Posted on 04/14/2018 10:51:38 AM PDT by Meet the New Boss
President Trump now has real legal peril. The potential jeopardy stems from the investigation that came to light this week when the FBI conducted raids on the office and residences of his lawyer and self-professed “fixer,” Michael Cohen.
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The matter now under investigation by the FBI and federal prosecutors in the Southern District of New York (SDNY), however, is a very live criminal investigation. Anyone potentially connected to it should be worried.
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...we are still not fully informed. Still, as an alum who spent nearly 20 years as an SDNY prosecutor, I’m always inclined to assume my old office is up to serious business.
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I believe that the government is investigating whether there was, in connection with Trump’s White House bid, a conspiracy to commit fraud and extortion for the purpose of silencing potentially compromising sources — specifically, people in a position to portray Donald Trump as a womanizer. Clearly, the prosecutors regard Trump and Cohen as potential co-conspirators.
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search warrants sought, as the New York Times describes it, “all documents, including emails between Mr. Cohen and Mr. Trump, related to Mr. Cohen’s efforts to suppress negative publicity ahead of the 2016 election.” We know that these efforts specifically involve — but are not necessarily limited to — the burying of stories about Trump’s flings with pornographic actress Stephanie Clifford (a.k.a. Stormy Daniels) and former Playboy model Karen McDougal. Various reports also indicate that a former Trump-building doorman named Dino Sajudin was paid $30,000 to stay silent
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It seems evident that prosecutors are investigating on the theory that Clifford, McDougal, and perhaps others were defrauded or extorted into silence. The fact that they accepted money does not foreclose the possibility that their agreement to remain silent was procured, in part, by trickery or threats.
(Excerpt) Read more at nationalreview.com ...
But now we are supposed to believe it's a legitimate federal criminal case, justifying search warrants to seize all the files of President Trump's personal lawyer, to investigate whether these lawyered-up women who received these large sums of money entered into these arrangements through fraud or extortion?
And this after the the recusal of the Trump-appointed US Attorney for SDNY?
This investigation is transparently a corrupt abuse of power to use the power of the US justice department as a tool of persecuting political opponents.
This is a disgrace to our system of justice, to our government and to our country.
That this is being done to a sitting president elected by the American people is testimony to the weakness and cowardice of Jeff Sessions and to the corruption of those in Congress who are protecting the abuses of power by these police-state thugs.
What dirt do the Dems/NeverTrumpers have on Sessions?
His claim that he is waiting to investigate the phony Hillary purchased Steele dossier and FISA abuses and false statements and obstruction of justice/official corruption of the Obama DOJ/FBI until after the OIG fully finishes its investigation and John Huber has cogitated on it for several months is ridiculous.
Obviously Sessions is engaged in delaying tactics until something happens. What? Until Mueller finally 'gets' Trump on some supposed FEC violation or tax matter or Foreign Corrupt Practices Act crime or some other matter unearthed after months or years of searching for a crime, any crime, they can tie to Trump?
Not disclosing your personal life to the media (whether the allegations of consensual sex are true or not)is now fraud? Since when? Non disclosure agreements are now extortion? Boy that sure is going to change the legal landscape, big time.
It would be a piss poor lawyer who did not try to shield a client from negative publicity that could adversely affect that client’s aspirations. It is sort of their job. Unless blackmail, intimidation, harassment, and other illegal acts were committed in that pursuit this is a non-starter.
Shame on Mueller and even more so on Sessions.
“President Trump now has real legal peril.”
What with the mountain of evidence of DOJ and FBI corruption, the mountain of evidence of Hillary Clinton corruption, the mountain of evidence of Uranium One corruption, the FISA warrant corruption, the Hillary Clinton Russian collusion, and McCarty is clutching his pearls over groundless accusations of a few female accusers who make charges against Trump? And that they sign the dotted line willingly in exchange for money and this is coercion and fraud and no telling what else?
He must have too much free time.
I like Andy, but this is weak sauce. There’s nothing illegal here.
Trump's attorney gets a legal pardon.
Trump FBI eventually raids lawyer offices of Schumer, Pelosi & McConnell.
Precedence is set.
Check mate.
All legal by today's moral standards.
Interesting to note that when B.C was getting bj’s in the Oval Office, committing rape, an perjuring himself the MSM was spouting it is “only sex”. Now that it us Trump it suddenly a heinous crime.
It sure would be interesting if the DOJ found something on Mueller - like outstanding parking tickets or jaywalking - and then started crawling up every inch of his ass all the way back to when he was about 10 years old to try to destroy him and everyone he associated with along the way.
This really is Gestapo tactisc and every American should be afraid, whether the hate Trump to the core or not.
Who knows, maybe the U1 investigation will yield some fallout for Mueller.
SDNY has been proven to be a Viper Pit.
I haven’t understood just what legal peril Trump, or anyone who pays someone not to reveal information that isn’t a crime. I could understand if someone paid someone else not to reveal some criminal activity but consensual sex? Its their business and no one else’s
Andy is a prosecutor! Prosecuters are a different species, with different brains and different minds from humans. They are the true sharks of the legal profession, those whose goals are to chomp, shake and tear flesh.
Little Trump like hyperbole to state a truth is called for.
Does this not suggest that every NDA out there is an illegal conspiracy?
This author has great legal insight, but I do not see his reasoning here. How can Cohen/Trump be guilty of “defrauding or extorting the women into silence”? Not only were both represented by counsel, it was their counsel who arranged the deals. Apparently, he got a sizable cut.
The extortion, if there is any, comes from the women and their lawyer demanding money for silence.
Good point & this is Andy’s old office. He’s been a bit dense & inconsistent about these Trump matters this past year.
Another bullshit story to ignore from the National Review.
All this deep state banana republic crap tightens my jaw. Having said that, I worried during the campaign that a billionaire NY playboy of Trumps statute has skeletons in his closet.
In this case, it may be a careless lawyer.
It’s where McCabe and Bruce Ohr were assigned for FBI and DOJ when they first started working with Christopher Steele about ten years ago on the Russian Mob...🤔
“as an alum who spent nearly as SDNY prosecutor,”
Oh, what a clubby alumni organization, sort of like Skull and Bones clubby. These prosecutors are fascist Nazis by nature. No matter what side of the political spectrum they’re supposedly on, they stick together to work for the globalist dark side.
Just wait until judgement falls on them. Most of these Federal and State prosecutors are rogue atheists and apostates with criminal intentions.
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