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5 tax, 1 bank fraud, and 2 campaign payment things

When he goes to prison, his room and board will be free. --Bob

Deputy US Attorney Robert Khuzani wrote:He worked to pay money to silence two women that had information that he believed would be detrimental to the 2016 campaign. In addition, Mr. Cohen sought reimbursement for that money by submitting invoices to the candidate's company which were untrue.

Jake Tapper wrote:Former Trump fixer Michael Cohen pleads guilty to 5 counts of evasion of assessment of income tax liability; 1 count false statements to a bank; 1 count causing an unlawful corporate contribution; 1 count excessive campaign contribution

Cohen testified that he broke the law to conceal information from the public "in coordination and at the direction of a candidate for federal office" whom it would have hurt.

Second time in 20 years that a president has been investigated for all sorts of possible crimes, but what got him was he couldn't keep his pants zipped.

In both cases, they were known to be lotharios and were still elected. At one time, that sort of behavior was disqualifying. Now it's accepted, and I wonder, does it perversely enhance the candidate's image for some voters?

And the hits keep coming.

Congressman Duncan Hunter and his wife have just been indicted on campaign finance violations.

https://www.cnn.com/2018/08/21/politics ... l?adkey=bn

silverscreenselect wrote:And the hits keep coming.

Congressman Duncan Hunter and his wife have just been indicted on campaign finance violations.

https://www.cnn.com/2018/08/21/politics ... l?adkey=bn

His partner in crime is his own wife. That's a refreshing change.

Cohen's guilty plea will probably end the stay of the Stormy Daniels litigation, and permit Avenatti to depose Donny to find out what he knew about the payoffs and when he knew it. --Bob

jarnon wrote:

silverscreenselect wrote:And the hits keep coming.

Congressman Duncan Hunter and his wife have just been indicted on campaign finance violations.

https://www.cnn.com/2018/08/21/politics ... l?adkey=bn

His partner in crime is his own wife. That's a refreshing change.

Nate Silver currently lists Hunter's District as Likely Republican with him having an 8/9 chance of winning at a projected vote of 55.4-45.6% I'm pretty sure this news hasn't been factored in yet.

silverscreenselect wrote:

jarnon wrote:

silverscreenselect wrote:And the hits keep coming.

Congressman Duncan Hunter and his wife have just been indicted on campaign finance violations.

https://www.cnn.com/2018/08/21/politics ... l?adkey=bn

His partner in crime is his own wife. That's a refreshing change.

Nate Silver currently lists Hunter's District as Likely Republican with him having an 8/9 chance of winning at a projected vote of 55.4-45.6% I'm pretty sure this news hasn't been factored in yet.

I'm certain of it. There's a large penalty for scandals (14 points, as I recall), and a federal indictment of this nature fits comfortably within Nate's deposition. That district is now in play. --Bob

I just read that Duncan Hunter and Chris Collins were the first two Republican Congressmen to endorse Trump for President.

I'm seeing a pattern here.

My
Attorney
Got
Arrested

silverscreenselect wrote:I just read that Duncan Hunter and Chris Collins were the first two Republican Congressmen to endorse Trump for President.

I'm seeing a pattern here.

Next Congressmen to endorrse trump, from a list in Wikipedia:
Sen. Jeff Sessions (Ala.)
Scott DesJarlais (Tenn.)
Tom Marino (Penn.)

DesJarlais and Marino are running in solid GOP districts. Neither are accused of any crimes.

Serious questions:

Cohen says he is guilty of making payments (hush money) to women in an "attempt to affect the outcome of an election".

Is that a crime? If so, why? What are advertisements and political ads, but the product of payments to affect the outcome of an election.

Whatabout: How about payments made during the campaign to Trump accusers by Lisa Bloom? How are those different.

BackInTex wrote:Serious questions:

Cohen says he is guilty of making payments (hush money) to women in an "attempt to affect the outcome of an election".

Is that a crime? If so, why? What are advertisements and political ads, but the product of payments to affect the outcome of an election.

Whatabout: How about payments made during the campaign to Trump accusers by Lisa Bloom? How are those different.

It's an illegal campaign contribution (because he used a corporation and because he didn't use Donny's money), and if he was telling the truth when he testified under oath that he did it at Donny's direction (excuse me, in coordination with and at the direction of a candidate for federal office) for the principal purpose of preventing harm to his political prospects, then Donny is guilty of the criminal offense of conspiracy to violate campaign laws.

Payments made to victims to pay their living expenses so they can pursue their claims aren't campaign contributions. But Lisa Bloom didn't make any such payments. --Bob

Bob78164 wrote:

BackInTex wrote:Serious questions:

Cohen says he is guilty of making payments (hush money) to women in an "attempt to affect the outcome of an election".

Is that a crime? If so, why? What are advertisements and political ads, but the product of payments to affect the outcome of an election.

Whatabout: How about payments made during the campaign to Trump accusers by Lisa Bloom? How are those different.

It's an illegal campaign contribution (because he used a corporation and because he didn't use Donny's money), and if he was telling the truth when he testified under oath that he did it at Donny's direction (excuse me, in coordination with and at the direction of a candidate for federal office) for the principal purpose of preventing harm to his political prospects, then Donny is guilty of the criminal offense of conspiracy to violate campaign laws.

Payments made to victims to pay their living expenses so they can pursue their claims aren't campaign contributions. But Lisa Bloom didn't make any such payments. --Bob

What if the principal purpose is to keep his family in the dark. It's pretty obvious to me that Trump wasn't trying to look like an angel to win the election. He could couldn't have cared less if the voters knew. Remember, he said "I could shoot someone and they'd still vote for me."

And someone who says they believe Lisa Bloom's payments were to help the victims (as opposed to hurting Trump) are either liars or fools. She could have helped the victims without press conferences.

BackInTex wrote:What if the principal purpose is to keep his family in the dark. It's pretty obvious to me that Trump wasn't trying to look like an angel to win the election. He couldn't have cared less if the voters knew. Remember, he said "I could shoot someone and they'd still vote for me."

Well, Cohen said the payments were politically motivated. But who'd believe a liar like him? Maybe he should have taped his conversations with Trump.

Cohen also confessed that he was paid fraudulent legal fees by Trump Inc. as reimbursement for his under-the-table expenses. And Giuliani already admitted as much. (Trump hasn't had good luck with lawyers.) Disguising a personal expense as a business expense is illegal no matter who does it.

In case Trump has pardons ready, most of Cohen's crimes, and some of what Trump is accused of, also violate New York law.

BackInTex wrote:

Bob78164 wrote:

BackInTex wrote:Serious questions:

Cohen says he is guilty of making payments (hush money) to women in an "attempt to affect the outcome of an election".

Is that a crime? If so, why? What are advertisements and political ads, but the product of payments to affect the outcome of an election.

Whatabout: How about payments made during the campaign to Trump accusers by Lisa Bloom? How are those different.

It's an illegal campaign contribution (because he used a corporation and because he didn't use Donny's money), and if he was telling the truth when he testified under oath that he did it at Donny's direction (excuse me, in coordination with and at the direction of a candidate for federal office) for the principal purpose of preventing harm to his political prospects, then Donny is guilty of the criminal offense of conspiracy to violate campaign laws.

Payments made to victims to pay their living expenses so they can pursue their claims aren't campaign contributions. But Lisa Bloom didn't make any such payments. --Bob

What if the principal purpose is to keep his family in the dark. It's pretty obvious to me that Trump wasn't trying to look like an angel to win the election. He could couldn't have cared less if the voters knew. Remember, he said "I could shoot someone and they'd still vote for me."

And someone who says they believe Lisa Bloom's payments were to help the victims (as opposed to hurting Trump) are either liars or fools. She could have helped the victims without press conferences.

But that’s allowed too. Hell, I can spend as much money as I care to advertising for or against specific candidates. As long as I don’t coordinate with the candidate or his campaign.

And if you think Donny was trying to hide this stuff from Melania, then you must think she’s a real idiot. —Bob

Bob78164 wrote: And if you think Donny was trying to hide this stuff from Melania, then you must think she’s a real idiot. —Bob

Did I say Melania?

Donny's company, in response to sham invoices citing "election expenses," approved payments of $420,000 to reimburse Cohen for the hush money payments. If Donny knew about that (and I can't imagine he didn't), it's a crime. --Bob

From Twitter:

Donald J. Trump
‏Verified account @realDonaldTrump

If anyone is looking for a good lawyer, I would strongly suggest that you don’t retain the services of Michael Cohen!

Vandal wrote:From Twitter:

Donald J. Trump
‏Verified account @realDonaldTrump

If anyone is looking for a good lawyer, I would strongly suggest that you don’t retain the services of Michael Cohen!

For once, Trump knows whereof he speaks. Cohen worked for him for over ten years, so I'm sure Trump got to be a good judge of Cohen's character and performance during that time.

Bob78164 wrote:

silverscreenselect wrote:

jarnon wrote:His partner in crime is his own wife. That's a refreshing change.

Nate Silver currently lists Hunter's District as Likely Republican with him having an 8/9 chance of winning at a projected vote of 55.4-45.6% I'm pretty sure this news hasn't been factored in yet.

I'm certain of it. There's a large penalty for scandals (14 points, as I recall), and a federal indictment of this nature fits comfortably within Nate's deposition. That district is now in play. --Bob

Cook's political forecast has already moved this race from Solid Republican to Lean Republican.

silverscreenselect wrote:

Vandal wrote:From Twitter:

Donald J. Trump
‏Verified account @realDonaldTrump

If anyone is looking for a good lawyer, I would strongly suggest that you don’t retain the services of Michael Cohen!

For once, Trump knows whereof he speaks. Cohen worked for him for over ten years, so I'm sure Trump got to be a good judge of Cohen's character and performance during that time.

But he hires only the best people.

silverscreenselect wrote:

Bob78164 wrote:

silverscreenselect wrote:
Nate Silver currently lists Hunter's District as Likely Republican with him having an 8/9 chance of winning at a projected vote of 55.4-45.6% I'm pretty sure this news hasn't been factored in yet.

I'm certain of it. There's a large penalty for scandals (14 points, as I recall), and a federal indictment of this nature fits comfortably within Nate's deposition. That district is now in play. --Bob

Cook's political forecast has already moved this race from Solid Republican to Lean Republican.

MPM

silverscreenselect wrote:

Bob78164 wrote:

silverscreenselect wrote:
Nate Silver currently lists Hunter's District as Likely Republican with him having an 8/9 chance of winning at a projected vote of 55.4-45.6% I'm pretty sure this news hasn't been factored in yet.

I'm certain of it. There's a large penalty for scandals (14 points, as I recall), and a federal indictment of this nature fits comfortably within Nate's deposition. That district is now in play. --Bob

Cook's political forecast has already moved this race from Solid Republican to Lean Republican.

I checked a couple of hours ago. I don't think Nate's model reflects the scandal yet. He already had it as Lean Republican, almost on the verge of Solid Republican. --Bob