Another domino just fell: the publisher of the National Enquirer has reached a cooperation agreement.
It's funny seeing all these people realize their Trump loyalty has effectively come to nothing, so they'd better look out for themselves.
And this is just the stuff that Mueller farmed our to the SDNY because it wasn’t directly related to the Russian part. There will be more. It’s not enough to openly engage in a conspiracy against the country. They iced the cake with campaign finance violations too. We haven’t even gotten to the state crimes yet.
I can't wait until trump starts going at the SDNY too and they get him for interfering with a federal investigation, or whatever the technical name of that crime is.
"My own weakness was blind loyalty to the man that caused me to choose the path of darkness," Cohen said, his voice cracking at times. “Time and time again, I felt it was my duty to cover up his dirty deeds." Cohen said he took "full responsibility" for the nine felonies to which he had pleaded guilty - "the personal ones to me and those involving the president of the United States of America." Trump is no longer "Individual 1" that was redacted in the public docs... Cohen has now called him out by name and said he directed him to commit felonies.
And to think Clinton got impeached for lying under oath. And everyone was outraged by him getting a blowjob from someone other than his wife.
So for the first time ever the White House can be officially declared an organized crime ring. *ballooons fall from rafters*
As a born Red Sox fan back when they sucked, my expectations are always tempered, but I don't think the Johnson impeachment case carries a terrible amount of relevance. He was impeached for defying a clearly unconstitutional law, and public support for his impeachment was low. It was very much a political exercise related to reconstruction rather than any perceived wrongdoing or competence on the part of Johnson. Nixon is a far more apt example for Trump, and I think Trump has blown past Nixon on every level in terms of his actual conduct. The real question is whether the right wing media ecosystem built since Nixon will be enough to save Trump from a fate he so richly deserves.
They went after Clinton for lying about an affair while investigating an Arkansas land deal. They've got Trump on violations of federal election law while investigating interference in a federal election. It's not the same. They've also got him on money laundering most likely based on how Cohen was reimbursed. That's just the SDNY piece; the Mueller investigation is giving every indication that they have him on much more, including conspiracy against the United States.
There’s a specific separation between the special counsel and the rest of the federal prosecutions. Whatever Mueller found in the course of his investigation that wasn’t specifically connected to the Russia portion got handed off to other us attorneys offices and possibly state attorneys general. They aren’t hanging this whole thing on just Cohen pleading guilty to the SDNY charge. He pleaded guilty to special counsel charges as well for lying to Congress. He was very cooperative there. And the fact that he only got charged on a relatively minor offense where they recommended little to no jail time should make Trump shit his pants. To say there is still no evidence is being willfully disingenuous. Just because we aren’t getting the deets from ongoing investigations doesn’t mean nothing is there. That fact we know very little about the cards Mueller is holding is a very good thing for the integrity of the investigation.
The affair hush money looks bad for Trump, but I think it's on the money laundering through his charities and other tax evasion that they're going to nail his ass to the wall. Regarding the hush money, he can use the same argument John Edwards did in 2011. The justice department ultimately dropped the case. Yes, it's bullshit, especially considering the timing of the payments, but given the burden of proof that falls on the justice department with this one getting a conviction isn't easy. It's on the money laundering side of the election violations where Trump is really fucked.Trump funneled millions through his charities, and spent a good portion of it on his campaign. https://abcnews.go.com/US/michael-c...investigation-trump-charity/story?id=57356808 Trump doesn't have much of a legal argument here. Also, while I'm not saying public opinion is going to determine the outcome of the inevitable charges filed against Trump regarding his charity foundation, it's worth noting that in 1998 the public cared about things like extramarital affairs from politicians. In 2018 people don't really give a shit anymore. However, the public does give a shit about misappropriating charity funds. It's only a noteworthy point because of the marginal influence it will have on (republican) congressman when the impeachment proceedings come up. And that separation only exists because Mueller has chosen to do so. His scope for the investigation isn't limited by the type of crime. He has held his focus on the Russian aspects of the probe, but he can pursue and ultimately charge on any of the crimes the probe uncovers.
What's funny is that had Trump just never ran for president, he would have continued being a white collar crime boss for the rest of his life without the government ever knowing a thing.
I think the DOJ has a good shot with both Cohen and AMI now confirming the multiple payments were for the purpose of influencing the election.
And the fact that AMI secured a no prosecution agreement with their owner under immunity, the evidence has to exist for those statements to be true.