Posted on 12/12/2018 11:02:51 PM PST by NoLibZone
Trump-haters hoping the president’s former personal attorney, Michael Cohen, will provide the evidence needed to impeach the president and perhaps even “lock him up” are likely headed for a bitter disappointment. The Cohen guilty pleas are likely irrelevant to the fate of President Trump.
That’s because in my judgment – as someone who served for two years as a member of the Federal Election Commission – the campaign finance law violations Cohen pleaded guilty to committing, allegedly at Donald Trump’s direction, aren’t really violations.
If I’m right – that is, if Cohen didn’t really violate campaign finance law, despite his ill-advised guilty plea – then it would be impossible for Trump to have violated campaign finance law by directing Cohen to take a perfectly legal action.
Confused? That’s understandable, because the media lump all the charges Cohen pleaded guilty to together when explaining this complex case. But in reality, Cohen was sentenced Wednesday in U.S. District Court in New York City on several separate and unrelated charges.
Cohen was sentenced to three years in prison by a federal judge and was also ordered to pay almost $2 million in fines, restitution and forfeitures after earlier pleading guilty to multiple counts of business and tax fraud. Those crimes have absolutely nothing to do with Trump, but rather involve Cohen’s own business dealings.
In addition, Cohen was sentenced on his guilty pleas to violating campaign finance law on Trump’s behalf – an action that, as I will explain, I believe was not really a crime at all.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
Outrageous
But in reality, Cohen was sentenced Wednesday in U.S. District Court in New York City on several separate and unrelated charges.
Cohen was sentenced to three years in prison by a federal judge and was also ordered to pay almost $2 million in fines, restitution and forfeitures after earlier pleading guilty to multiple counts of business and tax fraud.
Just because you cop to a made up law doesn’t make it a law nor you guilty.
Weasel Mueller needs to have his leash choked up.
It does not matter, it’s just being used by the DNC and their media outlets to hit on Trump.
These crooks don't play by our rules.
Cohen got jobbed.
no he didnt....this was probably his idea....he’s pissed at Trump, and wanted to get even. He knew he was toast from his unrelated crimes...and pleaded to the phony campaign violation...this has given the dems and the media something to bite into. Cohen was never more than a flunkie...wasnt ever part of the campaign..didnt get a White House job...was NEVER Trumps personal attorney....they are trying every which way to get republicans to abandon Trump..thats all this is....
On tax fraud...he didn’t have much to stand on. Personally, I think his big issue was that he was creating himself as the ‘gate-keeper’ to the Trump administration, and he’d eventually function like the Clinton Foundation....where you’d pay something to get access to the gate itself.
Various characters have done this over the past thirty years and never gotten into serious trouble. But I think most just marginally screwed up on taxes. In Cohen’s case...he was planning this out and depending on no investigations occurring.
He should have had his license pulled Immediately!
Even Rush calls him, Trump’s FIXER!! Like Trump is DIRTY and CORRUPT!! Disgusting.
Based upon the recent conviction, Cohen will probably be disbarred.
Fox News Radio was gleefully adding that Cohen “paid off” several women on Trump’s behalf during their report of all this - suggesting that this, too, is a crime.
Two Questions come to mind on this “pa(y) off” scenario:
1. Do women really want it to become a crime to pay them off for keeping illicit sexual relations a secret?
2. Doesn’t this extortion of Trump by these women prove his statements in the infamous “Access Hollywood” tape to be true to some degree? If you’re rich and famous, they’ll let you....because they will get paid later either through gifts or direct extortion.
The smoking gun that proves it was not a campaign finance law violation is that the prosecutors had a “non-prosecutorial” agreement with AMI, the corporation that paid the $150,000 to the second woman. Now, why would the prosecutor choose not to charge AMI with the same “crime” that Cohen copped to? Because it was NOT a violation. They lumped all the phony charges in with the tax evasion, which was the REAL crime that Cohen is being punished for with jail time and fines. It’s all a scam with a political motive to embarass the President by implying Cohen is guilty because of the payout to women.
“The smoking gun that proves it was not a campaign finance law violation is that the prosecutors had a “non-prosecutorial” agreement with AMI”
Sounds interesting but I don’t fully understand. Could you give a little more detail?
He was the attorney that did all the scrub work for DJT, ie...dealing w/ a porn star, because his real attorney’s were above it and had more important things to do. And I can guarantee he strutted around NYC telling anyone and everyone that he was, The Donald’s personal lawyer. He thinks he’s something he’s not and now he’s paying a price for that arrogance. Oh well.
After accepting a deal by pleading guilty to a crime of which he’s not guilty, could his lawyers turn around and appeal his conviction?
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