Month: May 2018

The Indicted

Here’s a list of everyone that has been indicted so far.

 

Paul Manafort – Former Campaign Manager to Donald Trump.  

Indictments first reported on Daily Check-In 10/30/2017

Paul Manafort has been indicted on about 30-40 charges of the following crimes, as of May 6, 2018:

  • Conspiracy Against the United States
  • Conspiracy to Launder Money
  • Failure to File Reports of of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts for several years (each year is a different charge)
  • Unregistered Agent of a Foreign Principal
  • False and Misleading FARA Statements
  • False Statements
  • Subscribing to False United States Individual Income Tax Returns, for multiple years
  • Assisting in the Preparation of False United States Individual Income
  • Bank Fraud Conspiracy, multiple counts
  • Bank Fraud, multiple counts

 

Paul Manafort is awaiting two trials, one in D.C. and the other in Eastern Virginia.  The trails are both scheduled for later 2018.

On June 8, 2018, Manafort was also indicted on the following charges, along with Kostantin Kilimnik

  • Conspiracy Against the United States
  • Conspiracy to Launder Money
  • Unregistered Agent of a Foreign Principal
  • False and Misleading FARA Statements
  • False Statements
  • Obstruction of Justice
  • Conspiracy to Obstruct Justice

On Daily Check-In 06/15/2018, Paul Manafort was remanded to prison, pending his trials.

On Daily Check-In 08/21/2018, Paul Manafort was found guilty on 8 felony counts from his trial in the Eastern District of Virginia.

On Daily Check-In 09/14/2018, Paul Manafort pleaded guilty to Conspiracy to Commit Witness Tampering and Conspiracy Against the United States.  He also pleaded guilty to the remaining charges from his EDVA trial.

On Daily Check-In 03/07/2019, Paul Manafort was sentenced to 47 months in prison for his EDVA conviction.

On Daily Check-In 03/13/2019, Paul Manafort was sentenced to 73 months in prison for his DC convictions.  He was also charged in New York for 16 felony counts. The State of New York charged Paul Manafort 3 counts of Residential Mortgage Fraud in the First Degree, Attempted Mortgage Fraud in the First Degree, 3 counts of Conspiracy in the Fourth Degree, 8 counts of Falsifying Business Records in the First Degree, and 1 count of Scheme to Defraud in the First Degree.

 

Rick Gates – Former Deputy Campaign Manager to Donald Trump.

Indictments first reported on Daily Check-In 10/30/2017

Arrested in October 2017.  Rick was originally charted with close to 30 white-collar felonies.  After a few months of back and forth, Gates pled guilty to one charge of Making False Statements to the FBI and one charge of Conspiracy Against the United States, as reported on Daily Check-In 02/20/2018.  The remainder of his charges were dropped as he became a cooperating witness.  Sentencing is still pending as of May 6, 2018.

 

George Papadopoulos – Former member of Trump’s Foreign Policy team.

Indictments first reported on Daily Check-In 10/30/2017

Arrested in July 2017, pled guilty to 1 charge of Making False Statements to the FBI, and became a cooperating witness. Sentencing is still pending as of May 6, 2018.

 

Michael Flynn – Former National Security Advisor.

Indictment first reported on Daily Check-In 12/01/2017.

Mike Flynn pled guilty to 1 charge of Making False Statements to the FBI, and became a cooperating witness.  Sentencing is still pending as of May 6, 2018.

 

Alex Van Der Zwaan – Former attorney to Rick Gates.

Indictment first reported on Daily Check-In 02/20/2018, the same day that Rick Gates pled guilty.

Alex was sentenced on Daily Check-In 04/03/2018 to 30 days in prison, a $20,000 fine, and 3 months probation.

On Daily Check-In 05/08/2018, Alex reported to prison to serve his sentence.  He was released on Daily Check-In 06/04/2018Daily Check-In 06/04/2018, and deported shortly thereafter.

Fun fact: Alex is the son-in-law of German Khan, a Russian Oligarch.  The law firm he worked at, Skadden Arps, also worked with Michael Cohen on his BuzzFeed lawsuit, and I’m looking for the story, but I recall hearing an office at one of their locations that was loaned out to Cohen was raided.

 

Richard Pinedo – Identity Thief.

Indictment first reported on Daily Check-in 02/16/2018.

From California, Richard ran an online company on the Dark Web called Auction Essentials.  This company provided Russians from the Internet Research Agency with the means to spoof PayPal security.

Richard Pinedo pled guilty to one charge of Identity Theft, and become a cooperating witness.

Mr. Pinedo was sentenced to 6 months in jail on +Daily Check-In 10/10/2018Daily Check-In 10/10/2018.

 

The Russian Troll Farm

Indictment first reported on Daily Check-in 02/16/2018.

The following companies and people were indicted for Conspiracy to Defraud the United States.  Those marked with an * are also charged with Conspiracy to Commit Wire Fraud and Bank Fraud.  Those marked with a ^ are also charged with Aggravated Identity Theft.

  • INTERNET RESEARCH AGENCY LLC *^
  • CONCORD MANAGEMENT AND CONSULTING LLC
  • CONCORD CATERING
  • DZHEYKHUN NASIMI OGLY ASLANOV *^
  • GLEB IGOREVICH VASILCHENKO *^
  • IRINA VIKTOROVNA KAVERZINA ^
  • VLADIMIR VENKOV ^
  • MIKHAIL IVANOVICH BYSTROV
  • MIKHAIL LEONIDOVICH BURCHIK
  • ALEKSANDRA YURYEVNA KRYLOVA
  • ANNA VLADISLAVOVNA BOGACHEVA
  • SERGEY PAVLOVICH POLOZOV
  • MARIA ANATOLYEVNA BOVDA
  • ROBERT SERGEYEVICH BOVDA
  • VADIM VLADIMIROVICH PODKOPAEV

 

Konstantin Kilimnik – “Kostya from the GRU”

Indictment first reported on Daily Check-In 06/08/2018

Konstantin, also known as “Kostya from the GRU”, was Manafort’s man in Kiev.  He worked with Manafort for more than a decade, helping him execute many illegal activities.  On June 8, 2018, he was indicted on the following charges, along with Paul Manafort.

  • Conspiracy Against the United States
  • Conspiracy to Launder Money
  • Unregistered Agent of a Foreign Principal
  • False and Misleading FARA Statements
  • False Statements
  • Obstruction of Justice
  • Conspiracy to Obstruct Justice

 

The Russian Troll Farm

Indictment first reported on Daily Check-In 07/13/2018

The following people were indicted for Conspiracy to Commit an Offense Against the United States and Money Laundering.  Those marked with * were also charged with Aggravated Identity Theft.  Those with ^ were charged with an additional count of Conspiracy to Commit an Offense Against the United States.

  • Viktor Borisovich Netyksho *
  • Boris Alekseyevich Antonov *
  • Dmitry Sergeyevich Badin *
  • Ivan Sergeyevich Yermakov *
  • Aleksey Viktorovich Lukashev *
  • Sergey Aleksandrovich Morgachev *
  • Nikolay Yuryevich Kozachek *
  • Pavel Vyacheslavovich Yershov *
  • Artem Andreyevich Malyshev *
  • Aleksandr Vladimirovich Osadchuk * ^
  • Aleksey Aleksandrovich Potemkin *
  • Anatoly Sergeyevich Kovalev ^

 

Sam Patten – Lobbyist for the Opposition Bloc and former member of Cambridge Analytica 

Indictment first reported on Daily Check-In 08/31/2018

Sam Patten was indicted on one count of violating the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA). He worked alongside Paul Manafort representing the Opposition Bloc, a political party in Ukraine comprised of the remnants of the Party of Regions, which fell apart after former President Viktor Yanukovitch was forced from office and fled to Moscow.  Sam also served as a Straw Buyer, or middleman, to launder foreign money into Trump’s Inauguration Committee, and worked at SCL/Cambridge Analytica from 2014 to 2015.

He pled guilty to this charge, and is now a cooperating witness for the Mueller Investigation.

 

Michael Cohen – Trump’s Personal Lawyer, Fixer, and Deputy Chair of the Republican National Committee.

Indictment first reported on Daily Check-In 08/21/2018

Cohen, Trump’s former personal lawyer, pled guilty to 5 counts of Tax Evasion, 1 count of Lying to a Bank, 1 count of Causing an Unlawful Corporate Contribution, and 1 count of Excessive Campaign Contribution.

Indicted on Daily Check-In 11/29/2018 for Lying to Congress.  This was part of his cooperation agreement with Mueller.

Cohen was sentenced to 3 years in prison on Daily Check-In 12/12/2018.

 

Roger Stone – Ratfucker Supreme, Campaign Advisor to Donald Trump.

Indictment first reported on Daily Check-In 01/25/2019

Roger Stone served at Trump’s dirty tricks man, or his ‘ratfucker.’  Roger coordinated the email drops between the Trump Campaign and WikiLeaks.  WikiLeaks received the stolen emails from the GRU.

Roger is charged with seven felonies.  One of them is Obstruction of Proceeding, since his lies impeded Congressional investigation.  Counts two through six are his various lies to Congress, and one count of Witness Tampering.

 

Gregory Craig – Lobbyist that worked for Ukraine, former Obama White House Counsel

Indictment first reported on The Last Few Days 04/14/2019

Craig was indicted for failing to register for FARA and making false statements to investigators on April 11, 2019.  He pleaded not guilty on April 12.

 

Not directly indicted by Mueller’s team, but indicted on a relevant investigation.  Case could have been sourced out to local U.S. Attorney’s Offices

Mariia Butina – Russian National and protege of Alexander Torshin

Indictment first reported on Daily Check-In 07/16/2018

Mariia, also known as Maria, was Alexander Torshin’s protege and served as a go-between or backchannel between Torshin, The Kremlin, the National Rifle Association, the Republican Party, and Donald Trump’s 2016 Presidential Campaign.

Maria has been indicted on one count of Conspiracy to act as an Agent of the Russian Federation, and Acting as a Foreign Agent.

Maria was sentenced to 18 months in prison on The Last Few Days 04/26/2019.

 

Paul Erickson – GOP Lobbyist

Indictment first reported on Daily Check-In 02/06/2019

Paul Erickson was Mariia’s boyfriend and co-conspirator in the United States.  He used his connections with various Republican and Right Wing organizations to help Miss Butina infiltrate the party on behalf of the Russians.  This includes the National Rifle Association.

Paul was indicted on one count of Wire Fraud and ten counts of Money Laundering.

 

Julian Assange – WikiLeaks Founder

Indictment first reported on The Last Few Days 04/14/2019

Julian Assange was indicted with Conspiracy to Commit Computer Intrusion.  This indictment was unsealed on April 11, 2019, and he was arrested in London by British police while leaving the Ecuadorian embassy.

On Check-In 05/23/2019 Assange was charged with violating the Espionage Act.

 

Michael Avenatti – Lawyer

Indictment first reported on The Last Few Days 04/14/2019

Avenatti was indicted on 36 counts of wire fraud, bank fraud, and bankruptcy fraud on April 11, 2019.

Avenatti was also charged with defrauding Stormy Daniels and attempting to extort Nike on Check-In 05/23/2019.

 

Not directly indicted by Mueller’s team, but indicted on related crimes and now cooperating witnesses.

Jeffrey Yohai – Real Estate Entrepreneur and Former Son-in-law of Paul Manafort

Indictment first reported on Daily Check-In 05/18/2018

Details of his indictment and plea deal are under seal as of May 22, 2018.

Jeff pled guilty as part of a plea deal against his former father-in-law Paul Manafort, and became a cooperating witness.  Jeff worked with Paul on multiple real estate deals that are suspected of being involved in money laundering.

 

Evgeny Freidman – The Taxi King

Indictment first reported on Daily Check-In 05/21/2018 (May 22)

Evgeny, a former business partner of Michael Cohen, pled guilty to one count of Tax Evasion of $50,000.  He received 5 years probation, and became a cooperating witness against Michael Cohen.

 

Not directly indicted by Mueller’s team, but indicted on related crimes.

Chris Collins, Representative from New York.

Indictment first reported on Daily Check-In 08/08/2018

Collins, the first member of Congress to endorse Donald Trump, was indicted for 1 count of Conspiracy to Commit Securities Fraud, 7 counts of Securities Fraud, 1 count each of Conspiracy to Commit Wire Fraud, Wire Fraud, and False Statements.

 

Duncan Hunter, Representative from California.

Indictment first reported on Daily Check-In 08/21/2018

Hunter, the second member of Congress to endorse Donald Trump, was indicted for Conspiracy, 43 counts of Wire Fraud (Yes, 43), 18 counts of Falsification of Records Related to Campaign Finance, and 3 counts of Prohibited Use of Campaign Contributions.

 

Elena Alekseenvna Khusyaynova, Accountant from Project Lakhta.

Indictment first reported on Daily Check-In 10/19/2018

Elena was the accountant in charge of Project Lakhta, Russia’s project to influence the 2018 Election.  She received a Criminal Complaint for Conspiracy to Defraud the United States.

 

Bijan Kian and Kamil Ekim Alptekin, Turkish nationals.

Indictment first reported on Daily Check-In 12/17/2018.

Bijan Kian was the second in command of Flynn Intel Group.  Kamil Alptekin set up Inovo BV, a Dutch company designed to hide payments from Turkey’s government.  Kamil and Bijan were both indicted for FARA violations and Acting as a Foreign Agent.

 

Natalia Veselnitskaya, Russian Lawyer and Spy.

Indictment first reported on Daily Check-In 01/08/2019.

Natalia Veselnitskaya is a Russian lawyer and spy with very close ties to the Kremlin.  She represented Putin’s government in the June 9th meeting.  Ms. Veselnitskaya was indicted on a count of Obstruction of Justice for her role in a 2014 civil case where she represented Prevezon Holdings.  That company had purchased a large number of real estate ventures in New York City using laundered funds gained through a tax scam perpetrated by the Russian government against Hermitage Capital.  This scam was uncovered by a Russian tax attorney named Sergei Magnitsky.  For his role in uncovering this corruption, he was arrested, tried, convicted, and eventually tortured to death.

She allegedly created a false paper trail with the Russian Prosecutor-General to cover up Prevezon’s involvement in this case, as well as her own.  These false documents were entered into evidence into SDNY and were meant to deflect the case away from her client.

 

Stephen M. Calk, Banker.

Indictment first reported on Check-In 05/23/2019.

Stephen Calk was indicted for Financial Institution Bribery for approving loans to Paul Manafort in exchange for a position in the Trump Administration.

 

George Nader, Advisor and Consultant to Trump Campaign and Erik Prince

Indictment first reported on Check-In 06/04/2019.

George Nader was indicted for transporting child pornography into the United States.

Daily Check-In 05/04/2018

  • May the 4th be with you.

 

THE RUSSIAN INVESTIGATION

 

COHEN

The school accepts almost anyone who can pay the $51,000 annual tuition bill—more than 85 percent of its applicants were admitted last year. Fewer than half of its graduates manage to pass a bar exam on their first try; among all law school graduates in the country, about 75 percent pass on their first attempt. The 46-year-old school has had to go to court over the past year to fight for its accreditation from the American Bar Association, which found that the school was out of compliance on basic admission standards for a time. Last year, the National Advisory Council for Law School Transparency gave Cooley a ranking no school wants: It was No. 1 on the group’s list of “the 10 least selective law schools in the country.

I’ve described before how bad Cooley Law School is.  I’ve been seriously tempted to take the LSAT, just to see if I could score higher than their admissions guidelines, and I’m not a lawyer or legal scholar.

Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer, gained access to as much as $774,000 through two financial transactions during the 2016 presidential campaign as he sought to fix problems for his boss, public records show.

Those transactions could factor into a broad investigation of Mr. Cohen’s business affairs being conducted by Manhattan federal prosecutors and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, who are examining whether Mr. Cohen violated any laws in his efforts to raise cash and conceal negative information about Mr. Trump, according to people familiar with the matter. Those include transactions tied to his credit line and his ownership of real estate and taxi medallions, the people said.

Cohen’s slush fund was three quarters of a million dollars during the campaign?  That’s like, 5 or 6 Stormy’s at a time.

 

STORMYGATE

 

RUDY

I’ll cover the broke part down in the Rumor Mill section, along with a crazy hypothesis I have about his behavior, that doesn’t include dementia, or being mobbed up to his nuts.

 

THE PROPAGANDA MACHINE:  THE JOURNALISTS STRIKE BACK

Welcome to the weirdest timeline.  It’s taken a year and a half for the White House Press Corp to call out their lies, and Tom Arnold is now an investigative journalist.

Reality just jumped the shark.

 

DOCTOR, DOCTOR

Dr. Jen Peña, who like Jackson is a military physician detailed to the White House, was among those who detailed claims of professional misconduct against Jackson to senators considering his nomination, according to a person familiar with the events.

If this is what I think it is, it is a clear violation of the military whistleblower protection act.

 

WHITE HOUSE CHAOS

The government of Qatar bought a $6.5m apartment in one of Donald Trump’s New York towers soon after the dismissal of a lawsuit that tried to stop the president benefiting from such deals.

Qatar’s mission to the United Nations signed a deal for the condominium at Trump World Tower on 17 January, according to city records. The purchase means that the Middle Eastern state now owns four units in the building, for which it paid $16.5m.

 

COLD WAR 2.0

 

#NEVERAGAIN

 

CRIME AND PUNISHMENT

YAVIN IV — The Rebel High Command announced Thursday it had indicted several Rebel officers for fraud and bribery, including the legendary Adm. Gial Ackbar.

Ackbar, along with several other senior members of the Rebel Alliance, are suspected of an elaborate scandal involving the notorious intergalactic gangster, “Fat Jabba.”

According to investigators, Rebel Calamari cruisers, Corellian Corvettes, and Nebulon-B frigates would frequently dock at spaceports owned by Fat Jabba, who would charge the Rebel Alliance double the normal rate for space fuel. In exchange, Ackbar was treated to lavish seafood dinners, tickets to see the Max Rebo band, and was frequently seen with a pair of Twi’lek prostitutes.

Authorities arrested Ackbar and other Rebel officers in a massive sting operation, eventually catching Ackbar mid-coitus with an underage Ewok while staying in a luxurious Coruscant hotel. Still, lawyers for Ackbar have alleged that Rebel authorities themselves are guilty of entrapment.

“It’s a trap!” Ackbar said in a written statement.

Rebel Alliance officials were tight-lipped over any punishment Ackbar may receive for siphoning off billions of New Republic credits to a disreputable criminal, but sources indicate Rebel leader Mon Mothma is considering demoting Ackbar to lieutenant colonel and retiring him with full benefits.

It’s such a shame what happened to the Admiral, but going into business with the Hutt Crime Family is just beyond the pale.  And don’t even get me started on the allegations about the underage Ewok, or the apologists saying “that’s their culture.”  That’s just wrong.

 

GOP:  THE PARTY OF LINCOLN IS DEAD

 

BLUE WAVE

 

SAY GOODBYE TO THE ECONOMY

 

RUMOR MILL:  TRUMP BROKE AS A JOKE

Here’s a question…

Why did it take several months for Donald Trump, a supposed billionaire, four months to pay back Michael Cohen $130,000?

Assuming if what Rudy said on Wednesday was correct (Daily Check-In 05/02/2018) which is a big if, why did it take a billionaire four months to pay off $130,000?  A billionaire paying off that amount of money would be like a regular working Joe taking four months to pay off a meal at Wendy’s.

So why is that?  I can come up with two reasons, and neither of them are good for Trump.

The first is they split the payments up to cover their tracks for reporting purposes.  This makes the most sense if he’s trying to hide the payment.  Problem with this thought is Trump doesn’t give a fuck about consequences or getting caught doing something wrong.  Plus, this plan involves forethought, and nothing that he’s done at any point implies planning or forethought.  Everything with him is reaction.

The second reason that it took four months for Trump to pay back Cohen is because he didn’t have the cash to pay him.  Why?  He’s broke.

There are three basic definitions of a billionaire.  First is someone who makes a billion dollars or more a year. The second is someone whose net worth is more than a billion dollars.  The third is someone who owns more than a billion dollars in assets, regardless of debts.

Trump’s not a billionaire, not by the first two definitions.  His revenue stream is far less than a billion dollars per year, and he’s mortgaged out the ass.  By recent accounts, he’s nearly $300 million in the hole.  Almost all of his properties are upside down.  His cash flow is completely dependent on his money laundering, but even that has dried up a bit as he’s under scrutiny.  He can’t pull $130,000 out of his at a moment’s notice.  It took a couple months to scrape the cash together.

Don’t get me wrong, he’s not rolling pennies for gas broke, or ramen noodles every night for dinner broke, but he’s not buying a fleet of Ferraris with the spare money in his pockets.

 

That’s it for today.  Hopefully I’ll get something written this weekend, but I’m making no promises.  Maybe a pledge to do what I can, but no promises.

 

Thank you, and have a good one.

 

“Without Journalists, it’s just propaganda.”

– Katy Tur

Daily Check-In 05/03/2018

Thursday, May 3rd.

 

COHEN:  TO WIRETAP OR NOT TO WIRETAP

I was going to go into this nice, long description of how a wiretap works, but then NBC corrected the story that it wasn’t a wiretap, but a pen register.  Now, I’ve got to explain both, and the difference.

A pen register is when law enforcement sees who calls the target, and who the target calls.  They can’t monitor what the call was about, but can see how long the call lasted, and how often they called.

A wiretap goes a step above the pen register and actively monitors the calls for content.  There are several restrictions on a wiretap.  For example, if the call is privileged communication, or after 30 seconds it the call isn’t about anything criminal, then law enforcement has to hang up.  If the call goes on for a long time, they can check back in to see if the conversation has turned back to illegal stuff.  There’s a scene from Casino where they went through the details.  I tried to find it, but after a half hour of searching and not finding the clip, I give up.

I’m not surprised by this, to be honest.  The Feds were monitoring Cohen’s emails and phone lines for weeks, if not months before they raided his shit.  While checking the phone records, they saw who was calling, and when.  But there are two big takeaways from today.

First, a pen register is used when the Feds suspect that a crime is ongoing.  If there was a past crime, they would just look at the phone records on file.

Second, at least one of the calls they recorded came from the White House.

 

THE RUSSIAN INVESTIGATION:  MUELLER ORDERS 70 BLANK SUBPOENAS, SIDE OF COLE SLAW TO GO

70 blank subpoenas for July.

STORMYGATE/RUDY CROSSOVER CLUSTERFUCK

 

DOCTOR, DOCTOR

 

COLD WAR 2.0

 

HAPPY NATIONAL DAY OF PRAYER

 

WHITE HOUSE CHAOS

 

#NEVERAGAIN

 

CAMBRIDGE ANALYTICA AND FACEBOOK

 

CRIME AND PUNISHMENT

 

SAY GOODBYE TO THE ECONOMY

 

RUMOR MILL

Here’s an interesting hypothesis:  What if Michael Cohen outranks Donald Trump in the mob?  Is that even possible?

I don’t necessarily buy it right now, but it’s 2018.  This is the year that a porn star’s attorney is bitchslapping the combined legal expertise of the White House.

 

 

 

 

 

 

That’s it for today.  Today is very light on my information.  Today was a very busy day, and I didn’t spend nearly as much time as I have on the entry recently.  Tomorrow should be back to normal.

 

Thank you, and have a good one.

 

“Without Journalists, it’s just propaganda.”

– Katy Tur

 

 

 

 

Daily Check-In 05/02/2018

Wednesday May 2nd.

 

THE RUSSIAN INVESTIGATION

Robert Mueller wants to question President Donald Trump about a change to the 2016 Republican Party platform’s language about Ukraine and Russia, rekindling a subject that House Republicans dismissed as a nonstarter.

After news broke Monday night of an effort by conservative House Republicans to draft impeachment papers against Rosenstein, just in case they’re needed, he issued a striking rebuke for a top Justice Department official. He first noted that “nobody has the courage to put their name on” the impeachment document and poked at its authors for leaking word of their efforts.

Then came this: “I think they should understand by now that the Department of Justice is not going to be extorted,” Rosenstein said. “We’re going to do what’s required by the rule of law, and any kind of threats that anybody makes are not going to affect the way we do our job.”

“Extorted.” The guy who is in charge of the scope of the Russia investigation just accused House Republicans of attempted extortion.

Cobb, who served as the White House point person in dealing with special counsel Robert S. Mueller III, is stepping down, according to senior administration officials.

He is expected to be replaced by Williams & Connolly partner Emmet T. Flood, a Republican defense lawyer who helped President Bill Clinton during impeachment proceedings and was interviewed by President Trump earlier this year.

“For several weeks, Ty Cobb has been discussing his retirement and last week he let Chief of Staff Kelly know he would retire at the end of this month,” White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in a statement.

 

COHEN

Long before he was a personal attorney to President Donald Trump, Michael Cohen was a personal injury lawyer for clients who reportedly staged car accidents to collect hefty sums from insurance companies and worked for other clients involved in medical insurance schemes.

Cohen, whose office and residence were raided by the FBI as part of an unrelated investigation, has come under fire for his work for Trump over the last decade. But prior to his gaining Trump’s attention, Cohen represented clients who would rent cars and trucks, along with insurance, and careen the vehicles into friends’ cars for a huge payout, according to a Rolling Stone investigation published Tuesday.

For instance, in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn in 1999, the car Tara Pizzingrillo was sitting in was struck by a rental car driven by Brian McFarland. Three years later, Cohen represented Pizzingrillo and filed a complaint seeking $1 million from the rental company’s parent company, ELRAC Inc.

But as that case continued, both McFarland and Pizzingrillo were indicted in a similar scheme involving U-Haul trucks and slamming into other vehicles. Passengers in the struck vehicles would then claim personal injury and seek a payout.

Holy shit, Michael Cohen is a real-life version of Saul Goodman.  The only thing missing from his story is a chemistry teacher making meth out of an RV.

 

STORMYGATE

This story came out at 10PM EST.  Right as I should be finishing up, but this is such a WTAF, that it needs a few paragraphs.

Rudy Giuliani, former Mayor of New York City, former U.S. Attorney in SDNY, went on Fox News and shat the bed.

While he was there to talk about the Russian Investigation, and after calling FBI agents “Stormtroopers,” (Nazi, not Imperial), and after attacking James Comey pretty damn hard, Sean Hannity asked Rudy to stay on and answer some questions about Michael Cohen and Stormy Daniels.  Rudy said “sure”, and done fucked up.

How bad did he fuck up?  Let me count the ways…

  • Rudy said that Trump reimbursed Michael Cohen for paying Stormy Daniels.
  • Rudy said that Trump paid him back over months.
  • Rudy said that Trump paid Cohen through a law firm.
  • Rudy said that Trump used his own money.
  • Rudy said that Trump can use as much of his own money to pay his campaign as he wants.
  • Rudy said that James Comey was fired because he wouldn’t say that Trump wasn’t a target.

If Rudy had dropped his trousers, shit on the floor, grabbed the shit, smeared it on the wall, and painted a scene of a lynching from 1930’s Alabama while singing some Kanye, then started masturbating furiously over his own painting, he still wouldn’t have fucked up as bad as he did in that interview.

Trump has said repeatedly that he knew nothing about the payment to Stormy Daniels.  Rudy said that was a lie.

Cohen said he wasn’t reimbursed for the payment.  Rudy said he was, and that the money was “shuffled” from Trump to Cohen through a law firm.  The legal term for that is Money Laundering.

Rudy said the payment was made over months.  If it was structured in a way to avoid tax reporting or campaign finance reporting, that’s a felony.

If Trump used his own money, and reimbursed Cohen for this payment, and the payment is an in-kind campaign contribution, and it wasn’t reported, that’s a felony.

If Trump is using campaign as a slush fund, and dumping cash into it willy nilly, he’s got even more legal troubles.

If Trump fired Comey for not clearing him in an investigation, that’s Obstruction of Justice.

Rudy done fucked up.

 

DOCTOR, DOCTOR

What ought to worry Trump is not the shattering of his image as the “healthiest individual ever elected to the presidency”; what should concern him is that Bornstein is suddenly saying unhelpful things in the press — and that could embolden others who feel burned by Trump to do the same.

…

Cohen and Bornstein have similar reasons to feel betrayed by Trump. The Washington Post reported last month that Cohen was, at one point, a leading candidate to become White House counsel and felt wounded by his ultimate rejection.

…

Bornstein reportedly hoped to accompany Trump to the White House, too, but was similarly left behind. He told NBC that early last year, after he disclosed the president’s use of a drug that can be used to treat hair loss and an enlarged prostate, he received an angry phone call from Trump’s longtime assistant. “So you wanted to be the White House doctor? Forget it, you’re out,” she allegedly said.

I didn’t write about this yesterday when this broke yesterday, but here’s the short version…

Dr. Bornstein, the hippy dippy looking doctor that served Trump for 35 years had his office illegally raided by Keith Schiller and a couple others.  They took Trump’s medical records, illegally.

During an interview with NBC News, Bornstein also revealed that Trump dictated the “extremely healthy” letter that sounded like it was written by a six year old with a brain tumor.  That explains a lot…

Trump’s showing that he has no loyalty to his supporters.  Once this sinks in to them, it’s on like Donkey Kong.  Nothing is more dangerous than a wronged fanatic.

 

COLD WAR 2.0

As soon as Ukraine dropped their investigations into Paul Manafort, the Trump Administration changed their minds on selling anti-tank missiles to them.

I wonder, does extorting a foreign nation into dropping an investigation count as Obstruction of Justice?

That’s right baby, the United Kingdom passed the Magnitsky Act, and he’s going to work on getting our cousins down under to join the train.

More good news for Bill, he gets to file another affidavit against the Cypriot Attorney General (or lead attorney) to keep him from cooperating from Russia’s attempts to prosecute Browder.

 

#NEVERAGAIN

 

CAMBRIDGE ANALYTICA AND FACEBOOK

Beware of Emerdata

  • The power players behind Cambridge Analytica have set up a new company and the daughters of Donald Trump-supporting billionaire Robert Mercer have just joined as directors
  • Rebekah and Jennifer Mercer joined Emerdata on March 16, but it is shrouded in mystery.
  • Alexander Nix, the suspended CEO of Cambridge Analytica, is also a director, as well as other executives from parent firm SCL Group.
  • Emerdata also lists Johnson Chun Shun Ko, a Chinese executive from Frontier Services Group, the military firm chaired by prominent Trump supporter Erik Prince.
  • It isn’t clear what Emerdata does, though the company is listed under “data processing, hosting, and related activities.” It shares an address in Canary Wharf with Cambridge Analytica’s parent, SCL Group.

 

 

THE PROPAGANDA MACHINE

 

WHITE HOUSE CHAOS

 

CRIME AND PUNISHMENT

“Marco Polo” producer Alexandra Canosa, who hit Weinstein with a Manhattan Supreme Court lawsuit in December, filed paperwork Monday detailing his alleged sexual impropriety. Weinstein was an executive producer of the Netflix series.

Canosa charges that Weinstein sexually assaulted her on Aug. 12, 2010, in the Tribeca Grand hotel, and that his “misconduct” continued until September 2017 — about one month before bombshell reports detailed numerous allegations against him.

During this period, “Harvey Weinstein constantly threatened Plaintiff and made it clear that if she did not succumb to his demands for sexual contact or if she exposed his unwanted conduct there would be retaliation, including humiliation, the loss of her job and loss of any ability to work in the entertainment business,” she alleges in court papers.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Donald Trump has again asked a U.S. court to dismiss a suit accusing him of flouting constitutional safeguards against corruption by refusing to separate himself from his business empire while in office, claiming “absolute immunity.”

Absolute immunity?  Are you fucking kidding me?  What’s he going to claim next, that the Frog King of Rigel 6 has bestowed upon him Super Immunity?

Check out Lincoln’s Bible in the Rumor Mill for more ties between Hobby Lobby, Mark Burnett, and ISIS.  Yes, ISIS.

 

GOP:  THE PARTY OF LINCOLN IS DEAD

Vice President Mike Pence is literally praising a convicted felon as a shining example of the “Rule of Law.”  In this case, “Rule of Law” means being a racist prick.  So, by that definition…

The Speaker of the House of Representatives just admitted to using his office to cover up and run interference for President Trump.  Let that sink in.

BLUE WAVE

 

SAY GOODBYE TO THE ECONOMY

Yep, gas prices are rising.  Right after I traded in a Fiat for a Minivan.

PUFF, PUFF, PASS

 

RUMOR MILL

Lincoln’s Bible has done a lot of research into Mark Burnett, Executive Producer for many reality shows, including The Apprentice.  LB’s been on this for a long time, and when tapes from The Apprentice drop, I wouldn’t be surprised if LB’s on the front line of that battle.

 

That’s it for today.  Shit’s getting crazy, yo.  At this point, it looks like Trump thinks he can fight his way out of the investigation.  He’s abandoned all pretense of listening to advice, and will try anything to protect himself.

Rudy’s fuck up throws a wrench in things. What he said will play to the Fox News crowd, but everyone else, including the Federal prosecutors trying the Cohen case, will take this information and run with it.

It feels like something big is coming this week, especially now that we’re getting tons of leaks from and about the Trump legal team.

Hopefully, it’s not too crazy.  I’ve got a ton of things to do.  That being said, get ready for history.

 

Thank you, and have a good one.

 

“Without Journalists, it’s just propaganda.”

– Katy Tur