Patterico's Pontifications

11/29/2018

The Strange Case of Paul Manafort’s Cooperation … with Donald Trump

Filed under: General — Patterico @ 6:17 am



Paul Manafort got a deal to be a cooperator — but as the New York Times revealed the night before last, his cooperation was not with Robert Mueller, but Donald Trump:

A lawyer for Paul Manafort, the president’s onetime campaign chairman, repeatedly briefed President Trump’s lawyers on his client’s discussions with federal investigators after Mr. Manafort agreed to cooperate with the special counsel, according to one of Mr. Trump’s lawyers and two other people familiar with the conversations.

The arrangement was highly unusual and inflamed tensions with the special counsel’s office when prosecutors discovered it after Mr. Manafort began cooperating two months ago, the people said. Some legal experts speculated that it was a bid by Mr. Manafort for a presidential pardon even as he worked with the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, in hopes of a lighter sentence.

Rudolph W. Giuliani, one of the president’s personal lawyers, acknowledged the arrangement on Tuesday and defended it as a source of valuable insights into the special counsel’s inquiry and where it was headed. Such information could help shape a legal defense strategy, and it also appeared to give Mr. Trump and his legal advisers ammunition in their public relations campaign against Mr. Mueller’s office.

Prosecutors have now accused Manafort of repeatedly lying to them, and one wonders why someone in such dire circumstances would lie. I’m joking of course. The motive is clear. It rhymes with “harden” and begins with a “p.”

Manafort and Trump had operated under a joint defense agreement, but any privilege under that agreement could not exist once Manafort was facially cooperating, and Mueller can now seek to discover the substance of the conversations between Manafort’s and Trump’s lawyers.

Trump seems to be taking this all in stride, retweeting this delightful meme:

This is the calm and unflappable Donald Trump we’ve all come to know and love. Note the presence of Rod Rosenstein in the picture. If you think Trump didn’t notice this, think again:

It was no accident that President Trump Wednesday retweeted an image of Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein locked up.

When asked during an interview with The Post: “Why do you think he belongs behind bars?” Trump responded: “He should have never picked a Special Counsel.”

The Trump presidency: a constant exercise in seeing whether the last bizarre stunt can be topped. So far, the answer is always “yes.” How long can that go on?

[Cross-posted at The Jury Talks Back.]

117 Responses to “The Strange Case of Paul Manafort’s Cooperation … with Donald Trump”

  1. And the guardian had walk back the story like Michael Jackson re Wikileaks,

    Narciso (d1f714)

  2. Trump giving obama a pardon would be priceless.

    mg (ef2c8e)

  3. rosenstein’s a deeply corrupt person but Bobby Mueller’s even more scummy than Rod is

    the fbi and the doj are just hopelessly tainted and illegitimate enterprises anymore

    now that we have a real attorney general there’s maybe a glimmer of hope

    but it’s pretty faint

    happyfeet (d13f58)

  4. Since Narciso #1 didn’t provide a link, I will:

    https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2018/11/the-guardian-paul-manafort-julian-assange

    I think narc’s referring to some “alleged” language being in the current version of the Guardian’s reporting, that wasn’t in the first version. If that counts as a moonwalk, it must be one from MJ’s later days. But the substance of the comment — nobody has verified the Guardian story yet — is quite correct.

    Appalled (d07ae6)

  5. Manafort is of minor consequence to the Mueller political team. Michael Cohen, the “fixer,” is much more interesting. Of course, none of the dirt will have anything to do with Russia.

    AZ Bob (885937)

  6. Hillary can have a special prosecutor loaded with her people some of who bent over backward to prevent her from being indicted, an appointment that was clearly unethically If not illegally sought but it’s all good

    Narciso (d1f714)

  7. I’d love to see the kinds of things Mueller’s team was trying to get Manafort (and Stone/Corsi) to sign off on.

    Ingot9455 (fb3b09)

  8. Manafort is of minor consequence to the Mueller political team. Michael Cohen, the “fixer,” is much more interesting. Of course, none of the dirt will have anything to do with Russia.

    Except Cohen just pleaded guilty to lying about Trump Tower Moscow, and the fact that he was working on TTM until June 2016.

    Plus, Trump just changed his TTM story from “I had nothing to do with Russia” to “just because I was running for president I was still free to do business in Russia”. This, of course, is exactly the opposite of what he’s been saying for 3 years.

    Colonel Klink (Ret) (68437d)

  9. Well there is no evidence just like the Prague story its from the fusion GPS bag of tricks just like secret agent Carter page has been allowed to roam free for 2 1/2 year the fisa warrant was on him.

    Narciso (d1f714)

  10. Lanny Davis atty for firtash does his job, just not for any other client.

    Narciso (d1f714)

  11. Paul Manafort has been grasping at a lot of straws that turned out to be anchors. Beginning with getting involved with the Trump campaign, and reaching the nadir when he used NSA-monitored texts to get witnesses abroad to lie for him which cost him his release on bail. Just between us, I don’t think he’s all that smart.

    nk (dbc370)

  12. The point was he joined the trump campaign, Podesta took the money from the Ukrainians stiffed them and yet has not been prosecuted neither has Weber, in fact their cases are buried in ny with khuzaimi

    Narciso (d1f714)

  13. Everybody in Hillary’s inner circle gets immunize Obama has Yates do a back stop to prevent Comey from being fired all hands are on deck to investigate trump, it doesn’t matter whi ths

    Narciso (d1f714)

  14. Of course, none of the dirt will have anything to do with Russia.

    I should have been more careful. The Cohen dirt won’t have anything to do with stealing the election from Hillary by secret collusion with Putin, which was the reason for the Mueller political investigation in the first place.

    Give me the man and I’ll give you the crime. And I’m sure Cohen can provide a lot of leads.

    AZ Bob (885937)

  15. Who is the attorney general is because he has no say, only Hillary people are hired some of whom have previously been reprimanded for abuses of power

    Narciso (d1f714)

  16. Trump pardoning the pant suit queen would really be priceless.

    mg (ebf6c2)

  17. The beto level slobbering most recently with gq re Mueller that never examine his conduct from Boston to bcci to anthrax to AIPAC etc etc.

    Narciso (d1f714)

  18. Pardon me, no pardon me, please pard

    mg (ebf6c2)

  19. The special counsel is the pardon for Hillary, that’s why flake is collaborating with the bearded marxist as he probably did to get blonde lesbian witch elected.

    Narciso (d1f714)

  20. that’s why flake is collaborating with the bearded marxist as he probably did to get blonde lesbian witch elected

    Classy.

    Dave (1bb933)

  21. That’s what who she is, coincidentally the Taliban she respects so would send her twice,

    Narciso (d1f714)

  22. Mueller seems bummed that all the shady lawyers aren’t exclusively on his team.

    Munroe (27e7c6)

  23. Alderman burke is going down, comments nk urban.

    Narciso (d1f714)

  24. Naw Cohen never brought a building down to the fiundations.

    Narciso (d1f714)

  25. Like weissman did to Arthur Anderson, he was subsequently reversed on appeal.

    Narciso (d1f714)

  26. speaking of sleazy fbi-style corruption

    He has held office since 1969 and is running for re-election to a record 14th term.

    happyfeet (d13f58)

  27. I think Roman emperors had shorter terms of office.

    Narciso (d1f714)

  28. I’m not sure if this link will get thru moderation – but after observing the system of “justice” we currently employ, a scorched earth policy works for me.

    https://www.popehat.com/2013/12/23/burn-the-fucking-system-to-the-ground/

    Nuke it from orbit, it’s the only way to be sure.

    bendover (eedbbe)

  29. We know Alderman Burke very well. His life story is the life story of the Daley Machine. It would take several books to write it all. A couple of highlights:
    — His daddy was a powerful confrere of Old Boss Mayor Daley. When it was time for young Eddie to go to law school, daddy made him a City of Chicago policeman. For three (or four) years he got paid to sit in a secluded corner of the precinct station and do his homework and rest for his classes. His law firm handles property tax appeals in Cook County and is very successful at it. Guess why.
    — His wife is a judge. Previously in the Appellate Court, now on the Supreme Court. She got there the Chicago way. She was appointed to fill a midterm vacancy and then only had to stand for uncontested (Yes or No) retention which is 99% certain. Not contested election. But you gots to knows the right peoples to have that done for you.

    nk (dbc370)

  30. So everyone in cook county is having a maalox moment.

    Narciso (d1f714)

  31. I have worked for four government agencies. I found them all to be corrupt, inefficient, and wasteful. After exposing wrongdoing in the last two — I was fired from both on fabricated charges. Then they filled another 10 page malicious complaint with the State of Tennessee — which took years and my life savings to clear my name. All the charges were found to be false. All I got was apologies from State paid attorneys — and the member of the Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners!

    That was only the being of their retaliation. For the next 20 years, they targeted all my businesses and business relations. They surveilled my computers and phones. However, the most egregious things was that they harmed, killed, and stole under false pretenses over 140 Thoroughbred horses. I document their crimes and filed numerous complaints with law enforcement – all the way up to the WH. Anyone who tell you that the FBI and DOJ are not corrupt is part of the corruption!!

    BOTH SIDES OF THE POLITICAL DUOPOLY ARE CORRUPT!

    GOVERNMENT INVESTIGATIONS ARE PRIMARILY USED TO FLUSH OUT LEAKERS, WHISTLEBLOWERS AND ANYONE THAT THEY PERCEIVE AS A THREAT TO THEIR COVERT CRIME SCHEMES.

    Forty years of fighting corrupt government officials – and being continually and maliciously targeted by corrupt government officials — has taught me that — “There are many well-orchestrated government crime schemes. Corrupt members of the Shadow Government rarely suffer real or just consequences. Routinely, those that threaten to expose government wrongdoing (whistleblowers and leakers) are investigated and maliciously prosecuted.”

    If anyone who has worked for the government tells you that the government is not corrupt, then they are either — unprincipled enablers who want to keep their jobs; incompetent, unwittingly, and ignorant; or, they are active participants in their government agency’s wrongdoing!

    Those that stand up to government wrongdoing are usually investigated — often by biased and corrupt government officials. Good and just government employees are often investigated and maliciously prosecuted on fabricated charges. The real reason for the investigation is to weed out any government employs that are not willing to play their roles in government wrongdoing.

    Paul E. Truitt, DVM (b3c4f7)

  32. @30

    I have worked for four government agencies.

    Fool me once…

    Matador (39e0cd)

  33. The Beginning: Russian Collusion…TREASON!!! ELEVENTY!!!

    The End: an elderly man (who believes the Moon landing was faked) forgets he’d forwarded an email in 2016, admits it when reminded/asked about it – he’d already voluntarily turned over his laptop, PW, all accounts – so let’s charge him with perjury.

    Colonel Haiku (697687)

  34. If Bob Mueller is a manifestation of the Rule of Law, then there is no justice.

    Colonel Haiku (697687)

  35. “I don’t recall”, guys, “I don’t recall”! Don’t be shy to say “I don’t recall”! Hillary used it 39 times with the FBI in the email investigation, but it was not the first time. This is from Whitewater. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eWQureIC1QM

    nk (dbc370)

  36. 20… Some hate it when some reps of the protected class are taken to task…

    Colonel Haiku (697687)

  37. mueller’s done a lot to educate people on what a piss-ant and petty operation the fbi and the doj are running

    these are clearly corrupt and unserious organizations what only serve to dispense joke justice at the whims of easily offended deep state trash like rod rosenstein

    happyfeet (d13f58)

  38. About damn time for Burke, they’re running out of et-Nik holdouts to map into his SW side ward. Just as well to use this to get the City Council down from 50 to 46 or 44 when you account for the black population decline.

    urbanleftbehind (5e7f00)

  39. ‘Member when they stole that black lady’s baby, urbanleftbehind?

    nk (dbc370)

  40. Mr. Litman has a good analogy.

    As former U.S. attorney Chuck Rosenberg put it, having signed with the Yankees, he couldn’t give scouting reports to the Red Sox.
    Thus, Mueller is fully entitled to subpoena Manafort counsel Kevin Downing and whichever Trump counsel spoke with him (one trusts it wasn’t Emmet Flood, who is too savvy for such shenanigans) and force them to reveal every word of the discussions.

    This is also relevant.

    Finally, the open pipeline between cooperator Manafort and suspect Trump may have been not only extraordinary but also criminal. On Manafort and Downing’s end, there is a circumstantial case for obstruction of justice. What purpose other than an attempt to “influence, obstruct, or impede” the investigation of the president can be discerned from Manafort’s service as a double agent? And on the Trump side, the communications emit a strong scent of illegal witness tampering (and possibly obstruction as well).

    Paul Montagu (8afb2a)

  41. The only thing that’s in jeopardy is Manafort’s plea deal. Everybody else he talked to is in no more trouble than CBS 60 Minutes was when Stormy Daniels talked to them in contravention of her NDA with Cohen. Yes, they can be made to testify about any conversations Manafort had with them in any proceeding (I imagine his sentencing hearing) involving Manafort. So what?

    nk (dbc370)

  42. PS. I don’t know if there are special rules for federal Special Counsels with Special Counsel-friendly judges, but in Illinois it is unethical for a prosecutor to advise a witness not to talk to the attorneys for the defendant. Prosecutors do not own witnesses.

    nk (dbc370)

  43. no the lie was based on the bogus fusion gps rumor floated to the guardian, where they didn’t bother to ask whether there was any evidence, say passport or guest book, the first was easy property of the april 2017 raid, nor video camera footage,

    narciso (d1f714)

  44. Also regarding Manafort, The Guardian changed the meeting between Manafort and Assange to “apparently”, but they didn’t change their story about Manafort being at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London on three occasions. So why would a political operative who worked with Putin’s pet oligarchs like Deripaska and Putin’s stooges like Yanukovych have reason to go to the backwater embassy of a third-rate nation in South America? Given its occupant, the question practically answers itself.
    It’s also fair to say that Wikileaks serves as a conduit for Putin. If there is collusion between Putin and Trump, it would be by the Wikileaks and Stone/Corsi conduits.

    One important question that remains unanswered is the extent to which WikiLeaks was aware that it was receiving hacked emails from Russian agents. Assange has long denied that Russia was the source, and implied baselessly that Seth Rich, a DNC employee whose 2016 murder in Washington remains unsolved, was. He’s also cast doubt on the idea that Guccifer 2.0 was Russian or affiliated with the Russian government.
    But Assange has a long, if enigmatic, relationship with Russia, and shares a contempt for the U.S. government, and especially Hillary Clinton, with the Kremlin. While Russia’s authoritarianism and suppression of free expression are at odds with WikiLeaks’s stated principles, Raffi Khatchadourian noted in a 2017 New Yorker profile that Assange has tended to view Russia as an important counterweight to the American empire, and has perhaps thus tended to overlook its flaws. The New York Times concluded in August 2016 that WikiLeaks’ actions often seemed to benefit Russia, and Assange also briefly hosted a show on RT, the Kremlin-affiliated propaganda network.

    Paul Montagu (8afb2a)

  45. this is just more evidence that dirty bob mueller is NOT living his best life

    and that’s sad

    happyfeet (d13f58)

  46. the atlantic speaking of conspiracy theories, yes Assange compromised diplomatic communication (manning) signals intelligence (snowden) the post the times the guardian, they couldn’t get enough there wasn’t a source or method, they didn’t publish, without a care in the world, at the time of the alleged first contact, the us govt had retained manafort’s employer deripaska, to search for Robert levinson, this is why he had retained adam waldman, who had contacts with the foreign ministry, this is who mark warner, used as a back channel to Christopher steele,

    narciso (d1f714)

  47. Mueller’s networth is 18 million, I guess for the grandson of the founder of the Lackawanna railroad and the the son of a dupont exec, he hasn’t made out too badly representing flexible financed Mexican banks and apple and facebook, (could there be a conflict here, nah)

    narciso (d1f714)

  48. and Pritzker, and durbin and donner and blitzen, who didn’t ed burke represent,

    narciso (d1f714)

  49. After that news, that sound you’re hearing is Donnie Boy having to run to the nearest restroom to change his Depends.

    Tillman (61f3c8)

  50. Trump Train has Cohen caboose; ‘Donfucius’ say lawyer who takie bullet up front now shoot me in back.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  51. Burke’s office has done property tax work for tens of thousands of people. That’s what they do. And they’re very successful at it, because Burke is a big wheel in the Chicago Machine and the Cook County Assessor and the Cook County Board of Appeals are put into office by the Chicago Machine.

    nk (dbc370)

  52. breaking news they just caught two ms 13 gang members at the border. it was the two girls seen running barefoot from the rear gas. their wearing diapers gave them away!

    lany (f0330d)

  53. ‘The Delightful Meme.’ Back in the day, it was just called, ‘The Enemies List.’

    History rhymes.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  54. Will jb be going for the buffet line twice now.

    Narciso (766551)

  55. The list composed by John dean, tell us another uncle disco.

    Narciso (766551)

  56. Apparently Pat is REALLY ANGRY that attorney-client privilege is a thing that still exists, and that attornies can talk to other attornies of people not actually subject to an investigation whenever they want.

    Trump responded: “He should have never picked a Special Counsel.”

    Well, maybe not THIS Special Counsel:

    “Techno Fog

    @Techno_Fog
    Follow Follow @Techno_Fog
    More
    On the subject of spying, maybe Mueller should indict himself for allowing his subordinates to falsify national security letters to illegally spy on Americans.”

    “Techno Fog

    “Techno Fog

    @Techno_Fog
    Jul 13
    More
    This all relates to a 2010 OIG report on the FBI’s use of obtaining phone records.

    Finding: Mueller’ FBI abused its authority by improperly obtaining reporters’ phone billing records without the required Attorney General approval.”

    @Techno_Fog
    Jul 13
    More
    Mueller’s FBI was also lying to the FISA courts – in sworn declarations – about how it obtained information through national security letters or grand jury subpoenas.”

    https://twitter.com/Techno_Fog/status/1017984748961050624

    Let’s remember: Mueller’s tactics as a prosecutor have always been the same: giving immunity to people who don’t deserve it (like that Asimov fellow), suborning perjury via the plea bargain process, forcing process crimes within the investigation, and oftentimes outright paying for testimony.

    Today we also find that Pedo Epstein apparently got off with a light 19year sentence for the low, low price of two executives at the company that he was the biggest investor in, though to be fair Mueller got MUCH better deals for his pedophiles.

    Give me Trump over these hypocrites yesterday, today, and forever.

    Izzet (b5d0bd)

  57. fast eddie’s house takes up 6 lots

    he had the alley rerouted

    (house with tennis court)

    happyfeet (d13f58)

  58. I see that all of a sudden someone is taking lying to Congress serioisly. Who knew?

    AZ Bob (b80b29)

  59. Pardon me, boy; is that the Trumpalooza Choo-Choo;
    Track 23; ride home to Clemency.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  60. Fast Eddie’s house is in prime HDO alumni territory nowadays.

    urbanleftbehind (5e7f00)

  61. oops my bad

    tennis court house belongs to eddie vrdolyak

    same idea – check his wikipedia

    happyfeet (d13f58)

  62. I admit I don’ understand Twitter, but “The Trump Train” is a fanboy account. Where is the retweet by Trump?

    Kevin M (a57144)

  63. I see that all of a sudden someone is taking lying to Congress seriously. Who knew?

    More so in the months to come.

    Kevin M (a57144)

  64. I agree with Trump that Rosenstein is a horribly conflicted player in this drama – Trump should immediately fire whoever appointed Rosenstein Deputy AG. While he’s at it, Trump should clean house by firing whoever it was that appointed that terrible loser Jeff Sessions, whoever hired Paul Manafort and Michael Cohen, and whoever it was that decided leaving an idiot in charge of making these sorts of decisions was a smart move.

    Jerryskids (702a61)

  65. very funny he was told that Rosenstein was a standup guy, he wasn’t told he had signed off on the fisa warrant, that was based on the bogus dossier, or the fact he had shut down the investigation into uranium one,

    narciso (d1f714)

  66. If only we could get back to honest presidents…..

    Obama takes credit for US fuel boom he not only had nothing to do with, but actually worked to supress

    https://dailycaller.com/2018/11/29/shell-oil-president-obama-fuel-production/

    harkin (05cfd8)

  67. i love President Trump and if he wants to pardon Mr. Manafort then I think that would be an impressive gesture of magnanimity

    we should celebrate this when it happens

    but not before cause we don’t wanna jinx it

    happyfeet (d13f58)

  68. @68. No statesmen or patriots in Congress these days, Mr. Feet; happy endings make for great ratings. Stay-tuned for the finale: everybody’s gonna beat the rap.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  69. it’s funny how fitz never got around to him, and of course holder and lynch wouldn’t appoint a special counsel:

    https://libertyunyielding.com/2018/11/29/obama-america-has-a-great-smugness-about-wealth-status/

    narciso (d1f714)

  70. Piano Man Mueller Man

    It’s 6AM on a Saturday
    The Feebs hit teh door bustin’ in
    There’s an old man layin’ down next to her
    Makin’ love in his dream as he grins
    “Hey old man can you recall a memory…
    An email back in 2016…
    We’re reachin’ for straws but it gives us no pause
    That by now the slim pickins are lean”
    La la la, di da da
    La la, di da da da dum

    Give us a break, you’re the Mueller Man
    A traveshamockery
    Well, we’ve all had our fill of the time you have killed
    Lock you up and throw ‘way the key

    Colonel Haiku (697687)

  71. No statesmen or patriots in Congress these days

    but we got rid of dirty hateful Mia Love and her vicious hateful politics of hate

    that’s not nothing

    happyfeet (d13f58)

  72. More Trump sleaze during the 2016 campaign:

    President Donald Trump’s company planned to give a $50 million penthouse at Trump Tower Moscow to Russian President Vladimir Putin as the company negotiated the luxury real estate development during the 2016 campaign, according to four people, one of them the originator of the plan.
    Two US law enforcement officials told BuzzFeed News that Michael Cohen, Trump’s personal lawyer at the time, discussed the idea with a representative of Dmitry Peskov, Putin’s press secretary.
    The Trump Tower Moscow plan is at the heart of a new plea agreement by Cohen, who led the negotiations to bring a gleaming, 100-story building to the Russian capital. Cohen acknowledged in court that he had lied to Congress about the plan in order to protect Trump and his presidential campaign.

    To my best recollection, it remains true that Trump has not exclusively said one critical thing of Putin since he went down his golden escalator.

    Paul Montagu (8afb2a)

  73. ugh dirty amoral flake-licker Tim Scott found a 27 year old memo

    look at him go

    wtf is wrong with these preening narcissists

    happyfeet (d13f58)

  74. All sorts of crimes, e.g., criminal leaking of classified info against the administration, lying to the FISA court, all sorts of crap like this that aren’t even being looked at. How about we deal with actual crimes and have Mueller start investigating them?

    Is that too much to expect? Wake the fvck up and smell the catfood, America.

    Colonel Haiku (697687)

  75. Speculation and ongoing horseschiff from the Derp State and their clueless lackeys.

    Colonel Haiku (697687)

  76. How about we make Trump and Mueller marry each other — shotgun optional — and send them both to live on an island in the Keys where they can squabble with each other to their hearts’ content and leave the rest of us alone?

    nk (dbc370)

  77. since he went down his golden escalator

    he also has one that goes up you know

    which is good for in case of he forgets his keys

    happyfeet (d13f58)

  78. happyfeet and Mia Love can visit them so they don’t get too lonely.

    nk (dbc370)

  79. Will she change her name to Mia Feet or you to Happy Love, happyfeet?

    nk (dbc370)

  80. i’m so done with her cause i just got sick of her attitude

    you know how sometimes you’re just done with somebody

    it’s cause she’s a toxic personality i think

    and that’s all on her

    happyfeet (d13f58)

  81. And, evergreen… when you fuel up as gas prices drop… https://static.pjmedia.com/instapundit/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/sunkingobama-466×600.jpg

    Colonel Haiku (697687)

  82. More Trump sleaze during the 2016 campaign:
    Paul Montagu (8afb2a) — 11/29/2018 @ 3:51 pm

    “Two US law enforcement officials told BuzzFeed News”

    Sounds like more law enforcement sleaze to me.

    “The plan never went anywhere because the tower deal ultimately fizzled, and it is not clear whether Trump knew of the intention to give away the penthouse.”

    Details, details. This being BuzzFeed, I wonder if golden showers were part of the negotiations. And, the deal for the Russian-sourced dossier didn’t fizzle, but that’s a whataboutism I guess — this being about Trump, not about Russian interference in an election.

    Munroe (2673ab)

  83. “All sorts of crimes, e.g., criminal leaking of classified info against the administration, lying to the FISA court, all sorts of crap like this that aren’t even being looked at. How about we deal with actual crimes and have Mueller start investigating them?”

    There’s no Congressional cover for investigating actual crimes, a man like Mueller can only exist because Congress and the various intel agencies (who either keep information away from Congress or hide it at Congress’s bequest in exchange for yearly funding) allow him to exist. When you hide monumental screw-ups there’s nothing like a WAR HERO!!! to offer your excuses, like he’s talking about a failure in a Daring Sooper Sekrit Raid By Are Boys rather than Yet Another Black Project That Wasted Taxpayer Dollars.

    There is no one righteous, not even one, but ‘authoritarian personalities’, ‘evil dictators’, ‘strongmen’ (as opposed to the weakmen the bureaucrats and money men would like in power), and various flavors of ‘toxic masculinity’ can shamelessly burn out some sections of the Swamp pretty good if popular feeling is aligned sharply enough on their side. They’ll have to worry about a lot more than bad photoshop then.

    Mueller is flailing very publicly and very foolishly, the only TRUST THE PLAN Qtards talking about the piles of sealed indictments are all on the Left at the moment.

    Izzet (00e23d)

  84. And someone should tell Corsi that he’ll have a better chance at getting NASA arrested for the fake moon landings than getting Mueller arrested for, uh…something.

    Paul Montagu (8afb2a)

  85. Did we slip into Central City’s earth two, I suspect that sometimes, gas prices are low, jobs are on the move, except where mary’ fumbles’ barra, chose to ex out some factories, but we’re focused with this garbage,

    narciso (d1f714)

  86. Sounds like more law enforcement sleaze to me.

    The sleaze I’m seeing is that a person was trying to work a billion-dollar real estate deal–via his authorized agent, Cohen–with a foreign head of state while running for president. This is hardly different than Hillary’s foundation getting millions from Saudi Arabia and other nations while Secretary of State.

    Paul Montagu (8afb2a)

  87. “The sleaze I’m seeing is that a person was trying to work a billion-dollar real estate deal–via his authorized agent, Cohen–with a foreign head of state while running for president.”
    Paul Montagu (8afb2a) — 11/29/2018 @ 4:28 pm

    What person? Does the sleazy report say that?

    Sleazy leaks are the sort of sleaze you don’t want to see as sleaze. Got it.

    Munroe (822f40)

  88. This is hardly different than Hillary’s foundation getting millions from Saudi Arabia and other nations while Secretary of State.

    If “hardly” means “entirely”. Trump was not holding a Position of Profit or Trust under the United States at the time. Whatsername was.

    nk (dbc370)

  89. Somehow, it seems that the Rosenstein-Mueller Coup Train is not proceeding as initially planned.

    askeptic (8d10f9)

  90. Ken White on Cohen’s deal:

    The first was that Cohen walked into a Manhattan federal courtroom unannounced. He did it by surprise.

    The Mueller team is disciplined, and it means all these leaks are coming from somewhere else. This isn’t the first surprise move by Mueller.

    The second remarkable thing was that the plea happened at all.
    […]
    A formal report is not, however, Mueller’s only way to tell Congress—and the nation—about his conclusions. The journalist Marcy Wheeler has written extensively about her theory that Mueller will “make his report” through court filings against Trump confederates like Manafort and Cohen. On Monday, Mueller accused Manafort of lying to investigators, breaching his cooperation agreement, and committing further federal crimes; he promised he’d bring the receipts when he filed briefs urging a long sentence. Those sentencing briefs will let Mueller tell the story about how Manafort lied about the Trump campaign—and by extension, lay out the evidence of what the Trump campaign did.

    In other words, this is a backdoor way for Mueller to get the information into the public sphere in the event Lapdog Whitaker buries the Special Counsel report.

    The third remarkable thing about Cohen’s plea was its substance. The president of the United States’ personal lawyer admitted to lying to Congress about the president’s business activities with a hostile foreign power, in order to support the president’s story. In any rational era that would be earth-shaking. Now it’s barely a blip. Over the past two years, we’ve become accustomed to headlines like “President’s Campaign Manager Convicted of Fraud” and “President’s Personal Lawyer Paid for Adult Actress’s Silence.” We’re numb to it all. But these are the sort of developments that would, under normal circumstances, end a presidency.

    Yup.

    Paul Montagu (8afb2a)

  91. What person? Does the sleazy report say that?

    If you’re not seeing the conflict of interest going on here, then I can’t help you.

    Paul Montagu (8afb2a)

  92. Cohen is an a$$hole. He might go to prison for it. We already know that.

    nk (dbc370)

  93. More on Trump’s conflict of interest from Lawfare:

    In effect, Cohen admitted in court on Thursday that even as Russian operatives were hacking Democratic emails and getting ready to dump emails through Wikileaks, even as Trump was publicly praising Russian strongman Vladimir Putin, even as the Trump Tower meeting involving Donald Trump Jr. took place in the summer of 2016, the Trump Organization—with Trump and his family very much in the know—was negotiating to build a Trump Tower in Moscow. The Trump Organization was negotiating—or, at least, trying to negotiate—this deal with the Kremlin itself. And Cohen has admitted that he lied to Congress about this history to protect Trump politically.
    Before we dive into the weeds, let’s pause a moment over this. Because in important respects, the legalities—or illegalities—at issue here are secondary points. The primary point is that this is all utterly unacceptable. That a large swath of the public, and the legislative branch, has chosen to accept it does not make it more reasonable that a man seeking to be president of the United States would at the same time publicly cozy up to a foreign dictator and negotiate with his regime over a potential business opportunity—and then cover it all up. The story is likely to get worse.

    Actually, it did get worse with the news of the offer of the $50 million penthouse gift to Putin. Trump not only lies about everything, he is corrupt and a corrupter.

    Paul Montagu (8afb2a)

  94. 90… there you go again, making me laugh…

    Colonel Haiku (697687)

  95. Hold everyone accountable for lying to officials.

    Or no one. The highly selective nature of this is apauling.

    Colonel Haiku (697687)

  96. More takeaways on Cohen, this time from Mr. French:

    First, it was wholly unacceptable for the Trump team to pursue a significant business relationship with our chief geopolitical foe at the same time that he was locking down the Republican nomination for president. This disclosure casts Trump’s rhetoric in a new light. Remember Trump’s compliments of Putin and his constant assurances that he and Putin would get along?
    He practically slobbered over Putin during the campaign.
    Second, many of the early reports and assessments of Trump’s Russia connections may well be materially wrong…In plain English, many early conclusions about the controversy may well have been based on self-serving, deceptive statements that are slowly being exposed. Many of Trump’s defenders have concluded that he’s done nothing wrong and that the special counsel’s office is engaged in a “witch hunt” well before the facts are out and well before necessary credibility assessments have been made.
    Third, to quote former prosecutor Ken White, “The conclusion that the President of the United States knew that his personal counsel was repeatedly lying to the Congress of the United States about the President’s business is inescapable under these circumstances.” This is a conclusion that’s directly relevant to the obstruction of justice inquiry. It does not mean that the president obstructed, but it’s important to remember that both the Clinton and Nixon articles of impeachment included charges related to the president’s efforts to get witnesses to lie under oath. We should now ask, did the president have any role in feeding this false information to Congress?

    Paul Montagu (8afb2a)

  97. Pun intended.

    Colonel Haiku (697687)

  98. The highly selective nature of this is apauling.

    Cute. Look at that cloud!

    Paul Montagu (8afb2a)

  99. 90… there you go again, making me laugh…

    I hope you don’t find it “totally unacceptable”, Haiku. Snorfle. Some internet personality who calls himself Lawfare had his sensibiwities offended and ours should be too.

    nk (dbc370)

  100. Mr French… hahahaha haha… HA!

    Colonel Haiku (697687)

  101. More on Ed Burke. https://chicago.suntimes.com/news/ed-burke-fbi-federal-agents-city-hall-council/ The FBI raided his Aldermanic offices, not his law offices. So much for Da Trump Connection.

    nk (dbc370)

  102. Like Emily litella said, never mind.

    Narciso (d1f714)

  103. And in Neil de grasse Tyson news…

    Narciso (d1f714)

  104. “First, it was wholly unacceptable for the Trump team to pursue a significant business relationship with our chief geopolitical foe

    looooooooooooool, maybe you should have asked John Derbyshire about who the US’s ‘chief geopolitical foe’ is before you fired him, I hear he’s married to one of their refugees.

    “Many of Trump’s defenders have concluded that he’s done nothing wrong and that the special counsel’s office is engaged in a “witch hunt” well before the facts are out”

    ‘Cohen’s plea-bargain induced ‘admission’ to a known corrupt CIA-linked prosecutor two years after the fact’ is not ‘the facts’.

    “In effect, Cohen admitted in court on Thursday that even as Russian operatives were hacking Democratic emails and getting ready to dump emails through Wikileaks, even as Trump was publicly praising Russian strongman Vladimir Putin, even as the Trump Tower meeting involving Donald Trump Jr. took place in the summer of 2016, the Trump Organization—with Trump and his family very much in the know

    “Michael Cohen and Felix Sater are handling this, and it never went anywhere beyond ‘hey we’re negotiating here, could you maybe not echo all the KILL PUTIN REGIME CHANGE NOW rhetoric going around the crazy Democrats with a history of highly well-known foreign collusion, slush funds, and obstruction of justice for their rank incompetence?'”

    Let’s just say that Trump seems to have found more…flexibility in dealing with Putin after the election and the deal fell through.

    Izzet (cb5d31)

  105. Well 14 years ago, Mueller was obstructing the work of company interrogators the ones that prevented the library tower to be a smoking run. He was also part of that bizarre tantrum over stellar wind on the eve of the Madrid train bombing

    Narciso (d1f714)

  106. In pursuing Trump Tower Moscow while a candidate, Trump prioritized his own personal greed over the interests of the United States, going so far as tacitly having his authorized agent offer a bribe to a foreign head of state with a $50 million penthouse, a foreign head of state who has been consistently hostile to our interests for years. I’m not a lawyer, so I won’t comment on the legality, but if any other person pulled a conflict of interest like this, he’d be called unpatriotic and anti-American.

    Paul Montagu (8afb2a)

  107. There is a new post about Cohen’s plea. Comment about that there.

    Patterico (115b1f)

  108. When I first read about Dezinformatsiya, the name of an actual department in the KGB, I also read a little about their tactics. Their most successful one was to plant a story with a friendly or gullible outlet and then have it picked up by other, major, outlets, with wider circulation.

    Now, it is common journalistic practice. A blatant example: Stormy Daniels talked to The Daily Beast. Only The Daily Beast. The story appeared in NYT and WaPo, among others, quoting The Daily Beast and only The Daily Beast. “Marketplace of ideas” my big fat liberal Warren Court!

    nk (dbc370)

  109. That the journolist Iran echo chamber fusion GPS way of doing things

    Narciso (d1f714)

  110. John James, Carol Swain, Vernon Robinson, and Jamiel Shaw Sr. would have done the same thing Christy doll version of Graham/Gowdy did.

    urbanleftbehind (5e7f00)

  111. 58. AZ Bob (b80b29) — 11/29/2018 @ 12:54 pm

    I see that all of a sudden someone is taking lying to Congress serioisly. Who knew?

    The problem is that thsi could be very misleading. People could be fooled into thinking this was a natural outgrowth of the lying itself. They are going after lying in very very politically related investigations where Democrats are trying to get Republicans convicted.

    The only other times they go after perjury is when somebody wins a case by lying (and not even then) — that’s why Bill Clinton settled his lawsuit with Paula Jones even though he could win on a technically (wrong tort) and had always known that (he needed a publicly presentable excuse for a legal defense fund)

    But after that, Bill Clinton needed to lose the Paula Jones case. He knew DOJ policy.

    Sammy Finkelman (102c75)

  112. I think I figured out what’s going on with Paul Manafort. Manafort knows nothing against trump.

    But there’s another thing:

    If Paul Manafort were to tell the truth he’d have to admit he was trying to work as a spy for Russia within the Trump campaign, and a possible Trump Administration. In other words he was double crossing Trump and and was very unloyal to him personally. If Trump knew it, that would kill any possibility of a sentence commutation (possibly when Trump was leaaving office) But otherwise Trump was amenbable to the argument that Manafort was being pursued because of his connection to him (DOJ had had a case against him but dropped it because it was too much work)

    Sammy Finkelman (102c75)


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