Darlings rejoice! Michael Cohen is really in a world of hurt and nobody is shedding a tear for the bagman for Donald Trump. Michael Cohen is in very serious legal jeopardy because a judge would not have issued a warrant without cause to believe a crime had been committed. Cohen and Trump have already confessed publicly that the NDA with Stormy Daniels was fraudulent. Cohen has also publicly stated that he obtained money from the bank on his house mortgage to pay off Stormy Daniels implying that he lied to the bank about the application of the money. Furthermore, Cohen paid the money by bank transfer lying again on the reason for the transfer. There is still the issue of how Cohen reported the money on his tax return and whether he claimed interest on that money as a tax deduction. There is a lot of airborne feces heading Cohen's way. On top of all that, Trump will likely be forced to fire Cohen. Then the much chastened and prosecuted Cohen will have to face a Stormy suit. Rejoice, friends. Cohen will be introduced to the justice system. https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2018/04/11/trump-cohen-fbi-raid-office-panic-217847
Cohen and AMI maintained a large catalog of compromising material on Trump. Whether they intended to use it against Trump, it is probably in the interest of national security to seize any blackmail material instead of leaving it at Cohen's house or office.
judgement day has been just around the corner for long enough that you should really consider the idea that it might never happen
Nope. They can attempt to go after Cohen with their campaign finance thing if they can demonstrate intent, they can go after his taxi medallions (which is what this is really about those things are like a licence to print money), but anything else they might find has to be tossed.
Unless Cohen flips on Trump to get a plea deal. Cohen could expose Trump on any number of illegal activities unrelated to the Russian investigation to the NY investigators. That is why Mueller was smart in turning it over to the NY office - an office that specializes in money laundering and Mafia activities.
My prediction: he committed a felony and he knows it. He said the FBI was professional but was still traumatizing for his family. He will look out for his family by turning on Trump like Flynn did.
Actually he could only be compelled to speak about things relative to what confidential matters would be nullified should he himself suffer conviction. Basically he cant just go saying anything (not that there is anything to say). Now if he was somehow found guilty of campaign finance violations then he would be able to speak about the Stormy ordeal but that would be it. And if he deiced to break confidentiality he would be subject to prosecution from the other end of the spectrum. So imagine you're Cohen. If you were convicted of this minor campaign finance thing you'd face a small to moderate fine and probation. If you broke confidentiality you'd face financial damages in the tens to hundreds of millions, you'd be disbarred, and you may also face criminal charges that come with jail time depending upon the laws of the State. Remember, the privilege of confidentiality belongs to the client ...not the attorney.
Given Cohen's long reported association with shady Russian and Ukrainian Mafia figures, I doubt that campaign finance is all he is being investigated for. https://www.rollingstone.com/politi...-and-trump-w518941?google_editors_picks=true#
Lol.... Oh you guys .... I heard you need iron clad proof for a FISA warrant as well. . Oh, never mind. .
No. Because the FBI has evidence that Cohen committed criminal acts on behalf of his client ... Donald Trump. That's why they got a search warrant so easily and Cohen's employer fired him just after.
Dig through a lawyer of that caliber's history and you'll find all sorts of bones. My question for you is are you going to be this adamant about digging through the next President and their circle? Or is this just a Trump thing?
I think it is important to know where the income and loans of ANY President are coming from. We need to determine if there are conflicts of interest or any possibility of black-mail. ANY President. It's one of the reason's I could not vote for Clinton. Any Clinton.
HAhahaha ok ...share that information with us then. Go ahead, tell me alllllll about this "evidence" and these "crimes".
It does, except there is an Crime-Fraud Exception to attorney-client privilege https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/the-crime-fraud-exception-the-attorney-client-privilege.html
Its going to be such a subjective worthless waste of time because these top tier players can cloak and redirect their **** to such amazing degrees. The only thing that would be served would be a witch hunt media frenzy designed to disrupt the Presidency. Far better off just letting checks and balances do their thing OR ...pass a law that says a President cant be someone with great personal wealth.
This. Hell, they dug through my personal finances, personal dealings, and circle of associates (as well as submit to a polygraph) just to obtain a run of the mill ts security clearance to do IT work. Should we expect a lower bar for the leader of our country? We the people deserve to know who might hold influence over our president.
Its circular, do you see the problem? They cant break confidentiality to justify obtaining the evidence they need to justify breaking confidentiality.
6 months ago, Trump's investigation was supposedly a nothing burger. Today, his lawyer and three of his close advisers are indicted.
Cohen will be hung, drawn and quartered. Financially and morally bankrupted. Even if he escapes incarceration, Cohen will be so toxic nobody will do business with him for fear of drawing the FBI's attention to them.
No, no no no. You tell us right now what you meant when you said: "Because the FBI has evidence that Cohen committed criminal acts on behalf of his client ... Donald Trump." What is the evidence? What is the crime?
As the Justice Department is part of those checks and balances, let them do their thing. And I do think that a President, ANY President, should have to disclose any and all loans from foreign or domestic sources and all sources of income. The fact that he/she may be wealthy is not the issue. It's where that wealth originated.
That's why this Cohen raid is so surprising and important. You have to have absolute and direct evidence that the Lawyer is breaking the law to get a Federal Judge to sign off on the Warrant. I was reading a law firm message board to see of any examples and most had never heard of it happening. One guy was saying that a crooked lawyer his Law Office was prosecuting had to get a video of him taking a gun case into his office an hour after his clients wife was killed by gunshot. It's extraordinary and requires independent evidence to get a warrant signed off on.