I tend to go in and out of paying attention to the fiery trash heap of America. Some weeks, I barely watch the news, and some weeks I’m reading everything and watching everything. This is going to be one of those weeks where I can’t help but read everything and watch everything. You guys remember Michael Cohen? He’s Donald Trump’s longtime personal lawyer and lawyer for the Trump Organization. He paid off Stormy Daniels with hush money in 2016. He also makes appearances across many cable news channels, coming off as squirrelly and treasonous. Well, on Monday morning, the FBI raided Michael Cohen’s office, home and hotel room. *gets a bowl of popcorn*
FBI agents on Monday raided the Manhattan office of President Trump’s private lawyer, Michael D. Cohen, seizing records about Cohen’s clients, including those related to a 2016 payment he made to adult-film star Stormy Daniels, who claims to have had a sexual encounter with Trump.
Among the documents seized were privileged communications between Cohen and his clients — including those with Trump, according to a person familiar with the investigators’ work. Investigators took Cohen’s computer, phone and personal financial records as part of the search of his office at Rockefeller Center, the person said. The raid was first reported by the New York Times.
The raid is related to an investigation referred by the special counsel Robert S. Mueller III to federal prosecutors in New York, according to Stephen Ryan, an attorney for Cohen. Ryan called the tactics “inappropriate and unnecessary,” saying Cohen has “cooperated completely with all government entities, including providing thousands of non-privileged documents to the Congress and sitting for depositions under oath.”
Among the records seized by investigators were “protected attorney client communications,” according to Ryan. Dawn Dearden, spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney’s office for the Southern District of New York, declined to comment. Peter Carr, a spokesman for the special counsel’s office, declined to comment. A White House spokesman declined to comment.
A few things to note, from various sources: this was not Robert Mueller’s team conducting the raid. Mueller and his team sent some information – known as a referral – to a New York FBI field office, which followed up on the referral provided by Mueller, and technically the search warrants were obtained by the federal prosecutors for the Office for the Southern District of New York. This was not a subpoena. This was a court-approved search warrant. Oh, and Trump was watching the coverage of the raid live on TV from the White House. The FBI was at Cohen’s “home” at the Regency Hotel in New York for HOURS.
Bigly was particularly unhinged after his dumb mob lawyer got raided. Watch his desperate reaction (skip ahead to the 1:30-mark, although this whole video is good).
Prepare yourselves – this could be the week that Trump fires Rosenstein, Sessions and Mueller. So far, Trump has only tweeted two things this morning. He sounds so scared!! Hahahaha.
Attorney–client privilege is dead!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 10, 2018
A TOTAL WITCH HUNT!!!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 10, 2018
Photos courtesy of Getty.
My understanding of law is related to my experience watching 3,000 episodes of every law and order tv show out there. So I don’t know if this was done by a NY office by the State of New York to remove any chance of pardons Trump could issue for all his co-conspirators? Or was this the federal government and him giving them get out of jail cards is still on the table?
Alas, this was federal government, for now. It could be referred to the State AG if something comes out of the evidence found.
Twitter has suggested that SDNY was the “taint team” who will go through the materials and give to Mueller, the “clean” team only that which is not covered by attorney-client privilege, etc.
From my understanding it is state charges so no pardon as well as there is another dead man’s trigger if he fires more people. Trigger is supposedly multiple sealed inditements from states. They are all totally #%@$ ed! Lock them up! Lol
The raid was by the federal prosecutor’s office. Allegedly they are investigating potential campaign finance violations, which are federal crimes. That said, the adjacent crimes, like bank and wire fraud, could be prosecuted by the state in which they were committed.
The federal prosecutor for SDNY, who was appointed by Trump, has recused himself from the Cohen investigation.
Tania
Your comment is perfect 😀
He looks terrified
why would he be worried about attorney-client privilege if he didn’t have anything to hide. Oh man this just made my week. 😆😆😆
Exactly.
Stormy Daniels’ attorney was on Anderson Cooper yesterday after this broke. They were saying If the SDNY attorney finds a crime-fraud connection, that it will pierce the attorney client privilege. BOOM! We KNOW these buffoons aren’t smart enough to have not left a paper/audio trail somewhere down the line. I doubt Cohen shredded everything by now, he’s too cocky, and Dump thinks they’re both too smart.
There was a great joke on Twitter:
Trump: “I don’t know anything about this. You’ll need to talk to Michael Cohen.”
FBI: “Okay.” (Raids Cohen’s office)
😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
And I’ll leave you with one mor gem: (this is the best!)
https://twitter.com/joncoopertweets/status/983493131441229824?s=12
Imquirious – that’s a photoshop.
Betsy, I KNOW that… I just thought it was pretty funny, because you *know* he IS shitting his pants at all that is coming out/down now.
He looked positively terrified yesterday. Were they so arrogant that Trump’s personal lawyer was moving laundered money? Usually you try to get a few more degrees of separation between you and the crime.
Yep, exactly.
He also called it a break in…..he’s so dumb.
He knows damn well it’s not a break in but he’ll say anything to try to save that bloated face and some of his “support.”
To me I think of a raid as an action that takes place without the warrant (too many cop shows also). This was a search warrant that was being executed and from some of the reports I read Trump knew about it ahead of time.
SO dumb. I think the no knock raid was brilliant. If they came to his door knocking then Cohen could possibly have destroyed evidence.
because his deplorable base who believes everything he says will believe that.
they could have been IN the judge’s chambers when he signed the warrant, and could have seen all the evidence used to convince the judge, and they’d STILL say it was a break-in, because their orange leader said so. they believe him over their own lyin’ eyes, apparently.
He’s calling it a break in because all he has left are the dumbest of his base. He’s grasping at idiots.
I hate how the equates this as a travesty to the country. He is not the country. He is one crook living here.
Swack – they have to get a warrant regardless even if tv shows don’t show that part.. Otherwise none of it will be admissible in court and the perps will walk out of jail free as little birdies. Raid means just what this was – a no-knock warrant, bursting through doors if needed (but for Manafort they just picked the front lock and politely knocked on his bedroom door in case he wasn’t in his jammies).
I doubt that Trump knew about the raid ahead of time. If he has moles in the FBI besides the elf, he might have known about the referral but probably assumed there was nothing to worry about. Otherwise he would have been tweeting his tiny thumbs to death alerting everybody ahead of time.
You may hate Trump, but you do NOT want your government messing with citizen’s rights, such as attorney-client privilege.
That is one horrible, slippery slope.
If you watched all the commentary and news, the ac privilege goes out the door if a crime occurred. Since they received a signed warrant from a GOP Trump NOMINATED judge, they have more than enough evidence that there was a crime. It’s a financial crime. So no it’s not all encompassing.
Attorney/client privilege protects what you tell your attorney about the the crimes you committed. It does not protect the crimes you and your attorney committed together. Nor does it protect the crimes your attorney committed and bragged about to you.
Oh yeah, THIS is the slippery slope, not, like, the decades of the systemically racist and classist judiciary putting people behind bars to fund privatized prison slave labor or the increasingly militarized nature of the police force. 9_9
If Donald Trump didn’t want his dirty laundry aired out, he shouldn’t have gone for the most powerful public office in the country.
Attorney client privilege has never applied when it’s a case of criminal conspiracy or in the case of ongoing criminal activity. For a judge to sign of on such a high profile warrant for extremely sensitive material there had to have been an effing MOUNTAIN of probable cause.
Not that I’d ever want a Pence presidency, because I think that man is all sorts of crazy, but at least he doesn’t have a maniacal following.
Even Kellyanne Conway’s husband George Conway tweeted the section of the protocol showing how they deal with sensitive attorney files to avoid violating attorney/client privilege. The people who go through all the materials (the “taint team”) have to pick out only those that are no longer covered by attorney/client privilege because they involve criminal activity by the attorney. Those are turned over to the “clean team” involved in prosecution. I think Michael Cohen is toast, he made public statements that should at least trigger disbarment.
I was also on a Cheetoh-break but as of yesterday I am BACK for it!
Does Trump realize that all the objectives he uses; disgrace and so are all more aptly applied to him. He is the DISGRACE and the EMBARRASSMENT. And he is the one that is destroying everything that this country stands for He is so inarticulate and such a doofus. Can’t STAND THIS MAN. He is now going to go after Sessions again and try to fire Rob Rosenstein.
“And he is the one that is destroying everything that this country stands for”
If it’s consolation he’s continuing the long held tradition of looking after the top 1% at the expense of everyone else.
He’s just doing it way more overtly!
Trump always uses the psychological defense called “Projection”: accusing other people of doing things you are doing or thinking of doing. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychological_projection
Examples
-he is a crooked so calls HRC crooked Hillary
-He is low energy especially when reading a speech so calls Jed Bush low energy
-He is a pathological liar thus lying Ted
-He colluded with the Russian so accuses the DNC of Russian collusion
-and now his disgraceful actions of cheating on his wife with a porn star and trying to silence her…projects that by calling the FBI disgraceful
-He allowed Russia to attack our country so of course raiding his personal attorneys home = the FBI who is attacking our country
Yup. It’s amazing how many people do this. You can sometimes even catch yourself doing it on a certain (usually very mild) level if you pay attention. It’s why a person cheating on their partner will become paranoid and accuse the partner of cheating. It’s also why you should be careful taking other people’s opinions about you to heart. More often, their words are a reflection of themselves.
Mr. Two Scoops just does it in a super blatant, extremely obvious way. I figure whatever words he uses, he’s actually describing himself, always. So far it’s been pretty accurate.
He also said the election was rigged so Hillary would win no matter what. So I hope Mueller is looking at the voter totals.
Yeah what all of you said. If you don’t know how this works, it’s a major gas lighting terror experience sometimes. It’s exhausting being around people like this…feels like negotiating with a psycho.
Trump is disgusting.
Total projection.
And recently, right after all the cheating stories about him came out, he called Obama “Cheating Obama”.
You can’t make this stuff up.
Labeled folders probably found on Michael Cohen’s desk:
Pee Tape
Russian Payments
Stormy Payments
Monthly Melania Stipend
Illegal Sh*t
Super Illegal Sh*t
Possible Illegal Sh*t (Need to Google)
Annual Tiffany Birthday Card
additional folder:
Who Tiffany Is/DNA results
LOL
Sub Folder:
Why is it illegal for me to f*ck Ivanka?
OMG @Lindy79
Worst thing is you KNOW he’s asked that question before
This is great!
Other folder: payoffs to fix loser sons’ screw-ups
This reminds me – it was reported yesterday that Cohen had two bobble heads on his desk during the time of the raid. One was Eric and the other was Don Jr.
He should go to the jail for that alone.
Notice that Udsay , Qusay, and daughter-wifey have been verrrrrrry silent recently. We’ve not heard anything from any of them for over a week. Interesting…..
Perhaps also a file for Putin Porn?
I found it very interesting that the judge who issued the warrant was a TRUMP appointee and a crony of Rudy Guiliani’s. I image the Orange Menace was on the phone with ol’ Rudy screaming that he should “do something!” Hahahaha. Stay tuned….
Well, that’s actually good to know, otherwise he’d be crying that it was an Obama judge.
He was already crying about the intelligence employees that are on this case who were appointed by Obama. Like Drumpf’s problems are the previous president’s fault. This guy has issues.
I hope Rudy got one (or several) of the infamous middle of the night calls.
Rudy was probably already up dealing with the divorce from Judy.
Karma bites, doesn’t It?
Trump believes every federal employee is his staff..that every ag is his private attorney, that the FBI is his own little detective agency–all there to serve and protect him..would someone please explain to him, on a grade school level, how very wrong this is? Maybe a government primer, with pictures, for him and his voters…
We should all chip in and send him America (The Book), by Jon Stewart.
https://www.amazon.com/Daily-Stewart-Presents-America-Teachers/dp/0446691860
Could we hire the Schoolhouse Rock people to make cartoons on each subject? I always thought Trump would have benefitted from the one about how a bill becomes law.
Everyone who has a say on these cases are all GOP voters. Some even nominated by old orange ass himself (Wray, USDC Judge, NY US Atty). There is no conspiracy. Just because these people actually believe in the law and not quid pro quo doesn’t make this a witch hunt.
When 45 decided to start a trade war with China and over the past few days get tougher with Russia regarding Syria, plus the poisoning of those two people in England. Made me think something was brewing and he was trying to distract people. I would not be surprised if 45 was aware of the FBI looking to obtain search warrants for his lawyer.
The next week will certainly be interesting to see how he will respond or what distractions he will use
It infuriates me how these imbeciles throw “attorney-client” privilege around. No, the FBI did not violate attorney-client privilege. The FBI did not owe either Trump or Cohen that privilege. They didn’t do this through a subpoena, which is when Cohen could have invoked it, they did it through a search warrant.
As we all know by now, Trump will lie about everything because he is never held accountable and his cult followers will just repeat what he says.
When surveyed, Trump followers admit they *know* he is lying but don’t care, they just like watching 65% of the country get mad at his lies.
“they just like watching 65% of the country get mad at his lies.”
such a horrible kind of person that is.
“well, I know we’re headin’ to a dictatorship and I got no job and no prospects and my water is dirty and undrinkable…but the libturds are crying so I luv it!” DERP
Didn’t the warrant target attorney-client materials? That makes it sound like they had proof of a crime between attorney and client in order to clear the many hurdles it takes not only to raid a lawyers office, but to get access to privileged info.
I also heard they took his cellphones and computers. I can only imagine what they’ll find
Any device holding electronic data is going to be seized & searched. They probably have what they’re looking for pinpointed because they probably subpoenaed the service providers first. And the service providers don’t have to tell you that your records were subpoenaed.
1) it seemed he spent twice as much time talking about Cohen than he did on Syria. Of course.
2) “This is an attack on America” – you, sir, do not and never will be the embodiment of of my country. Where there is smoke, there is fire. Occam’s razor.
3) yes, you dolt, the stock market does indeed react to your headline-making activities. You just happened to exclude the drop from your TRADE WARS
4) the online discussion is the raid was for bank fraud and/or campaign fund abuses (see Stormy Daniels)
5) Jeff Sessions was called out specifically by the Dotard. The AG is going to be canned by the end of the week, mark my words.
6) Bbbbuuuttt hhheeerrrrr eeeeeeemmmailllllllssss!!!
Everyone gets a free round for that!
I actually lolled out loud when he brought up Hilary again.
That and the fact that he’s so fat he can’t fold his arms across his chest/stomach properly.
It’s hilarious when he tries to look tough and powerful by crossing his arms while puffing his chest out. His belly is so blubbery from gobbling Big Macs ,KFC, and diet Coke all day, that he has to cross them across his chest and under his armpits.
Fat?!?! But his doc said he is 6’ 3 and 239 pounds. 😆
Well they forgot to mention that 6’3″ is his width, not his height.
His random blabbering was interesting to watch. I was glued to the TV awaiting the video feed after hearing a reporter give a few notes from the press pool. Needless to say, the reporter made it sound far more coherent than the actual desperate word salad we later saw.
As for his crossed body language, I assume he was scared witless and hugging himself.
haha. It was glorious wasn’t it? And it’s only just begun.
I was on a 45 break like Kaiser, but this is too dramatic to ignore. We get other great news also. The oligarchs lost 16 billion in just one day due to sanctions, and it slammed the Russian economy hard and wiped out nearly two years of gains. One day!
Vlad has got to be fuming. Will he turn on his personal Oompa Loompa?
They better get some professional tasters in STAT.
He expects these people like Flynn and BoJeff Sesh to take falls for him. Why would anyone risk their neck for him? His appointees are covering their own arses and will turn on him so fast even his enemies will get whiplash. That is what happens when a bottom feeding slug like 45 surrounds himself with like people with no moral compass and are corrupted to the core. They are only loyal to themselves.
He probably has his face buried in a cheeseburger trough at the moment and is drunk on transfats.
Questions:
1. If he removes Sessions, Session’s replacement would be in charge of Mueller investigation, because Rosenstein would no longer be necessary, correct?
2. If he removes Sessions, Session’s full-time replacement would need to be confirmed by the Senate, correct?
3. Who would be the interim replacement for Sessions before the Senate could approve a replacement? Would it be Rosenstein?
4. If both Sessions AND Rosenstein get fired…what happens?
I’ve always said that if Mueller was smart he would build the NY State case against him. Because he cannot pardon anything in the states case only federal. Sounds like that’s what he’s doing.
Even if Mueller is fired sounds like the state attorney of NY will have what he needs (which is a trump appointee btw because he fired our old one).
Tick tock.
This is still federal, not NY state. Which doesn’t mean that they won’t find things that can be charged at state level.
Makes sense . But I believe the state’s attorney is working with him. Its why he fired the old AG. I’m assuming that the state is privy to a lot of what’s going on here
Mueller’s definitely working with Schneiderman, who is the NY State Attorney General. The person who approved these warrants is the US Attorney general, and was personal interviewed by Trump.
“Being a Republican, of course, has never stopped Trump from calling for criminal investigations of his Democratic political rivals, no matter how flimsy the pretext. But as my colleague David Graham points out, virtually all the major players involved here are Republicans. Mueller is a Republican who was appointed by George W. Bush to run the FBI. Rosenstein, the deputy attorney general, is an appointee of Trump himself, and so is Chris Wray, the current director of the FBI. Berman, the U.S. attorney whose office executed the raid, is a former law partner to Trump surrogate Rudy Giuliani, who was hand-picked by Attorney General Jeff Sessions. The warrant sought not only would have had to have been approved by officials at the Department of Justice, but a federal judge would have had to sign off on it, knowing that he would be sanctioning a raid against the personal attorney of a sitting president.
Evidently, they all signed off anyway.”
From The Atlantic
There are people from the state working alongside Mueller and his team, so they are up to speed and ready to take over at any time. I firmly believe that is the only thing keeping him from firing anyone even further at the moment. Poison Ivy and Crooked J are in very deep trouble, and I get the feeling that isn’t isolated only to New York but possibly New Jersey. None of the crimes are in states run by complicit Republicans.
There is no escaping.
I keep expecting to turn on the news and hear that Jared’s offices and homes have been raided.
@Darla – I firmly believe they are next. Don’t forget a class action lawsuit was filed against Jared’s family’s real estate company, which he has been running, alleging that it has been skirting local rent stabilization laws, by overcharging rent to 90 percent of the tenants at one, if not more, of their apartment buildings. Man the sleaze runs deep in that family…
Oh yes it does Jaded. We should all have our pantries full of entertainment snacks and refreshments because I think this is getting to the heart of it now.
Mueller probably can’t throw Trump in jail. Since he can only make a recommendation to Congress to impeach – and they will do nothing – at least he is doing us all a favor by scaring the living shit out of Trump, his entire family and all of his assocates for our entertainment.
and possibly biding his time until November when he hopes the Dems will take over and actually bring articles of impeachment.
And of course, Trump always has the option of resigning. As a seasoned politician concerned with legacy, Nixon had the good sense to do that; Trump does not.
Pop a lot of popcorn. This will be good.
Judges do not hand out warrants seeking attorney records easily. There must be some serious evidence of crimes either committed by or aided and abetted by Cohen.
And sorry, Emperor Baby Fists, but attorney-client privilege disappears if the attorney acts in furtherance of a client’s criminal scheme.
Yes. As my lawyer boyfriend and I watched this and ate popcorn and ice cream last night, he said there must be seriously solid evidence for the judge to have given them warrants. Michael Cohen might have lost his career
This had to go through multiple levels:
Such a search requires high-level approval. The USAM requires such a search warrant to be approved by the U.S. Attorney — the head of the office, a Presidential appointee — and requires “consultation” with the Criminal Division of the U.S. Department of Justice. This is not a couple of rogue AUSAs sneaking in a warrant.
Such a search requires an elaborate review process. The basic rule is that the government may not deliberately seize, or review, attorney-client communications. The USAM — and relevant caselaw — therefore require the feds to set up a review process. That process might involve a judge reviewing the materials to separate out what is privileged (or what might fall within an exception to the privilege), or else set up a “dirty team” that does the review but is insulated from the “clean team” running the investigation. Another option is a “special master,” an experienced and qualified third-party attorney to do the review. Sometimes the reviewing team will only be identifying and protecting privileged material. Sometimes the reviewing team will be preparing to seek, or to implement, a court ruling that the documents are not privileged. (Robert Mueller is aggressive on this sort of thing; he already sought and obtained a court ruling that some of Paul Manafort’s communications with his lawyers were not privileged because they were undertaken for the purpose of fraud — the so-called “crime-fraud exception” to the attorney-client privilege.
3. A Magistrate Judge signed off on this. Federal magistrate judges (appointed by local district judges, not by the President) review search warrant applications. A Magistrate Judge therefore reviewed this application and found probable cause — that is, probable cause to believe that the subject premises (Cohen’s office) contains specified evidence of a specified federal crime. Now, Magistrate Judges sometimes are a little too rubber-stampy for my taste. But here, where the Magistrate Judge knew that this would become one of the most scrutinized search warrant applications ever, and because the nature of the warrant of an attorney’s office is unusual, you can expect that the Magistrate Judge felt pretty confident that there was enough there.
4. The search warrant application (the lengthy narrative from the FBI agent setting for the evidence) is almost certainly still under seal, and even Michael Cohen doesn’t get to see it [yet]. But the FBI would have left the warrant itself — and that shows (1) the federal criminal statutes they were investigating, and (2) the list of items they wanted to seize. Much can be learned for those. Assuming Michael Cohen doesn’t release it, watch for it to be leaked.
from popehat (no linking because it puts me into moderation)
cr, Thanks!
Let’s remember folks that just days ago we heard how the FBI also seized files from Paul Manafort’s storage locker.
Never thought I’d say this, but I wish Hope Hicks would come back to the White House for a few weeks to soothe POTUS. He’s backed into the corner now: In talks to (perjure himself) with the FBI, if he refuses, he’ll be subpoena’d (sp!) to talk to the grand jury w/out his lawyer present. Manafort squeezed. Cohen exposed. Stormy Daniels ready to rock and roll. Unable to protect himself.
Still, we can probably count on the Republican Congress to save his ass in spite of it all.
WARTP:
The seizure from the storage locker was almost a year ago, and it wasn’t Manafort’s which is why they didn’t need his permission:
During May 26 visit, the agent “entered and observed a number of boxes and a filing cabinet inside the premises, as well as some writing on the sides of some boxes,” according to the filing. The agent then used what he observed to obtain a warrant the next day to confiscate documents from Manafort’s storage unit, which Manafort claims was a violation of his Fourth Amendment rights, according to the filing. The filing includes a redacted version of the search warrant and the supporting affidavit from the FBI agent who conducted the search.
The search was executed just a little over a week after Mueller was appointed as special counsel. In October, Mueller brought a slew of charges in Washington, D.C., alleging financial crimes and failure to disclose foreign lobbying against Manafort and his longtime business partner, ex-Trump campaign aide Rick Gates. Gates pleaded guilty in February and is cooperating with Mueller’s probe. Mueller meanwhile, filed a superseding indictment for the Washington, D.C. case, and a second criminal case against Manafort in Virginia. Manafort has pleaded not guilty in both cases.
(from TPM)
Oh, to be a fly on the wall of the “clean” and “dirty” sorting rooms! The temptation to leak would be ginormous.
As Joe Biden says “this is a BFD”. Solicitor client privilege is sacrosanct and there has to be serious evidence of criminal behaviour on the part of the lawyer for the warrant to have been issued. This goes way beyond Stormy and her NDA.
BearcatLawyer, how often does this happen? Twice a year? Ten times a year? Once a decade? Granted, my legal knowledge is practically nil, but I’ve never heard of a subpoena for a lawyer’s records, I probably would have argued it would be illegal.
No clue, but it does happen. When I was in law school we studied a very recent case (the criminal trial had not even begun) where the cops went after an attorney ostensibly because he was colluding with a client who was a suspect in the disappearance of a baby. The police argued that as long as the baby was still alive, the attorney was furthering a criminal act, kidnapping, and thus any communications between him and the client were not privileged. Apparently the client had admitted to the attorney that the baby was already dead and drew a map where the the body could be found. The attorney repeatedly testified that there was no ongoing crime (because the baby was dead and buried before he even met with the client, the crimes were already complete) and that he knew of no exceptions to the privilege. Any decent lawyer should have figured out from the attorney’s statements that the baby was dead (really the only way absent a safe return where the privilege could be broken), but the cops and DA led the poor parents to believe that the attorney was aiding and abetting the ongoing crime. A judge ended up reviewing the documentary evidence seized at the attorney’s office in chambers (thereby learning the baby was dead and buried). It was sad but also a powerful lesson in the limits of privileges.
*where the privilege could NOT be broken
Sorry for the typo!
Jesus, the president after Trump is going to have so much work/cleaning up to do. Not just within America, but with the relationships with all other countries!!
I remember saying that during the GW Bush years, and it was true. Caused a global near-depression, destabilized the entire Middle East, caused the deaths of millions, exacerbated global warming, emboldened the NRA, ushered in Citizens United, did nothing to protect voting rights and electoral systems, and so much more.
When you ponder the alternate universe in which the Florida vote count isn’t halted and Al Gore actually becomes president…. I want to vomit.
There must’ve been some serious evidence for a judge to issue a warrant to raid the office of the president’s attorney!
May this turd forever regret the day he decided to run for president.
How did he believe running for President and winning the Predency would end up good for him. The people in NY did nor vote for him. We have read about all of his illegal activities for 30-40 years. The man is a thug, a gangster who build his buildings on the backs of illegals workers for cheap and then refused to pay what was agreed on. He filed bankruptcies 6-7 Times to fill his pockets. He’s the worse of the worse, he’s a disgrace. I fault the people who voted for him knowing he was no good and still put him in office with the help of Russia, Comey ect. Let’s mueller clean clean the swamp.
I’ve often said the same. I believe he ran on a lark and was just as surprised as the rest of us that he won.
He should never have won and he’ll regret the decision for the rest of his life.
I think Trump does regret running for President…..he even publicly stated recently he believes he’s better at his last job as a builder. The loss of privacy is one thing but his ego-tied net worth has dropped since he took office.
I often wonder just how in debt he was to the Russians and if he was pressured by his Russian bosses to run. They knew they could pull the strings on this puppet.
It baffles me to this day. It is far beyond hubris.
Every single New Yorker knows who he is and his reputation is total garbage and criminal. His father was completely mobbed up, and so is he.
Not one newspaper of note endorsed him, and I think even less prestigious ones avoided it except for a few.
What part of that was hard for his followers to understand? That is just basic stuff, and we aren’t even touching on the enormous list of shady activities. His sordid personal life should have been a clue that he is a rotten person.
He thought he’d lose and start a TV network. And, once he was in the race and getting help, his ego and greed (and probably, Ivanka and Jared) wouldn’t let him quit.
He also had no clue what the Presidency entailed, believing to be more of a Chairman of the Board sort of thing that he could just conference in once a month after appointing a CEO to run things for him. He had no idea he had to move to DC, show up to work everyday and hire an actual staff.
I think Russia changed votes unbeknownst to him. I think he thought he would just start his crappy new TV channel, but Russia wanted our instability.
Absolutely. He liked the attention of running, didn’t want the actual job. It’s sickening how things ended up. I just hope he gets what he deserves before too much damage is done.
Did we also know that Kellyanne Conway’s husband shades Trump on Twitter all the time? He’s deleted some of his past tweets, but he just posted this:
https://twitter.com/gtconway3d/status/983672662517075968
You just made my morning.
Seriously, has his Twitter been hacked? It’s shade after shade.
The comments under his tweet are hilarious!
His wife was quoted as saying she needed a shower after being around her now-boss. I think it’s real.
I do too. He was up for a job and sped out of there as fast as he could. I am sure it was with her full support. If she is in this in any way, someone has to think of the children.
I’ve never EVER loved anyone the way Cohen loves Trump. Cohen and his lawyer were admitting to potential felonies on national tv for months to save DJT and now he’s guaranteed jail time. Hope it was worth it.
Also, I have no interest in seeing DJT removed from office, I’d rather ride these next 3 years out than have Pence be POTUS.
Are you serious? The Dotard is so unhinged he’s capable of starting a nuclear war. The Dotard is a liar who lies without thinking of the consequences every day. I would rather Pence being there for 2.5 years than this unhinged crazy man my nerves cannot take 2 more years of this Dotard. I’ve stopped watching tv news because of him, he scares the hell out of me.
If Trump goes down he is taking everyone with him, people like always do. Everyone in that administration is tainted. It’s a house of cards.
He must be so angry Rudy G did not stop 🛑 the raid. I bet he will be going off all day today tweeting lies all day, 😆.
I fully believe that the Russians have kompromat on a LOT of the GOP congressional members.
Trump appointed Pence to run as VP on Paul Manafort’s advice. Manafort is now facing a lot of jail time. Pence is complicit and he’s going down too.
I’ve never really worried about Trump starting a nuclear war because he’s a greedy coward. He doesn’t have the mettle to handle the repercussions of something like that. Mike Pence, on the other hand, would wipe a nation off this Earth and have no issues because he would feel divinely ordained. I’d rather a narcissist than a religious ideologue. These are our choices and I choose the former.
I agree somewhat, Reef. Just look at GWB, and Bush wasn’t as insanely religious as Pence. Those people can justify anything. But, my choice is that they’re both imprisoned and neither is in office, I can dream.
One thing about Pence is he’d surely not get re-elected. Sorry for the rambling need coffee.
“Also, I have no interest in seeing DJT removed from office, I’d rather ride these next 3 years out than have Pence be POTUS.”
You say that now but I bet you’ll feel differently when the economy inevitably collapses and we are stuck in another needless war. I wish people would stop acting like Pence is somehow worse. We are already saddled with Pence’s policies–we are at rock-bottom already. The only difference between Pence and Trump is that one is literally an unhinged lunatic who is beholden to no one; who makes political decisions on a whim, based on Fox News, or some silly vendetta. They are both evil, but one can at least be reasoned with.
I’m tired of people underestimating just how dangerous Trump is for our country. He’s not a joke, he’s not entertainment–he’s a very real threat to our democracy.
ETA: A religious ideologue? I have to ask you what the difference is between Mike Pence and someone whom the Evangelical community believes was ordained by God to save this country? You understand how many political decisions Trump has made to appease his fanatical religious base, don’t you? Ban transgendered people from the military, attending the Anti-Choice March, issuing a 25-page memo bolstering legal protections for people of faith, rolling back employers’ requirement for birth-control coverage and reversing a policy that included LGBT employees under US anti-discrimination law.
I’m going to have to ask you again: HOW is this any better than Pence?
I’ve long hated the “Pence is worse!” narrative. Stop it.
No one is worse than Trump. Just look at what he’s done to this country in one year with his corruption, lies, tweeting, nuclear obsession and compulsive TV binging. We are being governed by Fox & Friends.
Yes, Pence sucks. But even at his worst, he is still better than Trump.
Why do you think Pence can be reasoned with? What about his tenure as Governor of Indiana and his willingness to pull stunts and shows for the POTUS engenders such confidence in him? He’s a zealot who if given POTUS power would be just as dangerous but not as dumb.
ETA: “I’m going to have to ask you again: HOW is this any better than Pence?”
lol. Ya’ll get real SPICY on this site when having political discussions. Just be sure you want that spice back.
Is it “spicy” to ask a genuine question?
(I notice you didn’t answer, by the way…)
Nah. I just strongly disagree with you and I’m not afraid to tell you exactly why.
*shrugs*
“Why do you think Pence can be reasoned with?”
Because Pence has been a politician for 18 years.
Because he grew up as a Democrat.
Because he’s not a reactive and inexperienced reality TV star but an experienced professional who understands that bipartisanship *can* be useful at times.
Because he actually backed off of 2015’s religious freedom debate under pressure from liberal groups.
(proves he is capable of listening to dissension)
The truth is that very few people outside of Indiana knew who Pence was until he was chosen to run on Trump’s ticket as VP. Most of us don’t have enough evidence to say exactly how he would be as a POTUS. But every single one of us has MORE than enough evidence to see that Trump is entirely unfit to lead this country. His temperament alone is a HUGE danger to this country.
Pence would be a continuation of Trump’s administration but without the unnerving daily tantrums. Pence wouldn’t play juvenile games with foreign leaders and Pence has enough sense to not play Russian roulette (pun intended) with our democracy.
So what kind of legislation do you think Pence will pass that hasn’t already been passed? What do you think he would do that would be worse than what Trump has already done?
ETA: @ Jenns-Exactly.
The perspective from a non American is this: Pence is not unstable enough to risk international alliances and treaties and potentially end the world through nuclear war. Pence understands the importance of NATO, the concept of Russia being an bad actor in international affairs and he can make decisions that go beyond his direct self interest. He also knows that NAFTA benefits the US more than México and Canada and it always has.
Pence is comparable to George W Bush. Not great but survivable.
@Kitten
First of all, I don’t owe you engagement. I don’t have to respond to not one of your questions. You’re neither the Feds or my mama. So chill on that.
Second of all, I did answer your question. It wasn’t as verbose as may have liked but I again I don’t owe you a dissertion.
Third of all, we’ve been on these internet streets for awhile, word choice and caps locking go a long way in conveying tone. Nothing in that last ETA of yours says you were being genuine. You want to argue and be rude because we disagree.
Lol @ “I’m not afraid to tell you why” . Girl go on somewhere with that. What is this even? 😂😂
@Reef- I’m pretty chill actually. Sorry if you don’t like the occasional capslock used for emphasis–I truly had no idea that it was a source of offense lmao.
And you’re right you don’t owe me sh*t but if you come on here with an opinion, you should be prepared to engage, otherwise why bother posting your opinion to a public site?
But after reading your comments, it’s clear you just wanted to assert how right you are and that you’re not really interested in being challenged. That’s your choice of course, but it’s not my style.
When I said I’m not “afraid” I was referring to the fact that I’m not cowed or intimidated by someone’s else’s passionate opinion.
I enjoy debate.
*shrugs*
(thought that was obvious)
And no, nothing I said was rude, simply factual and you would have realized that if your default mode wasn’t “defensive”.
So….cool I guess? It was really delightful talking to you…
@Kitten – I don’t like either of them, and am personally of the camp that says that as Pence was head of Transition AND was selected by Manafort there’s no way he’s not dirty with Russian soil and thus will not become president, but Tramp is so horrible that I’m getting to “better the devil you know.” For years I thought that no one would be worse than W.
@ Betsy- Yeah there was a window of time right after Trump was elected where we could maybe kid ourselves into thinking that he won’t be *that* bad. We could even maybe believe his lies that he supports the LGBTQ community or that he might be more “moderate” than a Pence-type figure. But he’s proven that he is 100% intent of furthering the Evangelical agenda at all costs, even if it means denying basic civil rights to the most marginalized among us.
Again, we currently have Pence’s policies being administered by a raving madman operating within the framework of a GOP-controlled government. Pence at the helm can’t make this any worse.
And I’m with you in that I NEVER thought we’d see anyone worse than GW Bush in my lifetime. Holy SH*T
(excuse the caps 😉 )
was I wrong.
If Pence ends up on top, he will be a lame duck at worse. I doubt Congress will go all in with him after this whole debacle is over. I’m pretty sure some of them will also be hauled out (Turtle face, lyin ryan farmer nunes Gaetz, gee that’s a lot of names here).
Reef is right. As someone who lives in Indiana (pence was our governor) he is way worse. He is a super right wing nut who pretty much thinks women should go back to being their father/husband’s property.
Ok Pence hates women and wants them to go back to being property. I will play along. How is he going to accomplish that? Where is his 35% of racist Neo-nazi cult of followers who will scare the GOP into letting him do whatever he wants? Whose army is he going to use to round up 50% of the country into camps, the troops serving in a million wars?
Is Pence going encourage the rise of neo-nazis, is he going to go around raping every vulnerable women he comes across? Is he going to bully military leaders? Going to bully the British, French, Aussies, etc. into starting a purge on women?
Re: “Pence will actually use nuclear weapons believing he is doing God’s work”. Where is the evidence that *any* politician with power outside of Trump has asked “why don’t we use nuclear weapons against our enemies”? Pence is a religious zealots not an imbecile and he actually loves his family, his children. Trump cares only about Trump and saving Trump’s behind. He would blow up the WH and everyone in it to escape capture!
In addition to what The Original T.C. said, it was just a few days ago when the head of CIA drone operations displayed drone technology that limits the amount of civilian casualties by waiting until the target is outside of his/her family’s home and striking then. Trump’s unimpressed response was: “why did you wait?”
I mean the man is f*cking sadistic.
This is what he said in 2015 in the campaign trail: “When you get these terrorists, you have to take out their families. They care about their lives, don’t kid yourself. But they say they don’t care about their lives. You have to take out their families.”
But tell me again how Pence is worse.
NO ONE IS WORSE.
This is as low as we can get, people.
I gotta say I disagree with the Pence is Worse Camp here (and everywhere). I think Mike Pence would be a disaster for women and LGBT people, and as a queer woman, I’m totally down for that if it means that Trump is no longer in power. I’d prefer not to risk losing my civil liberties, but if it keeps DACA kids here and prevents a nuclear war, I’m all in on that plan.
Mike Pence is terrible, but he isn’t as reactionary or dangerous as Trump is. Look at the response we’ve seen from the Pence family when they’ve had things occur (Hamilton cast lecture and John Oliver’s Marlon Bundo book come to mind). They respond calmly and politely, acknowledging the rights of people to disagree and discouraging boycotts. I realize that isn’t a political stance, but I do think it’s indicative of the fact that Mike Pence is more of a politician than Trump.
Also, both as someone with loved ones in the military as well as a person who would like to continue not living in some sort of post-apocalyptic hellscape, I’m down for anyone who isn’t going to start a nuclear war. I don’t know that I trust Pence to not start shit somewhere else, but I think he’s smart enough and calm enough to recognize that playing chicken with a mentally ill dictator who routinely executes his own citizens for nothing is maybe not the best plan. We are dangerously close to getting into it with North Korea (like everyone I know who is in the military is being moved into position and told to prepare), and that scares me a lot more than anything Pence is likely to do.
Plus, after Pence isn’t it Ryan? He’s a terrible person too, and he scares me.
For all the reasons already stated Pence doesn’t come close. But the most important reason is he doesn’t have a cult of followers who are braindead zombies believing every last word he says no matter how illogical it is. Horrible but nowhere near as depraved.
Really? This sounds exactly like people who were like: “I would rather have the racist, misogynistic, xenophobic, crooked, trashy, pathological liar and neo-Nazi become president of the United States than HRC. So he can trash the government and we can start all over again with progressives”
Like I would love to have the life of the people who still think Trump is benign compared to a predictable no-nothing small fry Evangelical from Indiana. Our entire government, our country and relationships with global allies are in shambles but that’s no big deal! It’s completely nuts and irrational!
I agree. I honestly don’t understand how anyone can see what is happening in this country on a daily basis and not think that ANYONE would be better than this lunatic. Hell I saw a recent poll on Twitter that said 95% of Americans believe that a f*cking BANANA would be a better POTUS.
Then you must be in a comfortable, protected position to ‘ride out’ the next 3 years because a lot of your fellow Americans are not.
Besides, aren’t you aware that US domestic policy under Trump is ALREADY 100% that of Pence? He’s been implementing since Day 1.
Really wonder about the “but Pence!” people. We already have Pence. But in addition to Pence, we have Trump. I’d rather have one less lunatic.
I a black bisexual woman living in the South with people in my life with funny immigration papers am in a comfortable position? LOLOLOLOOLOLOLOLOL….*takes a breath* LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL.
Ya’ll just…. I just don’t even know.
Both Pence and Trump are equally terrible and awful. If either’s worse instincts win out, we either get Gilead or Mad Max.
Pence and his family’s one redeeming feature might be their thicker skin, given how they didn’t have a Twitter tantrum after John Oliver’s Marlon Bundo parody. If Melania had “written” and/or ïllustrated” a book that had a better written and illustrated parody made after it, you can be sure that her husband would have a bigger Twitter tantrum than usual.
They aren’t equally as terrible. They don’t have the same connections and Pence isn’t connected to the mafia or a lifelong con artist with a criminal family of grifters. Without 45 as a cover, his policies will have a much harder time getting past the public.
“Oh what a tangle web we weave when first we practice to deceive”. The dotard and his lawyer, mr fix it, are caught in their own web. I’m waiting to see how they get out of this without burning down the country. He will be lying, cheating and blaming Obama and Hillary for this and is not going to help him.. Mr mueller have them right, left and center. It’s mueller time!!
babyfists expressed his displeasure in such a whiney, baby lisp type way it was almost funny. He is sounding so hurt, so unfairly maligned.
I hope he rots in a federal prison.
It may not have been a Mueller raid, but he got it in motion.
It’s Mueller Time!
Consciousness of guilt will guide every move from Emperor Zero from now on. Watch him lash out and if he decides to try to fire Sessions, Rosenstein, and/or Mueller, the case never goes away. Career prosecutors and law enforcement peeps assure us that this is the beginning of the end.
There will be rock concerts and parades and maybe even a few ceremonial statue reveals of wonderful people like Robert Mueller III when this is all said and done!
Alleluia! Michael Cohen is going to prison!
I can’t wait to go to the Robert Mueller rock concert.
Lol, Eric and Shambles. The other night a friend reminded our book group that at the first sighting of Trump in handcuffs there will be a party at her house. All are invited to just come straight over, day or night, lol.
🙂
I hope we eventually get to see this loser’s tax returns. Bet there’s some JUICY shit in there!
Only the BEST PEOPLE, amirite?
Meanwhile, it turns out that not only did Scott Pruitt NOT have any death threats made against him that would require $3 million-worth of security & first class travel, but he also knew about the staff raises made against department policy…
If Two Scoops is looking for a distraction, firing his sorry ass might be a good move!
Just wait for his reaction when the FBI conducts a no-knock search of Princess Nagini’s homes and offices.
His rage tweeting will be epic
I think he might just stroke out when that happens. *fingers crossed*
Hahaha! Hopefully televised. I know its dark but I am not sorry!
Trump’s body language when he talked about the raids spoke volumes. Heh.
Same body language as when he threatened to fight North Korea “with fire and fury like the world has never seen.”
Perfectly normal body posture for someone who isn’t guilty.
Also, Pence’s face reminds me of the sad Ben Affleck clip.
I am away on vacation with my family. I was finally taking a break from the Orange fool but then as I was dozing in and out of sleep by the ocean, I received a text from a friend telling me about the raid. Now I am plugged back in…. or in and out. Still going to enjoy my vacation but I will be checking in. I hope we are one step closer to justice.
Hope you enjoy your vacation, knowing the dominoes are falling. Even Stormy’s attorney seemed to be less dramatic, as if he knows it just got real.
Thank you!!
Knock knock?
Who’s there?
No one, we are in your closets and taking computers, phones, and docs (including tax docs).
How creepy is it that Cohen was said to have no idea his house had been invaded until they knocked on his bedroom door?
Same with Manafort and his raid was in the middle of the night. That’s the point of a No Knock, No Announce raid. They get in and get what they need before you even know they’re there so you can’t destroy anything
Oh I understand the concept, but for some reason I thought they were kicking in the front door not tiptoeing up to your bedroom. Either way, I love it.
And he was supposedly holed up in a hotel, due to his apartment being renovated. Maybe he decided to come up with a valid reason for that alleged home equity loan.
Let’s see how loyal he stays to his Daddy figure.
I’m loving that Cohen is often called Trump’s consigliere, as it implies Trump is a mobster.
I swear after all of these, (I hope) there will be an epic movie made. Who can play Mueller my hero?
Robert de Niro ofcourse!
Hahahahah and somehow I want Tom Hanks to be in it too. No Leonardo please!
There will be so many films and books. I’m waiting for the 12-series HBO show delving into every sordid little detail.
Luke Wilson
Daniel Day Lewis will come out of retirement JUST for that role!
I want that. DDL is perfect.
This news has made me so happy!
Bwahahaha!!!
OMG this is epic. Beautiful. Some days I can’t with the Trumpster fire, I have to ignore and save sanity. But today is a small ray of sunshine.
The Fixer gets raided! Epic!! Strikes at the heart of decades of Trump crimes. I wonder if Felix Sater actually is talking.
I know it is off topic, but we often critique fashion here. His suit jacket looks so sloppy. Bunched up around the neck, shoulder pads up to his ears. His waddle is jangling out over his shirt collar. His jacket sleeves are all rumpled and his shirt sleeves are pinned too tight to wear a watch. Shouldn’t a fancy New York businessman be able to show off his Rolex? Or even have a suit that is measured to properly fit?
He looks like he just rolled out of a dryer set on the *tumble* cycle for 30 min.
Dude is a f*cking mess.
Yet he supposedly judges others based on how “camera ready” they are. Multiple stories have mentioned that, from thinking Bob C was too short to be Sec of State, and (more recently) that the attorney couple appeared “disheveled” after flying in to meet him.
Disheveled, coming from a hair sprayed combover, taped-tie kind of guy.
I must say, CNN was left on for the duration of our evening last night. I can’t wait for these rats to get what’s coming. Where’s Javanka hiding btw???
It’s just another Mueller Monday. Whoooaaa-oohh. Cause that’s my fun daaaay.
Love it ☺
What are the chances that Cohen had already destroyed anything seriously incriminating? He knew a warrant might be coming, and was possibly tipped off to this raid. The best thing for Trump would be the event of a raid turning up nothing. The most cynical part of me thinks the whole thing (including Trump’s outrage) has been staged.
But even if it wasn’t staged, wouldn’t Cohen had dumped anything really bad a few weeks ago?
There is ALWAYS a trail. They probably have plenty and if he destroyed evidence that is a crime. We don’t know how long they have been collecting evidence.
I know I am cynical too. I just don’t think these guys are as smart as they pretend.
Didn’t the Dotard say that he had no idea that Michel Cohen paid Stormy? So how can he then claim attorney client privilege?
The Dotard said that they gave Mueller thousands of documents, but based on Jared, Don, and many of the WH staff’s interactions with the House and Senate investigations, we know that they are withholding documents. I don’t understand why the Dotard and his staff keep lying to Mueller because he already knows everything.
If this is a witch hunt, then why has the Dotard and his puppets Nunes, Grassley, Graham, Gowdy, Jim Jordan, and Matt G done everything to possible to interfere and stop the investigation?
This news breaking yesterday gave me life. We stayed up to watch reports about it on MSNBC and CNN, and then I had Morning Joe on at six to watch the coverage on it.
What I can’t watch is recorded. I am here for all of it.
Something strange is going on. The press is depicting Michel Cohen as the victim. Cohen gave an exclusive interview to Don Lemon about the FBI raid and in exchange for that interview, Don ran a “woe is Cohen” update. He even went so far as to mention Cohen’s daughter and wife to get sympathy for Cohen. Where was Cohen’s concern for his wife and daughter when he was making threats to Stormy to stay quiet and bragged about how he went rogue when he paid off Stormy? The press has one job to do and they keep failing us. I’m so disappointed in Don Lemon for trying to normalize Cohen. Cohen is in this mess because he made the decision to do the wrong thing and then publicly bragged about it nonstop(bragging over and over again that he went behind the Dotard’s back and paid Stormy). Even after Stormy’s lawyer said that Cohen needs to be rethink his loyalty to the Dotard, Cohen continued to brag that he went behind the Dotard’s back and set up the deal with Stormy. Cohen had every chance to do the right thing, so why is the press now expecting the public to have sympathy for Cohen? He needs to be quiet and stop running from reporter to reporter. Did he not learn anything from Sam Nuneberg’s press whirlwind?
Another reporter said that the WH and Sarah researched whether or not the Dotard can fire Mueller. The most disturbing thing was when the reporter parroted Sarah’s talking point that the Dotard can fire Mueller as if he was fact. Did the reporter not learn anything from the Dotard’s caravan debacle? It would have been nice if the reporter asked Sarah if their research consisted of watching Fox News. Everyone knows that the Stephen Miller/Dotard WH is incompetent and too lazy to do research. It’s scary how these reporters fail to do their jobs and ask the right questions. They had Preet B fact check Sarah’s claim that the Dotard can fire Mueller and he read the rule out loud that says that the only person who can fire the special counsel is the person who hired him and he even pointed out that what Sarah says can’t be trusted because she lies so much.
Whatwhat- or if enough Republicans get worried enough to join with the Democrats on this. Not all of them are stupid enough to think all this will have no impact on their own chances for re-election and some may even care that we have a crooked Russian asset in the Oval Office