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DonViejo

(60,536 posts) Tue Apr 17, 2018, 11:05 AM Apr 2018

There's only one way to restrain this aberrant administration

By Eugene Robinson Opinion writer April 16 at 7:58 PM

Keep calm and raise hell. The forces of truth and justice may be closing in on President Trump, but there is no reason to believe they can triumph without massive displays of outrage in the streets and at the polls.

Potentially the most serious threat Trump has ever faced came last week when FBI agents raided the office, home and hotel room of his longtime personal lawyer, Michael Cohen. By all accounts, Cohen’s role for the president and the Trump Organization has been that of a “fixer” who brings in deals and makes problems go away.

As everyone knows by now, Cohen “facilitated” payment of $130,000 to porn star Stormy Daniels to buy her silence about the sexual tryst she says she had with Trump. And according to a lawsuit filed by former Playboy model Karen McDougal, Cohen was involved behind the scenes in cementing a $150,000 agreement that squelched her story of a 10-month affair she says she had with Trump. But the president’s sex life may be the least of his worries on the Cohen front. For more than a decade, Cohen was in a better position than anyone — arguably, even Trump’s children Ivanka, Donald Jr. and Eric, who also worked in the family firm — to know the intimate details of Trump’s business dealings.

Was the Trump Organization buoyed by an influx of Russian money, as Donald Jr. once claimed? Were there Russian contacts that have not yet been disclosed? Did Trump or his campaign collude with Russians to meddle in the election? In its real estate sales, did Trump’s firm take the required precautions against money laundering by shady characters? Did Trump’s swashbuckling business style, of which he so often boasts, ever cross the line into illegality?

Cohen can probably provide answers. If necessary, FBI agents may refresh his memory with the audio recordings they allegedly seized of Cohen’s phone conversations.

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https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/only-you-and-i-can-stop-trump/2018/04/16/7ba76e7e-41ab-11e8-bba2-0976a82b05a2_story.html

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There's only one way to restrain this aberrant administration (Original Post) DonViejo Apr 2018 OP

any bets the cohen phone taps include donnie on tape plotting criminal acts with his fixer? unblock Apr 2018 #1

unblock

(52,257 posts)

1. any bets the cohen phone taps include donnie on tape plotting criminal acts with his fixer?

Reply to DonViejo (Original post)

Tue Apr 17, 2018, 11:12 AM

Apr 2018

remember there's a very high bar to get a search warrant where attorney-client privilege might be involved.

also, while technically the law is applied equally to everyone (ha!), they're going to be extra careful where the president of the united states is involved.

my guess is that it's at least 90% likely they've got a recording of donnie discussing future crimes with cohen.

if not that, they had to have something equally damning, more than just testimony from witnesses. not clear what they have that would let them pierce attorney-client privilege without something like this. even strong evidence of donnie committing crimes isn't enough to get a search warrant for his lawyer.

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