Сделаем Америку снова великой! Trump - Russia megathread

[SeattleGriz]

Michael Caputo, after being interviewed by Mueller's team today:

It’s clear they are still really focused on Russia collusion. They know more about the Trump campaign than anyone who ever worked there. The Senate and the House are net fishing. The special counsel is spearfishing. They know what they are aiming at and are deadly accurate.

4D Chess. You don't give out any board material.

[Ibanez]

President Donald Trump said Thursday reimbursement to his personal lawyer for hush money paid to porn actress Stormy Daniels was done through a monthly retainer and "had nothing to do with the campaign."

On Twitter, Trump says his personal attorney Michael Cohen received a monthly retainer "from which he entered into, through reimbursement, a private contract between two parties, known as a non-disclosure agreement, or NDA." He added that the agreement "was used to stop the false and extortionist accusations made by her about an affair."

Trump's tweets outlining the arrangement came after Rudy Giuliani, one of his attorneys, said Wednesday that Trump reimbursed Cohen for $130,000 in hush money to Daniels days before the 2016 presidential, appearing to contradict the president's past claims that he didn't know the source of the money.

During an appearance on Fox News Channel's "Hannity," Giuliani said the money to repay Michael Cohen had been "funneled ... through the law firm and the president repaid it."

Asked if Trump knew about the arrangement, Giuliani said: "He didn't know about the specifics of it, as far as I know. But he did know about the general arrangement, that Michael would take care of things like this, like I take care of things like this for my clients. I don't burden them with every single thing that comes along. These are busy people."

The comments appeared to contradict statements made by Trump several weeks ago, when he said he didn't know about the payment to porn actress Stormy Daniels as part of a nondisclosure agreement she signed days before the presidential election. Giuliani later suggested to The Wall Street Journal that while Trump had repaid the $130,000, Cohen had settled the payment to Daniels without Trump's knowledge at the time.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/ ... 3-00-24-27

[∞∞∞]

President Donald Trump said Thursday reimbursement to his personal lawyer for hush money paid to porn actress Stormy Daniels was done through a monthly retainer and "had nothing to do with the campaign."

On Twitter, Trump says his personal attorney Michael Cohen received a monthly retainer "from which he entered into, through reimbursement, a private contract between two parties, known as a non-disclosure agreement, or NDA." He added that the agreement "was used to stop the false and extortionist accusations made by her about an affair."

Trump's tweets outlining the arrangement came after Rudy Giuliani, one of his attorneys, said Wednesday that Trump reimbursed Cohen for $130,000 in hush money to Daniels days before the 2016 presidential, appearing to contradict the president's past claims that he didn't know the source of the money.

During an appearance on Fox News Channel's "Hannity," Giuliani said the money to repay Michael Cohen had been "funneled ... through the law firm and the president repaid it."

Asked if Trump knew about the arrangement, Giuliani said: "He didn't know about the specifics of it, as far as I know. But he did know about the general arrangement, that Michael would take care of things like this, like I take care of things like this for my clients. I don't burden them with every single thing that comes along. These are busy people."

The comments appeared to contradict statements made by Trump several weeks ago, when he said he didn't know about the payment to porn actress Stormy Daniels as part of a nondisclosure agreement she signed days before the presidential election. Giuliani later suggested to The Wall Street Journal that while Trump had repaid the $130,000, Cohen had settled the payment to Daniels without Trump's knowledge at the time.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/ ... 3-00-24-27

The stupidity and circus-atmosphere of this Presidency is a historian's wet dream.

[93henfan]

^
Truth. The Clintons were much better at hiding their shenanigans and creating plausible deniability or simply lying under oath. Trump is the proverbial kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar. The fact he continues to beat the wrap is pretty comical.

[kalm]

^
Truth. The Clintons were much better at hiding their shenanigans and creating plausible deniability. Trump is the proverbial kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar. The fact he continues to beat the wrap is pretty comical.

Agreed. He's giving Slicky Willy a run for his money.

[kalm]

President Donald Trump said Thursday reimbursement to his personal lawyer for hush money paid to porn actress Stormy Daniels was done through a monthly retainer and "had nothing to do with the campaign."

On Twitter, Trump says his personal attorney Michael Cohen received a monthly retainer "from which he entered into, through reimbursement, a private contract between two parties, known as a non-disclosure agreement, or NDA." He added that the agreement "was used to stop the false and extortionist accusations made by her about an affair."

Trump's tweets outlining the arrangement came after Rudy Giuliani, one of his attorneys, said Wednesday that Trump reimbursed Cohen for $130,000 in hush money to Daniels days before the 2016 presidential, appearing to contradict the president's past claims that he didn't know the source of the money.

During an appearance on Fox News Channel's "Hannity," Giuliani said the money to repay Michael Cohen had been "funneled ... through the law firm and the president repaid it."

Asked if Trump knew about the arrangement, Giuliani said: "He didn't know about the specifics of it, as far as I know. But he did know about the general arrangement, that Michael would take care of things like this, like I take care of things like this for my clients. I don't burden them with every single thing that comes along. These are busy people."

The comments appeared to contradict statements made by Trump several weeks ago, when he said he didn't know about the payment to porn actress Stormy Daniels as part of a nondisclosure agreement she signed days before the presidential election. Giuliani later suggested to The Wall Street Journal that while Trump had repaid the $130,000, Cohen had settled the payment to Daniels without Trump's knowledge at the time.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/ ... 3-00-24-27

I'm just a caveman but I'm guessing paying additional funds into a monthly retainer so that your attorney has some cash flow to pay for these things or to have the lawyer cover the costs and get reimbursed isn't a slam dunk crime. The timing is suspicious and perhaps the campaign finance suspicions are legit, but again...I'm just a caveman.

It's also plausible that Trump may not have known. He gets accused and/or sued like 8 times per day, $130 grand is like $130 bucks to him, and when you're that important you pay other people so you don't have to sweat the small things (or in the case of Stormy...the two yuge, ginormous things).

[Ibanez]

^
Truth. The Clintons were much better at hiding their shenanigans and creating plausible deniability. Trump is the proverbial kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar. The fact he continues to beat the wrap is pretty comical.

Agreed. He's giving Slicky Willy a run for his money.

maybe that's why he hired Clinton's impeachment lawyer.

[Ibanez]

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/ ... 3-00-24-27

I'm just a caveman but I'm guessing paying additional funds into a monthly retainer so that your attorney has some cash flow to pay for these things or to have the lawyer cover the costs and get reimbursed isn't a slam dunk crime. The timing is suspicious and perhaps the campaign finance suspicions are legit, but again...I'm just a caveman.

It's also plausible that Trump may not have known. He gets accused and/or sued like 8 times per day, $130 grand is like $130 bucks to him, and when you're that important you pay other people so you don't have to sweat the small things (or in the case of Stormy...the two yuge, ginormous things).

[Skjellyfetti]

Special counsel Robert Mueller focusing sharply on links between Trump confidant Roger Stone and former campaign official Rick Gates, sources say

Special counsel Robert Mueller is focusing intensely on alleged interactions between former top Trump campaign official Rick Gates and political operative Roger Stone, one of President Donald Trump's closest confidants, according to sources with direct knowledge of the matter.

Stone, a longtime advisor to Trump, is apparently one of the top subjects of the Mueller investigation into potential collusion between the Kremlin and the Trump campaign, sources told CNBC on condition of anonymity.

The questions have been largely about what was discussed at meetings, including dinners, between Stone and Gates, before and during the campaign, said the sources, who have knowledge of the substance of the recent interviews.

In February, Gates pleaded guilty to two counts stemming from the Russia investigation, and he is cooperating with Mueller's probe.

The new developments indicate that Mueller's team is interested in Stone beyond his interactions with Wikileaks founder Julian Assange during the campaign.

https://www.cnbc.com/amp/2018/05/03/mue ... gates.html

[CID1990]

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/ ... 3-00-24-27

I'm just a caveman but I'm guessing paying additional funds into a monthly retainer so that your attorney has some cash flow to pay for these things or to have the lawyer cover the costs and get reimbursed isn't a slam dunk crime. The timing is suspicious and perhaps the campaign finance suspicions are legit, but again...I'm just a caveman.

It's also plausible that Trump may not have known. He gets accused and/or sued like 8 times per day, $130 grand is like $130 bucks to him, and when you're that important you pay other people so you don't have to sweat the small things (or in the case of Stormy...the two yuge, ginormous things).

Under normal circumstances I'd agree with you

And I'm about to burn a golden opportunity to troll the hell out of Trump by getting him to claim that there's NO WAY Trump couldn't have known ..... while its totally plausible Hillary didn't

But I don't think there's any way Trump couldn't have known. Somewhere along the line there's a "I dont care how you take care of it, just take care of it" order there - and that isn't exonerating


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[93henfan]

But I don't think there's any way Trump couldn't have known. Somewhere along the line there's a "I dont care how you take care of it, just take care of it" order there - and that isn't exonerating

But they have to prove it.

[Skjellyfetti]

Probably what Manafort was telling himself before Gates got rolled.


Mueller's team is adept at getting cooperation.

Speaking of which - he requested 70 blank subpoenas today.


Maybe he meant to place an order for 70 nothingburgers instead

[93henfan]

A federal judge on Friday sharply criticized Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s criminal case in Virginia against President Trump’s former campaign manager, Paul Manafort, and openly questioned whether Mueller exceeded his prosecutorial powers by bringing it.

“I don’t see what relationship this indictment has with anything the special counsel is authorized to investigate,” U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis III in the Eastern District of Virginia said.

At a tense hearing at the federal courthouse in Alexandria, Virginia, the judge said Mueller should not have “unfettered power” in his Russia probe and that the charges against Manafort did not arise from the investigation into Moscow’s alleged meddling in the 2016 U.S. election.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa- ... SKBN1I51WE

[JohnStOnge]

A federal judge on Friday sharply criticized Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s criminal case in Virginia against President Trump’s former campaign manager, Paul Manafort, and openly questioned whether Mueller exceeded his prosecutorial powers by bringing it.

“I don’t see what relationship this indictment has with anything the special counsel is authorized to investigate,” U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis III in the Eastern District of Virginia said.

At a tense hearing at the federal courthouse in Alexandria, Virginia, the judge said Mueller should not have “unfettered power” in his Russia probe and that the charges against Manafort did not arise from the investigation into Moscow’s alleged meddling in the 2016 U.S. election.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa- ... SKBN1I51WE

Yes I've seen the reports and discussion on that and I think Mueller will prevail in the end even if it's not with this particular judge. Even if that's not the case, I think that if Mueller doesn't go after him other Federal prosecutors will go after him. My understanding is that there's sufficient evidence of criminal activity to do that. They're not going to just leave him alone because a judge says Mueller can't go after him.

And then, if there's a desire by the Justice Department to pressure him to "sing," they'll still be able to do that.

I think in the final analysis it's going to end up being a situation in which it is determined that what Mueller is doing with Manafort is indeed within Mueller's mandate whether this particular judge ends up concluding that or not. Rosenstein gave him the mandate and as far as I can tell he thinks everything Mueller is doing is within it. It's kind of hard to argue that Mueller is outside of his mandate when the guy that gave him the mandate says he's not.

[Skjellyfetti]

Yeah, it doesn't really mean that much unless the judge ends up ruling against Mueller and for Manafort.

Sounds like he wants an unredacted version of Rosenstein's memo.

I doubt he does - but, if he does end up ruling against Muller & Co. it would be significant - but, this is the EDVA - the bulk of the charges against Manafort are still in DC.

[SeattleGriz]

Probably what Manafort was telling himself before Gates got rolled.


Mueller's team is adept at getting cooperation.

Speaking of which - he requested 70 blank subpoenas today.


Maybe he meant to place an order for 70 nothingburgers instead

You know I'm total foil hat on this, but those are for all the Dems that tried to influence an election.

[∞∞∞]

Giuliani on a tear recently...now calling his own statements as rumor:

Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani on Sunday called his own public statements “rumors” and contradicted them several times when pressed about a hush money payment made on Trump’s behalf to an adult film star.

Giuliani also said Trump’s longtime fixer Michael Cohen, himself the subject of a months-long criminal investigation, could have made other such hush money payments...

...“So the President did know about this after the campaign?” Stephanopoulos asked, pressing the Giuliani on Trump’s astonishing claim last month that he didn’t know the source of the payment to Daniels, months after the story broke.

“Can’t say that,” Giuliani said. “At some point, yes, but it could have been recently, it could have been awhile back. Those are the facts that we’re still working on and that, you know, may be in a little bit of dispute. This is more rumor than anything else.”

“But that’s what you said,” Stephanopoulos interjected. “You said that to Buzzfeed.”

“Well yeah,” Giuliani said. “That’s one of the possibilities, and one of the rumors.”

“You stated it as fact,” Stephanopoulos said.

This is the man speaking to Special Counsel on POTUS' behalf:

“Well, maybe I did,” Giuliani admitted. “But right now, I’m at the point where I’m learning. And I can’t prove that. I can just say it’s rumored. I can prove it’s rumor. But I can’t prove it’s fact. Maybe we will.”

[kalm]

Giuliani on a tear recently...now calling his own statements as rumor:

Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani on Sunday called his own public statements “rumors” and contradicted them several times when pressed about a hush money payment made on Trump’s behalf to an adult film star.

Giuliani also said Trump’s longtime fixer Michael Cohen, himself the subject of a months-long criminal investigation, could have made other such hush money payments...

...“So the President did know about this after the campaign?” Stephanopoulos asked, pressing the Giuliani on Trump’s astonishing claim last month that he didn’t know the source of the payment to Daniels, months after the story broke.

“Can’t say that,” Giuliani said. “At some point, yes, but it could have been recently, it could have been awhile back. Those are the facts that we’re still working on and that, you know, may be in a little bit of dispute. This is more rumor than anything else.”

“But that’s what you said,” Stephanopoulos interjected. “You said that to Buzzfeed.”

“Well yeah,” Giuliani said. “That’s one of the possibilities, and one of the rumors.”

“You stated it as fact,” Stephanopoulos said.

This is the man speaking to Special Counsel on POTUS' behalf:

“Well, maybe I did,” Giuliani admitted. “But right now, I’m at the point where I’m learning. And I can’t prove that. I can just say it’s rumored. I can prove it’s rumor. But I can’t prove it’s fact. Maybe we will.”

Rudy has lost a step and it’s been apparent for a few years now.

[93henfan]

Giuliani on a tear recently...now calling his own statements as rumor:


This is the man speaking to Special Counsel on POTUS' behalf:

Rudy has lost a step and it’s been apparent for a few years now.

There was a lot of asbestos and other particulate matter floating around Ground Zero.

Why do you hate America?

[93henfan]

How do you say “pettifoggery” in Russian?

In a blunt response Saturday morning, Concord’s attorneys accused Mueller's team of ignoring the court’s rules and suggesting a special procedure for the Russian firm without any supporting legal authority.

“Defendant voluntarily appeared through counsel as provided for in [federal rules], and further intends to enter a plea of not guilty. Defendant has not sought a limited appearance nor has it moved to quash the summons. As such, the briefing sought by the Special Counsel’s motion is pettifoggery,” Dubelier and Seikaly wrote.

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/05/ ... lay-570627

[kalm]

Rudy has lost a step and it’s been apparent for a few years now.

There was a lot of asbestos and other particulate matter floating around Ground Zero.

Why do you hate America?

Speaking of which...I had a great political discussion with my neighbor at the lake on Saturday. He's a Vietnam vet (army), and quite the military historian. He's a very solid and generous dude and we trade golf lessons for boat rides on his pontoon. He argues the unequivocal freedom/US is the greatest country on earth angle as well as anyone I've talked to. He brought up Vietnamese re-education camps in the North as evidence of where those on the left might take us.

But he also understands the relationship between freedom and classical liberalism which is becoming a lost philosophy amidst the pejorative use of the term "liberal" by the right and the SJW movement.

Guys like you, CID, Graddy, and Ibanez would dig this dude immensely.

I have another friend in Montana who was a marine in Vietnam involved in heavy combat. Saw one of his best friends cut in half. He's the total opposite politically from my neighbor when it comes to US politics.

I'm glad there's still room for both mindsets and appreciate the opportunity to have these type of meaningful conversations.



Now...fuck off!

[∞∞∞]

[Skjellyfetti]

Mueller's team questions Russian oligarch about payments to Cohen

Special counsel Robert Mueller's investigators have questioned a Russian oligarch about hundreds of thousands of dollars in payments his company's US affiliate made to President Donald Trump's personal attorney, Michael Cohen, after the election, according to a source familiar with the matter.

Viktor Vekselberg, chairman of asset manager Renova Group, is an oligarch close to Vladimir Putin, and last month the Trump administration placed him on a list of sanctioned Russians for activities including election interference. The purpose of the payments, which predate the sanctions, and the nature of the business relationship between Vekselberg and Cohen is unclear.
The scrutiny of the payments could add to the legal troubles for Cohen, whose home and office were raided last month as part of a criminal investigation by federal prosecutors in Manhattan. In court documents, the prosecutors said at least part of their inquiry stemmed from a referral from Mueller's office.

The questions asked of Vekselberg suggest that Mueller investigators have been examining some of Cohen's business relationships as part of the investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election.

Vekselberg is one of two Russian oligarchs the FBI stopped earlier this year after their private jets landed in New York-area airports as part of Mueller's investigation.

Investigators also asked Vekselberg about donations the head of his US affiliate made to Trump's inaugural fund and campaign funds, sources said.

https://www.cnn.com/2018/05/08/politics ... index.html

[SDHornet]

Money is speech no?

Still waiting on that Russian collusion.

[Skjellyfetti]

Lol. You're a litttle confused if you think money is speech and always protected by the first amendment.

And your Deep State conspiracy? How's that going?