Tag: Politics

Daily Check-In 03/12/2019

Tuesday, March 12, 2019.  The best story of the day is down in the Student Issues section.

 

THE RUSSIAN INVESTIGATION

Flynn

Flynn’s testifying against Bijan Kian, his former partner at Flynn Intel Group.  He’s asking for another delay of 90 days.  His last court appearance went poorly for him (Daily Check-In 12/18/2018).

 

Manafort

Manafort is due in DC court Wednesday for his sentencing for violating his guilty plea, and Mueller is also seeking civil asset forfeiture as well.

Let’s see if this goes better than last week’s sentencing (Daily Check-In 03/07/2019).

Stone

 

Congress

 

 

 

COHEN, NEW YORK, AND THE OTHER LAWSUITS

Double Jeopardy

This is a game changer.  New York is looking to modify their double jeopardy statute to include an exception in the case of presidential pardons.  This would let the state bring criminal charges for which someone received a presidential pardon and there is overlap between a state law and federal law.  For example, if this change goes through and Paul Manafort gets pardoned for witness tampering, New York could charge him with their version of witness tampering if it occurred in New York.  This opens the door to Enterprise Corruption charges, New York’s version of RICO.

 

NYAG Investigations into Trump’s Businesses

 

Stormy Daniels

 

CONGRESS

 

 

 

TRUMP THE RUSSIAN ASSET A.K.A. INDIVIDUAL-1

737 Max 8 Crash

 

 

Budget

 

 

TRAITOR TOTS

 

FIGHTING BACK

 

EMERGENCIES, SHUTDOWN & IMMIGRATION

 

RACISM, RIGHT WING TERRORISM, & WHITE NATIONALISM

 

#METOO & WOMEN’S RIGHTS

 

 

COLD WAR 2.0

 

#NEVERAGAIN

 

FIXING THE INTERNET

 

THE PROPAGANDA MACHINE

 

WHITE HOUSE CHAOS

 

TRADE WAR, HEALTH CARE, AND ECONOMY

 

STUDENT ISSUES

Aunt Becky from Full House got busted?  Have Mercy… I guess I’ll have to cut it out…  Wake Up San Francisco! This is a major scandal.

Ok, that’s enough.  The Pun Jar now holds $307.

I spent a couple hours reading the criminal complaint, and it is amazing.  And depressing.  CW stands for Cooperating Witness.

Here’s the short version: CW-1, a guy out of Florida running Key Worldwide Foundation, ran a scheme to help rich people get their undeserving children into prestigious schools.  Now, this isn’t exactly new, rich people have paid to put their dimwitted children in fancy colleges ever since colleges were created.  But the way this scheme was executed was blatantly illegal.

CW-1 would have the parents pay him $15,000 to have someone, CW-2, help their children cheat on the SAT and ACT college board tests.  These are standardized tests that most colleges use to determine if a student is smart enough to enter and have caused stress and nightmares in generations of high school students.  They would do this by getting the parents to register their kids at a friendly location where CW-2 would either take the test for them or give them the answers.  If that wasn’t good enough to get these dumbass kids into school, CW-1 would use what he called the “Side Door” option.

CW-1 told these parents that there were three ways to get their kids into school.  The first was through the front door, on their own merits.  The second was the back door, either by knowing someone or donating a large amount of money to the school.  The third was through the side door, by exploiting a loophole reserved for student athletes.

Schools have different admissions guidelines for different groups.  That includes athletes.  For example, University of Southern California might reject most students with less than a 1400 out of 1600 on their SAT’s or a 34 out of 36 on the ACT, but they’ll let athletes in if they scored above 1200 or 30.  That’s what CW-1 took advantage of.

CW-1 worked with the parents and the schools to scheme the kids into school by saying they were student athletes in sports that were at the schools, even if they never played a sport.  CW-1 would work out a deal with someone like a coach or a person in the athletic director’s office to strike a deal.  The school would officially recruit the kid on one of the sports teams, and in exchange the parents would pay a hefty bribe to the person.  CW-3, the Yale Women’s Soccer Coach, accepted a $400,000 bribe for one kid.

My guess is that’s how they got caught.  A college soccer coach for an Ivy League school makes a decent amount of money, but they don’t make nearly half a million dollars.  They almost certainly don’t make that much money regularly enough to not draw suspicion from the bank.  Almost certainly the bank filed a Suspicious Activity Report on the transaction.  Per standard bank procedure, both the person receiving the check and writing the check will get some scrutiny.  This got reported to the Treasury.  At the same time CW-2 listed his income as gifts and not income, so the IRS went up his ass with a magnifying glass.  These two things likely led to the FBI getting involved.

So far 50 people have been charged with fraud, and all of the CW’s are looking at lot more than that.  And this is just the tip of the iceberg.  CW-1 ran this scheme sine 2011, and got caught in the last year.  He also bragged about how he did this hundreds of times.

 

I really hate defending anything related to Jared Kushner, but this is a different situation than what came down.

The criminal complaint uncovered a scheme in which dozens if not hundreds of rich people paid a company to cheat on the ACT’s and SAT’s on behalf of their kids, and when that still wasn’t enough to get their kids into the schools of their choice, they bribed individuals and committed fraud by pretending that their kids were student athletes.

Kushner’s situation was a straight-up pay-for-play bribe.  Charlie Kushner donates $2.5 million to build a library for the school, and in exchange his kids get in the door.  Is it corrupt and immoral?  Yes.  But at the same time, that money went on to help every student who has since gone to school and used that library.

Go to any college in America and there are buildings that have someone’s name on them.  They’re an influential alumni, a big pocket donor, or some legacy.  A lot of times that person cut a check to the school as part of a quid pro quo.  They wanted their kids to go to this school, but the kids themselves weren’t deserving.  So, Mommy and Daddy paid for a new law library or business college or athletic practice field, and now their kids are enrolled.

The dividing line is on how the money is used, how much cheating is done, and how often this happens.  There’s a world of difference between the occasional large endowment and institutionalized cheating and fraud.

 

 

GOP: THE PARTY OF LINCOLN IS DEAD

 

CRIME AND PUNISHMENT

 

PRIESTS & RELIGION

 

ENVIRONMENT & SCIENCE

 

ELECTIONS

 

THINKING AHEAD

 

IN OTHER NEWS…

 

RUMOR MILL

 

That’s it for Tuesday.  Damn, it’s a busy one.  But there’s one thing I’m torn about and the kids involved in this scheme.

On one hand, they cheated to get in.  How fucking stupid does one have to be to not think that it’s weird as hell that they’re taking the SAT’s by themselves and the proctor is giving them the answers or taking the test for them, and not be in on the scam?  Surely, they had to know that something was up when their parents told them they were taking the test at a separate location away from their classmates.  Their classmates who, like them, grew up a privileged life.  They cheated to get in and lied on their college applications.  You know damn well if they were poor, black kids they’d have been expelled from school before the end of the day.

On the other hand, what have they done since they got to school?  If they’ve been upstanding students, stayed out of trouble, and done everything they should then maybe they can be redeemed.  After all, it’s not completely their fault that their parents are lying, cheating, felonious assholes.  If they’re a waste of space however, kick their asses out.

Wednesday brings new sentences and new charges for Paul Manafort.  I’ll definitely talk about that later.

 

Thank you, and have a good one.

 

“Without Journalists, it’s just propaganda.”

– Katy Tur

Daily Check-In 03/11/2019

Monday, March 11, 2019

 

THE RUSSIAN INVESTIGATION

As I reported yesterday (Daily Check-In 03/08/2019), Erik Prince tried to blame the transcript.  I was curious about how that would work and how the transcripts were made, and I was lucky enough to stumble along a Reddit comment thread  with user /u/horseandeggshells.  The posts here and here highlight how ridiculously difficult it would be to forget an entire sentence.

So, about that transcript. There was one person there stenoing, one person offsite doing something called “scoping,” i.e., basically going over the transcript and fixing any errors and cleaning up code.

It would then go to production, where a third person would look for any mistakes (without audio, except where necessary).

But here’s the best part: It then goes to GPO, who go over it again.

And sometimes, a proofist, or “beta,” is used to listen to the whole thing again, start to finish. This would occur before the production phase.

The possibility of something that significant being missing from the transcript is impossible.

EDIT: It is also possible that attorneys involved in the case would be given a chance to review the transcript, as well, and would provide an errata sheet. If everyone agrees, the fixes are put into the transcript; if not, it can either be ignored or placed as an addendum Exhibit if one party protests enough.

This is where I counted up the people involved.

So, before it would ever gets released, it goes through 3 or 4 congressional employees, a member of the GPO, and the lawyers involved for all parties to make sure that everyone is on the same page.

I was corrected on one of my points.

Members, plural. At least two: one to do the full listen and proof, one to do word count to pay the stenographer (and perform similar functions to the production process) and properly mark and insert all exhibits that were entered into the record during the hearing.

And I’m not sure if this is the case with this Committee, but every Committee I am familiar with removes contractions. In other words, “I’m” will be changed to “I am.”

Now, I’m going by memory on this, but I’m pretty sure it dates back to back when the telephone industry got broken up. A “can” got through the proofing process, when it should have been “can’t.” This had significant ramifications to the policy being written.

I’m not saying that, even with all this due diligence, that something like “the the” won’t pop up every once in a while. What I am saying is there is literally no way a full sentence could be omitted.

If every possible thing went wrong, i.e. GPO accidentally deleted a line right before final submission, it would still get caught because the contracted production team always matches its word count to that of the GPO, using the same calculation software. The count would be off and GPO would have to start over.

I’ve worked in an ancillary position to the Senate for 15 years and I am not aware of that ever happening, and it is something I would almost certainly have direct knowledge of.

The GPO, the U.S. Government Publishing Office, has multiple sets of eyes on these transcripts, so it’s not just Congress handling these.  By the time a transcript gets released, it has to go through a stenographer, a person doing scoping, a third person in production looking for mistakes, at least two people in the GPO, a proofist to verify accuracy, then likely the legal teams of everyone involved in the hearing.  By the time the transcript is official, at least 7 people have gone over it, and at least one of them represents the witness.

7 people sign off on the transcript before it becomes official.  So either 7 people who do this for a living all made the exact same mistake, or Erik Prince is full of shit.  The simplest explanation is the latter.  Of course, that won’t stop the MAGA crowd from screaming “the transcripts are bad” from their parents basement or their motorized scooters on their way to Walmart.  This will be the next ‘Deep State’ controversy, but I want to kill it before it grows.

 

 

CONGRESS

1/ Pelosi is doing absolutely the right thing viz impeachment. It’s the right politics and it’s the right policy.

2/ The symbolism of impeaching in the House is meaningless unless the Senate convicts. It’s not going to happen.

3/ so why not use the investigation process if it was meant: to hold Trump accountable across-the-board. All the benefits, none of the inoculation.

4/ Set a fire that burns and burns and burns until his empire of shit is reduced to ashes. Don’t give him one fight of impeachment/not impeachment.

As of right now, she knows it can’t lead to a conviction with Senate.

Alright, let’s all calm the fuck down.  Deep breath, deep breath.

No, I’m not going to do an all caps rant.  I think this might be the best move for now.  Here’s why…

As far as Impeachment goes, there are four main crowds.  The first is the group that wants Trump out of office yesterday for the crimes that he’s committed both before and during his time in office.  This is where I’m at.  The next group are those that want to impeach him because they don’t like him.  The third are those that are holding judgement until ‘hard evidence’ comes in of actual crimes.  The fourth doesn’t want anything to do with impeachment.  Most Republicans in the Senate fall into the third and fourth categories, and they’re needed for removal from office.

Nancy’s statement is designed to kill the idea of a political impeachment.  We’ll get one shot at this, and we don’t need a repeat of the Bill Clinton debacle.  Also, this buys time for the committees to do their work.  Not to say the fourth crowd will shut the fuck up, but at least there’s this statement.

This will piss off the first and second groups, but we’ll be here when the shoes drop from the centipede and Impeachment becomes necessary.

 

 

COHEN, NEW YORK, AND THE OTHER LAWSUITS

You don’t say…

The New York attorney general’s office late on Monday issued subpoenas to Deutsche Bank and Investors Bank for records relating to the financing of four major Trump Organization projects and a failed effort to buy the Buffalo Bills of the National Football League in 2014, according to a person briefed on the subpoenas.

The inquiry opens a new front in the scrutiny of Deutsche Bank, one of the few lenders willing to do business with Donald J. Trump in recent years. The bank is already the subject of two congressional investigations and was examined last year by New York banking regulators, who took no action.

The new inquiry, by the office of the attorney general, Letitia James, was prompted by the congressional testimony last month of Michael D. Cohen, President Trump’s former lawyer and fixer, the person briefed on the subpoenas said. Mr. Cohen testified under oath that Mr. Trump had inflated his assets in financial statements, and Mr. Cohen provided copies of statements he said had been submitted to Deutsche Bank.

The inquiry by Ms. James’s office is a civil investigation, not a criminal one, although its focus and scope were unclear. The attorney general has broad authority under state law to investigate fraud and can fine — or in extreme cases, go to court to try to dissolve — a business that is found to have engaged in repeated illegality.

The state of New York is working double time to give Tangerine Tojo a heart attack.  Last week, the Financial Regulatory Board asked Trump’s insurance brokers for financial documents to investigate cases of fraud.  Now, the state attorney general is going after bank records from Deutsche Bank for some refinancing projects and his attempt to buy the Buffalo Bills.

During Cohen’s testimony (Daily Check-In 02/27/2019), he described a common practice of Trump over valuing his assets to qualify for loans and get better insurance premiums, and then under valuing them for tax purposes.  Cohen provided evidence of this to the Oversight committee.  Now the state AG is investigating.

Remember, state crimes and lawsuits are outside of pardon range.

 

Stormy Daniels

 

This story is less than a day old, and I’m afraid that it’s already out of date.  It’s like they’re trying to fill up a punch card.  “Get investigated 20 times, get a free steak dinner.”

 

TRUMP THE RUSSIAN ASSET A.K.A. INDIVIDUAL-1

Budget

Yes, this looks like doom and gloom, and it is.  Fortunately, this has as much chance of getting off the ground as a model airplane made of cement.

The President can suggest a budget, but it is up to the House to craft the budget.  They don’t have to listen to a god damned thing Dotard says.  This is designed for the Fox News  viewers and Donors to eat up.  At least, until they realize it will hurt them directly.

 

“Tim Apple”

 

Excessive Costs

 

 

TRAITOR TOTS

 

FIGHTING BACK

 

EMERGENCIES, SHUTDOWN & IMMIGRATION

 

RACISM, RIGHT WING TERRORISM, & WHITE NATIONALISM

 

SCOTUS & COURTS

 

#METOO & WOMEN’S RIGHTS

Florida Sex Rings

Mob.  Sex rings = Mob.  Whether it’s La Cosa Nostra, Vor, Triad, Yakuza, Cartels, or a combination of all of the above, they’re all organized crime.  The separation between Epstein and Mogilevich is 1-2 degrees.  Epstein’s girlfriend/friend/madame and recruiter was the Brainy Don’s business partner’s daughter.  That’s not far enough away to even pretend that they didn’t know.  Plus, it’s never been disclosed whose money Epstein is managing.  I’m not saying it’s mob, but it makes sense.

As far as the documents go, I’m looking forward to it.  I assume there will be a ton of redactions for the names, or they’ll be changed to things like Person 1 and Shitbag 3, but it won’t take too long to piece things together.  Especially if the descriptions include things like “Shitbag 3 was a lawyer representing the defendant and worked as a professor at Harvard”.  That’s Alan Dershowitz.

Something I didn’t catch with the  Chinese Parlor ring was that some of these women would visit clubs like Mar-a-Lago to work for the day, and this has been going on for a while.  Think about that.  Trafficked women were being sent to a club owned by the President.  And it’s not the only sex ring connected to the club.  Many of the girls recruited by Epstein’s crew were working at Trump’s club at the time, or were recruited from the grounds of the club over a long time.  The only way that management wouldn’t hear about this was either blatant incompetence or willful ignorance.

 

It’s a funny segment, but Pete made a good point and brought up an even better idea.  It is possible to separate the art from the artist, but if we’re going to continue listening to their music or watching movies starring Kevin Spacey or produced by Harvey Weinstein, then we should give money to charities that support sexual abuse survivors.

 

COLD WAR 2.0

 

#NEVERAGAIN

 

FIXING THE INTERNET

 

THE PROPAGANDA MACHINE

Tucker Carlson

 

 

 

WHITE HOUSE CHAOS

 

TRADE WAR, HEALTH CARE, AND ECONOMY

 

STUDENT ISSUES

 

GOP: THE PARTY OF LINCOLN IS DEAD

 

CRIME AND PUNISHMENT

 

PRIESTS & RELIGION

 

ENVIRONMENT & SCIENCE

 

ELECTIONS

 

THINKING AHEAD

 

PROGRESS IS PROGRESS

 

IN OTHER NEWS…

 

RUMOR MILL

 

That’s it for Monday.  It’s been a crazy week so far and it just started.  Mainly because I didn’t get a day to relax over the weekend.  I went to two expos this week, and the longest time I sat down was in a tattoo booth.

Yes, I got a new tattoo.  It’s not my first, and won’t be my last.  I was already designing my next one while waiting for this one.  But I got to thinking about how much time and energy I’ve spent on this project, and if I would ever get any tattoos related to this stuff?  I want to say no, but that’s only because we’re neck deep in the shit right now.  If/when we come out of this in one piece, and if those responsible get the punishments they deserve, I thought about getting the docket number of their case with ‘Sic Semper Tryannis’ underneath.  ‘Thus always to tyrants.’  Hopefully, I’ll have better ideas over the years.

 

Thank you, and have a good one.

 

“Without Journalists, it’s just propaganda.”

– Katy Tur

Daily Check-In 03/08/2019

Friday, March 8, 2019 and the weekend.

 

THE RUSSIAN INVESTIGATION

South Florida Sex Rings

Okay, this might seem like it doesn’t belong in the top section.  And at first glance, it doesn’t.  This is where we get to play the most corrupt version of 6 Degrees of Kevin Bacon.

Cindy Yang, founder of the massage parlor that got busted on Daily Check-In 02/22/2019, is neck deep in the upper echelons of the Republican Party.  She’s using her access to Trump to help Chinese businesspeople get direct access to Trump, bypassing all official channels.  These businesspeople almost certainly are working at the behest of the Chinese government.  The Chinese are bribing the Trump Family.

I’ll explain this in detail in the #MeToo section.

 

Erik Prince

Erik Prince, the former CEO of the controversial security firm Blackwater, has admitted in an Al Jazeera interview to attending an August 2016 campaign meeting at Trump Tower with Donald Trump Jr.

The New York Times had reported last year that Prince arranged and attended a meeting with an adviser to the de facto ruler of the United Arab Emirates, who then told Trump Jr. that the UAE and Saudi Arabia wanted to help Trump win the election. But this is the first time Prince has admitted that he was at the meeting and the discussion was about Iran policy. This revelation is more proof that Prince may have lied to Congress during his testimony to the House Intelligence Committee.

Sometimes all it takes to unravel a bullshit cover story is one good interview.  Richard Nixon had David Frost.  Lance Armstrong had Oprah Winfrey.  Erik Prince had Medir Hasan.

Mr. Hasan was able to get Erik Prince to admit on the record that he took part in the August 3rd meeting in Trump Tower where Donnie Jr. met with Erik Prince and George Nader to get help to win the election from the Saudis in exchange for blowing up the Iran Nuclear Deal. (Daily Check-In 05/21/2018 and Daily Check-In 05/18/2018)  Keep in mind, Erik did not tell Congress about this when he testified before them.

 

 

Manafort

 

Manning

 

Clearance

 

 

COHEN, NEW YORK, AND THE OTHER LAWSUITS

Pardon Talk

 

 

Stormy Daniels

 

TRUMP THE RUSSIAN ASSET A.K.A. INDIVIDUAL-1

 

TRAITOR TOTS

 

 

FIGHTING BACK

 

CONGRESS

 

EMERGENCIES, SHUTDOWN & IMMIGRATION

 

RACISM, RIGHT WING TERRORISM, & WHITE NATIONALISM

 

SCOTUS & COURTS

 

#METOO & WOMEN’S RIGHTS

Florida Sex Rings

Li “Cindy” Yang owns a chain of Chinese Massage Parlors that are under investigation for human trafficking.  $20 says she has ties to organized Chinese crime.  How else do these women get shipped across the border and through checkpoints?

Cindy has ties to everyone in the Republican Party.  And I mean EVERYONE.  She had more selfies floating around with her and well to do people in the party than Maria Butina.  If they’re a Republican that’s been to Florida, she has a pic of them up on her Facebook feed.

She used her access to Trump to set up a communication chain between Chinese business people and Trump.  In other words, a backchannel to China.

This is the second sex ring that Trump is connected to in Southern Florida.  Though it’s not as direct as his ties to Jeffrey Epstein, this sure is beyond coincidental.

 

R. Kelly

 

Michael Jackson

 

 

COLD WAR 2.0

 

#NEVERAGAIN

 

FIXING THE INTERNET

 

THE PROPAGANDA MACHINE

 

WHITE HOUSE CHAOS

 

TRADE WAR, HEALTH CARE, AND ECONOMY

 

STUDENT ISSUES

 

GOP: THE PARTY OF LINCOLN IS DEAD

 

CRIME AND PUNISHMENT

 

PRIESTS & RELIGION

 

ENVIRONMENT & SCIENCE

 

ELECTIONS

 

THINKING AHEAD

 

PROGRESS IS PROGRESS

 

IN OTHER NEWS…

 

RUMOR MILL

Remember yesterday (Daily Check-In 03/07/2019) we talked about rumors that something might be incoming?  Well, that didn’t happen.  According to the rumor’s source, the reason for this was a disagreement at DOJ HQ between Barr and Mueller about indicting Trump.

I suggest we take this with a HUGE grain of salt.  I’ll supply my own salt, produced by being a bitter fan of the Pittsburgh Steelers.  After years of avoiding buying a home jersey of an active player, I finally pulled the trigger last season on an Antonio Brown jersey.  Here was a player who wasn’t failing drug tests, a crazy monster, or an accused rapist.  He’s exciting, entertaining, and brilliant on the field.

Then he goes full diva.  Never go full diva.

 

 

 

That’s it for the last few days.  It would be nice to get some time to relax this week.  I was completely booked this past week.  I’m going to try to take things easy this week, but we know how that works.

I’ve started on the Grand Theory pages.  I’m breaking it down into the various aspects of it.  There’s a phrase I heard a while back about conspiracies.  People assume incorrectly that everyone involved in the conspiracy has to have the same goal.  That’s not the case.  Here’s an example…

Let’s say Bill and Katie are dating.  John wants to date Katie, Lisa wants to date Bill, and Sally doesn’t like that her best friend is spending less time with her.  Lisa, John, and Sally don’t have the same motives, but they have the same goal.  This is how conspiracies work in the real world.

 

Thank you, and have a good one.

 

“Without Journalists, it’s just propaganda.”

– Katy Tur

Daily Check-In 03/07/2019

Thursday, March 7, 2019

 

THE RUSSIAN INVESTIGATION

Manafort Sentenced to 47 Months

Okay, let me take a deep breath and calm down.  Breathe, breathe…

WHAT IN THE CRYSTAL PEPSI FLAVORED FUCK IS GOING?!!! ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?!! SERIOUSLY, 4 FUCKING YEARS FOR THIS SHIT?  AN 80 PERCENT REDUCTION?  I KNOW PEOPLE IN JAIL FOR DRUGS THAT HAVE LONGER SENTENCES.

FUCK.

Okay, let’s look on the bright side.

First, Manafort is the first head of a presidential campaign to be convicted and sent to prison during the tenure of that president.

Second, this is for the 8 counts he was found guilty of last summer in EDVA.

Third, he has another sentencing in DC next week.

Fourth, he now has even more problems from state crimes and other charges that could be brought against him.

Finally, he’s old and in bad health.  Even a few years could kill him.

Yes, I’m pissed off that he isn’t guaranteed to die of old age in prison from this sentence.  With all of the shit he’s done in his life, he’s more than deserves to suffer from a Russian Heart Attack.  Dying of old age in a concrete box is a fucking mercy for this shit.

 

Roger Stone

 

Kushner & Ivanka

 

Brandon Van Grack

This came up quickly yesterday Daily Check-In 03/06/2019, but I didn’t have time to give it more than a cursory look. Brandon Van Grack, a member of the The Justice League.  He’s going to take over FARA enforcement, with an emphasis on Eastern Europe and the Middle East.

Good times, good times.

 

Pardon Talk

 

 

COHEN, NEW YORK, AND THE OTHER LAWSUITS

Cohen Sues Trump for Legal Fees

Ah….  Um… Ah…

Okay, what the fucking fuck is this shit?  This might be the most 2019 moment I’ve seen so far, and it is both insane and brilliant.

Michael Cohen, convicted felon and former Deputy Finance Chair of the Republican Party sued his former client Donald Trump for failing to pay his legal bills after May 2018.  According to Cohen, Trump promised to cover all legal fees for his fight, but stopped paying in May after Cohen floated the idea of “telling the truth” to his family and friends.  He’s suing for $1.9 million in legal fees.

There’s so much whatthefuck to unpack here, I’m not sure where to begin.

We’ve got Trump covering Michael Cohen’s legal fees in April, but cutting payment in May 2018 after he heard that Cohen was thinking about cooperating.  Not that he actually cooperated by that point, but was thinking about it.  At this point, they were still working on the Special Master’s work, deciding what was and wasn’t covered under attorney-client privilege.  That took until the summer to sort out, with only a few pieces considered under privilege.  Even then, Trump’s attorney Rudy Giuliani waived it when those two schmucks blabbed about the Karen McDougal recording, which was protected until they talked.

This puts a few things in perspective.

Remember over the last couple days we talked about Cohen searching for a pardon? (Daily Check-In 03/05/2019,Daily Check-In 03/05/2019)  Two lawyers that weren’t working for Cohen talked to Rudy about a pardon.  I wonder if they were told that they were hired by someone associated to Trump to operate as a stand-in.  Sounds nuts, but think about it like this; here’s some attorneys that thought they were working for Cohen, told they were working for him, did work for him, and when it came time to send the bill, they were told to bill Cohen, but Cohen never hired them, Trump’s team did.  It’s starting to fit a little better.

It also helps to explain the shift in tone over the summer, how Cohen went from being loved like a son to persona non grata.

Also, I want to point out the greatest of ironies, if this story is true.  Cohen was Trump’s fixer for years and was as loyal as they come.  When it came time for Trump to repay that loyalty, he let him twist in the wind.  By not paying Cohen’s legal fees, Trump left Cohen with only one play: cooperate with the feds.

Trump’s downfall will be because he was too cheap to pay his lawyer’s bills.

 

 

 

 

TRUMP THE RUSSIAN ASSET A.K.A. INDIVIDUAL-1

 

TRAITOR TOTS

 

FIGHTING BACK

 

CONGRESS

 

EMERGENCIES, SHUTDOWN & IMMIGRATION

 

RACISM, RIGHT WING TERRORISM, & WHITE NATIONALISM

 

SCOTUS & COURTS

 

#METOO & WOMEN’S RIGHTS

 

COLD WAR 2.0

 

#NEVERAGAIN

 

FIXING THE INTERNET

 

THE PROPAGANDA MACHINE

 

TRADE WAR, HEALTH CARE, AND ECONOMY

 

GOP: THE PARTY OF LINCOLN IS DEAD

 

CRIME AND PUNISHMENT

 

PRIESTS & RELIGION

 

ENVIRONMENT & SCIENCE

 

ELECTIONS

 

THINKING AHEAD

 

PROGRESS IS PROGRESS

 

IN OTHER NEWS…

 

RUMOR MILL

I don’t put much stock in these rumors at this point.  I recommend taking this with a HUGE grain of salt.  I’m talking a lot of salt.  Almost as much salty as I’ll be after the Steelers trade Antonio Brown.  I FINALLY get a home jersey, and he goes full diva.  Never go full diva.

 

That’s it for Thursday.  I’m trying to be very busy this weekend, so therefore something crazy will happen.  I can almost guarantee it.

 

Thank you, and have a good one.

 

“Without Journalists, it’s just propaganda.”

– Katy Tur