pravda during the most intense days of the cold war showed more effort to at least create the appearance of balanced journalism. What is truly disheartening is to find that we do not have a single major news outlet in this country that is free and independent of the permanent government. No doubt the election of Trump is a tragic moment in our history, but both political parties must acknowledge their complete failure to represent the interests of the people. The blame for the present condition of the country lies not with call girls or foreign agents or even a confidence man like Trump. The American system is sick and still reeling.
2
The FBI, federal prosecutors, and state prosecutors all take pride in their expertise in taking down crime families. The Trump crime family will not be an exception. As such, Michael Cohen and Paul Manafort should surround themselves with a sufficient number of body guards to assure that they live long, healthy lives.
4
This is great news, but ultimately, the only thing that matters is electing Democrats in November and in 2020. Once we do that, we can get this country back on the rails while continuing to investigate, prosecute and sentence each and every individual involved in this hostile takeover of this country. If that means the entire GOP, so be it.
6
Guess who the award for the largest campaign fine violation ever goes to! You didn't know? Why it is none other than Barack Hussein Obama, the Messiah himself! $375k https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2013/01/04/obama-campaign-f...
1
It was a fine paid by the campaign for failure to record small donations by 1300 donors. What an idiotic comparison.
2
Hmm didn't see an indictment here just a fine for late reporting. Nice try.
There is something to be said here of Mr Cohen rolling over to the pressure applied by Mr Mueller. While this situation will undoubtedly please Democrats, the truth is Mr Cohen is not much of a man at all. First of all he made the mistake of becoming involved with Mr Trump in the first place as his attorney. Then he added insult to injury by squealing as best he could to save his own skin. Is this a man that can truly be believed? How do we really know he’s telling the truth now? After all, this is far from an honorable, honest man. And of course this all begs the question: what does this have to do with Russian meddling in the election which is supposed to be the reason for the investigation in the first place?
If Cohen’s testimony was the only
Cohen’s prosecution was not handled by Mueller’s team. It *isn’t* part of the Russian investigation.
4
Cohen’s prosecution was not handled by Mueller’s team. It is not part of the Russian investigations.
If Cohen’s testimony was the only basis for implicating Trump, doubt about his veracity might be reasonable. However, in between his denials, Trump admitted to being aware of and having directed the payments.
7
Well, there was that tape.....
Not a peep from Congressional Republicans. That tells us all we need to know.
Now anyone with any sense of morality must vote Democratic in November.
31
The President knew this was coming since last spring, so one has to assume that he believes that he can stop the political and legal bleeding at Michael Cohen. A constant rearguard action on the legal front, and on the political one against a potential Democratic Congress will be wearying, though, so I suspect once again that the President will declare victory at some point within the next year, and announce he is not running for re-election. There is a political opening here for a reform Republican to declare a new vision in opposition to the Trump iteration of his or her party; who will be bold enough to step through?
2
Pence.
Huzzah!
Can we move on to Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell now.
Much of the history that led to Trump include these subversive figures.
20
Where are the Republicans on this? Do they really need Trump spilling secrets to Russia before they act? Oh right, he already did that. I used to disagree with Republicans on policy, now I disagree and disrespect them on principal due to their blatant hypocrisy. Remember Mitch McConnell giving a big speech about obstruction during the Bill Clinton investigation? Remember Guliani arguing a president can in fact be subpoenaed. And now not a peep. Hypocrites the lot of them. They only want laws and rules to apply to the other side and not themselves, they are willing to allow a criminal in the oval office in order to get their tax cuts, instead of using persuation and facts to convince people. Impeach this man already so we can move on as a country.
20
The US is being run by an un-indicted co-conspirator to criminal activity.
The corruption is staggering. Trump has surrounded himself with thieves and liars. The United States is being run by thieves and liars. Do the citizens understand what that means.
This makes the Nixon Watergate scandal look small in comparison. The rape and pillage of the nation is going on every day in front of the very people that elected this criminal enterprise.
Wow. This is hard to believe. That the United States could be taken over by a criminal enterprise is unthinkable but sadly happened.
21
'Good News on the doorstep..
We must take just one more step..'
6
Did David Axelrod’s PR firm bill the Obama campaign for every single hour Axelrod spent trying to get Obama elected? What about the PR value of Obama’s autobiography “Dreams of My Father?” Could Obama be considered a “donor” in kind to his campaign fund for value received? If not, then why should hush money paid by Trump to these women represent a “donation” that he should have reported as if he was a “donor” to his own campaign, but the same rationale does not apply to all politicians who make donations in kind to their own campaign just by running for office?
4
He didn’t report it. That’s the whole point. He lied about it beforehand so that you would still vote for him.
7
Trump promised to be a "law and order" President. In a way, he is.
7
Question:
Are Don Jr. and Jared Kushner still in the US?
“I hire the best people.”
— Donald J. Trump, the 45th President of the United States
14
The Michael Wolff book ‘Fire and Fury’ has a passage that was quoting Steve Bannon as having admitted that a ‘Michael’ had paid off hundreds of women that had had affairs with Trump.
Why isn’t that passage in that book being revisited?
6
Why doesn't he just resign?
4
@Allison
Some thoughts:
Trump cannot resign because his Russian handlers won't let him. They paid good money, after all.
Trump believes his own lies.
Trump cannot admit being wrong. This doesn't mean he won't resign, it just means he will blame someone or something else for it. This has the possibility of further dividing the country.
Trump believes he is untouchable so there is no need to resign.
9
So, if Trump and Cohen committed a crime together, would it be fair to say they COLLUDED on it?
8
To be honest, I am no Trump fan. I did not vote for him nor would I ever. But come on. Do we really care that his lawyer paid off some women. This is not a bombshell. Huge nothing burger. This entire investigation began on the premise that the Trump campaign colluded with Russia and we have seen no evidence of collusion. So instead we waste our time pretending a nothing burger is a big mac
3
@Chandler Stepp.. Few thoughts: Tip of the iceberg - eventually we'll get down to what Putin has on POTUS. Secondly, yesterday it became a little clearer what a bunch of crooks these guys are.
3
@Chandler Stepp
Except that he did so per the instruction of Donald Trump, which violates campaign finance law.
Trump is now an unindicted co-conspirator.
I hope the Left is ready for President Mike Pence. Be careful what you wish for, because you just might get it all, and them some you don't want.
Thanks for the threat. But we Americans already whupped the CSA once, and we'll whup it again if we have to.
5
@Southern Boy, Perhaps there is a belief down in the Confederate States of America that Mike Pence's hands are clean in the midst of all of the Trump corruption, but that's probably wishful thinking.
3
It's a good day for democracy when the truth comes out. All of the fear, uncertainty, anger, astonishment, frustration, and outrage has dissipated and now I feel happy and vindicated that Trump and his complicit gang of con artists/thugs are going down and our democracy held up despite a complicit GOP Congress and their various Keystone Kop attempts to stifle the truth from coming out. Next up - McConnell, Ryan, Nunes, McCarthy, Giuliani, Ivanka, Jared, Bannon, all of them - get charged and go to jail for a very long time.
9
If trump wasn't president right now he would be under indictment as a conspirator with Cohen. Impeachment time. If this republican congress wants to avoid permanent minority status for their party, they may want to seriously consider dumping trump now. Voters won't accept a non-accountable president or a do nothing congress.
5
You sleep with enough dogs, eventually you get fleas (and I'm not referring to the alleged affairs).
5
How will this influence the midterms? How bad does it have to get to convince people that the Republican Party needs to have a long think? This man they have elected and continue to support is clearly a criminal. A criminal who surrounded himself with other criminals. This seems far more widespread than the Nixon debacle. At least, Nixon didn’t involve his children!
5
The NYT’s staff, such as Peter Baker, Maggie Haberman, and Michael Schmidt are doing extraordinary work while under severe personal pressure from the White House. Keep up the great work.
12
Read the comments when Edwards was acquitted of the same charge. Why did Democrats think he was unfairly charged? Such hypocrisy and selected outrage.
https://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/01/us/edwards-jury-returns-not-guilty-ve...
4
@Jackie - Democrats kicked Edwards to the curb.
Cohen did the right thing yesterday.
How many representatives or senators would have had the courage to do the same in the same circumstances ?
5
The white house is federal housing. How can it be legal for an unindicted co-conspirator to live in public housing?
People in this country who live in public housing are evicted if they are suspected of receiving known criminals or even those who have been indicted, in their apartments, no exception to the rule.
If Ben Carson wants to change the direction of public housing, perhaps he should start at the top.
14
Supporters of Donald Trump have a decision to make.
Much of evidence is clear and there will be more to come.
Support a criminal or not.
You could downplay the crimes but please proceed cautiously. A President who commits crimes leaves himself open to the whims of those that know the truth.
How many people hold things over our President and how will they use that information? How will they try to manipulate the President? Will he assist Vladimir Putin in dismantling NATO? Will he assist Putin in making the world a unsettled place?
The people who worked for him who knew the truth made recordings because they did not trust him. What will the President do to cover-up the tapes or to cover-up the issues exposed by the tapes?
Can you trust Donald Trump? If you do you are trusting a criminal and a highly dishonest person.
The time is now to be an honest, patriotic American and take the correct side. I don't mean the Democratic Party side. I mean the side against a criminal President.
9
I wonder if Cohen will now provide new details on Elliott Broidy's $1.6 million payoff to a former Playboy model to have an abortion. That story has seemed suspect from the moment it hit.
If it's revealed the payoff was on behalf of Trump, will it be a bridge too far for the evangelical wing of the President's base?
9
No. Trump's base doesn't care.
3
Thank you to the free press for hanging in there and getting the truth and keeping us informed. You are the ones who are on the front lines of this unchartered new type of battle field. THANK YOU!!
20
Convincing hard core DT fans that Trump is a con man who fooled them is the equivalent of convincing a friend that the person they desperately love is cheating on them. There will be an aha moment in the future and the backlash will be ugly but these charges are not enough to trigger that outrage yet. However, I believe that day is coming for the most lucid ones. Unfortunately , there are some who will never allow that thought to enter their reality.
17
Just an afterthought: Wasn't this payoff to Trump's most lethal paramours simply part of a cleanup effort that included such deals as the penalty Trump paid to make the Trump University scam go away?
Seems like a systematic effort to brush the lint off the candidate's clothes as he suited up for the reality show that would become his presidency.
They were tossing money in several directions at once. Where else did the dollars land?
8
Let’s be clear, because the NYT Narrative rarely actually conveys facts or law accurately.
Confidentiality agreements – “ payments to two women during the 2016 campaign to keep them from speaking publicly about affairs they said they had with Mr. Trump” – are NOT illegal. If DT had made them himself, they would NOT be illegal. What made them illegal, allegedly, was that Cohen made them personally in conjunction with a campaign, thereby exceeding the campaign donation limits. Generally, when that happens to a campaign – and it happens all the time – the campaign must give the money back.
The action of making the payments was perfectly legal; it’s only when they’re made to “influence a campaign” that they become illegal, and that’s a PERSONAL problem for the criminal.
Rudy is right. If a payment constituted an illegal campaign contribution by Cohen – a lawyer allegedly representing the candidate – that’s not the candidate’s problem, it’s the lawyer’s problem.
3
@Brenda
So then the candidate is above this law as long as he establishes complex proxies of funding for the illegal contribution to detach himself from his instruction. That's why cases go to trial, so that a judge and jury have the opportunity to convict on grounds more important than legal loopholes that textualists acting in poor faith would use to defend those who conspire to defraud the United States.
5
Um, Cohen got up in court and clearly said that he made the payments at Trump's order, with the purpose of influencing the election. You also tripped lightly by the bank fraud charges.
3
At this point, the lack of integrity is so severe, one can essentially declare Donald J. Trump mentally unfit to be president. And if there's extreme doubt about his ability to know what is reality and what is not, then NO PARDONS should be accepted. Because the source is corrupt, detached from truth. This man is broken beyond repair. And he'll try to take as many people down with him as he can. Look at the long train wreck of people who have been closely associated with Trump, even during his presidency.
I don't even think we need impeachment proceedings. Change the nuclear codes and don't tell him. Kelly claims he's running things... let him do so. Ignore Trump. He has no integrity, cannot be trusted, and doesn't deserve the attention of the American people.
3
The left screams we shouldn't water board people if for no other reason than you can't trust the information they provide under duress.
Wouldn't the same be true for a white collar criminal like Cohen. The feds have him on multiple counts of bad behavior that have nothing to do with Trump. Of course what they were hoping they would find all sorts of info from Cohen implicating Trump on crimes going back to the kidnapping of Lindbergh baby. But no dice.
So Cohen, already facing prison for serious crimes, throws in something about Trump directing payments to two women who had consensual sex with Trump years ago but suddenly popped up trying to extort money. Now think this through. Does Cohen have any proof of this, other than his sterling word? Do you really think if Trump knew about the payment and directed it that it was to help him win the election? I doubt it. If Trump knew about it, I suspect the only reason he would direct or approve such payments was because he wanted to avoid getting in hot water with Melania, or save her from some embarrassment as possible first lady.
However, to assume Trump with his reputation as a womanizer, with the TMZ tapes already out there, would have any political concerns re two women come forward claiming that they had consensual sex with him.
I think Cohen's original story is probably correct. He acted without Trump's knowledge, then Trump paid him back from his own funds.
3
@Ralphie
Uh, Ralphie - do you recall the search of Cohen's office and records ?
4
@Ralphie - You've missed several weeks of news. Trump has changed his story on this topic several times. Bottom line he lied repeatedly.
btw you're forgetting the paper trail and the audio tapes.
Cohen's lawyer was on NPR this morning. When asked if he or his client had had conversations with the president about a pardon, he said he was authorized by his client to state for the record that Cohen *will not accept* a pardon from Trump. Yowza.
8
There is no way to paint this as anything other than what it is, one of the nails in the coffin of the Presidency of Donald Trump. More will be needed before this reign of terror is over, but this was a SAD day for our country but a GOOD day for the wheels of justice.
7
How did we get here II?
We elected Trump thinking that he and his band of thieves were better then Hillary Clinton.
Hillary was flawed but several Dems did not vote or voted for Trump as revenge because they were angry that Bernie was snubbed and they could tolerate four years of Trump.
How does that look now?
The Swamp has not been drained it has grown.
Sorry, but gridlock beats what is going on right now and we still have two more years.
Dems have a habit of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory...this should be a lesson that winning elections above all else is the bottom line. Policy and strategy is great but it does not mean a thing if you do not get elected.
7
" He told a judge in United States District Court in Manhattan that the payments to the women were made “in coordination with and at the direction of a candidate for federal office,” implicating the president in a federal crime.
“I participated in this conduct, which on my part took place in Manhattan, for the principal purpose of influencing the election” for president in 2016, Mr. Cohen said. "
Truth is truth.
Lock him up.
Vote Democratic in 2018
9
Trump should not be allowed any Supreme Court picks until this mess is finalized. A potential criminal should not be allowed to have any influence on the SCOTUS.
21
Witness tampering--and perhaps dangling pardons as bribes--must be a state (commonwealth or district) crime in VA, NY, and DC. The state district attorneys could and should immediately file state charges against Trump--Manafort, Cohen, Flynn and others under federal indictment are certain to become witnesses in Mueller's Russia investigation, and so Trump is subject to the same state laws as anyone else, plus his pardons do not apply to state misdemeanor, criminal, or civil suits. And state charges can be articles of impeachment.
2
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.
But he'll never have to answer for that, will he ?
And, if Daniels accepted the money, doesn't it make her complicit ?
Oh - that's DIFFERENT....
3
The FEC is deadlocked because Republicans refuse to appoint tie-breakers, and can only refer violations of the law to a law-wnforcement agency.
Perhaps if you were more, ah, objective...
3
Do you really believe that a “President” who has lied cheated and stole his way to office, is the same thing as a Porn “star” who slept with a married man while his wife was giving birth to their son and wanted to get paid for her silence?!?
2
McConnell and the soulless billionaires pulling the party's strings are going to ride the Trump train at least until Kavanaugh is confirmed. Then they will face a dilemma: Either continue with Trump, who goes farther in shamelessly delivering the GOP agenda than any other Republican would even dream off, or limit the political fallout by giving Pence a chance to establish himself ahead of the 2020 elections.
Everything points to the Republicans protecting their sitting President, as there is no credible scenario in which the Democrats could get enough impeachment votes.
And so the circus will continue until 2020.
I'd like to add that I fear Trump will be re-elected, as the moderate Democrats keep focusing on pyrrhic social victories (Abolish ICE, first transgender governor, etc.) to avoid the economic inequality issues their financial backers from Wall Street, pharma, ... don't like to address.
6
Since Trump has clearly shown that he will literally throw anybody under the bus to protect himself, including his own family, why would anyone sacrifice himself to protect him? The clock is ticking.
3
This is the tip of the iceberg. There is tax fraud and evasion, bank fraud and much more, even evidence of collusion, hidden in trump’s taxes. The republicans in congress are still covering up and complicit. Trump is appointing many judges who do not represent the broader public and americas values. Trump and the GOP are on the side of oil and coal companies worsening climate change, poisoning the environment and making it unsafe for the public.
6
Isn't the idea behind not indicting a sitting president that it will distract him from presidential business? If so, Trump has proved on a daily, an hourly basis that he doesn't have the discipline NOT to be distracted. So let's indict him. (Impeach him, too.) Let's get this whole distracting mess overwith.
14
And then there is the matter of Pence’s involvement. The DoJ is reluctant to indict a sitting president but Trump can be charged the moment he is out of office. If the Dems are successful in attaining a House majority, they ought to include Pence immediately as a subject of the investigations they launch. He was deeply involved in the decisions made in the campaign and ‘what did he know and when did he know it’ should be asked of him while under oath.
20
Irony is that even if the stories of Trump's 'alleged' affairs with Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal did break, he probably *still* would have won the election.
10
Does Cohen have evidence that the payments were campaign related? It sounds like a "he said-she said" situation without evidence. As much as I would like Cohen's claims/pleas to be the straw that breaks trump's presidency, I'm not counting on this to bring him down. Not yet, anyway. For now it's just another layer of muck on top of this administration and the Republican party.
8
There is a tape of Trump and Cohen talking about the payment, if the story had published right before the election it would have affected Trump, hence campaign related.
6
Unfortunately, the miasma from the swamp surrounds every politician and those supporting them in Washington these days.
Saying there are FEC violations? Meh. Didn't the Obama team get hit with FEC violations and fines? Wasn't the idea that Clinton discussed her campaign in her Goldman Sachs talks in advance of her announcing her candidacy a concern because of FEC rules and thus her reluctance to disclose her speech transcripts?
The Trump-voting American public wants clarity and honesty in our government but also recognizes the biased efforts of these current investigations and reporting. It isn't enough to convict one politician - they all need to be treated the same.
I'm not sure the intended effect - swaying public opinion in advance of mid-term elections - will have the impact hoped for.
4
This is perceived as justice in America. But, really it is more akin to justice in Soviet Russia or many other bad places that persecute people based on political beliefs or relationships.
The FBI used the full resources of the state to target Cohen because of his relationship with Trump, raid his office, raid his house, his hotel room, etc. As a result of their fishing expedition, they found that he did not pay taxes and lied on bank loan applications (and charged him with it even though the bank did not suffer any loss). Rather than fight the charges and get the "Paul Manafort treatment", he wanted to make a deal, which probably explains why he hired a lawyer like, Lanny Davis, a Clinton cronie and political hack who has never seen the inside of a courtroom.
There is nothing here that implicates Trump. Federal Election law is very murky on whether payments for personal matters like these are campaign contributions. Even if it is crime, no sane person would consider it a "high crime" warranting impeachment.
What ever happened to the issue of Russian collusion? Did Michael Cohen go to Prague after all in 2016 to meet with Russians as claimed in the phony Steele Dossier?
7
@Johnny Nothing? Cohen signed a sworn statement that Trump directed him to make contributions using fraudulent accounting for the purpose of influencing the election.
9
Hilarious. The FBI goes to a judge and gets a legal warrant pursuant to criminal investigations, and they're Just Like the KGB. Cohen pleads to eight felony counts, says that ONE of them had to do with a payout at Trump's direction, and it's a fishing expedition. Manafort gets nailed on obvious tax evasion and bank fraud charges carrying up to 80 years in jail, and he's being picked on. I won't even mention the typical nonsense about Robert Mueller.
Hey, how many fingers am I holding up?
2
forget about standing or not standing for the National Anthem- its stories like this that restores my patriotism. Its not partisan politics at play-- its divining right and wrong. My faith is (slowly) being restored.
16
This is playing out like so many common criminal cases I've seen in the Allegheny County Courthouse. (Pittsburgh). Cohen is completely, wholeheartedly, and unequivocally owned by Muller. And by the way, have you noticed that Michael Flynn's sentencing has been pushed back again?
8
To those who continue to support Trump and his GOP: Lacking in wisdom, one faces truth with a shield of ignorance, protecting their right to believe by using an association fabricated to perpetuate that which has already taken hold. A conscious choice to live life in darkness restricts developing thought and paralyzes productive discourse. Everyone loses.
15
With their recent tax cut for the donor class, and another pro-corporate Supreme Court Justice, the Republicans can shovel money into their next campaign and retain power. They always have a plan, and they stick to it because it is always the same plan.
14
I have a big question that is very pertinent to Trump. Over and over again I read the legal debate about whether a sitting president can be indicted and prosecuted. The Constitution says nothing about this, but legal experts such as current Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh state that indicting a sitting president would interfere with that president's ability to carry out his many important duties. Of course, these legal experts say, that president can be indicted and prosecuted AFTER he leaves office. Impeachment is the right course, they say. Try your luck with impeachment, they say.
But what if Congress will not do its sworn duty to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution (from Trump) by impeaching the President? What if partisanship is such that no justice is possible and this president can just keep on
attacking and undermining the rule of law and our Constitution? In that case - and anyone with any sense can see that "that" case is before us right now- Congressional Republicans will have effectively made President Trump above the law. thus far, Republicans refusal to do their constitutional duty has made Trump above the law, but what if they make him above the consequence of impeachment for high crimes and misdemeanors?
The moral of the story is that s sitting president should be subject to both impeachment and indictment - for the protection of American democracy from President Trump.
33
Amen and God Bless America. I used to think Pence we would be worse off with Pence. Now that Trump has gone off the deep end (Helsinki, children in cages, need I say more?), I'll take him and his creepy desire to turn us into a theocracy over Trump. Pretty please with SUGAR in top.
@SCZ
Important duties, like imposing tariffs that result in China buying its corn, soy, and pork from Russia instead of the United States? Important duties like tearing up more international agreements than Hitler did? Important duties like ripping children away from their mothers and referring to them as an infestation? Important duties like ranting bigoted nonsense and disjointed word salads on Twitter all day long? Important duties like insisting on building a wall that "divides the entire continent ... in a gash of barbed wire, concrete, dog runs, and guard towers... a restriction on the right to travel... an instrument to impose upon ordinary men and women the will of a totalitarian state (that's from Reagan's "Tear down the Wall speech), and the "important duty" of pardoning Manafort because he's such a "great guy"....
Not acceptable.
1
As long as Republican legislators, the ostensible champions of the Constitution, continue to support the destruction of the balance of powers enshrined in the Constitution...President Trump will remain, unimpeached, in the White House. Even before the last election, they made the decision that it was worth having Trump in the presidency, as long as he delivered the young rightwing judiciary they wanted...including a conservative Supreme Court. He's keeping his side of the bargain. They will keep theirs...despite the Constitution. The damage caused by their deal is going to last long beyond Trump.
13
@Oriole He's not going to get impeached over two alleged affairs. A slap for possible campaign infractions maybe.
It remains to be seen what the outcome for Trump will be. The end game will be long and convoluted so, unfortunately, it is likely we will see Trump as president through the remainder of his term at least.
8
@Etienne It might depend on if the house flips and what evidence impeachment hearings provide. Like with watergate, a critical number of Rs switched over a 1-2 month period and the writing was on the wall. If the evidence is strong, even if the dems lose 2-3 seats they need 20 conventional R's to show courage . So I would not be too sure about it.
4
Asked his age yesterday in court, Cohen said, “In four days, I’ll be 52.”
That still leaves plenty of time for him to right himself with his family and make a fresh start.
Happy Birthday Mr. Cohen, and good luck.
You did good yesterday.
Keep it up,
24
The report from Special Counsel Mueller, on his Russia probe, was not expected to be released until after the mid term elections. Because, otherwise, that would be seen as influencing the elections.
Yet, do the Manafort and Cohen cases not have a bearing on the mid term elections?
In reading the Michael Cohen case, he admits that money was paid to someone, directed by his client, so as not to impact the 2016 elections. What would the prosecutors do now?
5
Unfortunately I am afraid that Trump has already left his mark on American politics. Even if Republicans lose a majority this Mid Term and a leftward leaning candidate wins presidency. News sources like Fox will continue to parrot Trump style aggression towards a new president that isn't Trump. I believe that a schism has been created in America and it continues to grow larger and larger, and "news" outlets like Fox are the source.
32
We don't need to worry about trump style agression. Plenty of the Maxine waters style, "attack them at home, attack them in the restaurant, Make their lives miserable" agression" will be fine.
What is so hypocritical is like when the libs whined about the treatment of Acosta, who was at a political event, but had no problem with slamming huckabee sanders out with her family.
John, SHS and her family were not threatened. They were politely asked to leave a restaurant after being served an appetizer that was given as a complimentary gift.
That hardly compares to Acosta being yelled at and threatened by an angry mob, while he is at a political rally trying to do his job.
@john palmer - Acosta was being truthful, Huckabee Sanders has been lying daily to the American public. See the difference?
we really need to get rid of the Electoral College. it was their responsibility to prevent this scenario.
37
@SK I agree. We should let Cali and New York carry every election. lol!
3
Let me see if I have this straight. There's no limit to the amount of money a presidential candidate can contribute to his own campaign, at least if that candidate doesn't accept public financing. Is that right? So if "a candidate for federal office" had simply paid directly out of pocket to buy the silence of a certain two women, no laws would have been broken, even though these payments, in this context, should be considered "campaign contributions."
That said, it's my understanding that said candidate would still have to acknowledge and account for this expenditure with a paper trail.
It appears that the primary rationale for this whole elaborate ruse involving the candidate's personal lawyer making personal payments to shell companies set up for these women was to obscure the paper trail giving clues as to their purpose and their recipients - and this cover up was where all the illegalities took place, including the fraudulent loan application filed by the personal lawyer to obtain the initial funding - although it was understood that he would eventually be reimbursed by his client.
And yesterday the lawyer admitted in court that he knew such a back channel approach was illegal. So - he fixed what wasn't broken by deliberately breaking the law?
Was the candidate himself so cheap that he insisted on being reimbursed by his campaign for this unforeseen expenditure he had incurred on behalf of his presidential bid?
It all boggles the mind.
8
Now that there is proof of what everyone already knew (that Trump paid off at least 2 women not to go public with their affair), will anything change? Next logical step is impeachment proceedings, and he may be impeached (like Clinton) but will there be enough Senate votes to actually remove Trump from office? (like there wasn't for Clinton).
"The more things change the more they stay the same"
2
The prison time Cohen is going to receive is not so much for "campaign finance violations" which usually result in a fine and no prison time but for his bank fraud and tax evasion. Him pleading guilty to "campaign finance violations" does not automatically make Trump guilty of the same thing.
2
@Bill
Why are you claiming this results in a fine. According to the law, FECA crimes aggregating $25,000 or more are five-year felonies. 52 U.S.C § 30109.
Do you research, Bill.
And explain to me why Trump would not be implicated in this crime. Who else running for office would have directed Michael Cohen to do this. "David Dennison"??
5
There is little equivalence in the origins of and complicity in the criminal conduct of Manafort and Cohen. The former is a creature of the Republican Party, the Republican National Committee and the Republican establishment in Washington. The latter is a creature of Donald Trump, the Trump family and the Trump real estate business(es). Although the opportunistic Manafort obviously saw an opportunity to use Trump and the Trump campaign for his own ends, Manafort was not acting as a criminal agent in a conspiracy with Trump (as far as we know). Not so with Cohen. His testimony at the time his plea was taken indicates his criminal agency on behalf of Trump and their conspiracy to violate the law.
1
We are entering uncharted waters. I hope the President will not abuse the pardon powers in a corrupt manner. I did hear today on NPR, from Cohen's attorney Lanny Davis, that Cohen would accept no pardon from the Oval Office. I am not so sure that Paul Manafort would do the same. Based on the President's rally yesterday in West Virginia, Trump is entering into a new phase - full on cult of personality mode. These are dangerous times for our nation.
14
@JM Hopkins Based on a psychiatrist's secretary at the Enquirer...please.
Cohen was disreputable before, and he is disreputable now. What's curious is how his credibility has suddenly risen among Democrats, now that he has taken a deal to save himself.
4
@LTJper
The President was disreputable before, and he is disreputable now. What's curious is how, despite his corrupt nature and total lack of morals and ethics, the Republican Party still enables his crimes.
7
@LTJper
Nonsense. We don't think he is credible, but when a person admits to criminal activity it is usually true. Innocent people who can afford attorneys don't plead guilty to crimes they haven't committed. Also, it sounds to me like Cohen plead guilty because he had no choice, not because he was getting a deal for providing information on Trump. You might want to think about that for just a second. This looks more and more like Mueller doesn't need what Cohen has because he already has the information, or he has better information from another source.
And where are the outcries from the Republicans?
27
@JDH: They are busy whipping their followers into frenzied fear over "illegal" immigrants. Fear, fear, fear sells!
1
People who don't commit crimes don't need fixers.
20
@Amelia That used to be the case. Now, woman I've never met can say anything she wants about me and I'm in hot water...see how that works? I better cough up or she'll go public with whatever fantastical nonsense she wants too...the press will eat it up.
1
Trump should never have been allowed to be president in the first place.
13
@Duh Allowed? He was ELECTED.
@Piotr - He lost the popular vote.
I do not see any comments, yesterday or yet today, from Republican leaders in the house or senate. Were this Hillary they would have been calling for her head before dinner time yesterday. Shameful.
33
“So the point I’m trying to make is you don’t even have to be convicted of a crime to lose your job in this constitutional republic if this body determines that your conduct as a public official is clearly out of bounds in your role. Because impeachment is not about punishment. Impeachment is about cleansing the office. Impeachment is about restoring honor and integrity to the office.”
-Lindsey Graham, January 23, 1999
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/8/21/1790007/-O-Donnell-tells-pres...
19
A person of modest integrity, concerned about the true heart of this country, would obviously resign immediately. That is clearly not the case with this president. We have a liar in chief.
16
@Jim Sande My first laugh of the day. What politician exists who has modest integrity?
Bill Clinton didnt resign, so why should Trump.
The best news about crime and corruption is that you don’t have to be intelligent to attempt it. Any moron can lie, cheat, and steal. Cohen the the rest of the ‘gang who couldn’t shoot straight’ fit that bill to a tee! I long for the day when Trump learns: “yes, Virginia, there really are consequences!” It should be declared a national holiday when we no longer have to suffer obscene Presidential tweets. Pence, of course is there to pardon him, but the humiliation of removal will be just punishment and life long. Cohen and Manafort are appetizers. The “Madness of King George” moment will yet be at hand! USA....USA....USA!
5
Swamp anyone? Ironic and unfortunate that Trump conned his supporters into believing he wasn’t buying his way into the presidency. Just look at Trump’s behavior. It’s so simple. You KNOW there is way more dastardly stuff on his past and present than we know about. Disgusting. He may be president, but he is NO leader.
3
Lost in the Times amid the coverage of Cohen and Manafort is a story that may have a greater impact on the November elections: The arrest of an illegal immigrant in the murder of Mollie Tibbetts. Chrishtian Rivera will be the Willie Horton of 2018, appearing in menacing images in countless Republican commercials, irrespective of the Democratic target’s actual positions on immigration. And of course this will be a leading story on Fox News for months. Republicans, unlike Democrats, understand that fear wins elections, and they know how to harness it in campaigns. Political corruption, however serious, has much less of an emotional impact, and many people dismiss it with “both sides do it.”
16
I agree with you CA Meyer. However, if the Democrats approach it correctly, they can use it to their advantage. Republicans have yet to come up with a comprehensive immigration bill to satisfy all their constituencies.
Big business wants illegal immigrants for cheap labor, especially here in California. If Republicans are really serious about undocumented immigrants, then they would propose more thorough vetting and documentation of employees to prevent illegal employment.
In addition, they would point out that these undocumented workers keep produce cheap.
The other fact of the matter is that murder is not exclusive to undocumented immigrants, or Latinos. The husband who murdered his family in Denver is proof of that. So is the poisoning of citizens of Great Britain by Russian operatives.
This has the look of a smoking gun. These accusations by Cohen of crimes committed by Trump appear to have substantial corroboration. Trump has forcefully denied the federal campaign violations proven here just as he has denied collusion with Russia. His word is worse than worthless. The next smoking gun will be coming soon.
1
For info purposes, watched a lot of the coverage on FOX yesterday..... and I have to say OMG!
When talking Cohen & Manafort, they spun it into "where's the charges against Hillary" in under 30 seconds followed by a litany of criminal accusations that sounded like established facts where the IG and Justice Dept were completely ignoring her crimes but persecuting Trump and his poor little associates who did nothing wrong but get too close to Trump and are being targeted for that.
Even Cohen, they virtually ignored the fact he pled guilty. Instead they went on about his persecution while Hillary was scott free.
Messaging here is clear on FOX - anything that is raised as criminal activity and charges is to be viewed as politically motivated and targeted persecution from the greater Clinton org and the rest of the conspirators against DJT. Delegitimize the justice dept.
It even came from Hanity - one of 3 clients of Cohen. Even if he believed what he was saying, he should let someone else run with the story as he is almost in the middle of it himself. Talk about conflict of interest and a lack of journalistic integrity (although I assumed there wasn't any there to begin with already - after all, he's a friend and associate of DJT).
Is there any way to get integrity back into journalism?
14
@We The North
What FOX does is a far cry from "journalism."
2
It is a waste of time to say if this was President Obama what would have happened.
1
Michael Cohen now changes his story to implicate President Trump in his payment scheme for the sex scandal because he knew he was looking at years behind bars for tax evasion and bank fraud. These two crimes carry long sentences and he wanted to save his skin and reduce his sentence.
He was a friend of the president until it was time he feared a long prison sentence. He should also be charged in lying and deceitful behavior by this judge. He is a criminal and should be put behind bars. Is it any wonder people do not like lawyers?
2
@WPLMMT - Too funny. I'm not sure how you missed the audio tapes and of course there will be a paper trail.
btw is it 6 or 7 times a day that Trump is caught lying?
Trump is a criminal that spent a lifetime mastering ways to lie, cheat, steal and extort. He unquestionably deserves to be in prison alongside his friends.
Maybe he'll face charges while in office, maybe after or maybe not at all.
But don't rely on the justice system to do the work of the people.
7
And his clueless, shoot somebody on 5th Avenue followers could care less. They, not he, are truly what's wrong with our country.
16
Republicans stink to high heaven of corruption. Vote them out. GOP will kill medicare; Social Security and Health Care . Ray Sipe
10
We have long passed the moment when even a Richard Nixon would have resigned or been impeached.
We have a massive documented record showing that Trump has broken the law, lied about it, has been bought off by Russia (read Craig Unger's new book "House of Trump, House of Putin") has used his presidency as a cash machine.
It's time for the Democratic establishment en masse to call for resignation and impeachment, and to shame the GOP into cooperating in removing this gangster from office.
18
The President of the United States appears to be an unindicted co-conspirator in a federal crime. This is not speculation. It is the sworn testimony at an allocution hearing by the President's personal lawyer.
As such, Mr. Trump should step aside from his position until and unless he is cleared by prosecutors without an indictment being filed or acquitted by a jury.
The nation cannot have a man with this kind of cloud over him sitting in the Oval Office.
9
I want to see a vote to impeach. Whatever the outcome, I want to see how each member of congress votes.
10
The truth has come back to Trump - and he hates it.
Can't suppress the truth.
Can't lie about the truth.
Can't deny and re-write truth.
Truth is Truth.
The law is all about truth and facts,
and Trump and his henchmen are finding that
truth has its own power.
Can't wait for the Special Counsel's reports.
Vote in the Midterm elections.
12
@PropagandandTreason
Midterm elections = Fact
Manafort found guilty on fraud charges = Fact
Cohen pleaded guilty = Fact
Trump named co-conspirator by Cohen = Fact
Facts are truths and truths are facts.
1
"Prosecutors said that Trump Organization executives were involved in reimbursing Mr. Cohen for that payment, accepting his phony invoices that listed it as a legal expense."
Anyone else wonder if these were written off on taxes??? Tax Fraud?? There's more than meets the eyes to this.
6
@Never Ever Again So reimbursing your attorney for payments made on your behalf is a crime? Making a settlement with an individual does qualify as a legal expense whether it's because you are sued or you enter into a contract with them as he did with these two women.
And still no tax returns...
What could Trump POSSIBLY be hiding?
15
This administration has destroyed the Republican brand for the next two election cycles. Just enough time for demographics to make them a permanent minority.
8
Maybe two generations.
1
... to gods ears
1
America is a large country, and inside the US its internal politics get a lot of attention, and external politics comparatively less attention.
Holland is a small country, and its internal politics is quite predictable, and quite boring. Many people keep track of what is going on outside Holland which is certain to affect us. But we are only spectators.
This whole Trump presidency has been a colossal project assisted, if not initiated, by Russia. What Russia hopes to gain from it is not clear, but it would not have done so if it would have expected a major profit at the cost of the US (and probably of Holland as well). The Trump presidency is a move on the geopolitical scale. It should be dealt with by institutions such as the ministry of defense, not the DOJ. Americans are in denial about this. They remind me of Chamberlain.
The Trump presidency has been a major interference by Russia in the internal affairs of the US. It should be recognized as such. It should not be interpreted as a case of bipartisan politics, just another scandal about sex and money. The GOP members of Congress should remember their responsibility, and open their eyes to what is really going on: a vast attack on the US comparable to the ones in 1941 and in 2001. The difference is that it occurs under the cloak of a grasp for power by a US party. In fact, it is an attack by Russian oligarchs on America, on its institutions, its democracy, and its oligarchs as well. The battle is far from over.
18
[“One collateral effect of Mr. Cohen’s plea agreement is that it may allow Mr. Avenatti, Ms. Clifford’s lawyer, to proceed with a deposition of Mr. Trump in a lawsuit that Ms. Clifford filed accusing the president of breaking a nondisclosure agreement concerning their affair.
The lawsuit had been stayed by a judge pending the resolution of Mr. Cohen’s criminal case. Mr. Avenatti wrote on Twitter on Tuesday that he would now seek to force Mr. Trump to testify “under oath about what he knew, when he knew it and what he did about it.”]
Lordy, I hope the testimony takes place. I would love to see that taped interview of the president being questioned by Mr. Abenatti. It will be one for the history books.
6
I’ve wondered how Trump supporters would react to this news. Sounds like they are going to go the “alternative facts” and “truth is not truth” route. One rich nugget I read in these NYT comments stated that it was not a crime to pay off the two women. They appeared to willfully ignore the stated motivation for the payments was to keep the women from telling their story prior to the election, that the amount paid was significant, that the person who paid the amount was not Donald Trump and that the amount of the payment (either paid as a donation or loan) was not recorded in campaign filings. Looks like we can expect Giuliani will hit the talk shows on Sunday to tell us “a crime is not a crime.”
14
From the charges..
"Because COHEN had previously confirmed in writing to Bank-3 that the $14 million Line of Credit had been closed, Bank-3 had no reason to question COHEN about the omission of this liability on the HELOC application."
So..... If you are rich, they just take your word for it? Anytime that I have tried to get a loan, credit card, etc., I have had to provide docuemtnation and approval for the institutions involved to be able to communicate to each other, and provide access to my credit rating which details ALL of my finincial vehicles. Whether they be loans, lines of credit and any and all banking information. This just proves to the suckers who pay their taxes and are seen as" less than" by the rich, are treated differently than those who are "worthy". Unless I missed something in all of the details, shouldn't the banks have done a thorough review and been able to find Cohen's financial realities with just a little digging? I seriously doubt that anyone of us who does not have the ability to throw around those kinds of numbers during those processes would have been treated the same way. Someone tell me I am wrong, please. Elizabeth Warren is looking better every day. VOTE
5
Nothing of any stories of payments or women was proven in court .Still heresy , he said she aid ,no evidence ,many different stories from different people. The President is not even in the picture for anything,it's gossip.
2
@Alan Einstoss
Thanks for reminding us what lengths the President's supporters will go to in order to deny reality.
6
Comma, then space.
@Alan Einstoss
Alan - Still hearsay ? Cohen pled guilty. Plenty of evidence including tapes.
Maybe you'd like to give him a call and tell him he's got it all wrong, didn't need to plea as he did.
Get this into your head. Cohen has worked for Trump for years. This is just one basket of fruit (rotten) that fell off the truck. What do you think is still in the truck ?
According to Cohen's plea allocution he acted (as Trump's counsel) "for the principal purpose of influencing the election.”
Since when has it been illegal for a *candidate* to seek to "influence" his own election? Since when has it been illegal to pay hush-money to silence sexual indiscretions which were not themselves illegal?
52 USC § 30116(a)(1)(A) prohibits excess contributions "to any candidate" or his surrogates. How is money paid to Stormy Daniels a contribution "to" Trump? Whether the money was Trump's or Cohen's it was not a contribution "to" Trump.
Section 30116(a)(7)(B)(i) states that expenditures made by any person in cooperation...or at the request ... of, a candidate shall be considered to be a contribution to such candidate..." The prosecution argued that Trump telling Cohen to pay Daniels qualified as a monetary contribution to Trump's campaign." This is an absurd reading. "For" is not "to." Americans ought to be very wary of fostering Alice-in-Wonderland law.
Count Eight charged using a corporate shell to make a contribution. Supposing Cohen violated this provision, it was no reflection on Trump because Trump is not a lawyer and was relying on the advice of his counsel as to proper manner of making the payment.
History has seen this before. Using technical violations of law to create legal scandals for political purposes was one cause of the demise of the Roman Republic and was a symptom of the later Empire's degeneracy.
2
Doesn’t look like you are too current on the BAR. You should think about a refresher course in campaign finance.
1
I am wondering how much longer will the GOP members of Congress and his loyal base will continue to ride the orange bus driven by the man with orange/gray hair as it gets closer each day to the cliff's edge before going over? One can only believe there will be a some from both areas that will wise up and start seeing the truth for what it is, that trump was a crook/liar/and only concerned about himself along with his immediate family, and that's all. He has done nothing but slander our allies, cozy up to Putin, start a tariff war which is hurting US businesses and consumers. Listens to none of his smarter advisors. His family has racked in millions from tax payers, from his many many golf trips to his own resorts. At the end of the day Americans will have to decide who do we believe when it comes to trump and others like Cohen who now have to face criminal charges or talk. While none of these people have reputations to write home about, my feeling's are that those like Cohen will be more truthful, and hopefully have the evidence to back up there story. trump is learning a new lesson about life, that there are others who have to look out for themselves and there family. Its not all about him!
3
I have been waiting for something like this to happen which, in essence, pronounces this spineless Republican congress "guilty" of being utterly complicit in the wreckage this president has wrought on our country. They have put party over country and they have sat by quietly while he divided us with his racially charged dog whistles - all because they wanted their judges and their tax cuts.
With this latest turn of events, now we finally have it. They are forever stained from their association with and quiet acceptance of this grifter. There is no coming back for them, in terms of their reputation as a party. I am not thrilled with the democrats either- but these republicans have just let this man go unfettered. They will never recover in the eyes of the majority of people in this country. The damage has been done.
12
Didn't take long to go from "drain the swamp" to "remember, the President can't be indicted," did it?
What no doubt terrifies Trump is that, beyond the campaign finance laws we now know he's broken, all of the sorts of crimes Manafort committed - tax fraud, money laundering etc. - are the same kind of chicanery that run throughout Trump's con man empire. That's why we've never seen his tax return, and Cohen knows a lot of the dirty details. Those are the crimes that could actually put Trump in jail after this sham of a Presidency is over.
In the meantime, we're stuck with this criminal gang running our country into the ground, while the GOP covers its eyes and ears and pretends it's not happening. Truly a low point for the Republic, and for Republicans.
10
This statement against Trump with no plea deal to cooperate with prosecutors frees up Cohen to make lots of money on the broadcast media circuit and an eventual book deal. He is planning ahead.
2
he has agreed to go to jail for 5 years...
3
In light of the many comments by Trump's mouthpieces that Cohen's pleadings don't implicate the president in any criminal activity, it's worth noting that, in addition to his complicity in the AMI campaign finance violations (conspiracy), the Trump organizations treatment as a legitimate legal expense of the Cohen reimbursement for the Stormy Daniel's pay-off is likely an income tax fraud.
12
There were two sets of crimes here. The first being Cohen's failure to report income and pay taxes on it.
The greater crime is prosecutors using the long potential prison term penalties for the tax charges to muscle Cohen into pleading guilty to a "campaign finance violation" that does not exist and implicating Trump in it.
This again lays bare the goal of the Mueller prosecution and its tentacles as a mechanism to drive Trump from office by whatever means possible. Just "get Trump" regardless of the collateral damage to justice.
6
I've tried to understand why conservatives stand by Trump, and I think it's most useful to think about how I stood by Bill Clinton.
Because the cases are pretty similar. With Clinton, what began as a semi-legitimate investigation turned into an investigation of a titillating peccadillo. And the same is going to be the case with Trump.
So why did the Republicans move to impeach Bill? Because while they deplored his style and popularity, what they really couldn't stand was the side of the late 60's culture war that he represented, and that despite the efforts of the Moral Majority and in the face of Gingrich's wins, his side appeared to be winning.
It's the same with Trump. While many of us hate him for his style, what he really represents is the other side of the battle for the future of America. His side wants closed borders, and wants to put America ahead of other, more deserving nations and cultures. And despite our "winning" the culture wars of the late 60's and dominance of the media, entertainment, and academia, it appears that Trump's side is ascendant, especially globally.
This is where the two fights are different though, even if both ultimately result in impeachment. The fight around Clinton was about the past, and was largely about perception and abstract moral norms. Today's fight is about the future. The 90's culture wars never resulted in dead college girls in Iowa, like open borders has. So this one is going to be HOT!
Buckle up, and enjoy the ride!
4
@Trans Cat Mom
Imppeachment should not be used because you don't like the current president's policies. That's what elections are for. Vote him out of office. Change the Congress through elections.
Impeachment was wrong with Clinton and would be wrong with Trump.
@Trans Cat Mom You tip your hand when you blame "open borders" (a red herring, since we do not have anything like that; also, immigration is not a cultural difference but a policy difference) for the murder of the Iowa student. So you are a Trump supporter, obviously. I think Trump's "style" as you put it, is obnoxious and un-presidential, but that's not my biggest issue with him. It's his corruption, his casual dismissal of the norms tat have made our democracy work, his ignorance of what actually makes America great, not to mention his racism and misogyny. But the driver for me right now is the depth of his cynicism and corruption; he believes in nothing that can't be bought or bullied out of his adversaries; he has no loyalties to Americans, to us, the people he is supposed to serve. His loyalties lie only with himself - and to what extent they also extend to his family, well, I guess we're about to find out. He's a vile and hateful person who has no business being president, and has clearly stopped at nothing to get there, including accepting help from a foreign adversary. I think it all ends badly, but in the meantime it's not a ride I am enjoying at all.
1
@Trans Cat Mom
There were 4 dead in Ohio. Not Iowa.
There’s a pattern here. Few of DJTs colleagues or himself have written contracts but verbal agreements. If there was trust, this would sound ok. But there’s no trust... Imagine how many more tapes there are, by various other people? DJT is close to being next!
5
Is crime really a crime?
10
Crimes are Only for the little people.
3
Lanny Davis is a pathetic excuse for a lawyer. To advise his client to refuse a potential pardon is ridiculous. There is only 1 reason he took on Cohen for a client: Revenge for Hillary's losing to Trump. He's a Clinton lackey.
6
If that is the case Cohen could sue him. I give you anA for creativity.
Two names that are now anathema to Trump, Mueller AND Avenatti. If a 'presidential' pardon for Cohen is forthcoming, it does not erase his guilt just clear out his already reduced jail time.
Yes, Trump surrounded himself with others who share the personal arrogance that they are above the law and that the law is for everyone else especially Trump's enemies, real or perceived. (Perceived enemies are all who did not vote for Trump.)
One of the first Trump pardons went to a lawless, arrogant hater Arpaio and that evil idiot thought that meant he wasn't guilty of the crimes he was found guilty for in a court of law.
Confession and guilty pleas are good for the soul as Cohen would tell you Trump. However, Trump apparently has no soul just look what he, Sessions and Nielsen did as far as kidnapping babies and children from fleeing refugees at our Southern Border.
Trump's legal defense is to lie and deny. Trump's legal offense is to project his crimes onto others. I think he should keep Giuliani around as I keep getting this visual of Trump in an orange jumpsuit thanks to Giuliani.
17
Just wait until Cohen reveals that The Donald was actually present at that infamous meeting in the Trump Tower. He went up/or down a back staircase---not until his buddy Putin who creeps around the Kremlin through all its back hallways. The plot thickens or sickens. cheers.
3
@kootenaygirl He doesn't climb stairs, though. But I'm sure he was the "blocked number" that made and received calls to Don Jr. during the meeting.
The witch hunt seems to be snaring a fair number of witches.
29
High-up witches at that.
4
How could all of the Republicans supporting, and enabling,
Donald J. Trump not have seen that, eventually, the circus
and its side shows were going to crash in a big ol' heap of
embarrassment?
Their drool for outdated conservative advances was destined
be ill begotten.
So just how delusional are conservatives, anyway?
6
@T H Beyer They saw it coming, but they didn't care. They got their tax break, supreme court nominee and are on their way to dismantling public education and/or any public programs meant to help the county as a whole.
They sold their souls and our country to line their pockets. Trump is just as much of a puppet for the Republican party as he is for Russia.
3
Donald Trump and Michael Cohen deserve each other's loyalty and service.
Trump envies Vladimir Putin's power to fix a Cohen problem by putting his foes in hospitals, mental institutions, prisons, urns and coffins. A gift of a bullet or polonium -210 or Novichok is the Putin solution to fake news. All Trump does is tweet and speak and snarl and snark. While Putin is smiling and smirking. No one has ever been hurt by a Trump tweet or speech.
1
Yet more evidence of what a corrupt, crooked man Don Trump really is. It is also another piece of evidence regarding the fraudulence of the presidential election, which Trump lost by 3 million votes anyway. There should be a recall. There should be impeachment proceedings. This can't go on now that we know so many facts.
11
Only the tip of the iceberg of deception and criminal lying. Meanwhile, the destruction of our democracy continues full speed ahead, at all levels, aided by royalist autocrats that were kicked out in 1776-1780, but have now made their nefarious return. As Barack Obama duly and emphatically noted in his anniversary speech recently to commemorate Mandela, we have to be eternally vigilant, and root out those that engineer the usurpation of our rights, as soon as it is revealed to us by the free press. Shine the light on rats in the dark corner, and they scurry away.
8
If DJT knows the “best people”, now would be a great time for them to show up!
DJT is in a ton of legal trouble and the worst part for him and his family.... Mueller has not even begun to go after him.
Much of what we are seeing is from the SDNY, not from the SCO.
Mueller has millions of documents and corroborating information that still has not been unveiled that directly implicates DJT and his family. We have only seen a fraction of that info so far.
Somehow I think Mueller is the one that has the best people and they are just getting started!
8
We shouldn’t forget 63 million Americans voted for a guy that, at the least, surrounds himself with crooks. We need to find a way to help these Americans.
9
@Piece man
How do you help people who deny reality?
1
The payment of hush money is legal. Since Trump repaid Cohen, it's not a contribution therefore there's no legal monetary limit. It was Trump's personal money.
The legal issue is that he should have reported hush money as a campaign expense if you assume it was paid to effect the election. Of course, if he reported it, it wouldn't be hush money. ("I did not have sex with that woman.")
I assume Trump will claim he did it for personal reasons. Was there other pre-election hush payments he made to other women that could substantiate that position? So you want to impeach a president who cheated on his wife. Even if they can prove he did it to effect the election, it's a process crime for not reporting it subsequently. This is not high crimes and misdemeanors.
3
@Alan Klein"The payment of hush money is legal"...really?
It's also known as--
wait for it---
Bribery.
6
@LizB
Actually, no. Bribery is not the same as paying hush money, which is completely legal
This is all nonsense. Manafort has been tried for things he committed in 2005, long before his association with Trump. His case has nothing to do with Trump, other than that he later became his campaign manager. Cohen's case also does not amount to anything against Trump. He paid on Trump's request to keep two women silent. This is not a crime. Mueller will have a hard time proving that these payments were illegal campaign contributions. This and a couple of ghost indictments is all that Mueller has after more than a year of investigation. This is not Trump's "worst hour." In fact, it will make no difference for Trump. People who hated him (like Soros) will continue to hate him. People who supported Trump will continue to support him. The economy is doing well. The liberals will fail to dislodge Trump.
7
@Gennady
Michael Flynn
George Papadopoulos
Richard Pinedo
Alex van der Zwaan
Rick Gates
Paul Manafort
Thirteen Russian Nationals
Konstatin V. Kilimnik
12 Russian Intelligence Officers
Mueller has been busy and doing a fine job.
And yes, we Americans care
11
In your wildest dreams. Trump will not see a second term.
2
I am saddened that the unprecedented liberal media, Never Trump war to invalidate the votes of myself and tens of millions of Americans has reached this point. 30,000 emails deleted, no big deal. Consensual sex many years prior to the election = huge for Democrats. Since November 2016 Democrats and the media has spent every minute trying to undermine the election and take away my vote. It is disheartening. Trump was a chance to get the country back on track. I will never forgive the media for glossing over Hillary Clinton, James Comey, Peter Strzok, Brennan, Ohr, and McCabe for manufacturing this Russian witch hunt. The media believes they "failed" to control the narrative, which allowed Trump to get elected. The media sees itself as the arbiter of who gets elected, and they were outraged by Trump. As bad as it gets from here for America, I still have my memories of that glorious election night, when Americans stood up to the establishment and the liberal media and elected Trump over Hillary. I get comfort every day from knowing Hillary is wandering the woods and not continuing the multi-decade grift from the White House.
1
Respectfully, the charges were *not* about consensual sex many years before the campaign. The charges were about misuse of campaign funds used as hush money. It is willful ignorance at best and disingenuousness at worst to suggest otherwise.
10
Let’s talk saddened. The Democratic presidential candidate received some 3 million more votes than Trump, and yet was denied office due to the antiquated Electoral College. The candidate that was far more popular wound up a civilian (who continues to be persecuted by the right), and rest of America got a strutting, preening, self-important figurehead, who would love nothing more than to be a full-fledged dictator. His fans would like that as well.
3
See also: accountability
1
At least Ken Starr had a 50/50 ratio of Democrat and Republican prosecutors when he was Special Counsel.
With Mueller..he has 17 highly partisan Democratic prosecutors...meaning his work is jaded.
The man should hope he retires in Montenegro cause he's going to have people up in his face the rest of his life living in this country.
Justice? Maybe with Cohen and Manafort, but the country is not going to be made whole until the other 1/2 of the Russia Colluion is investigated, which will result in Hillary Clinton getting 3-5 years in prison...guaranteed...at least if Mueller has a shred of intellectual integrity in him.
3
@Erica Smythe
talk about deflection! It's Trump who is lousy with Russians from way before 2016/ and you're going after Hillary?
"In April 2013, a little more than two years before Trump rode the escalator to the ground floor of Trump Tower to kick off his presidential campaign, police burst into Unit 63A of the high-rise and rounded up 29 suspects in two gambling rings. The operation, which prosecutors called “the world’s largest sports book,” was run out of condos in Trump Tower—including the entire fifty-first floor of the building. In addition, unit 63A—a condo directly below one owned by Trump—served as the headquarters for a “sophisticated money-laundering scheme” that moved an estimated $100 million out of the former Soviet Union, through shell companies in Cyprus, and into investments in the United States."
(from New Republic)
3
Justice is non-partisan
Michael Cohen's declaration of guilt and the court proceedings referred to "the candidate" and Individual #1. Cohen testified that Individual #1 directed him to commit a crime for the purpose of influencing the 2016 election. Hard physical evidence exists that proves that to be true. And most importantly; Individual #1 was the beneficiary of the crime. Yet, Mr. Cohen is facing years in prison, while Individual #1 is not.
Our nation was founded on the principle that we will not have a king and that no person is above the law. Mr. Cohen's lawyer said: “If those payments were a crime for Michael Cohen, then why wouldn’t they be a crime for Donald Trump?”
That question will be answered by the GOP with: All hail "Individual Number One", King of the United States of America.
3
It’s a delicious irony. Trump potentially being brought down by an attempt to buy the silence of women who he had affairs with. It turned out that 60 million voters couldn’t care less. I’ve always thought he could have sex with one of them in the middle of Fifth Avenue and his base would watch on TV and cheer.
6
Retired Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz (plugging his book that makes a case against Trumps impeachment) was on CNN last night arguing that the campaign contributions weren't actually illegal. Meaning the Khuzami, FBI and the Judge are all wrong. He said the law is "vague", as if that works in Trump's favor. It isn't even close to being vague, it says candidates should report contributions in the quarter before an election. If no report then candidate should provide satisfactory reason with 4 days. I don't think paying a porn star hush money counts Mr Dershowitz.
http://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=(title:52%20section:30109%20editi...
He even accused prosecutors of illegally creating incentives for Cohen to implicate the president. As if the raid didn't net sufficient evidence.
Good luck on the book sales, I'm sure a lot of gullible deplorables will buy it.
Why must CNN entertain these pundits? He added no value to the debate.
5
Sad to say but I am surprised that Cohen or Omarosa or their loved ones have not been threatened or worse by Trump et al.... at some point I expect bodies to start turning up.
3
Speaker Paul Ryan should be calling congresss back from recess immediately to begin hearings of our unindicted co-conspirator president. So far just crickets from feckless leader Ryan...MIA!
History books will paint Ryan as a Trump enabler. Great legacy for your family Paul.
11
Will the cowardly republicans running our country ever do anything or just look the other way and try to create other alternative scandals with their buddies at Fox news? I am so worn out and this is just the tip of the iceberg. More corruption to be prosecuted still.
7
And yet, in local news here this barely made the front page. Most people are not paying attention as this country drowns in corruption, and possibly, treason.
6
Trumps is shameless and will probably pardon the people who committed his crimes for him. Then in a grand finale he can pardon himself and become our very first king. What a sad joke the US has become.
I always suspected that under all of the bible beating and moralizing a lot of Republicans were sleazebags and the Trump presidency is certainly proving me right. If they had any standards of decency they would want to eject this criminal from the White House, but I don't hear a peep from any of them.
13
And their response is "He can't be indicted"!? We know a criminal is in the White House--OUR house--and he flaunts it while we hear crickets or worse from Congress. And of course he won't resign because he's hiding behind the shield of the Presidency.
6
Trump is guilty. The gig is up, yet still not a word from McConnell or Ryan.
My bet is that McConnell doesn't want to lose the election, so he's dump Trump and throw him under the impeachment bus. Then they'd have Puritanical Pence to rally behind.
8
@Edyee Guilty of what? At the very best campaign finance violations which are usually punished with a fine.
What did Pence know and when did he know it?
17
what did Pence know? when did he know it? did he fail to report felonies of which he was aware? did he obstruct investigation of these felonies? is he also a conspirator in the crime?
will Congress impeach all who committed high crimes against our nation?
10
The irony his that Cohen sacrificed himself, his career and possibly his freedom for a crime that in the end was pointless: Knowing that Trump paid off women to silence them about an affair would have meant nothing to Trump voters. They supported a man who bragged about sexual assault, who mocked a man with physical disabilities, who repeatedly and brazenly put his racism on full display, and who proved time and time again that he is incapable of telling, or even recognizing, the truth. Cohen believed a couple of affairs and chump-change payoffs would have swayed those people? Really?
5
Let’s just make this simple: If Donald Trump’s two closest advisors are this corrupt, what does that say about him? Now more than ever, I want to see his taxes. The fact that he hasn’t produced them just makes him look more and more guilty, in light of these charges. Drain the swamp, my eye. If these are his tadpoles, I would hate to see the swamp creature.
8
Trump promised the country during his campaign he would hire only the best.
Yes he did-the best crooks, the best grifters, the best at corruption and the best at graft.
If the grifter from Queens, Crooked Donny, does give Cohen and Manafort pardons, we will know for a fact that Don the Con is complicit.
5
Bret Kavanaugh's conformation hearings should be postponed in abeyance of the November elections. Let the voters determine whether anyone appointed by this President is worthy.
18
Remember the mantra for Superman? "Truth, Justice, and the American Way?" I find it a simple, but powerful litmus test of how, or if, we will survive this presidency.
Truth is almost gone, thanks to a lying president, foreign cyber warfare, a complicit Fox News and the GOP, and, by cult dazed Trump supporters.
Justice, is having its moment now, with these trials, and their outcomes. If Trump pardons these men, (or himself for that matter) there will be no justice for any of us, as Justice will no longer be blind.
"The American Way" will fall next, because it is not the idea of democracy alone that protects our freedoms and sustains our cultural norms, it is our rule of law.
I am proud of the outstanding legal work done by federal prosecutors. But I hold my breadth to see that justice is actually carried out, because we have everything to lose if it is not.
15
I'd very much like to read an in-depth discussion about the rationale behind the claim that a sitting president cannot be indicted. Carried to extremes, it makes no logical sense.
Let's say, hypothetically, that a candidate personally raids a voting site. He murders the officials, breaks into the vote tally, and submits enough votes for himself that he wins the election. This fact is not discovered until after the candidate is sworn in as president.
And some would claim that he cannot then be prosecuted for this crime, for the very reason that it was successful?
11
Wasn’t that “House of Cards?”
@Richard Mays
Can I still claim it as my own scenario if I've truly never seen House of Cards? And if I've never seen House of Cards, can I claim to be in the 1% of the 1%?
@ImagineMoments One of the mysteries in this country. And I have no doubt this president will test this concept further.
Many deep ties between Trump - Cohen. Heard Trump helped Cohen get his daughter into Penn and helped Cohen get son into Columbia Grammer on UWS in upper school while Baron was in lower school there. Cohen flipping is a deep personal wound to Trump.
3
The ultimate slam dunk.. Melania can now file for divorce now that her parents are official US Citizens. Are prenups and non compete clauses legal if they are designed to hide fraud? What does Melania know?
9
This proves how sick Trump really is . He is so sick that a man who knows better than anyone about what he has done in his 72 years that would get him in legal trouble actually runs for the President of the USA and thinks he can keep his past hidden from the world. He is a proven ego manic too sick to save himself and his family and his country from chaos. Putting family and country in this position is the most selfish and unpatriotic treasonous thing you could do,
11
Yes......and? A bunch of people endorsed and voted for this guy knowing full well he was a SNAKE! I’d say the collective consciousness has gone psychotic.
2
As JFK said to Jackie O, your job is to provide amusement for the general public.
Cohen will hopefully by pardoned by POTUS.
@Butch Burton Hopefully be pardoned? He confessed to crimes, he implicated the "president" in some of those crimes.
Hopefully you don't believe we should have a blatant criminal, a crook, for President, and one that condones criminal acts.
15
How did we get here? We've turned the White House over to a grotesque cast of characters--Trump, Manafort, Pruitt, Cohen, O. Manigualt-Newmann, Steve Bannon,-- and the list just goes on. I feel as though I've tuned in to a very bad (or very good) never-ending reality TV show that's on every channel 24/7.
11
Wait for the inevitable movie or miniseries.
Can't wait for the Trump-Stormy Daniels deposition to happen. OK, finally, Here we go....wheeeee! Hold on tight, it's going to be a wild ride.
7
Don’t get too hot and bothered, it’ll be a closed session. Besides, Trump’ll hem and haw, misremember, and forget his reading glasses!
Putin got what he wanted: to freeze the country with a trump presidency while Russia and China position themselves to rip the benefits. On top, trump is dismantling the country from inside by getting rid of any regulation that protects our water and air.
12
@Frank López Trump has not effectively governed from day one as his sad excuse for a presidency has been in turmoil. Indeed, Putin must be happy.
Trump will embark on another "I love me" festival intended to deflect any attention to the now confirmed criminal activities by "the candidate".
Hopefully, if we don't succumb to polluted air and water, or are killed by unsafe food or automobiles, we can vote the crook out.
2
The fact that Cohen did not agree to cooperate despite making all sorts of noises that he will, indicates that he is still angling for a pardon. Only now he's doing it by playing Trump's own blackmailing strong-arm game against Trump himself.
You'll notice that Trump, though having roared before against Cohen, is now toning down his anti-Cohen rhetoric, and is not closing the door to a pardon.
2
Lock him up, lock him up, let it be heard from every mountain top and from every hamlet. Mr. Mueller will be eligible for the Noble Prize after he he concludes his investigations. Trump and Republican lackeys are still saying no collusion. Yes there are no collusion’s but there will be collisions with plenty of casualties.
7
Remember, there are enough Ann Coulters, Sean Hannities and Rush Limbaughs out there to re-elect Donald Trump. And no amount of gloating and wishful thinking in the media will change that fact.
13
Polish it, as sensationalistically as you want, but I don't think the silencing of these two women by paying them off had any impact on the election. It was a step to fend off the avalanche of media attention and public flogging and/or a convoluted legal process, which of course would have unnecessarily diverted attention from the political process and the issues that mattered.
In short, it may have been a mistake in the after thought, but not a crime.
6
I agree that paying off the two women likely had no impact on the election either way. However, that doesn't mean it's not a crime. It's two separate arguments.
4
Is crime a crime?
4
@waldo It was probably a strategic mistake as it wouldn't have made a difference to deplorables. But it's still a crime. Not really up for debate.
If the dust of the presidential psychodrama ever settles, I would like to see our white collar prosecutors also go after every single one of the banks involved - for putting ordinary citizens' savings accounts at risk, along with shareholder trust, while not having a clue about all of these fraudulent supersize loans made under false disclosures. This is why banks will only pay 0.0% interest to hard working small depositors whose life savings never grow. This is what it means to say that our financial system is rigged.
I'd like to know how all of this bank fraud and tax fraud happens at Cohen and Manafort magnitudes. One year when I had good earnings and paid more than 55% in combined taxes, New York State came after me for $5.67 that they calculated I still owed. When I applied for a small mortgage that was less than half the value of the asset and less than 10% of my net worth, the issuing bank wanted proof from me that I had closed a certain credit card line more than 20 years ago - and they had the account number, an astonishing level of background detail that even I did not remember after two decades. If banks and tax agencies can dig up that kind of detail on the little guy, how do they get away with not knowing a thing about their $40-million and $60-million customers?
The story shouldn't end with whatever this means for Trump. The swamp wasn't the current President and his cohorts; it was the entire bald-faced duplicity of how America does business.
30
With the campaign finance violations, and the Russian meddling
We the people should demand nullification of the illegitimate results of the 2016 election. The 2016 election must be invalidated. Trump and Pence Have no legitimate claim on their offices. Both men must be removed.
26
@D. Healy Neither does Hillary have any legitimate claim!
Very interesting read between the lines. The Democrats are in such a sorry state. They have nothing to offer the American people so they focus on trying to make the President look bad. Not a recipe for success. These news stories only highlight more the Democrats lack of message.
3
Democrats don’t make the President “look bad.” He does that all by himself.
10
@RCS
The President makes himself look bad. He doesn't need any help from anybody. The guy is a corrupt train wreck but his supporters will never cop to it and will twist themselves into pretzels trying to defend him. It's pathetic.
7
@RCS Right. As opposed to the GOP, which is just brimming with winning ideas, success stories and leaders like Duncan Hunter. A great recipe!
9
It's official. The party of Trump has now led us to moral bankruptcy.
17
At almost the same time, Trump's onetime campaign manager and his longtime personal attorney became felons because of their association with and direction from Trump. Maybe that is a record of sorts. This would appear to foreclose any idea that Trump can serve effectively as president of the United States if any such idea ever existed.
4
When was the last time your lawyer implicated you in a felony? Trump is an Co-conspirator but has yet to be charged. He was the direct beneficiary of Cohen’s actions. What say you Republicans?
5
We, you, elected Trump knowing he was a scoundrel. They all are. We need a Bobby Kennedy.
11
@one percenter RFK?! The man who assisted Joe McCarthy and Roy Cohn in the 1950's witch hunt? The man who covered up his brother's affair with Sam Giacona's mistress? The man who stole the nomination away from Eugene McCarthy in 1968? That Robert Kennedy?
1
No they are not all “scoundrels”. While you may not agree with the political leanings of the left, that does not make them scoundrels. Notice, with all of the accusations made about Hillary Clinton, nothing was prosecutable.
2
Forget Omarosa and Michael Wolf-- I can't wait for Donald Trump's presidential memoirs.
Those are being published in real time on Twitter.
2
I am actually sad for my friends and countless other Americans who I have been lied too by this president.
How can they go to his comedy rallies listen, applaud, and rally to his ideas?
When will they realize that they are also co-conspirators with Trump in the weakening of the country for future generations.
17
I jumped for joy at seeing this - literally, with my morning coffee - and sat back down only to look at the comments and remember my fear that this wont mean anything at all. Now what, NYT editors board? Now what, America?
3
I commented earlier this morning that I thought that Lanny Davis‘s performance last night on Maddow, in which he revealed that Cohen would tell Mueller that Trump had prior knowledge of both Russian hacking and the meeting with the Russian agent, was meant to warn the Trump collaborators that it was time to cooperate or go to prison.
I think that Kellyanne Conway will be the first one to run. She and her husband have played out an elaborate drama in which he has publicly distanced himself from Trump. I think that is because she has discussed this matter with him – he is a top attorney – and they both knew that she might be implicated at one point or another. They wanted to shield the husband from any taint.
That time has come. Conway won’t sacrifice herself, and the future of her four children, to protect Donald Trump. She had to be aware of what was happening because she, Manafort, Trump Junior, and Jared Kushner were Trump’s inner circle at that time. They were the ones who knew.
Time to make that phone call, Kellyanne.
19
When Rick Gates said he and Paul Manafort committed crimes together I was praying someone would come forward and say they also committed crimes with Trump. Lo and behold my prayers have been answered. Trump, like a Mafia boss, ordered Cohen to commit crimes. Giving an order to commit a crime makes one a criminal.
17
This whole thing is on a timeline gearing up toward the midterms blown far out of proportion and likely a setup from the start. The hysteric overreaction and hyperoutraged scandal for a campaign finance violation and process crime makes me wonder who is in charge and who calls the shots. Certainly, the media parrots the press releases and talking points rather than reporting them, and once again we have an example to show others what happens when you rock the boat. The losers are the American People. Certainly nobody is debating policy or a better future. I fear something terrible is coming: on the level of a false flag nuclear strike followed by military dictatorship and a mass disillusion of throughout society that they were lied to by everyone. I vote, I read, I try to stay informed, but when the media is stuffed with self serving psychopathic hacks who bully all levels of society into an official narrative while somehow enabling the quiet emergence of a new serfdom until it is too late, I just don’t know what to do. Now I understand what a credibility gap truly is. This won’t end well, and I doubt I’ll live much longer to see it through.
4
It seems, from the gist of your comment, that you haven’t seen well from the beginning. For you to see what appears to you to be a left-wing conspiracy by the free press after this confession, is sad. The left is not in power now, the left does not have the vast financial backing that has been demonstrated recently by everyone from, Donald Trump and the Koch brothers on down, and the military is not a wing of the left/liberals/progressive. So, I can’t imagine how you come up with a coup d’eta or a coup de grace by the left. Perhaps you should be more concern about the countries current leadership and his cohorts in the legislative branch of government than the press.
First of all the vast majority of the media in this country is owned by members of the right side of the political spectrum not the left. While we may have a number of reporters of the news leaning left, editorial control is solidly right leaning. You can hardly call Murdoch’s Fox News media left leaning, and Gannett newspapers, which includes USA Today and hosts of local newspapers, have always been known as conservative. I too, worry about the country and it’s viability going forward, but I see a press that has given Mr. Trump and his minions more free publicity than any of the other candidates who ran for president in the last election and continue to feed us his tweets on a regular basis. The right clearly understands that lies and half truth repeated enough times will work to move voters in their direction.
10
In the early 1970’s this level of supporter hysteria was swirling around Nixon as his criminal behavior was coming home to roost. Paranoid, delusional, with his enemy’s lists and clown posse Nixon was an amateur compared to Trump. With a house of cards built by corruption, exaggeration and lies Trump’s entire life has been building towards this end. Unfortunately he has taken the rest of us along for the ride and inspired legions of supporters to buy into his reality tv version of the presidency. This is what happens when you elect a charlatan who is financially in hock to bad people and has the morals of an alley cat. He’s a bad kitty.
2
@Thomas Busse
And I thought I’m sometimes too melodramatic...
With Trump in the White House, you have the nerve to call journalists self-serving psychopaths? Such a mixed up comment. You fear a false flag nuclear disaster or dictatorship, so you don’t want the public to hear what a crook they elected? I don’t get it.
What we are seeing is the logical outcome of the investigation into a sleazy bunch of people. Trump was one long before the 2016 election and I say it’s on the RNC for letting this happen. From the early primary days, you could see what a train wreck this whole thing was going to be.
Campaign finance violations have derailed other politicians—ever hear of John Edwards?—so why not Trump? “Process” crimes are no big deal?—when they include dealings with foreign adversaries? It always amazes me that people are okay with throwing people in jail for minor drug offenses, deporting people for traffic offenses, but million dollar white collar crimes, oh, no big deal.
2
Alternative facts and the truth isn't truth world of Donald Trump do not live in that courtroom in Virginia. The truth will set all of us free - not so much for Manafort and Cohen. All dirty roads lead to Trump and his day in court will come.
Thank you Robert Mueller for being a shining light in these dark days.
21
The fact of the matter is Cohen's statement, confessions and financial misconducts may 'confirm' that Donald J Trump was then a misfit candidate and, is an untrustworthy to lead USA. That we already know.
However, this does not 'prove' collusion with Russian government. Trump et al can easily wing it, and his base will keep on trusting him, regardless. By saying that man's private life and affairs have no bearing on what he does in the White House, Trump's base can keep on believing in him.
How someone who had an affair ... that we know of ... while his third wife was expecting, can be trustworthy leader for someone like me whom he does not know?
We do not live in the Age of Character anymore.
3
@CFM Yet last night, Cohen's attorney stated that Cohen definitely has some info that Mueller would be interested in regarding the elections and the Russians.
When pressured, he was asked if it related to the meeting in Trump Tower. He said 'no', but that it related to another matter he could not discuss. Stay tuned America.
@Vote In November
Thanks. It's hard to keep abreast of news these days.
Um, this IS cooperation. The President is now implicated in a felony. Muller may not indict a sitting President, but we don’t know what the US Attorney in SDNY is going to do. Hopefully Rudi is having a very difficult discussion with the “federal candidate” about putting the good of the country ahead of personal interest. But, doesn’t this mean that the election was fraudulently won? He cheated, right?
9
Michael Cohen, the best example of a "fair-weather" friend, interested in saving only himself. Yes, he is a criminal; he knew what he did was wrong when he did it. At least the Clintons had associates, like Susan McDougal, who were willing to go the prison to protect them from prosecution. Cohen obviously does not possess the same courage. What a shame.
Always have to bring up the Clinton’s.
7
@Southern Boy The difference is that the Clintons showed loyalty to the people who were loyal to them, whereas Donald Trump was going to throw MIchael Cohen under the bus to save himself, and Cohen knew it, and he decided that he had no reason to stay loyal to Trump.
Why would you EVER be loyal to someone who is not loyal to you in return?
4
@Southern Boy. Courage? To protect a man who stabs you in the back? Would you? Really?
If the GOP Congress wants to maintain any illusion of fulfilling their oaths of office by providing oversight on this corrupt President they need to impeach him before the midterms and face the ire of the Trump followers. Failing that, independent voters will see them as complicit and vote for the other side. Once the Dems are in power they will certainly start impeachment proceedings; if they retake both chambers then Trump is toast and Pence might also be brought down. The chance of a GOP presidency beyond 2020 would be a pipe dream. However, if the GOP acts now based on the overwhelming evidence that Trump is unfit for office, they might save their majority in the Senate and will still have Puppet Pence to do their dirty work for the next 2 - 6 years.
10
Why didn't Mr. Cohen name Donald Trump as the Federal Candidate? Is it part of the Prosecution strategy. Or is the lack of the name for another case? This is not clear to me.
If Cohen has gone so far as to confess to crimes including the breaking of Campaign Finance Laws, why not go all the way and name Trump as the the Federal Candidate?
Stormy Daniels has created quite a storm, pun intended. Cannot wait for her Defamation of Character claim against Trump,
One more thing I cannot wait for is that the Republican Congress is removed for interfering with a Federal Investigation a la Nunes.
The plot is getting thicker by the moment.
4
Regarding the kingpin of much of this criminality, Donald Trump, we must always remember that all of this was easily forseeable to anyone who bothered to look. The Republican Party knowingly brought this incompetent and unqualified man-child into the White House. Trump has been little more than a dishonest publicity hound his entire life, yet it did not stop Republicans from subjecting the country to him and his band of thieves, crooks and cheaters.
I think a 50 year moratorium on voting for Republicans for any office of any kind under any circumstances, and rejecting any Republican judicial nominations is a reasonable punishment.
20
None of this has anything to do with Russia!! Why is Mueller running around acting like a Federal prosecutor instead of a special council? The entire premise for his existence doesn't exist because it was a fraud perpetrated by deep state anti-Trump actors. They are guilty of using the federal government to interfere in an election and trying a coup against a president. They all need to go to jail because they are the real criminals.
2
Dude, you gotta read more. Like, fact-based stuff about what Special Prosecutors have to do when they find evidence of other crimes during the course of their investigation.
25
So you really believe in this "Deep State" spy novel nonsense, huh? Sad. Talk about Trump Derangement Syndrome!
P. T. Barnum was certainly correct, and would be making a killing in Trump country if he was still around.
Trump is a insane would-be dictator who was unfit for office the day he made his racist campaign announcement and has only gotten worse. Mueller and his team are American heros doing their best to protect us from him, even though you don't deserve it.
5
if you truly believe what you wrote you not Mueller are the enemy of our democracy. I am neither R or D but I understand law and our constitution.
1
So it looks like the smoking guns are coming to light! The shield around Trump is crumbling and he now has at least one case to answer. So not only is Trump guilty of infidelity and lying he is directly responsible for essentially paying off potential "blackmailers". That conjures up other possible scenarios. In the case of the two women, he could away "cheaply" by parting with a few hundred grand. However, that strategy was never going to work with Putin who after that disaster in Helsinki clearly has something over Trump and wasn't going to settle for a pittance. So what in lieu of cash could the President have promised Putin?
Clearly the only thing FAKE going on is starting from the White House and the only witch hunt going on is directed against the forces of transparency and the law.
It will scream volumes about integrity and moral character if the Republicans in Congress, particularly the House maintain their doormat strategy with respect to the White House.
6
@Niall Firinne
No one knows what Putin wants. but certainly removal of sanctions, which the co-conspirator Pence was advocating for the other day. Maybe Putin is enjoying seeing the destruction of American democracy. Maybe he wants Ukraine?
From the look on Trump's face, whatever Putin wanted, the threat from Putin I believe was assassination, of Trump or one of his offspring.
Legal arguments aside, we are witness to a panoply of human beings without basic decency or character. All are worthy of legal due process. But not worthy of my support, or twisted rationalizations of how ‘this is all ok’ because somehow “so-n-so was worse,” “people do it all the time,” (insert conspiracy theory here), or “the economy is good.” The important part of “The (American) Dream” is that people in our Nation be judged by the content of their character. That’s an idea for which good, young, American soldiers are willing to fight and die. Not for these guys...
11
Scary times. Maybe, and this is scary, the more evidence of violating the law will accumulate and the more Trump will be unpredictable AND dangerous. For the USA and for the world. I don't really fear the "nuclear button", but there are many other ways, already in progress, to damage the country and the world.
7
As of this morning, nothing about this on the front page of Foxnews.com nor in my local newspaper.
9
The fact that federal authorities have to be careful about prosecuting an admitted criminal because they fear the president will pardon the criminal no matter what demonstrates just how crooked and evil this president is.
10
I know it’s just a word, but is it fair to say there was collusion between Trump and Cohen to effect the election? Does Donald have to shut with his “no collusion” rant now, or do we just change the meaning of the word? “Witch hunt” doesn’t mean what it used to, given how many witches we’ve caught. Maybe collusion can only happen between Democrats.
3
Impeachment, resignation, witch hunt...it really does not matter after yesterday.
Yesterday 8/21 the script changed. This is the first time a sitting president has been implicated in a crime by a defendant pleading under oath in federal court.
One thing is clear, DJT will have to plead down a sentence but it is almost a certainty that he is going to prison.
This will not go away and there are no pardons for all of the crimes committed.
It may be in 2019 or after he leaves office but DJT is going to jail.
What took place in federal court yesterday is not going away. Period.
Everyone is looking at you mitch mcconnell!
14
Is Giuliani a practicing lawyer? Shocking if he is as he seems to be the one person who doesn’t know that what Trump did is a crime. Next thing he’ll be saying is that Trump has pardoned himself. The dominos are falling.
6
Let's play out the impeachment/resignation fantasy to the end. Even if Trump resigns or is impeached and convicted President Pence will pardon him. Isn't that the same deal Nixon made with Ford? Nixon ultimately resigned the presidency in exchange for Ford's promise that he would be pardoned for his underhanded chicanery during his presidency. Therefore It's unlikely Donald Trump will be wearing an orange jump suit in some cushy Federal prison anytime soon.
5
Last I looked, blackmail is a crime in all states, including NY, and submitting to blackmail is not.
2
It's not blackmail, but nice try defending the indefensible.
4
@CHN Haha, wow, please explain how blackmail applies in this situation!
Donald hires only the "best people", and has also selected two Supreme Court Justices...
8
@Michael Shaffer
Kavanaugh isn’t confirmed yet.
Trump’s mantra about Robert Mueller’s Russia probe being a “witch hunt” rings hollow now that the Special Counsel team is producing a growling list of accomplishments – plea agreements reached with Michael Flynn, Rick Gates, George Papadopolous etc.
It is taking some pressure off Mueller and piling more on Trump, making it increasingly difficult for him to fire Mueller.
While Cohen has admitted guilt and might cooperate with Mueller to reduce his sentence, Manafort is as opportunist as ever, hoping for a miracle, like a Trump pardon.
Even though Trump can’t be indicted while in office, the chances of an impeachment – regardless of Democrats' electoral fortune – would increase should the ongoing investigation conclude that the Trump campaign had colluded with Russia to boost his chance of winning. The pressure from the public could make it happen.
"If those payments were a crime for Michael Cohen, then why wouldn't they be a crime for Donald Trump?" said Cohen's lawyer, Lanny Davis. It’s true. Besides, Trump had in the past denied having any knowledge of the payments. Now Cohen is saying he knew about them from the start and there is also an audio recording to prove it.
10
This is a huge story but the beginning of the even larger one is Lanny Davis saying last night on Rachel Maddow that Cohen will tell Mueller that Trump had advance knowledge of Russian hacking and knew also about the meeting with the Russian agent attended by Manafort and Trimp’s son.
Why did Davis, one of Trump’s lawyers, say these things on Maddow’s program? Clearly Mueller already knows that Cohen wants to cooperate. He said these things, I think, to let the co-conspirators know that the game is up. Cohen’s lawyers are hoping that the collaboraters will come in to make deals – try to get there first to make the best deal - and that their testimony will corroborate Cohen’s.
The game is indeed starting to unravel. Trump is cooked.
15
I knew that back in the 80s, as did every small business that was unfortunate enough to do business with the unstable dotard.
Beware the coming distraction. And it's gonna be big.
30
The extraordinary thing here is not Cohen or any of crooks. The extraordinary thing here is that over 90% of Republicans prefer a tax cut and polluted air and water than a decent president and a decent well prepared cabinet.
68
Ah, it doesn't get any better than this.
Now for the GOP to awaken and stand up to the trump cabal and simply say, "No!"
To do otherwise would also make the GOP complicit in his crimes.
18
Southern NY should indict Trump now. That legal activity is central to the Kavanaugh nomination, and the GOP Senate is refusing to deal with it.
Creating a new Supreme Court justice who was nominated specifically to create new constitutional protections for Trump has just become a major election issue.
30
The current administration isn’t plagued by scandals . . . It IS a scandal.
24
The connection between the payment to Stormy Daniels and it being a campaign contribution seems very tenuous. Even if it were for purposes of influencing an election, by this logic, so would any payment to anyone not to do something. Does buying one’s silence count as influencing an election under the law?
This all reminds me of the John Edwards saga from a few years ago. And he was found not guilty...
3
@Andrew When the guy paying the hush money is a major party's nominee for president -- and when the payment happens two week before the election -- and when there is evidence that he talked with his lawyer about it specifically regarding it being a problem because of the election, well, then the connection is not tenuous.
19
@Andrew
Yes you're obviously an expert on campaign finance law. LOL
7
So he “donated” to his own campaign? Maybe he should have invoiced himself.
will the real Paul Ryan please stand up?!?!
5
Hard to do with no spine. I'm sure his brow is really quite furrowed, though, so that's something.
4
MAGA. My Attorney Got Arrested.
33
This is finally a which hunt. which current or unreleased testimony will sink the U.S. TrumpTanic. I hope the Bridge is packed with Congressional Trump backers too.
6
Trump haters want Trump impeached so much so that they do not care if he has committed a impeachable offence to impeach him.
Even if Trump not only had knowledge of this payment it was his
idea the violation does not rise to the level of a crime that would justify being impeached.
So please stop dreaming you will get him impeached.
At the best you will get information that can be used against him in a general election.
I don't know if that is smart..
I am sure you will convince some to vote against him.
I have a feeling that you will convince many more to vote for him.
Trump will be hard to defeat if the economy continues to improves.
You will have to convince people that the economy would be better if a Democrats was the President.
If you can't do that then you might as well give up now.
6
Just because you’re greedy and only care about the economy doesn’t mean that most Americans are the same. I have hope for a slight majority. And it’s easy to overheat the economy with a huge tax cut (which is causing huge deficits).
Hopefully the Dems win the House and we finally get to see the tax returns Trump promised us.
13
@lucky - "Trump will be hard to defeat if the economy continues to improves."
I've found that two basic tenets underlay what Republicans/conservatives pass of as "policy":
1. The end justifies the means.
2. Might makes right.
The idea that "I'm getting something out of, and maybe for good measure someone else is hurt, is what allows authoritarians to come to power. And there is most definitely an double streak of authoritarianism in almost everything we see of the Republicans who when they speak of "freedom" don't mean freedom for all people but freedom to treat others as they wish,
2
@lucky
It kills me that Trump supporters keep bring up the economy. He’s been in office less than 2 years and inherited a growing economy, not a recession. What counts is the economy he leaves us with and that is an unknown. I say get him out before he wrecks the whole thing with crazy spending and an enormous deficit. Walls and space forces and military parades, indeed. The man is a lunatic, not a financial genius.
1
Make no mistake. Cohen has flipped. Listen to what Lanny Davis said on MSNBC. Cooperation agreements take time. Cohen and the government only started seriously talking last week. This guilty plea is cooperation in advance of an agreement. Everything here is incredibly coordinated. Everything here is designed to nullify a pardons ability to protect the President. Cohen's admission of guilt statement had to be designed by both sides together to implicate the President in multiple felonies. This, people, is a red hot smoking gun of multiple impeachable offenses. If the Republicans do nothing about this before November, then voters have the clearest civic responsibility to turn control over both houses of Congress to the Democrats regardless of the dubiousness of the claims of witch hunt and no collusion/any pending outcome of the Mueller probe. A true Law and Order President would resign now, admit everything and rely on the mercy of the court. Instead, we will all watch the painfully slow unwinding of the alternate reality of the President's falsehoods. Vote in November!
19
I don't buy it. If a person decides to run for president he/she must talke the actions necessary to transition from private life to public life. Those actions might include buying new clothes, dental work, joining the NRA, resigning from the NRA, or it may include paying off former mistresses. The fact that one does this to ready for running for office does not make the costs campaign expenses. No jury would convict. Everyone knows Trump had mistresses, there is no big news here.
3
@GBC1 The payments were made BEFORE the general election, and there is evidence to suggest that the payments were made to avoid defeat.
7
Cohen alleged that Trump directed his illegal activities. He just as well might have said that he saw Trump shoot someone on Fifth Avenue for all the effect this will have on Trump supporters or the corrupt GOP.
A country that somehow managed to elect a Donald J. Trump demonstrated that it lacks the sophistication to survive as a true democracy.
14
How funny. Trump could have just ignored these women and still won. They were a drop in the bucket of stuff that emerged before the election. Now, it's a different matter.
13
"It's not the crime, it's the cover-up."
2
Mr. Cohen will dodge the bullet meant for Mr. Trump, now that a bullet is aimed at him. So much for Mr. Cohen.
But think about it: if Mr. Cohen represented the epitome of "loyalty" to Mr. Trump, who does the latter now have that he can in fact trust?
We need to be watching carefully now for any signs that Mr. Trump is starting to crack psychologically. This could be a dangerous time.
8
@Frank J Haydn
“Starting to..?”
I think that ship sailed decades ago.
16
When will Republicans in Congress speak out? Do they really want to be remembered as having supported Trump's corruption and lies?
26
So President Trump cheated on his wife back in 2006 and, when he ran for president 10 years later, slimy opportunists came out of the woodwork and shook him down. Extortion? One lesson learned here, if you want to run for president one day, is sadly this: Expect damaging consequences if you try to conceal a “one night stand” with a shady porn star or a lengthy affair with a Playboy model.
How much did LBJ and JFK pay their "girl friends" to remain silent. Back then the media didn't dare write about their affairs although the rumors about them were rampant. JFK's affair with Chicago Mafia kingpin Sam Giancana's moll was particularly striking and potentially threatening to his presidency and the country. It was deftly covered up by RFK without any damage to the sitting president.
It is obvious that Democrats and other anti-Trumpists, particularly those in the media, are thrilled with Cohen's plea bargain since it could threaten Trump's presidency. The Mueller investigation into his alleged collusion with Russians - conceived by extremely biased and corrupt FBI officials - has already been revealed to be nothing more than a relentless plot to get rid of a duly elected president.
3
@MCH Yes, the rules have indeed changed since JFK, LBJ and DDE. The GOP rolled out a letter written by a 22-23 year old Bill Clinton to demonstrate that he was unqualified to be commander-in-chief because of his opposition to the war in Vietnam. Campaigns dive deep and will unearth skeletons, even very old ones. trump knew this. And yes, this is the same trump who promoted his own candidacy with the birther nonsense that he knew full well was completely false. There are many problems with the selection process for the office of POTUS, but to go back a generation or more and say, in essence, it's so unfair, is a bit disingenuous considering the levels trump was willing to sink to in order to get elected.
18
@MCH
If the sex thing wasn’t so important, why did Trump bring 4 of Clinton‘s women to the debate?
11
@MCH: There's one itsy-bitsy detail you're omitting...Trump broke the law. Campaign finance rules are clear-cut. Al Capone went down for evading taxes, not for his murderous acts.
3
You can bet that Cohen avoided New York State taxes too. For that crime there will be no pardon after he is found guilty in state court.
12
It is obvious, now even to pathologically gullible Republicans, that Donald Trump’s claim of no collusion between his campaign and Russia has as much credibility as when Benedict Arnold told George Washington that "there was absolutely NO COLLUSION between me and the British".
19
I guess we are at a point when all the King's horses and all the King's men are going to have to work very, very hard to put this egg shelled king back together again. And we haven't even gotten to Russia yet. I am going to to take a guess that Trump believed that Cohen would never cross him because, he is after all, "The Donald". I am going to to take another guess that being heady with his self perceived absolute power, saited with the roar of adoring hoards, Trump tossed Cohen aside like a used tissue -- imagining that out of sight, out of mind Cohen ceased to exist. That's how narcissists function. Well, Good Morning, Mr. President. Guess what?
28
Great comment !
1
It's time for Mr. Trump to resign the presidency.
28
@Samp426, no, it's time for the Republicans in Congress to do their job and take care of #45. Our job is to vote out every Republican from office in November.
39
@Samp426
I am pretty sure many thought that even before he took the oath of office.
I don't think he will resign because you think he should.
Liberals have to accept he is the President and then move on.
@lucky - "Liberals have to accept he is the President and then move on."
Moving on? You mean like:
"The single most important thing we want to achieve is for President Obama to be a one-term president." - Mitch McConnell
"You will not fill this Supreme Court vacancy," - Mitch McConnell
Time to send out for the T-Men to get Trump like they got Al Capone in 1931. If Cohen and Manafort were "the best people" Donald Trump could hire, he needs some better than best people. None of his enablers are going to ride to his rescue. Mr. Trump better gird himself for a struggle "never before seen in American history". The curtain is coming down now on the 45th President but it's coming too slowly. Trump's rats have left the courthouse in New York City and Virginia, but their frauds were only the tip of the iceberg. "Stay tuned", Folks, there are still several more years of Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies to come here in America.
17
In any halfway decent state of law in a civilized country, this would immediately end the presidency.
But in the US under Trump it won't.
It won't even cut into the approval ratings of Trump.
This is how far the divide between Trump's followers and reality has grown.
42
Donald Trump's Presidency is unravelling fast. Hopefully very soon the great majority of the US voters will finally realize that Donald Trump has always been a cheat and a liar.
18
So....the current president is a crook
So....what is the GOP going to do about it?
32
Maybe the Karen McDougal thing is more serious than the Stormy Daniels thing ?
The Stormy Daniels thing was Trump’s money. They even have the check to prove it was his money.
But the Karen McDougal thing was somebody else’s money. The owner of the National Enquirer, or whatever. So that is an illegal campaign contribution.
But Trump’s own money, I’d think that he can spend as much of that on his own campaign as he wants. As somebody else mentioned, Bloomberg did.
5
it wasn't his money initially.
1
One has to wonder when supposedly sharp political operatives like McConnell and Ryan will decide to cut their losses (or prevent electoral armageddon) by impeaching and removing Trump, replacing him with the odious and dangerous, but faceless and crazyless, Pence. He'll give them lunatic judges and deregulation without all the drama.
5
Take a look at Foxnews.com this morning - one would not even know about either Cohen or Manafort! There's murder, a slam against Ocasio-Cortez, a slam against CNN, another one against the NYC mayor... How likely is it that red-staters are even willing to see the truth that is the non-Giuliani version of the actual truth?
29
As a non-American observer of your extraordinary country, it seems a long time since Republicans erupted in fury because President Obama wore a tan suit to a briefing. Conservative commentators responded with "This proves he's a Marxist," and "That's an impeachable offense right there".
One suspects that any other administration would have been brought down long since by the current president's aberrations. Politically, we live in strange times.
65
Slept well, for a change, than you Cohen. Meanwhile, Trump, just resign, let Pence pardon you and your cronies. This is game over. What's next?
8
@Reasonable, game plan is different, Pence gets sworn in, resigns one minute later and Ryan becomes President and picks Pence as his Vice President.
Only in America...
Can't wait to read Trump's first tweets of the day.
13
Will Trump resign as others have suggested? If so, will Pence continue the decline of the country, push for a theocracy, end the Wall Street regulations, etc?
As we have seen with Pruitt gone, we have a new EPA head who is efficiently and quietly undoing regulations on coal, auto emissions and many more on the list.
It is ugly no matter what happens.
And then there is Paul Ryan if Pence goes.
Vote. so the Democrats can get the Republicans in multiple oversight committee hearings, just like Benghazi!
15
Unfortunately I saw a snippet of the failed President at his worship rally tonight. No collusion! No collusion! I’m looking forward to my overwhelming revulsion to be replaced by giddy shadenfruede. The one thing that has kept me sane the last 2 years is knowing so many millions feel as I do. Our democracy is at stake. Our GREAT America is truly at stake.
35
I guess we are to believe that whenever Cohen was notified that a woman was going to sue Donald he would just cut a check w/o asking his boss
8
Is this the tipping point for gutless GOP legislators to stop quaking in their boots in fear of Trump and his base? They are still railing at Hillary and her emails and sticking their heads in the sand ignoring the criminality that is Donald Trump. Message to Rudy: The truth IS the truth, and the plain truth is we are saddled with the most corrupt president in American history.
29
People, people, people:
This is not the beginning of the end of the Trump Travesty. It may not even be the end of the beginning. So, we have to get out and vote as if our country depended on it. Perhaps the world does depend on it. Trump is a cornered animal now. I imagine him as a skunk. He can still stink the place up, and would just for spite. Keep working the only successful program we have: free debate and voting. Help others to vote. The Republicans have become a scourge on America. We must rid every Republican we can from office.
59
Trump continued to do what he does best
after the knockout news about his violations of campaign finance laws and obstruction of justice loom large. We went for a rally to fire up his unwavering supporters. Soon there will be tweets about rats and liars.
13
Cohen just confirmed, under oath, Trump knew about those payments and that he lied to the American people once again.
Cohen not only did not take a figurative bullet for Trump but he just shoot one!
This is poetic justice. Who would have thought that it was going to be his "mishandling" of women the beginning of his downfall.
I am sure this is just the beggining. Mr Muller seems to be closing in too. Yey!
I truly cannot wait until I can joyfully yield ... LOCK HIM UP!
25
Welcome to the USA as a third-world country. This country was never perfect, but we had an ideal and a wish for integrity, freedom, equality, decency, and innovation. It's embarrassing to be American now. And it is not just the fault of the Republicans. It is the fault of the Democrats who enabled them with the lack of character.
10
Ok, Cohen pleads guilty to a few money games and voluntarily and calmly walks into jail with no court papers mentioning plea bargains or deals. A few hours later his lawyer Lanny Davis talks on Rachel Maddow Show about Cohen's desire to speak truth, his feeling of liberation now that he has made his decision, and broadly suggests Cohen knows some things about stolen Hillary emails and Russia that Mueller would be interested in hearing. So maybe Cohen walks into jail in front of the whole world, meaning Russia and Trump who bragged about shooting someone in the middle of 5th Avenue, but he is actually whisked away to a high security, isolated, bomb proof facility before this announcement is made.. I think Cohen has already had a talk with Mueller and the facts, obviously verifiable, are so explosive they decided they needed to put him under deep protective custody. Hope they've done the same for his family.
5
@KJ
He walked out of court after pleading guilty and then let his lawyer spill the beans on TV? Good luck to him..
So, all the henchmen are guilty but The Godfather still isn’t?
33
I am envisioning a police car waiting in front of the White House on the day the "candidate" leaves office, and Sean Hannity sitting at the wheel of an escape car with the motor running at the back door.
9
More meaningless air , meaningless sound bytes , nothing will happen folks , the Congreve is republican, the Supreme Court will be conservative soon. There will be no impeachment.
3
Best day in the Trump presidency.
Oh how sweet it is. This is like the wrap up in a Scorsese film of a mob syndicate. No Teflon Don!
I’d like to see the whole Trump family in cuffs. Ivanka, Don Jr. Eric, Jared.
19
It's okay. It is a federal crime, so Donnie can just pardon himself.
Need to get him on a state crime.
201
@Langej
Need to see his 2016 and 2017 tax returns.
The next issue is whether he has to testify in the California civil case.
7
@Langej Actually, the prosecutor was careful to point out that this doesn't implicate Mr. Trump in any way.
Sometimes you gotta turn the channel away from MSNBC and CNN.
@Lange No, violating campaign laws isn't even a crime. That's why Obama walked away with just a fine.,
Trump was right! Mueller has found witches and they were all dressed in men clothing (Cohen, Flynn and Manafort).
7
There are tapes. And 26 minutes have not been erased this time.
9
It’s a sense of hope a - real sense of hope that true justice will prevail against the Trump crime family and their conspirators. Save America and then heal the planet.
16
This has been a riveting news day. This NYT headline almost makes me want to celebrate, but our sad, hellish journey isn't over yet.
I, like many Americans, have Trump Fatigue Syndrome. But, now is not the time to turn away from the unending madness and criminality of our very own con man president.
It's our duty to demand the GOP act according to the tenets of the Constitution and impeach a president who wasn't elected fairly and who has created an atmosphere in our country and the world of hate, racism, misogyny, treason, depravity and lies.
No other outcome is acceptable.
37
I could not care less about splitting legal hairs. Someone who is rotten to the core, as trump has proven to be, should not be president. Trump does not contain a molecule of integrity.
41
The irony is that in the end, Trump's reckless and petty penchant for "getting even" with people like Obama for embarrassing him at the 2011 Correspondents Dinner is going to destroy him and his family.
24
On CNN’s Anderson Cooper tonight, Rick Santorum said Americans don’t really care that much about Trump’s “petty” troubles with the Cohen, Manafort convictions. No, he said Americans care more about the breaking news that an illegal immigrant has been charged with the murder of a young girl in Iowa. It is a very sad story indeed.
But, perhaps more sad is that 168 Americans died at the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; 12 teenage students and 1 teacher were massacred at Columbine High School outside Denver, Colorado; 27 children and adults were shot and killed in Sandy Hook; 17 students and staff were murdered at Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, FL and 58 people were massacred at a concert in Las Vegas - all committed by born-in-America, non-illegal Americans!
It is time we call out these Republican politicians and sycophants for what they are: Deplorable Liars!
54
I thought the investigation was about Russian meddling in our election.
4
So if the cops enter your neighbors' house searching for illegal drugs but instead find a bunch of dead bodies, they should just walk away saying "have a nice day!"
8
Trump hid his own problems (with NDAs and “hush money”) and he did all he could to expose the problems of Hillary Clinton (by meeting with Russians and all the other things we’ll soon hear from the special counsel).
All the while, the Russians were pushing out dirt on everyone except Trump — on John McCain, on Mitt Romney, on Hillary Clinton and others. Everyone except Trump.
Trump keeps saying the investigation is “rigged.” He fears we will soon find out that the election was rigged. Put an asterisk next to Trump’s name in the 2016 election results.
19
Where is congressional oversight ? One has to wonder if there is so much collusion, e.g. Nunes, that they see their own necks on the line ?
15
It seems an eternity I've been waiting for this bit of relief! Hopefully me American friends can now feel some of the suffocating burden of this Presidency has been lifted - and some light finally can be seen at the end of this long, terrible tunnel.
16
There isn't enough popcorn in the world to see us through this meltdown. And this is only the beginning.
12
Trump, leader of the free world according to some, is now known to have been levered into office with the help of the Russian state and by a criminal conspiracy to hide salacious and damaging material from the electorate. This is almost certainly the tip of an iceberg of material proving what most of the world knows - that the US has an illegitimate president who is wholly unfit for office.
28
Manafort is convicted, Cohen pleads guilty and the SP500 hits a new high. I wonder which way America will vote this November and in November 2020? My money goes on Trump and the Republicans.
3
And I am sure you think the Obama presidency (which brought the country back from the edge of financial Armageddon and during which the stock market tripled) had nothing to do with the health of the current economy?
3
Let's say Trump quits or is removed from office. That leaves us with Pence, and I wonder what Pence knew about all of this. Will he distance himself from smarmy Trump ?
7
@Hypatia
"I wonder what Pence knew about all of this."
Pence and his backers may be the power behind the throne.
Everything that Trump seems to be doing - the tax giveaway, the war on immigration, the Supreme Court, etc, may be all Pence because Trump has no focus other than watching TV or golfing all day. Trump is just the red herring, a shiny object for the media.
He's incapable of the strategic follow through required for the sustained and well planned assault on democracy that has happened. (but Putin is)
Trump was brilliantly used and now that everything's in place, it may be time for Pence to take over the reigns of the totalitarian state.
Putin's goal is perfectly aligned with that of Pence's backers, the christian right. Their goal is a religious state that fulfills prophesy by bringing on the Apocalypse (the ultimate alt-truth, alt-reality).
Trump will either start a war with Iran to deflect from this inquiry, or he will resign like Nixon and be pardoned by Pence.
Out of office he becomes our Berlusconi, still throwing grenades, with his own talk show or an anchor on RT, and a loyal/cult-like following of 50-60 million people.
6
Tears come to my eyes as I see justice taking steps to stop this president from subverting the rule of law.
13
I keep thinking about how we'll have to explain all this to future generations.
It feels like we're right in the middle of sitting in a car we somehow collectively decided to let our drunkest friend drive.
11
This news cannot be faked. And what it reveals is how hollow and cheap Trump's slogan "MAGA" is. DAGA more like it - Debase America Again and Again. The highest office in the land has certainly been repeatedly debased, even before November 2016.
And complicit, either looking the other way, or worse, defending the man and his administration, are all those members of the Republican Party, elected or private citizens, willing to stand behind one who has shredded all notion of the integrity and noble ideals the United States of America once stood for, willing to vote for and continue to support a man whose dubious past throws more shade than a sequoia yet never had any of its stature, and whose incompetence was only exceeded by his self interest and racist views. Thanks, GOP, for putting your country last.
12
By any reasonable evaluation standard Donald Trump should never have been elected president. Yet, in Ohio, Michigan and Pennsylvania, voters who had twice selected Barack Obama voted for Trump instead of Hillary Clinton.
In yesterday's Of Interest column, a Pew Research poll from last year indicated that 35% of Democrats said learning of a friend's vote for Trump in 2016 would have put a strain on that relationship vs on 13 % of Republicans re: a friend's vote for Clinton.
If we as a nation are really interested in working together for a better system of government, dismissive arrogance in describing those who have a different view from yours on a given subject as being "deplorables", "haters", racists" or "crooks" should be eliminated in favor of consideration and a willingness to hear another side.
The "Perfect Storm" conditions which made someone as reprehensible as Donald Trump electable need to be addressed and honestly evaluated. How, given any set of leadership criteria could a Donald Trump become president has a great deal to do with whom he defeated for the office.
8
@Bill Baldwin, Jr.
I agree.
Why have the Democrats not picked some likely candidates.
They haven't as their left wing hates the rest of the party.
This has to end before it become a real problem.
Sanders hurt Hillary in the way he attacked her in the primary.
The Democrats can not let that happen again.
Who ever they pick they have to stop fighting amongst themselves.
1
@Bill Baldwin, Jr. "35% of Democrats said learning of a friend's vote for Trump in 2016 would have put a strain on that relationship vs on 13 % of Republicans re: a friend's vote for Clinton."
Republicans are much more mature than Democrats.
Democrats should not be quick to dance with glee and salivate about impeachment. Pence is much more dangerous than Trump. He will pursue the same agenda, albeit in a more genteel manner. But will be a much more formidable candidate in 2020 than a democrat. Pence is a normal traditional republican who is more likely to get reelected than Trump.
2
@dba
That’s my biggest fear.
Pence better be taken down by Mueller or we are doomed to a theocracy.
Oddly, I am a bit unsure about this. I detest Trump, but is it illegal for a married guy to have an affair ? Is it illegal for his lawyer to pay the woman to keep quiet because he is running for election ?
If Trump is forced out, we will never stop hearing about this from his fruitcake supporters. Conspiracy theorists, et cetera.
I look forward to seeing Trump gone, but I don’t want to have to listen to the conspiracy theorists babble about how he was forced out, unjustly.
3
@David Martin - Conspiracy theorists will babble no matter what. That's what they do, babble.
Regarding your other questions. Certainly, having an affair is not illegal. Lying about under oath is. (Trump has yet to talk under oath.)
Under "normal" circumstance money in exchange for silence is not illegal either. However a line was crossed when the motivation of influencing the outcome of election was added to the mix.
Expect to hear a constant hum of babble for many years.
5
@ J Jencks ... and you are sure about this ? I still have doubts. Your part “crossing the line” .. to influence an election, what law is that ? Don’t candidates do everything they can do influence the elections that they will be in ?
Not that I like Trump. I detest him. But what law says you can’t pay money to someone to keep them quiet when you are running for election ? Even more so if it was just a romantic / sexual affair.
1
@David Martin
Jesus, use Google, David. There are specific federal campaigns finance laws that Cohen and Trump broke. It’s not a matter of opinion.
3
So there are allegations that DJT may have violated the law. The question is, do these allegations reach the level for impeachment. We've already seen that Bill Clinton was not removed from office, even though he lied to a grand jury. And Hillary Clinton wasn't prosecuted for her e-mail affair. So I have doubts that this, by itself, will ever be enough to force the removal of Trump from office.
Lastly, I'm not exactly sure that I want it to end this way. Removing Trump from office will not end the nationalist movement in America and many other countries around the world. I've always said that Trump and his Republican minions need to get everything they want because the current course is sure to end in a complete collapse of America's economy and world influence. And only with Trumpulicans in firm control of power will the people finally wake up and see who is to blame for the collapse and take firm action. Only then will this nationalist movement end.
The fascist movement of the 1930s and 40s only ended when Germany and Italy, and all their institutions, were completely destroyed.
2
The Clown should be impeached and convicted for perjury and obstruction of justice. Now.
Otherwise, more damage to our country is yet to come.
Crickets from the Congress?
16
"...By striking a deal with Mr. Cohen that includes prison time, federal authorities were aware of the risk that the president might pardon him, said another person briefed on the matter. But it is also possible that Mr. "Cohen could eventually cooperate."
Since Mr. Cohen didn't "take a bullet" for Mr. Trump (as he said he would), but instead sought to mitigate his exposure to
the legal consequences of committing "multiple counts of tax evasion and a single count of bank fraud", it would seem very unlikely that Mr. Trump would now feel kindly disposed to pardon a crook who stabbed him in the back.
To also assert that "Mr. "Cohen could eventually cooperate." seems vapidly pointless, since his lawyer has already said Mr. Cohen would do this (with the Special Counsel).
"Prosecutors charged that Mr. Cohen’s $130,000 payment to Ms. Clifford was effectively a donation to Mr. Trump’s campaign..."
But, since Mr. Cohen was reimbursed by the candidate, and there is no dollar limit for the amount a candidate can donate to their own campaign, this seems a false charge...to which Mr. Cohen agreed to plead guilty to for reduced time in the slammer.
That Mr. Cohen knows anything that will prove Mr. Trump is guilty of anything connected with Russiagate is laughable.
Although Comey and Mueller have spent two years trying to pin this on Mr. Trump, they have instead only come up with a Stormy Daniels.
1
Sigh. There is more than Stormy Daniels and everyone knows it. I don’t even believe you are even trying to convince anyone else anymore. You are only trying to convince yourselves. Trump is a crook and a traitor and we are going to find out soon. Tax evasion, bank fraud, money laundering, illegal campaign contributions, not to mention collusion. It’s all in motion now, so republicans ought to be wise and prepare for serious damage control rather than continue to play the denial card.
11
Until Trump is held guilty by the highest court of law or impeached by the Congress any number of guilty pleas by Trump's former associates will amount to nothing beyond causing embarrassment to him which is a routine thing to Trump.
8
Congress is republican , the Supreme Court will be conservative , how can you impeach him? Such clueless people that have no idea how their govt works
I'm surprised news outlets have not caught the very deliberate mention of two Trump Organization executives in the government's charges against Mr. Cohen. The government's level of detail implies they have access to the emails of at least two other Trump Organization executives. This excerpt from the charges attached to Mr. Cohen's plea agreement is especially telling on where the government might be headed next:
"On or about February 14, 2017, MICHAEL COHEN, the
defendant, sent an executive of the Company ("Executive-1") the
first of his monthly invoices [...] Executive-1 forwarded the invoice to another executive of the Company ("Executive-2") the same day by email, and it was approved. Executive-1 forwarded that email to another employee at the Company, stating: 'Please pay from the Trust.'"
A few other observations:
1. Executive-2 is defined in the government's charges against Mr. Cohen, but never mentioned again. Maybe Executive-2 will make an appearance in subsequent charges?
2. The government specifically notes that Executive-1 stated "Please pay from the Trust". Who would have the authority to direct payments from the Trump Family Trust? I would guess only executives that are also Trump Family Members.
3. The plea agreement seemingly doesn't prevent the government from bringing additional campaign finance violations charges against Mr. Cohen, which is interesting given his guilty plea to two of those charges.
17
There’s a whole world of white collar criminality that only seems to be coming to light as a result of the Presidency. I shudder to think how much more of this type of behaviour exists that may never be discovered or properly dealt with.
16
I believe an avalanche is starting. NY and California Attorney Generals are on the case. Literally. Cases.
4
@Raymond - Maybe, in a sort of perverse way, Trump is going to be responsible for draining the swamp after all, despite himself.
3
Anyone who doesn’t believe All the Trump’s Women wouldn’t have swayed the election is delusional. Remember the affects of the of Hilary email story that simply cast doubt on her character? This would have been hard evidence, days before the election, an election that he lost the popular vote by three million votes. Think of all his tepid supporters, now certain what kind of person for whom they would be voting. Even Roy Moore lost in Alabama when his indiscretions were revealed.
15
Hold the Supreme Court Nominee, please!
Someone implicated in a crime shouldn’t be allowed to seat justices of ANY kind, much less a judge who might one day decide your fate.
And even so, if control of the Supreme Court was the reward conservatives sought for selling their souls to Donald Trump, they should be denied their end of the bargain.
VOTE on Nov 6.
43
It's a civil violation of the Campaign Finance Law, remedied by the payment of a fine.
@batazoid - not sure what you're referring to but the article lists many more crimes, with potential sentences measured in decades, though the plea deal will shorten that considerably.
@J Jencks
Many more crimes that Cohen did.
From this article Trump only violated one.
@batazoid
It's a conspiracy to breach campaign finance law and any and every conspiracy is a crime. In this case there are at least two distinct felonies.
The likely punishment, given that the motive was to win the presidency of the United States, would be life imprisonment without parole.
Pardon that away, Trump!
The Rule of Law. Democracy. I love it. Many thanks to all those who worked so hard to uphold the Constitution of the United States and our statutes. I have faith now.
25
@A. Brown Apparently, that does not apply to Hillary Clinton/
Those who assert that the disclosures would not have made a difference in the election ignore how close the election was, particularly in the three states that the Republican candidate very narrowly won and which made all the difference in the electoral college tally. It also ignores the fact that the disclosures would have swung momentum back to Clinton, whose insurmountable momentum had stalled because of the improvident Comey disclosures.
27
There's more to this. The guilty plea says that Cohen was the conduit through which two illegal contributions to the Trump campaign were made. One was for $130,000 and another for $150.000. It's not so relevant that they were for covering up what could be considered by voters as a major character defect by the candidate; they did influence the election and they were illegal. Trump was aware, participated, in this as the court document shows. Also mentioned are Executive 1 and Executive 2, who made the payments. Who are they? Were the payments from the Trump Organization or the Trump Campaign (perhaps one and the same)? The two Executives could be indicted tomorrow, and probably should be.
Members of Congress need to be polled right away as to what should be the the recourse, including punishment, for these violations of the campaign finance laws. This was done with full knowledge of the law, and with willful intent aforethought to break the law. Where do they stand on this?
29
So the President is a co-conspirator in a federal crime he committed to help his election and pundits keep saying he was elected fairly? And of course what the Russians did has never been analyzed by the intelligence agencies, or anyone else with credibility, to determine if in fact it swayed the election. So we live in a country where the legitimacy of our president—a man who is radically dismantling our institutions, regulations, values and norms— is in question.
Now we have the legal evidence—provided by his own attorney—that he is a criminal. And the DOJ won’t indict him because of untested memos suggesting they can’t and the Republicans who hold all the power won’t consider impeachment—or even acknowledge his crime(s) because they are ‘afraid of his base.’
I think Move-On missed a scenario deserving of calling people out in the streets to protest the travesty this president is wreaking on this country.
49
@rb
Hi. I was checking to see that someone else had correctly spelt out that Trump is guilty of two counts of conspiracy, two distinct felonies, and that the motive was to secure the presidency of the United States, which, I believe, would warrant life imprisonment without parole.
While I imagine you might well be correct in your prediction of inaction, I disagree. I think Mueller intends to indict Trump without reference to Congress. I have to go away and read up on it, but I think Mueller will indict and report to Congress on the basis that the decision to indict is not determinative of the question of whether Trump should be brought to trial while in office.
I just want him to do it tomorrow. We have the most damning evidence imaginable and we don't even know yet what tapes and documentary evidence Mueller found in Cohen's possessions. The mid-terms should not be allowed to happen without Mueller spelling out to Trump's base that he believes Trump is a criminal.
1
Maybe now we can find out when Donald ordered someone to threaten Stormy in the Vegas parking lot and who it actually was that did it. Not the most important issue, but certainly a juicy one.
32
Even though I've heard the term used so many times...it was still a shock to hear the words " Micheal Cohen , President Trump's former lawyer and FIXER pleaded guilty today....."
The President of the United States personal HENCHMAN pleaded guilty . That alone should be a career ender for POTUS .
Trump may want his wall, but first... we're going to need a brand new prison .
27
I am no friend to Donald Trump, and I yearn for the end of his presidency, but I find it hard to celebrate any of this. It saddens me more than anything. It saddens me that this country has this cast of criminals at its helm....and that so many were capable of choosing this deceitful man to be our President. Even if this all comes to a just conclusion for those who committed crimes, I can't help but feel we've suffered a loss from which we will never fully recover.
82
This is not some overzealous Democratic prosecution -- Mueller is a Republican, appointed by George Bush to the FBI, and appointed as special prosecutor by a Republican administration. Democrats are on the sidelines just watching the show.
33
I don’t understand why they agreed on 4 to 5 years in prison. Cohen was facing 65 years! If they had insisted on 10 to 20 years at least then there would be a lot more pressure on him to tell what he knows about Trump. He could be paroled in only a few years. I wonder if they’ve let him get away.
5
Ever hear of plea bargaining?
1
@sharon5101 I am talking about plea bargaining. Bargaining down to 4 to 5 years seems like a win for an obviously guilty person facing 65 years in prison. If they had insisted on more time, Cohen would have had to specify that he will help with the other investigations. I heard on the radio this morning that he says that he will cooperate with the other investigations. We will see.
When you plead guilty to something the prosecutors usually agree to leave you alone as to other misdeeds that they have on you.
I have to believe that that is the case here because other than the bank fraud and cheating the IRS, paying the babes to shut up and getting reimbursement from Trump is not a crime.
In almost all cases when attorneys pay settlement money they get reimbursed by their client. As such, if Trump paid money to further his own election campaign there's no crime. It is not illegal to fund your own election campaign. If it was, Mike Bloomberg would be sitting behind bars.
If I was Cohen and the prosecutors had nothing else on me I would make a motion to withdraw the plea. But first I'd get rid of attorney Lannie Davis. Send him back to the Clintons.
3
@MIKEinNYC
"As such, if Trump paid money to further his own election campaign there's no crime. It is not illegal to fund your own election campaign."
Except when it is not reported by the campaign. Then it is a crime.
21
Tonight a pundit on CNN discusses possible reactions by both parties to Cohen/Trump---that the GOP may not want to alienate the GOP/Trump base. And the Dems don’t want to energize the GOP/Trump base. Alienate or energize.
So does this mean the worse Trump gets, the less an opposition can challenge him? That means we're powerless.
Does the Trump voter base now rule America with both parties afraid of it? While the wealthy campaign mega donors laugh all the way to the bank.
So if our parties actually assert ethics, decency, fairness, rule of law, they may lose to a few million rabid rw radicals? They have a warped influence in our mishmash of states in the electoral college. While we waste billions on the world’s longest campaign to elect a leader.
So, America, now what? How much more can we deform this democracy?
29
@Meredith shame on Democrats if they fear energizing his base. That’s the last thing trust should be concerned with. They’ve been too quiet in dissenting against this president and the GOP. They should be energizing the democratic voters.
3
@Meredith Don't worry too much about what some silly pundit said. Trump is politically toxic and the Republicans are about to get a very serious thumping.
At this point the Democrats would be well advised to offer positive solutions to our many problems. Not because they're afraid to beat up on Trump, no, because Trump is doing such a good job of beating himself up. Sure, point out how corrupt the Republicans are but don't waste a lot of time on it, give folks some hope for improvements.
2
I don't know. I guess I just want to survive the next two plus years. The prospect of Mike Pence just doesn't excite me. I still don't think Trump has done something as harmful and unnecessary as Iraq.
6
@Jay
Trump is accelerating Global Warming, among other sins.
4
@Jay Seriously? The prospect that Trump could actually be owned by the Russians doesn't concern you? At the very least Trump is hugely compromised. How you can trust anything he does or says when his primary motivation is always going to be keeping himself from going to jail?
1
Trump (He gets no honorific from me) promised us he would clean the swamp. He infested it with more poisonous snakes instead. I cannot think of a more filthy liar. Nixon, at least, had the class EVENTUALLY to confess his political corruption -- after he was caught in the act, exposed and hounded out of office.
24
@Jim Steinberg Nixon never admitted outright to his involvement in the Watergate break-in, I am fairly certain of that. He only left when he realised he had no support any more. The Republicans could speed up the whole inevitable process by withdrawing their support for Trump but of course they are putting their own political careers before the country, as usual.
1
It's truly something, seeing Trumpists look at Cohen's guilty pleas and responding by hopping up and down and screeching that he pled guilty to breaking laws that don't exist.
Apparently, they feel they're allowed to decide which Federal laws exist at all.
23
Presidential pardon in 3.... 2.... 1....
4
@T Will be interesting to see if he has the guts. And what the reaction would be. It most definitely would not improve the Republicans' election chances.
Cohen misled banks several times in order to get housing loans. Makes me wonder if Hannity has done similar things since he has claimed that Cohen was his real estate consultant.
37
This is your candidate, your president— Republicans.
Your deal with the devil.
54
Meanwhile on foxnews, nothing about this story.
24
Is this the smoking gun?
2
Your move GOP (the ‘family values’ and ‘law and order’ party, apparently)
What say you ‘Conservative christians?’
21
There should be three Republicans walking to the White House to tell Donald J. Trump to resign.
32
What could be a higher crime and misdemeanor than perverting the course of a Presidential election? This is precisely what Trump did when he made unlawful campaign contributions to keep the public from learning that he had had two extra-marital affairs, one only months after his wife gave birth to his child. Following the Access Hollywood tape he must have believed that these disclosures would have doomed his campaign.
25
Trump has been a womanizer for years, so there's nothing his gang of trolls could do that would surprise us. If the Democrats had not been so dishonest, we might have had a better choice. As it is, the Dem's have nothing to offer at the moment, except filling the swamp with new blood.
6
@Frank
If, in fact, it was no biggie, then why did he and his confidantes go to such lengths to suppress this news? Riddle me that!
11
@Frank Like you're paying attention to what Democratic candidates are saying. That's right! You don't have to, you already (think you) know.
What does the lawyer of the indicted lawyer do when the lawyer of another indicted lawyer is accusing the former indicted lawyer of having been defrauding his client, during the time the former indicted lawyer was the lawer of the latter indicted lawyer? Well, hide that it was in fact he who defrauded the latter indicted lawyer when he still was his lawyer before accepting to the former lawyer to represent him. His client, the former indicted lawyer, is sueing the latter indicted lawyer for having not payed his bills when he was still the latter indicted lawyer’s lawyer.
3
The documents that scared Cohen into his guilty plea seem to still be under wraps. When those become public...as they certainly will when the special prosecutor issues his report, if not before...we'll all get to read the emails and hear the tapes for ourselves. Cohen clearly decided he couldn't spin whatever's in there to outwit the public or even to get to reasonable doubt with a jury of 12. Nixon gave up when the smoking gun tape became public and his support evaporated first in the public and then in the House. What will this Congress do when Trump's public support goes up in smoke too? When will they too decide that Trump isn't worth it?
12
@Alberto Delgado
I think Trump supporters will stick with him.
It's all emotion, not based on reason. Fox News lies to them every day. They also don't understand that Mueller's assignment encompassed any possible crimes uncovered in the course of the Russia inquiry. It's there in black-and-white, in the letter outlining his duties.
Of course if the exact same charges were levied against a Democrat they would be cheering with pitchforks.
9
Loving this!
15
I'm sure Republican support for Trump will skyrocket after this!
3
lets face it, republicans wont do anything about it.
9
Looks like an all-nighter in Donald's Tweetdom.
8
Could the president "just" pardon Cohen and Manafort after they are convicted and sentenced serving? Or would this be a gross misuse of the "presidential" pardon?
1
Pardon Cohen? Not now!
2
@MI when the press asked for Trump's reaction he sang Manaforts praises as a 'good man' and did not mention Cohen once. Cohen put some shout outs a while back to Trump to test the water for pardon and answer came there none.
1
Trump is and always has been the “kiss of death” to everything in his orbit. Nothing good can come from him. The rats should abandon the ship - it’s sinking. Or better yet go down with it for good.
14
Dear NYT:
It is ludicrous and likely unconstitutional to expand the definition of "campaign contribution" to include the National Enquirer's purchase of rights to a political hatchet story.
Does this mean GPS Fusion is also guilty of making a secretive and illegal campaign contribution to the Hilary campaign by paying Steele -- on behalf of the Clinton campaign and using D funds -- for development and use of the Trump "kompromat" files during the campaign?
Why not?
And is The Times and other major media also guilty of conspiracy in facilitating this illegal contribution by Fusion GPS, and more specifically, by keeping secret its funding by the Ds, all in order to "influence the election"...
And what about the government's rude violation of the attorney client privilege, which -- like the privilege enjoyed by the press against compulsory disclosure of source materials -- also rests on a reed considerably thinner than an express constitutional protection.
Despite The Times' fist-bumping today, this expansion of campaign finance laws in order to nail Trump, and the dramatic application of prosecutorial leverage, even invading the attorney client privilege, is a very slippery slope.
I suspect it will not stand if appealed to the Supreme Court, and it should not.
Where is the ACLU?
2
1. Your "what-about-ism" just shows the lows to which republicans have sunk to in order to defend this president's crimes.
2. Campaigns are allowed to hire contractors. Do you have any evidence that any contract between Fusion was not disclosed or otherwise was an illicit contribution?
3. The National Inquirer was not part of the Trump campaign, thus it cannot act on its behalf and in coordination with it.
4. The media can express any idea they want. Prove it intentionally conspired with Clinton and you might have an interesting historical point. However, it does nothing to reduce Trump's criminality and responsibility.
42
@Jorge This is about trump and not about hillary. Why can't you supporters stay on target?
1
First, that $130 K is what's called a "payment in kind." And it went unreported, and is far in excess of the permitted limit. Sorry about your beef with Federal law, and even sorrier that you can't seem to find any objections to either hush money or being lied to.
Second, the Clinton's campaign's dpayment OUT to Fusion GPS, like the Republican payouts before them, are perfectly legal. Especially since they were declared.
Third...before ranting about "the government,"'may wanna check and see whose government this is.
Fourth: why yes. Like Rush, other crooks alternately screech at the ACLU and then crawl brokenly, tearfully, begging for help.
2
Now comes the debate on the legal technicality of whether a sitting president can be indicted for participating in a campaign finance crime. I don't believe the majority of citizens care about the legal technicality. We now have reason to question the legitimacy of Trump's presidency. His support among the people (albeit not his "base") must be eroding in light of this news. Further erosion could come as the campaign's Russian connection is further detailed, and his possible obstruction of the investigation thereof.
The checks and balances written into our Constitution should be enough to seriously consider impeachment. Congress, representing that majority of citizens, should be acting. However, the Republicans in Congress have abandoned their prescribed role. The next few months will tell us whether our Constitution still works.
15
Oddly, I think it is best that Trump remains for the entire four years, and then be gone in the normal way.
Probably all this legal stuff will induce him to say that he doesn’t want to run for re-election.
He is just looking for the plausible lie at this point.
5
@David Martin
Agree. Better Trump than Pence, who will be more easily reelected than Trump. Trump will not lose his base, but he is likely to lose independents.
1
AKA “Murder on the Orient Express”... How many millions of thrusts will it take before we feel vindicated? But are we angry enough to effectuate a better USA?
4
I want to know everything, Mr. Cohen. We deserve to know everything. Tell it all. Truth is truth.
20
People who behave with morals and follow the law don’t surround themselves with people who are breaking laws and committing felonies (Flynn, Manafort, Cohen, Gates and likely so many others). It seems every crony this man associates with has committed egregious crimes. I don’t care how big of a Trump fan you are, no amount of delusional thinking should be able to make one believe this man hasn’t also committed crimes.
27
Let's just hope the surfacing of this prurient pecadillo isn't used as the sop to firewall off the truth about the whole rotten deal that Trump and most of the GOP have been up to their necks in from Day One.
Just so we're clear here. They likely colluded with a hostile foreign power to steal the Presidency, stole a SCOTUS seat, raided the federal budget to pay off the super rich, gave away millions of acres of public lands, worked to deny millions of Americans access to healthcare, did everything possible to re-enable unfettered destruction of the environment, alienated our allies, provided aid and comfort to white supremacists, attempted to legitimate sexual assault, laid siege to the free press, etc. etc.
I want accountability for all that.
54
The United States congress should impeach Trump. And bomb the properties of all the Russian Oligargs involved in Putin's goverment. Then we need to lock out Russia from Global trade.
"The best laid schemes of mice and men / Often go awry."
2
Trump’s business life no doubt mirrors younger, wannabe-Trump Cohen, albeit on a bigger scale. Nothing but scams and schemes.
4
I get it now. The left thinks that there is a possibility that Trump paying these woman for not talking is a campaign contribution. That because it helps his chances of winning. And Cohen is the only person that says this happened. And he says this as he is proven guilty. Cohen will have to come up with more proof then his word. He is convicted felon.
1
@Jim Jim, Jim, Jim. It ain't working.
BTW He hasn't been convicted, he pled guilty.
PS He has tapes.
4
@Jim
Jim, there also are invoices, checks, Executive 1 and Executive 2 called out in the indictment, plus David Pecker, plus other witnesses. Do you truly think federal prosecutors and judges just take one guy’s word for it?
Shaking my head
Don’t forget, Cohen’s lawyer has been recently talking to John Dean. That pretty much explains what’s coming up.
6
Trumpies may be re-thinking the decision to have Cohen pay off these 2 women. Given the evidence of the Access Hollywood tape, and how it made absolutely no impact on Trump supporters, it probably would have been better for Trump and Cohen just to let the 2 women speak out about their sexual relationships with Trump. Trump supporters could not care less about Trump's affairs, and would still have voted for him, and Trump and Cohen would not be facing changes of illegal interference in a federal election campaign. Ah, the wisdom of hindsight.
5
So it's a "rule" that a sitting president can't be indicted. We've had presidents and a constitution for 230+ years and we haven't decided what to do if a president runs rampant. How American, to procrastinate about codifying something so important, albeit rare, until terrible circumstances force a decision.
My hunch is Trump leaves office after the election and seeks asylum in Saudi Arabia, like Idi Amin.
12
This should surprise no one. What is surprising is that the director of this whole criminal enterprise is STILL the President of the United States and Congress is doing nothing about it. VOTE IN NOVEMBER.
38
I believe Cohen was instructed to say “I participated in this conduct, which on my part took place in Manhattan, for the principal purpose of influencing the election”. Trump would have only said that he wanted the women not to talk, he never would have used the term "influencing the election". That is a term used to describe Russian interference.
@Jon That is some weird hair-splitting. Where does the silly idea that Cohen was quoting Trump in the above quotation come from?
2
Mr. Trump is a clear and present danger to the country and the world. Yes. These revelation won't yet bring him down. It is now no doubt that this president has feet of clay and Cohen knows where bodies were buried. Chisel at this demagogue one blow at a time and hope that truth will set the country free. We have no choice.
16
The President can contribute in any way to finance his campaign. If it is found that the President used the money (campaign money) to pay for anyone to keep their mouth shut about personal issues that were not a crime then it was a misuse of campaign funds which to my understanding happens all the time and is a violation not a felony or misdemeanor and usually is a fine. Plus his indiscretions happened years ago and he did not want them know presently. I am not a Trump fan. But the law is the law. Anyone disagree?
1
@richard concerning the above....his contribution to his campaign.
About the law being the law? No. Your prob is that the law's the law, and your boy Cohen just copped to breaking it.
1
@richard actually Trumps money would not be considered a campaign contribution in this incident. He just used his money to influence a campaign. Not against the law.
I'm glad Cohen finally told the truth about he and Trump's involvement in "Influencing the election" with hush money payments and bribes. So it looks like our president has been implicated in two felonies, as we all know he should be.
I feel deep gratitude to all the people of valor who would not be silenced and pursued the truth in these serious matters, which by de facto would exclude all Republican members of Congress.
12
The victim here is Melania.
Making payment to people to whom you may be indebted is not a crime. It is not a crime to tell your lawyer to settle outstanding cases because you want to move on and perhaps run for president. If Cohen advanced the settlement funds and got reimbursed by Trump with his own money that is not an election crime.
The crime here is that Cohen is a tax cheat and may have given a lender false information to fraudulently obtain a loan.
Most tax cheats do not go to jail. They pay their indebtedness and that's it. When the IRS and the prosecutors want to make an example out of someone to deter others from cheating on taxes they usually do so in regard to a high-profile individual. Regular folks who cheat on taxes don't go to jail if they pay up or make arrangements to pay up.
2
@MIKEinNYC
How many 'regular' folks do you know fail to report 4.3 million dollars in income, thereby defrauding the USA of 1 million plus in tax payments?
2
@MIKEinNYC
I think I’ll take Bob Mueller’s opinion over yours re what is/is not criminal.
The continuing popularity of Trump with his base despite all kinds of criminals falling out from under his coat is a glaring reason why the electoral college system needs to go.
31
Where are the GOP congressional voices? Is there not a single one who will conduct himself or herself with integrity and honor and respect for the rule of law? They are all accomplices.
13
I think people are getting ahead of themselves. Two bad people, with ties to Trump, were found guilty, that's it. There is only a thin line between their crimes and Trump. Trump's personal behavior is despicable, but there isn't much showing that he did anything illegal. The possible campaign finance tie is about all that Trump may have done that is illegal, but that is certainly not a lock. Everything else is just background noise.
1
@Ben you act like associating with a bunch of felons is normal. How many felons do you have in your inner circle? Is this a common thing?
5
I believe that when we finally see Trump's tax returns, we will discover that he is worth a fraction of what he's always claimed, and that there are many shady and possibly illegal loans, tax dodges, chicanery, and—I'd bet—lots of foreign funds.
32
And yet no one is too surprised, since most people believed Trump was a crook to start with. Nothing is going to fix the Trump crisis except a Democratic majority in the Congress.
38
Two things here: First Michael Cohen in crime family fashion is taking the rap (and possible jail time) for his boss, Trump, in the cover-up of illicit affairs and illegal campaign contributions. The watchdog here, the FEC, a toothless organization, will do nothing to Trump or the Republicans in this. As far as they are concerned fixed elections are legal and wrong doers only receive a slap on the wrist.
2. The thrust of the investigation is Russia--Conspiracy, Collusion, Treason. And there is nothing in this to prevent further charges against Cohen at a later date for his participation in that. Worst case scenario now is still that Trump has acted as a Russian agent, and will continue to do so. As to co-conspirators, if that's what Cohen and Manafort are, they are probably aware that the Russians poison those who turn against them.
As the Russians continue to try to control the outcome of our elections, Congressmen don't realize how serious this is. Sanctions aren't working; we need a law to insure there is a paper trail to be sure ballots are counted accurately; a beefed up cybersecurity force to counter attacks from Russia and others; and it should not fall on Microsoft to tell us about this; there should be mandatory Federal reporting, to insure that government employees working in secret aren't first protecting their sources. And retaliation.
The law just passed protecting the NRA and others from disclosures about foreign contributions needs to be reversed.
27
Thank you USA for this amazing show! Love every minute of it. And its getting better by the day.
25
There is a tendency to ignore a very key part of all of these developments - Mueller is a very very smart guy. It is not wise to assume we know all the pieces of this puzzle yet. There was probably a treasure trove of Trump-info in the Cohen raid. It’s ready for use, and little of it was legal advice.
25
With Trump's longstanding, personal attorney convicted on five counts of tax evasion, it's not too hard to understand why Trump consistently refuses to release his tax returns.
55
@Jim
So, I got paid to teach kids for thirty years. Either now, or later when I might run for the White House, does that give you he right to my tax returns? Not on your life.
Besides, when you make up a fantastic crime story, it'll flow better if you just wrote the entire thing from scratch.
So, is Facebook trying out its studies of how people handle for its new partners in Beijing?
@L'osservatore the crime story here wasn't made up. The convicted confessed to the crime. It doesn't get any more real than that. Time to come out of Trump's creepy fantasy land.
Let's all hope that you made up the part about teaching school kids, who have quite enough irrationality in their lives these days.
2
Cohen is going to testify against trump when trump gets indicted in exchange for a reduced sentence. This is just the start - the initial flame of what will likely become an out of control firestorm.
19
Sadly, Trump's few remaining (domestic) supporters love him because ( not in spite of) him being a tax cheating, crotch grabbing liar. They are the nation's self styled outlaws, who worship noble mobsters and prettified television show biker gangs, because they are convinced that the Law--you know, the Constitution-- has taken away their white privilege.
39
The Fixer has accomplished the ultimate fix of Donald Trump whose reputation, power, influence and ultimately his fraudulent election, have all been (or soon to be) irreversibly neutered. The appropriate time to celebrate for patriotic, democracy-loving, rule of law obeying Americans will be when Donald Trump is led out of the White House in handcuffs and leg irons. Real witch hunts have historically not ended well for witches.
How on earth will Congressional Republicans spin today's damning developments? The Kavanaugh SCOTUS confirmation cannot possibly move forward with a probable felon sitting in the Oval Office. If Gorsuch won't voluntarily resign or if his nomination won't be rescinded, his presence as Justice will always carry the specter of illegitimacy, undermining all SCOTUS rulings while he is a member of the highest court in the nation. Do the right thing Neil Gorsuch for our democracy and the U.S. Constitution by permanently stepping down from the Supreme Court.
25
If you are a very ordinary, everyday, church-going, married woman, living in a 'red' state and who voted for Trump, because you thought that he would make things better for you and now find that YOUR husband paid off someone, using your savings, to hide his sexual escapades with tawdry women .... would you just let your husband off and then vote for Trump again ?
If you would, then what is wrong with you ?
40
Trump response: “That is not really Michael Cohen but a manufactured image created by the deep state. Fake news!”
8
WITCHES are flying everywhere!
13
Thank you, Stormy Daniels
50
She is my First Lady
4
@L Fitz -- She was actually mine. At least, that's what she told me that night.
2
From your companion article:
"Looming over negotiations between prosecutors and Mr. Cohen has been the possibility of a presidential pardon.
Mr. Cohen’s lawyer at one point raised the issue of a pardon with Mr. Trump’s several months ago, The Times reported.
By striking a deal with Mr. Cohen that includes prison time, federal authorities were aware of the risk that the president might pardon him.
But the president has given no indication that he was leaning toward one."
He'll get his pardon. Trump will claim witch-hunt and no wrongdoing by anyone, most importantly, himself.
Gotta get something that is 'sticky' enough to ensnare them all.
3
Cohen has certainly broken New York State laws too.
Trump can't pardon state charges away.
the good guys won today
32
Tomorrow, Trump will still be Mr. President.
He will still be making Supreme Court appointments.
The idea that a guy can't pay off a blackmailer is stupid.
The real tragedy for Democrats is that Stormy Daniels tried to sell her story to the liberal media and no one would bite because it would be wasted money since Hillary was going to win anyway.
The only thing Daniels had was a photo she took with Trump in a public setting where probably hundreds of other people had their picture taken with him.
Th picture was worth a lot because she is a porn actress.
And, yes, Trump would have lost if she had shown off her picture with Trump.
There is no proof Trump did anything with her except her word.
3
@True Observer: One can pay off a blackmailer... but if you do it as part of an election you have to declare the expenditure... not engage in a scheme where a third party makes the payment and then submits phony billings to disguise the payments. Is that so hard to understand?
20
@True Observer
I just don't know what to say to this, is there no low from this 'president' that you guys won't excuse? Good grief.
18
@True Observer Ms. Daniels attempted to sell her story to In Touch magazine which is owned by American Media, Inc. CEO David Pecker is a good friend of Trump's, and hardly a liberal.
We know nothing about her word, but most of us are well aware of Trump's ability to lie incessantly.
10
THAT'S IT!!
Cohen's security clearance is as good as gone!
Question:
Who in the campaign did Mikey work with? The Red Queen himself? Saddam Trump Jr.?
Who was high enough in the food chain to have handled this matter?
7
All hail Macbeth,....
A witch hunt indeed!
4
It must be hard for Trump to keep track of all his "witches."
6
If Michael Cohen was in Prague, it's game over for Trump. If Trump pardons Cohen, you know Cohen was in Prague and Trump is obstructing justice.
Pass the popcorn.
21
@Marco Philoso, and for the season finale perhaps we’ll finally get proof that Carter Page was in touch with senior transition official D. Nunes whilst Page was in Moscow in Dec 2016. Sure would explain why Nunes is so ballistic about FISA warrants. Fireworks!
6
I'm concerned Cohen's assertion he was "directed" by Trump as to the payment & other aspects of this matter may still give Trump some cover. The question is how explicit & specific was the asserted "direction." Cohen could have a deal "10 years off your sentence if you say explicitly & clearly 'Trump directed me to pay off Stormy Daniels"; then having done so, the get-out-of-jail-early voucher is issued, only for Cohen & Trump to agree later that Trump had simply/merely directed Cohen, way before these women even turned up, to do what he can to defuse any bad publicity, w/ the umderstanding expenses would be reimbursed.
The press & prosecutors should/should have eliminated any & all ambiguity as to exactly what Trump authorized & when he authorized it. I could see Cohen & both Trump claiming that though the payments were "authorized" by Trump, that when Trump authorized PR & damage control operations, he was authorizing a more general responsibility, not a specific act known by Trump at the time to be illegal.
There's something like a "smoking gun" here only if Cohen claims & can prove Trump authorized a specific illegal act, knowing it was illegal. Reporters have continually made that leap, but unfortunately I don't as yet hear anything so ironclad in Cohen's vague "Trump directed me to make the payment." Cohen could plausibly say "the payment was authorized only in the sense that I was expected/directed to proactively take necessary steps, even on my own initiative."
5
It will provoke what none of us need. These two forces need each other for each to exist. Imagine what would happen if they agreed?
Today I had the curious and not very familiar feeling of beginning to BREATHE again for the first time in almost two years. The stress of this has been so intense and I am just a nobody sitting at home, reading the news day after day, trying to wrap my head around it all. I salute my fellow citizens who are or will be serving on the pertinent juries and who have or will have to make real decisions. Thanks goes in no small part to them. I hope justice continues to be served.
56
@Amanda
Amanda, I am just a nobody "down under" in Australia who has been following every tiny detail of the Trump presidency, because of America's vital role in international security and prosperity. Waiting with baited breath until justice is served.
Let this Reality TV series play itself out to the last episode and then let justice be done. Then America must get rid of these creatures who swam to the top of the swamp and multiplied. They are infecting our politics with a virus of greed, exploitation and power, and our media is a captive to this.
The US has to fumigate it's political culture, so our office holders and parties can start representing We the People who elect them for our interests. That's called democracy.
And the media has to schedule regular daily time to discuss the myriad of crucial issues that affect all our lives----taxes, jobs, health care, climate change, infrastructure, etc. Instead of every hour a new repetition of the daily Trump crime drama.
The media has neglected many of its important functions as it continually obsesses with the Trumpocracy. Now this will intensify daily---and a Nov election is coming up.
15
Cohen would've taken a bullet for Trump before he realized Trump wouldn't catch a cold for him.
15
No more court appointments.. and previous appointments are void since crime committed before he took false oath to protect USA.
28
@P2 My thoughts exactly. I think tremendous Grass Roots pressure should be placed on Mitchel McConnell on this matter.
5
Even more.......the crimes were committed in order to make said court appointments.
Void them both.
8
Cannot the President, or his current attorney, contend that the President bought his mistresses' silence for the purpose of preserving his marriage, not for the purpose of winning the election, despite Mr. Cohen's assertions? Matters of purpose and intent are inherently subjective.
But more importantly, I don't believe that the public understands or cares about the finer points of campaign finance law. Some support the President, some oppose him. Whether his attorney filled out the appropriate form to declare a campaign contribution will alter no one's opinion.
3
@Robert M
That would be odd, as he's never cared about preserving his previous marriages.....
5
@Robert M
Saving his marriage? Well his supporters would believe it. The rest of us, not at all.
1
@Robert M
The payment to Stormy Daniels was made in October 2016, less than 30 days before the election . . . Coincidence? I think not.
I think Mr. Mueller deserves a round of applause. May more “witches” come forward.
16
@Yes and No
This wasn't Mueller. This was the SDNY USAttorneys office.
4
My question to all you Republicans sitting in Congress is who amongst you will be next? Those of you who are innocent need to start preparing to remove Trump from office. The corruption surrounding this administration and this president is staggering.
Proverbs 26:27 Whoever digs a pit will fall into it; if someone rolls a stone, it will roll back on them.
15
what I find interesting is that not a single journalist has brought up WHAT ABOUT CONGRESS? In light of the Cohen confession that "donny did it" shouldn't the congress be springing into action? have they no comment that is required by their oath of office? Where is the CHECK and BALANCE or is that just at the bank stockpiled by the NRA.?
13
@dve commenter
You are referring to the pathetic, treasonous, greedy Republicans....Nunes, Goodlatte, Graham, Gowdy, Jordan, Ryan, McCarthy, ...pretty much all of them, all having disposed their conscience a ling, long time ago?
I hope they are going down in flames.
6
Redemption is possible.
Cohan still can help America heal from hate and evil.
6
Trump may deny under oath that the payments were made to influence the election. He will say, and his followers will believe, that they were made so as not to embarrass Melania.
3
@Alan J. Shaw
Why didn't that excuse cover Bill Clinton: lying so as not to embarrass Hillary?
2
Given the major events today, the silence from the GOP so far is deafening.
We desperately need a (peaceful, democratic) revolution in this country. And that needs to and can (!) happen this November. I’m sure the community here knows of this already, but just in case, please go to:
https://votesaveamerica.com/
It’s been clear for some time now that the GOP no longer serve the interests of the American people. Let’s vote them out this November!
32
"Mr. Cohen had been the president’s longtime fixer, handling some of his most sensitive personal matters over a decade at the Trump Organization."
"He once said he would take a bullet for Mr. Trump."
That day has come.
1
God bless America, and thank you to the American heroes in the Department of Justice.
25
" ... Trump escalated his attacks this week, calling Mueller 'disgraced and discredited' in a series of posts on Twitter ... " (USA today, 21Aug2018) Up to now, it was Mr. Trump's press secretaries who sounded like "Comical Ali", who " ... came to world wide prominence around the 2003 invasion of Iraq, during which he was the Iraqi Information Minister under Iraqi President Saddam Hussein ... His pronouncements included ... denial that there were any American tanks in Baghdad, when in fact they were only several hundred meters away from the press conference where he was speaking and the combat sounds of the nearing American troops could already be heard in the background of the broadcast." Now it is Mr. Trump himself who sounds like Comical Ali, and must be hearing the "combat sounds" in the background.
6
The skies are full of cackling, shadowy figures with pointed hats, flying about on broomsticks. All the newts are eyeless and boiling cauldrons are popping up everywhere. Most Princes have been turned into frogs and the beauties have fallen into deep sleep. Teutonic children are disappearing into gingerbread houses. Won't someone begin a hunt to see what is going on?
9
As the late Dandy Don Meredith would have crooned, "Turn out the lights, the party's over..."
13
This is the beginning of the end. Look at the history of Watergate. Up until the very last minute, Nixon had the support of the Republican Party. Hang in there folks and get the popcorn ready for hearings when the Democrats take back the House and possibly the Senate. Once Mueller hands down his report, the evidence of high crimes and misdemeanors will be so overwhelming even the cowardly Republicans will be have to get on the board. Just be sure to VOTE IN NOVEMBER!
26
@Rachel Bird
It may be the beginning of the end, but the Republicans will never get on board. This is an existential fight and they would rather go down in flames.
11
@Rachel Bird
Unfortunately, the republicans can take Mueller's report and decide to do nothing.
Unfortunately, "there is something rotten in the state of Denmark." The republic is rotting from the president down. If these were normal political circumstances, the revelation that the personal attorney and former campaign manager for president Trump had been convicted / pleaded guilty to 16 counts of tax fraud, bank fraud, and interfering with an election by paying women to remain silent would have been enough to impeach the president. However, they may not be enough to wake the republicc because the president and his grotesque minions have persuaded millions of voters that there is a conspiracy working to destroy the nation and betray the truth seen only by Donald Trump. I fear we are sinking into the Orwellian darkness faster than we can launch the life boats...
15
Today's story about Cohen and Manafort will be old news by this time tomorrow. Trump will once again throw out something outrageous that all news Media will chase after trying to out-scoop each other. We must never forget that the Media gave Trump over a billion dollars of free campaign dollars which got him elected. Trump never spent a dime of his own money.
7
Cohen will be speaking to Mueller ASAP. That should be the capstone. Trump is already having trouble Tweeting from under the bus where he is now firmly wedged.
12