Tag: Michael D. Cohen

And a series of fresh disclosures on Tuesday show there is every reason for him to feel threatened by the vast shadow it is casting over his life, business and presidency. That prosecutors from the Southern District of New York believe those elements need to be kept out of the public eye suggests that their investigations -- which have already indirectly implicated Trump -- are not over. While a sitting President cannot be indicted, according to current Justice Department guidance, Trump cannot be certain that he will not be prosecuted for campaign finance violations when he eventually leaves office. "If I was Donald Trump, I would be scared," Democratic Rep. Ted Lieu of California, who sits on the House Judiciary Committee, said on CNN's "The Situation Room." They show that Cohen was paid more than $500,000 through his company as a business consultant from January to August 2017 by Columbus Nova LLC., an investment management firm that is linked to Russian national Viktor Vekselberg. But he is far from the only Trump associate to have suggestions of links that can be traced back to prominent Russians. Methods used by investigators to track Cohen, including state-of-the-art techniques targeting Apple devices, and the revelation of their sweep through the lawyer's emails and telephone communications may fuel Trump's fury about what he sees as the special counsel's "witch hunt." It's also notable that Mueller has indicted three Russian entities and 13 Russian nationals in connection with Moscow's operation to use social media to interfere in the 2016 election, sow political discord and elect Trump. Washington has been on edge for several weeks over expectations that Mueller is getting toward the end of the road. Some former officials who received letters from the committee requesting documents, including former White House counsel Don McGahn and former deputy counsel Annie Donaldson, are referring them to the White House.

And a series of fresh disclosures on Tuesday show there is every reason for him to feel threatened by the vast shadow it is casting over his life, business and presidency. That prosecutors from the Southern District of New York believe those elements need to be kept out of the public eye suggests that their investigations -- which have already indirectly implicated Trump -- are not over. While a sitting President cannot be indicted, according to current Justice Department guidance, Trump cannot be certain that he will not be prosecuted for campaign finance violations when he eventually leaves office. "If I was Donald Trump, I would be scared," Democratic Rep. Ted Lieu of California, who sits on the House Judiciary Committee, said on CNN's "The Situation Room." They show that Cohen was paid more than $500,000 through his company as a business consultant from January to August 2017 by Columbus Nova LLC., an investment management firm that is linked to Russian national Viktor Vekselberg. But he is far from the only Trump associate to have suggestions of links that can be traced back to prominent Russians. Methods used by investigators to track Cohen, including state-of-the-art techniques targeting Apple devices, and the revelation of their sweep through the lawyer's emails and telephone communications may fuel Trump's fury about what he sees as the special counsel's "witch hunt." It's also notable that Mueller has indicted three Russian entities and 13 Russian nationals in connection with Moscow's operation to use social media to interfere in the 2016 election, sow political discord and elect Trump. Washington has been on edge for several weeks over expectations that Mueller is getting toward the end of the road. Some former officials who received letters from the committee requesting documents, including former White House counsel Don McGahn and former deputy counsel Annie Donaldson, are referring them to the White House.

Let's not condone violence right now, that is one dangerous road to go down. Plus... What about the ones without oaths? Don Jr. Signed one of the checks to reimburse Michael Cohen for the Stormy Daniels payments - from the revocable trust that Trump was supposed to put his businesses in so politics couldn't get involved with it... Ivanka went on TV to state that her dad had nothing to do with security clearances in the last month, to cover for something that isn't illegal for a President to do... Remember when Trump's kids were trying to get CIA top level security clearance? After he was cleared by the White House, Kushner’s file was reportedly submitted to the C.I.A. to be evaluated for an S.C.I., or “sensitive compartmented information” clearance—an even higher designation. officers who make clearance decisions balked, two of the people familiar with the matter said. On Monday, the Wall Street Journal reported that counterintelligence officials in early 2017 warned Jared Kushner that Wendi Deng Murdoch might be using her relationship with Kushner and his wife, Ivanka Trump, to aid the Chinese government. A friend of Saudi Arabia's powerful crown prince Mohammed bin Salman was the mystery buyer of "Salvator Mundi," a painting of Christ by Leonardo Da Vinci that recently sold for a record $450 million.

Mr. Cohen, who has been sentenced to three years in prison, has accused Mr. Trump of directing him to make illegal hush payments during the campaign. “The president should make no statement or take any action to obstruct Congress’s independent oversight and investigative efforts, including by seeking to discourage any witness from testifying in response to a duly authorized request from Congress.” The message seemed to imply that if Democrats in the House were to ever try to build an impeachment case against Mr. Trump, attempts to interfere with their work could be used as evidence. In August, Mr. Cohen pleaded guilty in federal court in Manhattan to tax fraud, making false statements to a bank and a campaign finance violation. As Mr. Trump’s attacks on him have intensified, Mr. Cohen has told friends that he is worried for his safety, though no public evidence of any such threats has emerged. Mr. Trump’s comments about Mr. Cohen on Saturday, made during a friendly interview with Jeanine Pirro of Fox News, were his first extended remarks on the matter since Mr. Cohen’s congressional testimony was announced. Asked by Ms. Pirro if he was “worried” about the testimony, Mr. Trump called Mr. Cohen “weak” and asserted — in contradiction to filings by federal prosecutors in Manhattan — that Mr. Cohen had “no information” on him. There has been no public indication that prosecutors are pursuing Mr. Shusterman. After Mr. Cohen pleaded guilty to his crimes, the president said Mr. Cohen had done so only to save his wife and his father-in-law. Mr. Nadler has said he will wait for Mr. Mueller to complete his work before seriously considering impeachment, but he told The New York Times last month that the campaign finance fraud laid out by prosecutors in New York was likely to meet the criteria for an impeachable offense and warranted congressional investigation. In 1974, the Judiciary Committee included obstruction of congressional investigations and proceedings among a litany of offenses for which it voted to impeach President Richard M. Nixon.

WASHINGTON — President Trump’s new legal team made a chaotic debut as Rudolph W. Giuliani, who was tapped recently to be one of the president’s lawyers, potentially exposed his client to legal and political danger by publicly revealing the existence of secret payments to Michael D. Cohen, the president’s personal lawyer. After he moved into the White House, the president began paying Mr. Cohen $35,000 a month, Mr. Giuliani said, in part as reimbursement for a $130,000 payment that Mr. Cohen made to a pornographic film actress to keep her from going public about an affair she said she had with Mr. Trump. Legally, the failure to disclose the payments could be a violation of the Ethics in Government Act of 1978, which requires that federal officials, including Mr. Trump, report any liabilities of more than $10,000 during the preceding year. Politically, Mr. Giuliani’s remarks — made in television appearances and interviews — raised questions about the president’s truthfulness and created a firestorm at the White House, where aides were caught off guard and furiously sought to deflect questions they could not answer. Mr. Giuliani’s disclosure is a sign of how Mr. Trump’s reshuffled legal team — which now includes a highly paid Washington lawyer, a famous former mayor, a constitutional lawyer who specializes in religious cases and former federal prosecutors — will function in the coming weeks as they sort out who takes the lead on representing the president. Mr. Trump faces a two-front battle with the Justice Department: one investigation in New York into Mr. Cohen and the special counsel investigation in Washington. The more helpful the president was, Mr. Dowd and Mr. Cobb told him last year, the more likely the investigation would conclude by year’s end. Instead, the investigation has intensified, and the president has concluded that approach was a mistake, according to people close to him. He did his job.” Violating campaign finance laws can be serious. “President Trump’s interest is not the same as Michael Cohen’s interest.” In his tweets on Thursday, Mr. Trump contradicted his earlier statements that he knew of no payment to Ms. Clifford.

WASHINGTON (The Borowitz Report)—The White House announced on Thursday that Donald Trump had successfully secured the services of Rudolph Giuliani, after an exhaustive search for an attorney with fewer clients than Michael D. Cohen. “President Trump had become concerned in recent days that Mr. Cohen might be too distracted to pay full attention to his case, what with him having two other clients and all,” Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the White House press secretary, said. “So the search was on for a lawyer with zero clients, and with the hiring of Mayor Giuliani, the President believes he has hit the jackpot.” Speaking to reporters, Giuliani agreed that, by virtue of having three fewer clients than Cohen, he was uniquely qualified to give Trump his full attention. “There is absolutely no chance of my ever putting him on hold,” Giuliani said. While the former New York mayor’s hiring got high marks from Trump’s inner circle, it drew a bitter reaction from Chris Christie, the former governor of New Jersey, who angrily pointed out that he had not been considered for the job despite having as few clients as Giuliani. “Not only do I have absolutely no clients, I have even less going on, career-wise, than Rudy Giuliani,” Christie said. “Once again, I’ve been screwed.”