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NewsCenter28

(1,835 posts) Sun Jan 20, 2019, 05:28 AM Jan 2019

Stunning report reveals why Mueller acted Friday. To make it easier to take 45 down

The possibility they’ll put Cohen on the stand is likely one reason why Cohen’s allocution about the Trump Tower lies is so much more modest than the SDNY allocution: Mueller will need to be able to corroborate, with other documentary evidence, everything that Cohen will ultimately testify to. And so while they may have reason to believe Trump approved of the lies being told on his behalf — maybe even ordered people at Trump Organization or his spawn to do what they needed to sustain the lies (which might look to SDNY law enforcement as clear evidence that he was directing the lies) — Mueller is not going to set the bar for proof of Cohen’s statement anywhere further than they need for a possible larger conspiracy case. And they don’t need to prove that Trump had a role in Cohen’s lies. Rather, they need to be able to prove that Cohen kept Trump and Don Jr in the loop on the deal itself

https://www.emptywheel.net/2019/01/19/peter-carr-speaks/

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***Stunning report reveals why Mueller acted Friday. To make it easier to take 45 down*** (Original Post) NewsCenter28 Jan 2019 OP

Right. I think this analysis makes a lot of sense. And Mueller doesn't need to prove pnwmom Jan 2019 #1

Yep. Fuzzpope Jan 2019 #2

Interesting analysis that makes some sense of what has gone on nt Jarqui Jan 2019 #3

Empty Wheel provides some very sharp stuff. empedocles Jan 2019 #4

K&R Scurrilous Jan 2019 #5

Interesting that this considered analysis isn't getting the same amount of reads/replies as hlthe2b Jan 2019 #6

Totally agree. SNL was very unfair to Buzzfeed last night. Their comments, triron Jan 2019 #7

Fitzmas!!! greytdemocrat Jan 2019 #8

knr triron Jan 2019 #9

After 4 layers of "that thing that's about that thing that was said about that thing about that othe lindysalsagal Jan 2019 #10

pnwmom

(108,975 posts)

1. Right. I think this analysis makes a lot of sense. And Mueller doesn't need to prove

Reply to NewsCenter28 (Original post)

Sun Jan 20, 2019, 05:37 AM

Jan 2019

that Trump directly told Cohen to lie. He knew the truth and he INDUCED Cohen to lie. Cohen ran his written set of lies past him, and -- even though both he and Cohen knew what had truly happened -- Trump gave him the thumbs up.

Now, millions of people might be disappointed if there isn't a tape of Trump saying, "I want you to lie, Michael!"

Fuzzpope

(602 posts)

2. Yep.

Reply to pnwmom (Reply #1)

Sun Jan 20, 2019, 06:46 AM

Jan 2019

Trump made no effort to stop him from lying. Same results.

Jarqui

(10,123 posts)

3. Interesting analysis that makes some sense of what has gone on nt

Reply to NewsCenter28 (Original post)

Sun Jan 20, 2019, 08:06 AM

Jan 2019

empedocles

(15,751 posts)

4. Empty Wheel provides some very sharp stuff.

Reply to NewsCenter28 (Original post)

Sun Jan 20, 2019, 08:50 AM

Jan 2019

Scurrilous

(38,687 posts)

5. K&R

Reply to NewsCenter28 (Original post)

Sun Jan 20, 2019, 11:31 AM

Jan 2019

hlthe2b

(102,222 posts)

6. Interesting that this considered analysis isn't getting the same amount of reads/replies as

Reply to NewsCenter28 (Original post)

Sun Jan 20, 2019, 12:42 PM

Jan 2019

those that excoriate Jason Leopold and Buzzfeed.

While I don't intend to defend the latter, (having long since recognized the need for a "wait & see" approach), I've always thought there may be a number of reasons why OSC put out what they did, yet fell far short of discounting the entire story. That so many former FBI and DOJ and IC pundits--from Chuck Rosenberg, Mimi Rocah, Barbar McQuade, Maya Wiley, Paul Butler, Malcom Nance (and others including Laurence Tribe and Seth Abrams)-- have likewise posited explanations for the OSC response that in large measure suggest the essence of Buzzfeed's reporting are likewise to remain true.

While I don't deny the intense pressure and need for the media to be cautious, the desire to totally discount this reporting because of Leopold's past 2006 (major) mistake that lead to so much anger and frustration on DU, ignores the fact that neither Leopold, his Pulitzer -winning collaborator on the article, nor Buzzfeed's well respected Editor-in Chief, Ben Smith are backing down. Nor do the harshest and most vehement critics seem to recognize that even Woodward & Berstein could have been shut down by similar vehemence had their one big flub caused the end of their reporting as detailed here:

How a reporting mistake nearly derailed the Watergate investigation — and how journalists recovered

These errors, and Trump’s eager celebration of them, recall a crucial moment when a reporting blunder almost stymied the most important political investigation in American media history — Watergate. After The Post made an embarrassing mistake in an October 1972 story about powerful White House Chief of Staff H.R. “Bob” Haldeman, press secretary Ronald Ziegler spent a half hour angrily denouncing the newspaper on behalf of the Nixon administrat

At the time, the Watergate scandal was drawing closer to Nixon’s inner circle, and the error became an opportunity for Nixon’s team to try to derail The Post’s investigation into widespread misconduct by his administration and reelection campaign.

And it almost worked. But the Post was able to recover by quickly figuring out what went wrong, making sure its reporters were careful to avoid similar mistakes and refusing to be intimidated by White House threats. Today’s journalists would do well to remember these lessons.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/made-by-history/wp/2017/12/20/how-a-reporting-mistake-nearly-derailed-the-watergate-investigation-and-how-journalists-recovered/?utm_term=.1822db9f16d6