Posted on 08/21/2018 8:24:53 PM PDT by Mariner
NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump’s former personal lawyer Michael Cohen testified on Tuesday that Trump had directed him to commit a crime by arranging payments ahead of the 2016 presidential election to silence two women who claimed to have had affairs with Trump.
Cohen, 51, made the statements as he pleaded guilty to eight criminal charges in federal court in Manhattan, including tax evasion, bank fraud and campaign finance violations.
Cohen did not name Trump in court, but his lawyer, Lanny Davis, said afterward that he was referring to the president.
“Today he (Cohen) stood up and testified under oath that Donald Trump directed him to commit a crime by making payments to two women for the principal purpose of influencing an election,” Davis said in a statement.
“If those payments were a crime for Michael Cohen, then why wouldn’t they be a crime for Donald Trump?” Davis said.
The two payments were intended to silence two women who claimed to have had affairs with Trump and were made prior to the 2016 presidential election. One was for $130,000 given to adult-film star Stormy Daniels. The other for $150,000 related to former Playboy model Karen McDougal.
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
Long term, it is not in the Democrats' interest to maintain the fiction that money paid to keep potential malefactors happy constitutes "influencing an election."
It's a preposterous overreach.
If he accepts a plea, he gives up his right to appeal.
former head of the Federal Election Commission...says this is NOT a campaign violation...an NDA between 2 parties PAID WITH PERSONAL FINANCES. ..Cohen doing time cuz of this sleazy taxi business thing. They gave him a few years less if he made that statement ..this is political, and welcome to the mid-terms of 2018...
Kissing babies is trying to influence an election.
And Rosie is unindicyed...
The FEC decides if is a crime, not the SDNY. FWIW, it is not a crime either by Cohen or Trump.
He should've stayed quiet & wait for that pardon, now he is on TRUMP's $hitlist & no more pardons or friendship lol
Did Hilliary's camp report the money spent to produce the fake "dossier"? It definitely had the purpose of influencing the election!
“Mark Levin says its a legal nothingburger. I’d go with him because so many of the other legal talking heads just don’t practice “due diligence” on a subject before they pontificate on it. Levin does his homework whether you agree with him or not. Others bloviate.”
All true. But what irritates me most (and it shouldn’t) is the MSM’s spin on this. They are really gunning for that large group of voters (some low info, others who aren’t paying attention) and continuing to try to inflict a death by a thousand cuts against Trump and the GOP by default.
There are so many voters out there who should be hearing the good news of Trump’s presidency and yet, all that is good is wiped away by the constant drumbeat of the media. I just wish I knew a way that we could counteract the MSM’s bul**hit.
Stormy is wrapping up marriage with husband number three. Course, she hasn’t hit forty yet. My humble guess is that no one with real money will touch her from this point on.
I guess the question is whether making payoffs to prevent publication of information that would damage an election campaign is illegal under election laws.
This has absolutely nothing to do with the law.
A large part of the political and media elite HATE Trump. They have accused him of every conceivable thing from, moral to desecrating a bed the Big Zero and his wife slept in. The truly sad thing is that there are lots of prominent Republicans who want Trump to fail. Yes, the Deep State or Swamp.
This is all about something that the haters can rally around and can convince some who have not yet taken sides. Over the next few weeks we are going to hear yelling, screaming, and political posturing in the hopes that this will finally get traction to destroy Trump’s support group.
Again Mueller and his deep state minions are playing their part in this game. First Russian collusion, paying hush money to women of loose morals, blackmailing every one from Trump’s son to a General, to political and financial hacks. Planting spies to do sting operations......it is all about the political sound bites.
I believe it would not be a crime for Trump or his lawyer to pay off someone. If it were then just think of all the congressmen and senators that have committed a crime. I mean they were using taxpayer dollars to pay off alleged victims. So there is no crime there. The crime appears to be about how Cohen reimbursed himself. It is all a bit confusing to me, but is what I am getting out of it. The MSM is lying about what is and is not a crime. They are evil as always. And Cohen would also have a motive to lie. By giving Muller what he wants then Cohen gets a lighter sentence.
its a shock that “influencing an election” is such a crime, Seth Rich must be rolling in his grave [/s]
Could someone help me out here please? Isn’t anything stated between Trump and the lawyer subject to attorney client privilege? Thanks.
You are correct that an appeal is not ordinarily in order if the defendant enters a plea, but doesn’t the judge have the responsibility to look at the basis for the plea and reject one that is not grounded in law. Since the judge, not the defendant, is charged with correctly applying the law, would Judicial error be grounds for setting aside a conviction. As to Mr. Davis, I was thinking of a civil action for inadequate representation.
1. While it’s not the most upstanding conduct, this is not a crime.
2. Election are violations are misdemeanors at worst. They’re finable offenses. You pay a fine and re-do the paperwork.
3. Almost every candidate for president has committed some violation because the laws are so complicated and cumbersome.
4. Let’s face it, Michael Cohen is not credible.
5. Lanny Davis is Cohen’s lawyer. He’ll put the political interests of his party ahead of his client’s interests.
Time to start the special prosecutor to go after the Hillary Deep State crime syndicate.
It’s time to counter attack. Both barrels.
This needs to be a mantra until it is done.
You are charged with not being a friend or associate of ours, and holding different political views. How do you plead?
— this is how it will appear to most Trump supporters, and the lack of action against more serious (or actual) crimes committed by the elites causes more outrage every passing day. The sentiment is growing, that if this is how they want to play, then let’s all play together.
I do think that an impartial judge would point out at several points further down the road that Cohen has pled guilty to something which is not a crime. I also wonder what happens at sentencing: "OK, you've admitted guilt to this, but it's not a crime, so I'm going to sentence you to nothing."
In order for inadequacy of representation to be on the table, Cohen has to prove that: 1) Davis did a terrible job (which he can probably do) but more importantly that 2) Davis' terrible job materially affected the outcome of the case. That second requirement is always going to be tough because you accepted the plea, which is evidence on its own face that you thought a trial outcome would be worse.
Nevertheless, the Supreme Court has been pretty clear that even in a plea deal you have a right to effective representation. So... maybe ...
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