Michael Cohen Sentenced To Three Years
[guest post by Dana]
Calling the charges that Cohen pled guilty to a “veritable smorgasbord of fraudulent conduct,” and stating that Cohen had “lost his moral compass,” U.S. District Judge William H. Pauley sentenced Michael Cohen to three years this morning:
Michael Cohen, who as President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer and fixer once vowed he would “take a bullet” for his boss, was sentenced Wednesday to three years in prison for an array of crimes that included arranging the payment of hush money to two women that he says was done at the direction of Trump.
The sentence was in line with what federal prosecutors asked for. Sentencing guidelines called for around four to five years behind bars, and prosecutors asked in court papers that Cohen be given only a slight break. He is ordered to surrender March 6.
Cohen read a statement at the sentencing hearing today:
“Today is the day that I am getting my freedom back.”
“I have been living in a personal and mental incarceration ever since the day that I accepted the offer to work for a real estate mogul whose business acumen that I deeply admired.”
“I stand before your honor humbly and painfully aware that we are here for one reason.”
“I take full responsibility for each act that I pleaded guilty to,” including those implicating the “President of the United States of America.”
“Today is one of the most meaning days of my life.”
My “weakness was a blind loyalty to Donald Trump.”
“I have chosen this unorthodox path because the sooner that I am sentenced,” the sooner I can return to my family.
“I do not need a cooperation agreement in place to do the right thing.”
He then mentions his family members, by name, and says he brought pain and shame on his family. Mentions his mom, dad, and children, and says to them “I’m sorry.” Long pause.
“The president of the United States, the most powerful man in the world,” Cohen said mockingly, “calling me a rat.”
He said Trump tried to influence the proceedings that “implicate” him.
He apologized again to his family before wrapping up. His voice cracked with apparent emotion, as he apologizes to “the people of the United States” for lying to us.
“You deserve to know the truth and lying to you was unjust.”
Cohen also made a point to respond to President Trump’s accusation that he was weak:
“Recently the President tweeted a statement calling me weak and it was correct but for a much different reason than he was implying. It was because time and time again I felt it was my duty to cover up his dirty deeds.”
Cohen had pleaded guilty to a total of nine federal charges, including several counts of tax fraud and campaign finance violations, and lying to Congress and banks.
Cohen has been ordered to voluntarily surrender on March 6, and has been ordered to pay financial penalties (forfeiture of $500,000, restitution of $1.4 million and two separate fines of $50,000 — one for Mueller’s case and another for the SDNY one).
Court reporter Adam Klasfeld, who was in the courtroom, tweeted the hearing as it happened. Read here for those details.
(Cross-posted at The Jury Talks Back.)
–Dana
No comment yet from President Trump to today’s sentencing.
Dana (023079) — 12/12/2018 @ 12:49 pm“Michael Cohen deserves a pardon and a second chance.”
—- Donald Trump
Colonel Haiku (0d51ee) — 12/12/2018 @ 12:57 pmThe SDNY didn’t want to give him leniency and they really raised the rhetoric as to the srriousness of his crimes even or especially the money paid to the two women.
Michael Cohen also never formally signed a co-operation agreement, possibly becasue he didn’t want to answer some questions.
Mueller had something before the court where they said he was co-operating and they asked for any sentence imposed on what he pleaded guilty because of them to be served concurrently.
Sammy Finkelman (102c75) — 12/12/2018 @ 1:03 pmIf he tried to hurt President Trump by feeding lies to the dirty corrupt FBI then i don’t feel sorry for him at all. Except for i feel sorry that he has to go to jail on Christmas.
But that’s what you get for doing lies with the dirty FBI.
happyfeet (28a91b) — 12/12/2018 @ 1:03 pmNow can we hear Cohen’s recordings?
Tillman (61f3c8) — 12/12/2018 @ 1:12 pmHe has certainly learned Donald Trump’s definition of “loyalty” the hard way.
If he’s genuinely remorseful, then I wish him well in building a new and more honorable life after he’s released.
Dave (1bb933) — 12/12/2018 @ 1:27 pmAllahpundit examines a revelation buried in the DOJ filing:
Allahpundit opines that this demolishes any “Edwards defense” that Trump just coincidentally arranged hundreds of thousands of dollars in payments to his extramarital sex workers a few weeks before the election: if these payments were made to influence the election, and “in concert with” Trump’s campaign, they were totally illegal.
Dave (1bb933) — 12/12/2018 @ 1:39 pmKeep digging in that pile of schiff, lefties and concubine NeverTrump. You may find a pony some day…
Probably wouldn’t have gotten as much time if he’d been more “helpful”…
Colonel Haiku (0d51ee) — 12/12/2018 @ 1:45 pm7… they weren’t just illegal, they were totes illegal as breathlessly posted here…
Colonel Haiku (0d51ee) — 12/12/2018 @ 1:46 pmSince my lovely daughter who was born in Vietnam would never have gotten to vote AGAINST a candidate in an election – only FOR a preselected candidate – I’ve never felt badly that I so often vote against one candidate instead of for another. I did this in 2016 when I voted for Donald Trump. I live in New York so I figured my vote was a protest vote to remind Hillary that not everyone wanted her. I’d still have voted the way I did had I lived in Michigan or Pennsylvania, and will vote for Trump again if he is the candidate and Beto O’Rourke or Elizabeth Warren or various similar others turn out to be Trump’s opponent, and I have been happy with his court appointments and many of his actions.
Having said all of this, I’ve constantly been troubled by many of the people he has hired. Cohen is a particular type. Trump can afford high-profile lawyers for glitzy deals but he also has thugs like Cohen who are rough and clearly not all that smart, and unfortunately that reflects materially on Trump. I very much wish a better and less troubling Republican who is electable could somehow be nominated. But I likely will be stuck with yet another election where I can hold my nose voting for one candidate when holding my nose wouldn’t even do the trick for the other candidate. As indicated above, I’m grateful for this opportunity. But I would be even more grateful for a better opportunity.
lazlo toth (5c011f) — 12/12/2018 @ 1:47 pmThey targeted him apriori with the Prague claim in the bogus dossier, this crazy woman comes out of nowhere and asks a ransom.
Narciso (75d59a) — 12/12/2018 @ 2:04 pmLuckily, he wasn’t on a committee approving a uranium sale, while his foundation and spouse were paid money from the foreign government buying the uranium.
Sensible people would have demanded the book be thrown at him for that.
Harcourt Fenton Mudd (5e0a82) — 12/12/2018 @ 2:07 pmWe need a better class of spammer, these are schiffy…
Colonel Haiku (0d51ee) — 12/12/2018 @ 2:33 pmA former chairman of the FEC made some key points:
https://www.nationalreview.com/2018/12/michael-cohen-sentencing-campaign-finance-law/
Thoughts on this article?
I think the AMI settlement in Cohen’s filings seems to have “more legs”…
whembly (51f28e) — 12/12/2018 @ 2:47 pmLuckily, he wasn’t on a committee approving a uranium sale, while his foundation and spouse were paid money from the foreign government buying the uranium.
Why has it not penetrated people’s minds that the Uranium 1 deal was orchestrated by Obama with help from Holder, and that Hillary’s influence was not responsible for the approval? The corruption there was linked to the Oval Office, not Foggy Bottom.
Kishnevi (e8b3ea) — 12/12/2018 @ 2:49 pmthere are no better kind, only weirder, coronello,
meanwhile the possum’s trio (Feinstein, burr and warner) vouch for the leaker wolfe, he actually compromised sources and methods re the interrogation program, and general Flynn gets the business from mccabes’s navy, (
narciso (d1f714) — 12/12/2018 @ 2:50 pmthe uranium one deal, involves a dodgy south African fmr spy, rod fisk who died in 2010. and his computer. containing the records of fuel transfers were mysteriously destroyed.
narciso (d1f714) — 12/12/2018 @ 2:52 pmyou find that more reassuring kish, I would say it’s less so, but the consideration is less so,
narciso (d1f714) — 12/12/2018 @ 2:57 pmNot much to say except Cohen got bad legal advice for signing a formal cooperation agreement. He could’ve walked out a free man in both body and spirit instead of just the latter.
Paul Montagu (0b79a9) — 12/12/2018 @ 3:03 pmEr, not signing that agreement.
Paul Montagu (0b79a9) — 12/12/2018 @ 3:04 pmall that money that did go to the Clinton foundation, from renaissance bank, from deripaska (that same sounds familiar, maybe the levinson search was involved with that) the other sundry players, then you have the Nigerian quarter, chadoury, kurkin, et al (curiously all connected to mark rich)
narciso (d1f714) — 12/12/2018 @ 3:05 pmOT: Mika Brzezinski channels happyfeet:
Dave (1bb933) — 12/12/2018 @ 3:09 pmMika’s a go-to for every rock-ribbed conservative!
Colonel Haiku (0d51ee) — 12/12/2018 @ 3:15 pmOr not.
Colonel Haiku (0d51ee) — 12/12/2018 @ 3:15 pmwell if papa brezinski were still around, she could ask him about his support of zia ul haq, the Pakistani general that killed the prime minister, zulfiqar Bhutto, as opposed to cyrus vance, who passed off his naivete to his son,
narciso (d1f714) — 12/12/2018 @ 3:18 pmobama was a butt boy for putin and the saudi king both
he butt boyed himself out like a prize champion international butt boy
can’t touch this boy butt he would sneer at Mhitt Rhomney
happyfeet (28a91b) — 12/12/2018 @ 3:19 pmSo, once more, what actual crime, particularly one of a felonious nature is the IC supposed to be investigating again? Campaign finance violations might as well be Logan Act violations for how often they’re prosecuted, and you’d have to arrest pretty much the entire journalistic establishment from editors to streetwalkers if ‘suppressing stories to influence an election’ is an actual capital-C crime.
Nicol (e925a0) — 12/12/2018 @ 3:28 pmnot exactly the sauds had high hopes for Obama, w actually disappointed them, but they were disappointed when he didn’t take his advice on Mubarak,
narciso (d1f714) — 12/12/2018 @ 3:32 pmAnn Coulter is in fine form today:
“In the 1990s, Chinese nationals were literally dragging duffel bags of money into the Democratic National Committee as President Clinton allowed sensitive ballistic-missile guidance technology to be transferred to the Chinese government.
No charges. No independent counsel.
Clinton held illegal campaign fundraisers at the White House, where Chinese citizens handed checks directly to White House staff.
Still no charges and no independent counsel.
Videotapes of the White House fundraisers surfaced, featuring the president and vice president glad-handing campaign donors on federal property.
And again, no charges, no independent counsel.
The New York Times’ response to Attorney General Janet Reno’s refusal to assign an independent counsel to these textbook campaign finance violations was a forceful editorial lightly ribbing Reno for her “blunders.”
“Saturday Night Live” was tougher on Reno.”
So, to answer the question of what kind of politician actually gets brought down by scandal: a weak one that no one really likes, like Gary Hart.
Clinton wasn’t it. And Trump ain’t it. There are no legal shortcuts to bringing down a US President; this is a democracy and you won’t win unless you start winning popularity contests.
Nicol (e925a0) — 12/12/2018 @ 3:42 pmGlad to know that Obama and Trump at least share that in common.
Paul Montagu (0b79a9) — 12/12/2018 @ 3:46 pmwell we can go further back, many moons ago a veteran pol, named danny Rostenkowski, was facing a whole raft of charges, yet a relatively green prosecutor eric holder, whittled it down to one,
narciso (d1f714) — 12/12/2018 @ 3:47 pmOver at Wired, a good case made that Kushner, DJTJ, Mr. Trump himself, the Trump Organization, Cohen (yes, Cohen), Michael Flynn’s associates, Corsi & associates, Kilimnik (if we can get him here) and Alexander Torshin (if we can get him here) should be worried.
Paul Montagu (0b79a9) — 12/12/2018 @ 3:55 pmLawyer jailed. Film at 11.
DCSCA (797bc0) — 12/12/2018 @ 4:08 pmwell Mueller’s no. 1 fanboy, is all hot and bothered, in a journalistic sense of course, his first was howard ‘yeargh’ dean, doesn’t seem to understand what lobbying entails, or much of anything else
narciso (d1f714) — 12/12/2018 @ 4:12 pmhttps://twitchy.com/gregp-3534/2018/12/12/former-cia-analyst-rips-wapost-reporter-for-misrepresenting-his-quotes-in-100-fake-news-article-on-trump/
narciso (d1f714) — 12/12/2018 @ 4:14 pmhe would get man of the year treatment, today.
https://qz.com/1491525/baby-its-cold-outside-and-the-rise-of-islamic-fundamentalism/
narciso (d1f714) — 12/12/2018 @ 4:22 pmI think indicting them, would be superfluous,
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2018/12/12/eu-reacted-theresa-may-facing-no-confidence-vote/
narciso (d1f714) — 12/12/2018 @ 4:35 pmSo nothing new was learned. Got it.
NJRob (d9cfb8) — 12/12/2018 @ 5:23 pm32… Wired seldom makes a good case.
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 12/12/2018 @ 6:10 pmyou find that more reassuring kish, I would say it’s less so, but the consideration is less so,
No, I am just saying that the locus of corruption in Uranium 1 was Obama, not Clinton. Kt is like Benghazi: people were so fixated on finding something to pin on Hillary, they let Obama, the person actually at fault, escape unscathed.
Kishnevi (8f6228) — 12/12/2018 @ 6:28 pmThat’s likely true, but for reasons that are patently obvious, hes even less accountable than Hillary, and in point of fact hes a tool of soros Steyer or some combine of all.
Narciso (7d6e72) — 12/12/2018 @ 6:33 pmPaul Montagu (0b79a9) — 12/12/2018 @ 3:55 pm
You may as well give up here, Paul. The Trump supporters have adopted a simple maxim. They will ignore any and all evidence that shows that Trump, a man who spent his whole career grifting, grafting, conning, ignoring the law whenever he could, remains a grifter, grafter, con man, who ignores the law whenever he can (and who seems ignorant of many portions of it now). Instead of admitting that Trump is corrupt and incompetent, they will attack everyone else as corrupt, whether the accusation is deserved (as with Clinton) or not (as with Mueller). They have shown they don’t actually care about corruption. It’s only a convenient slogan to brandish at opponents.
Kishnevi (8f6228) — 12/12/2018 @ 6:39 pmWhat was odd to me was that Michael Cohen pleaded to the eight counts on the day the complaint was filed. This means that they worked out some kind of deal before the fliing.
I am not keen on the campaign charge and the basis in law for a plea to support it. I would like to know what other crimes were not filed and held over Cohen in order to get him to plead to it.
The Dept. of Justice press release of Aug. 21 should be read. It gives us the eight charges and the maximum punishment to each:
Cts. 1-5: Tax Evasion; 5 years prison (it is not clear if this is per count)
Ct. 6: Making false statements to a federally insured bank; 30 years in prison
Ct. 7: Causing an unlawful corporate contribution; 5 years in prison
Ct. 8: Making an excessive campaign contribution; 5 years in prison
Here is the basis for the last count as in the Dept. of Justice press release:
“COHEN caused and made the payments described herein in order to influence the 2016 presidential election. In so doing, he coordinated with one or more members of the campaign, including through meetings and phone calls, about the fact, nature, and timing of the payments. As a result of the payments solicited and made by COHEN, neither Woman-1 nor Woman-2 spoke to the press prior to the election.”
This was not written by the Trump Administration, was it? By the way, who was running the DOJ and tried with all their leverage to get a plea to the campaign count? Obama’s AG’s never let any of his many scandals get out of hand.
Keep in mind that Cohen himself failed to pay $1.4 million on income of $4 million. I tried to research this on the web and found a law firm that said it usually gets a sentence of three to five years. This might be puffing. And does Cohen’s sentence of three years really all get served or does it really mean about a year of custody and two years of parole?
AZ Bob (885937) — 12/12/2018 @ 6:39 pmLook what we have here:
https://dailycaller.com/2018/12/12/honduras-migrant-bombing-suspect/
Narciso (7d6e72) — 12/12/2018 @ 6:42 pmhttps://t.co/7FGlR3nmTr
That is entirely possible, az Bob, take conrad blacks business partner, radler he plead guilty to one charge of mail fraud served only 10 months of a 29 month term, thanks to pat fitzgerald.
Narciso (7d6e72) — 12/12/2018 @ 6:46 pmnarciso (d1f714) — 12/12/2018 @ 4:14 pm
Which on inspection turns out to be “analyst complains the WaPo reporter prefers to report the facts and not the proTrump spin”
The Kasshoggi murder is an excellent example. Instead of admitting that MBS is a brutal strongman, but that we need his help–which is the simple truth and what the IC is saying–Trump prefers to say MBS did no wrong and the IC should be ignored.
Kishnevi (8f6228) — 12/12/2018 @ 6:53 pmif there’s one thing everybody knows about President Trump it’s how good he’s been about respecting the campaign finance laws
the sleazy men and women of the corrupt and sordid fbi are having to invent stuff cause they’ve spent tens of millions and they got nothing except what they pull out their sloppy butts
🙁 sad fbi
happyfeet (28a91b) — 12/12/2018 @ 6:57 pmThis tell tale tape where did it come from the Turks told as many tales to as many gullible people , they bugged his person, he sent the message by his I phone they had a video feed,
Narciso (7d6e72) — 12/12/2018 @ 6:59 pmI am not keen on the campaign charge and the basis in law for a plea to support it. I would like to know what other crimes were not filed and held over Cohen in order to get him to plead to it.
The MSM talked about lying to Congress. There is also some serious tax evasion. And how many deals did he at least skirt the law on behalf of Trump Org.?
There is also legal liability for his wife if she signed any joint tax return.
Kishnevi (8f6228) — 12/12/2018 @ 6:59 pmCohen’s loyalty to Trump was the same as a leech’s loyalty to its host.
Gary Hoffman (7ec1de) — 12/12/2018 @ 7:00 pmMr Feets how nice of you to provide a vivid example in 48 of the point I was making in 47.
Kishnevi (8f6228) — 12/12/2018 @ 7:01 pmHe wasnt Tim Geithner or Tom Daschle or the husband of the eventual labor secretary, then again he wasnt a White House official,
Narciso (7d6e72) — 12/12/2018 @ 7:02 pmi’m here to serve
happyfeet (28a91b) — 12/12/2018 @ 7:07 pmThere is also legal liability for his wife if she signed any joint tax return.
That’s how they got him to plead guilty.
nk (dbc370) — 12/12/2018 @ 7:07 pmOut of curiosity, with AMI, the parent company of the Enquirer, pleading to some guilt with complete immunity to something that seems exactly the same as what the LA Times did with the Khaledi video to avoid it influencing Obama’s election, can the Dog Trainer be prosecuted?
NJRob (d9cfb8) — 12/12/2018 @ 7:09 pmWell they did for a good cause dontcha know, and were assured money wasnt involved.
Narciso (7d6e72) — 12/12/2018 @ 7:10 pmAnd having to provide for his wife and kids is how Trump got him to be his buttboy. Like Ted Cruz. Have you read The Brothers Karamazov? The part where Captain Snegiryov explains why he can’t avenge the insult Dimitri inflicted on him? Pride is for hermits.
nk (dbc370) — 12/12/2018 @ 7:15 pmThanks, Kish, but I don’t have it in me. I gave up on the GOP once, not going to do it again. I just mentally note all ad homs in place of real replies and keep going.
Paul Montagu (0b79a9) — 12/12/2018 @ 7:17 pmcan the Dog Trainer be prosecuted?
Off the top of my head, no. I agree with you about the principle involved, but the details (as best I remember them) don’t parallel this case in some important respects.
Kishnevi (8f6228) — 12/12/2018 @ 7:18 pmI don’t remember any publicly known evidence of co-ordination with the Obama campaign, and I don’t remember any money being paid for the rights to the video.
If I am not remembering correctly on those two points, the parallel would be apt. The only real bar in that case is the statute of limitations.
Seriously you think they did this of there one volition, wouldn’t you agree that was more indicative of how Obama would behave in office?
Narciso (7d6e72) — 12/12/2018 @ 7:20 pmAnd does Cohen’s sentence of three years really all get served or does it really mean about a year of custody and two years of parole?
AZ Bob (885937) — 12/12/2018 @ 6:39 pm
It’s three plus two. The federal two-year post-incarceration supervised release is not like classic parole. It is tacked on to the sentence of incarceration and not a substitute for any part of it. Whether he gets some time off for good behavior or early administrative release or work release (I don’t know enough about how the Bureau of Prisons works), he will still have to do the two years supervised release.
nk (dbc370) — 12/12/2018 @ 7:26 pmIt’s the LAT. Yes, they were quite capable of doing this on their own volition.
Kishnevi (8f6228) — 12/12/2018 @ 7:27 pmThis is the same la times that pushed Chicago authorities (well nudged) to release the divorce records of Blair hull and Jack Ryan (cui bono?)
Narciso (7d6e72) — 12/12/2018 @ 7:32 pmhttps://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/12/us/politics/north-carolina-republican-primary-fraud.html
OK, the NC GOP is at least making appropriate noises. But it’s another example of the fact that absentee ballots are the true locus of election fraud and voter ID laws that don’t focus in absentee ballots are at best kabuki.
Kishnevi (8f6228) — 12/12/2018 @ 7:36 pmI hope Patterico is getting into Akismet’s face about this spam outbreak.
Kishnevi (8f6228) — 12/12/2018 @ 7:37 pmYes it’s a legal practice in California, not so much in North Carolina, therein ends the lesson.
Narciso (7d6e72) — 12/12/2018 @ 7:39 pm“Yes it’s a legal practice in California, not so much in North Carolina, therein ends the lesson.”
Fraudulently collecting absentee ballots isn’t legal in California.
Davethulhu (c2a30b) — 12/12/2018 @ 7:46 pmIt’s called ballot harvesting, try to keep up, but you look at places where 120-140% of registered voters vote?
Narciso (7d6e72) — 12/12/2018 @ 7:50 pmBack when we had the pull-lever voting machines in Chicago, Machine precinct workers would load their assigned quotas of straight Democratic votes in each before the polls opened. Now they get together three weeks earlier and fill out mail-in ballots. It’s the 21st century way.
nk (dbc370) — 12/12/2018 @ 7:51 pm“They have shown they don’t actually care about corruption. It’s only a convenient slogan to brandish at opponents.”
Kishnevi (8f6228) — 12/12/2018 @ 6:39 pm
As long as there’s going to be picking and choosing from the corruption buffet table, I’ll fill my own plate thanks. You’re free to hand your plate to Mueller and let him choose for you, and pretend that means you care more.
Munroe (985fbf) — 12/12/2018 @ 7:52 pmHow nice of Munroe to provide even more evidence that what I said is true.
Kishnevi (8f6228) — 12/12/2018 @ 7:55 pmIt’s called ballot harvesting, try to keep up, but you look at places where 120-140% of registered voters vote
Kishnevi (8f6228) — 12/12/2018 @ 7:59 pmVoter ID laws do nothing to stop that.
Since the GOP fixates on Voter ID, that’s a good sign they don’t really care about Election Fraud.
Well that’s very convenient, dem complaints about campaign finance reform reached peak absurdity in 2008, when Obama outspent McCain 6/1 and then cheered about ths victory. But them it became even more absurd after citizens United,
Narciso (7d6e72) — 12/12/2018 @ 8:04 pmDoes Cohen have to wait for release to write/publish his book?
Dave (eaedaf) — 12/12/2018 @ 8:05 pmFor practical reasons. It will be difficult for his ghost writer to write it for him while he’s in prison.
nk (dbc370) — 12/12/2018 @ 8:08 pmAnd, then, you know, the tours and signings and TV appearances.
nk (dbc370) — 12/12/2018 @ 8:10 pmWell he has three months before he has to report like Mike Ross in suits.
Narciso (7d6e72) — 12/12/2018 @ 8:11 pm“It’s called ballot harvesting, try to keep up, but you look at places where 120-140% of registered voters vote?”
Where would that be? Orange County? Because lol if you believe anything that comes out of Gateway Pundit.
https://ocweekly.com/controversy-from-orange-county-precincts-120-percent-voter-turnout-is-misinformed/
Davethulhu (c2a30b) — 12/12/2018 @ 8:13 pmI couldn’t recall anyone incarcerated publishing a book so I thought maybe it’s not allowed (since it’s doing work for remuneration).
Dave (eaedaf) — 12/12/2018 @ 8:15 pm“Voter ID laws do nothing to stop that.
Since the GOP fixates on Voter ID, that’s a good sign they don’t really care about Election Fraud.”
The GOP cares about disenfranchising people who don’t vote Republican.
Davethulhu (c2a30b) — 12/12/2018 @ 8:15 pmSo there really was no reason to investigate in the first place, did ny state even notice the short count with the taxes, would berman have followed up, no dems just game the system.
Narciso (7d6e72) — 12/12/2018 @ 8:22 pmThat’s not why I support voter ID laws.
Dave (eaedaf) — 12/12/2018 @ 8:23 pmCalifornia legislation:
“(a) All vote by mail ballots cast under this division shall be voted on or before the day of the election. After marking the ballot, the vote by mail voter shall do any of the following: (1) return the ballot by mail or in person to the elections official from whom it came, (2) return the ballot in person to a member of a precinct board at a polling place within the jurisdiction, or (3) return the ballot to the elections official from whom it came at a vote by mail ballot drop-off location, if provided pursuant to Section 3025. However, a vote by mail voter who is unable to return the ballot may designate any person to return the ballot to the elections official from whom it came or to the precinct board at a polling place within the jurisdiction. The ballot must, however, be received by either the elections official from whom it came or the precinct board before the close of the polls on election day.
Did ‘ballot harvesting’ take place in California’s elections?
Anecdotally, news reports have so far identified one county where the practice was noticed. Orange County’s registrar of voters, Neal Kelley, told the San Francisco Chronicle that the county “certainly had that going on here, with people dropping off maybe 100 or 200 ballots. Fred Whitaker, the chairman of the Republican Party in Orange County, told supporters that GOP losses in the county were the “direct result of ballot harvesting allowed under California law for the first time,” the Chronicle reported.”
https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/opinion/the-conversation/sd-what-is-ballot-harvesting-in-california-election-code-20181204-htmlstory.html
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 12/12/2018 @ 8:24 pmBut this began with the Barbara streissand dossier, as David Plouffe put it ‘is not merely enough to defeat trump but to destroy him’ that means go after everyone if they are innocent.
Narciso (7d6e72) — 12/12/2018 @ 8:24 pmIt depends on the prison’s rules, I guess. Chester Himes was publishing from prison — short stories and his first novel. Jack Abbott wrote In The Belly Of The Beast while in prison and Norman Mailer liked it well enough to help him get parole and get it published.
nk (dbc370) — 12/12/2018 @ 8:25 pmBut both those guys could write. I doubt Cohen can.
nk (dbc370) — 12/12/2018 @ 8:27 pmRe 44, yes he’s a terrorist, but is he a “terrorist terrorist”?
urbanleftbehind (3d4138) — 12/12/2018 @ 8:27 pmAnd then he practiced what he knew and killed another person, so did Buckley’s charge, John dean wrote some good fiction when he was in prison, then there was the one that turned into a miniseries (rimshot) did Bobby Baker write anything (rhetorical question)
Narciso (7d6e72) — 12/12/2018 @ 8:29 pmThat was a reference to blind ambition, if you missed it.
Narciso (7d6e72) — 12/12/2018 @ 8:31 pm“So there really was no reason to investigate in the first place, did ny state even notice the short count with the taxes, would berman have followed up, no dems just game the system.”
Once again I have no idea what you’re talking about.
Davethulhu (c2a30b) — 12/12/2018 @ 8:31 pmHe was as effective as bill Ayers, probably blew up most of his own paper.
Narciso (7d6e72) — 12/12/2018 @ 8:32 pm@86 Haiku
Funny, you left this quote out of your synopsis:
““To say we were caught flat-footed by this is just not true,” California GOP spokesman Matt Fleming told Fox News. “We were well aware of this, we even did it ourselves, we pay attention to election laws.””
Davethulhu (c2a30b) — 12/12/2018 @ 8:34 pmI don’t see any evidence that California GOP has been aware of anything in the last eight years, do you?
Narciso (7d6e72) — 12/12/2018 @ 8:36 pmHe could call it The Thin Red Covfefe. Like Thin Red Line but defending Trump’s public image instead of the borders of the British Empire.
nk (dbc370) — 12/12/2018 @ 8:38 pmIt was a dark *and* stormy night
nk (dbc370) — 12/12/2018 @ 8:41 pm96… I doubt Republicans had individuals dropping off 100 to 200 ballots. They don’t roll like that.
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 12/12/2018 @ 8:44 pmAnd it’s funny, Cthulhu, how you know that to be the case but choose to act as if you don’t.
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 12/12/2018 @ 8:45 pmBut the califirnia gop is a quixotic creature like the fabled blue unicorn.
Narciso (7d6e72) — 12/12/2018 @ 8:48 pmAccording to Jean jacques Broussard 10% of all the suspected jihadists live in strasbourg.
Narciso (7d6e72) — 12/12/2018 @ 8:54 pmI was going to let it pass but, now that you brought it up, Mr. Guerrero is a suspected militant, not a terrorist. Even though it happened in a Chinese restaurant, the target of the attack was military personnel. Since his case was never tested in court, we don’t if he actually did it, but it does look like was part of a left-wing group during the Cold War. It also looks like he’s still a left-wing kook, going by that stupid monetary demand.
Paul Montagu (0b79a9) — 12/12/2018 @ 8:55 pmSo if bill Ayers bomb had blown up at the ft. Dix officer club that would merely be a militant, when they blew up the marine barracks bombing in 1983, el descanso at torrejon airbase in 1985?
Narciso (7d6e72) — 12/12/2018 @ 9:02 pm“And it’s funny, Cthulhu, how you know that to be the case but choose to act as if you don’t.”
I don’t know any such thing, and neither do you. The NC GOP managed to find plenty of ballots.
Davethulhu (c2a30b) — 12/12/2018 @ 9:07 pmThat was Mustafa setmarian Nasser’s debut (for years they attributed to hezbollah.
Narciso (7d6e72) — 12/12/2018 @ 9:07 pmOk it looks like big chief Emmanuel is deep into the Colorado gold.
Narciso (7d6e72) — 12/12/2018 @ 9:11 pmThat’s fine. It’s just as lawful to shoot “militants” on sight as they approach our border as it is to shoot terrorists.
nk (dbc370) — 12/12/2018 @ 9:11 pmCan’t say about the officers’ club, but if civilians were in attendance, which seems likely, then it would have been terrorism. The Marine barracks bombing was terrorism because it was indiscriminate and it killed civilians. Likewise, Hamas rockets fired into Israel are terrorist attacks because the Palestinians don’t know where those rockets will land. Their indiscriminate nature makes it terrorism.
Paul Montagu (0b79a9) — 12/12/2018 @ 9:16 pmThis spam is just creepier and creepier like the engineers that became the face huggers.
Narciso (7d6e72) — 12/12/2018 @ 9:19 pmOh the ami statement is about the other woman is presentable.
Narciso (7d6e72) — 12/12/2018 @ 9:27 pm“The Post Mortem:
Ab 1921 was signed by the governor in the fall of 2016. We shall return to this issue at a later date to try to require better record keeping of vote by mail ballots brought into an elections office.
The Problem:
AB 1921 would allow anybody to walk into an elections office and hand over truckloads of vote by mail envelopes with ballots inside, no questions asked, no verified records kept. It amounts to an open invitation to large-scale vote buying, voter coercion, “granny farming”, and automated forgery. AB 1921 solves no problem that a simple stamp can’t solve.
The Voting Rights Task Force is leading a statewide campaign to stop this bill, We are asking you to contact the governor, and urge him to veto AB 1921 because we don’t need armies of paid, unidentified ballot collectors when postage stamps will do.
Background:
Current California elections code states that a vote by mail voter who is “unable” to return their ballot may have a family or household member return it to the elections office [section 3017(a)(3)]. The ballot may not be returned by workers of a political committee or other organizations [section 3017(e)].
AB 1921 changes section 3017 to allow “any person” to bring in truckloads of VbM ballots – no questions asked – no records kept.
This is an open invitation to …
large scale vote buying:
Proponents of the bill say that there are laws against vote buying/selling. But it is a victimless crime. Nobody is going to report it, because both sides profit from it. Vote buying has happened often in past American history. Given the several billion dollars spent on American elections, and 130 million voters, we can price a generic blank ballot at more than $100. For close and important races, much more than that.
voter coercion:
This is a variation of vote buying. Somebody’s boss, or union chief, or other “superior” says they want to see your ballot. If not, you’re out. You may have the strength to say no, but many people don’t. Megachurches, unions, and political organizations have been holding ballot “parties” for years. Here is one just example: from San Francisco, 2004. This exerts inappropriate job pressure and/or social pressure. This kind of “ballot harvesting” gets easier when the organization can deliver the ballots for you, perhaps chucking the ones they don’t like, just as some people throw away voter registrations they’ve collected but don’t like.
granny farming:
Here, operatives target senior homes, and “assist” elderly people to fill out their ballots “correctly”. A variation of this is “helping” chinese speakers to fill out their ballots, as happened in San Francisco, 2011. This is preying on the weaknesses of voters for harvest more votes for one side.
automated forgery:
Many organizations have digital copies of millions of signatures. They also have the names and addresses. It’s not hard to create copies of VbM envelopes and ballots. Indeed, there are numerous companies that county election office hire to send out VbM ballots to the voters; and they have exact digital copies of the signatures. All you need is to vote in place of people who don’t vote. That’s not hard to find out, because whether or not you voted is a public record. Just comb through the records to find the people who are registered, but don’t vote. Get out the vote (GOTV) campaigns go one step further. They find out, legally, who has not voted by, say 5 PM, on election day, so that the campaign can call them and encourage them to vote. Take it the next step: if the person says they are not going to vote, you’ve got their signature, and everything else you need. Just vote in place of the non-voters. Truckloads of them.
Some, not understanding computer internals, and/or unwilling to look at the actual history and current extent of election manipulation in the US, call automated forgery “far-fetched”. But this is just as “far-fetched” as Russia hacking elections; and as “far-fetched” as the hacking of voter registration databases, now confirmed by officials in Arizona, Illinois, and Riverside county. Computer-savvy democracy advocates saw both of these threats coming 10 years ago. Few listened, but both are here, now. Automated forgery is next.
Remember, there are no questions asked about why the voter is “unable” to vote. Section 3017 does not require officials to keep records of who brought in how many, much less which ballots. At best, we have the purported name of the delivery person on the envelope. But there is no positive identification, no address, no signature. Investigators cannot track down possible criminal activity if they can’t identify who brought in the ballots.”
https://countedascast.org/ballot-harvesting/
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 12/12/2018 @ 9:29 pmThe Thin Red Covfefe (continued)
nk (dbc370) — 12/12/2018 @ 9:35 pmYes because she’s a shy retiring creature, ask David Vitter (she deepsixed his gubernatorial campaign. So they could put in a hack Medicaid expansioniat as givernor.
Narciso (7d6e72) — 12/12/2018 @ 9:41 pmNo real objection, but I’d rather fire warning shots if they approach and be more lethal if they try to cross.
Paul Montagu (0b79a9) — 12/12/2018 @ 9:45 pmStormy screwed Vitter, too? That girl do get around.
nk (dbc370) — 12/12/2018 @ 9:46 pmWarning shots? That’s only in cheap fiction. Among other things, a bullet travels a mile. What’s your backstop? And if the warning shot doesn’t work, will you get a chance at a second one?
nk (dbc370) — 12/12/2018 @ 9:50 pmNow he works for mercury on the Russia account. When he had been pointing out the whole Nigerian scam ring, it’s like heinleins puppet masters. ABC decided only his name and one other was noteworthy from a certain madame book.
Narciso (7d6e72) — 12/12/2018 @ 9:51 pm@109 Haiku
I’m with you. The Republicans have shown in NC that they can’t be trusted, so clearly some safeguards need to be put in place.
Davethulhu (c2a30b) — 12/12/2018 @ 9:53 pmAs if there ever was an actual invasion force. I trust that our Border Patrol is well trained enough to deal with the rabble that is the caravan without undue injury or loss of life, without US military roaming around, pretending to be useful.
Paul Montagu (0b79a9) — 12/12/2018 @ 9:59 pmLike the 1.5 million Syrians so called in Europe, it doesn’t work that way.
Narciso (7d6e72) — 12/12/2018 @ 10:10 pmThe Thin Red Covfefe (continued)
nk (dbc370) — 12/12/2018 @ 10:23 pm“Instead of admitting that Trump is corrupt and incompetent, they will attack everyone else as corrupt, whether the accusation is deserved (as with Clinton) or not (as with Mueller).”
Kishnevi is being cute by ignoring both the degree and kind of corruption, but at least he hasn’t given up and condemned all protests as ‘whataboutism’.
And Mueller most definitely and absolutely is corrupt, he’s just corrupt according to the model of someone who makes things the CIA and Congress doesn’t want public hidden, such as how bin Laden’s family got out of the country on 9/11, why so many innocent men were kept imprisoned under his watch, or where all that Bank and Credit Commerce International money went.
(He probably should have stuck to covering up government involvement in big, complicated issues that the public doesn’t really care about for more than a single news cycle, and not being the front man for the Democrat party forced memetic vendetta against the President, which actually does invite 24-7 critical scrutiny from at least one side of the aisle that really doesn’t let you get away with the typical Michael Cohenesque tricks.)
“Instead of admitting that MBS is a brutal strongman, but that we need his help–which is the simple truth and what the IC is saying”
“The IC” has said no such thing, their job is to collect intel on foreigners and keep it secret while the diplomats and statesmen do their jobs, which usually involves being effusive in praise of the foreigners in public dealings while using the information gleaned from the IC to put the screws to them in private dealings.
“Trump prefers to say MBS did no wrong and the IC should be ignored.”
“The IC” does not set foreign policy, and is not in the business of saying WE HAVE ROCK-SOLID EVIDENCE INDICATING THAT DUDE KILLED THE OTHER DUDE to the New York Times when they don’t like how the President uses the information they give him.
Also, that’s a heavy mischaracterization of Trump’s public statements and you should be ashamed of your laziness in describing them when you’re trying to posture as a STUDENT OF TRUTH. I’d expect that level of disingenuousness in a Tom Friedman or Paul Krugman article, but they didn’t make their money and position by following their own advice.
Nicol (b80d97) — 12/13/2018 @ 12:47 am“As if there ever was an actual invasion force. I trust that our Border Patrol is well trained enough to deal with the rabble that is the caravan without undue injury or loss of life, without US military roaming around, pretending to be useful.”
This is precisely backwards. Having the military there to intimidate away the less savory elements enables the Border Patrol to deal with the remaining stragglers without undue injury or loss of life.
Then again, provincial urban blue state hicks are well-known for putting the cart before the horse the first time they have to do any real farm work.
Nicol (e925a0) — 12/13/2018 @ 12:52 amPaul Ryan should be on death row.
mg (8cbc69) — 12/13/2018 @ 3:11 amStormy Daniels for chief of staff.
mg (8cbc69) — 12/13/2018 @ 3:25 amChief of toadstool, anyway.
JRH (fe281f) — 12/13/2018 @ 4:04 amyes yes stormy knows a lot about fungi (funguses all up in it)
happyfeet (28a91b) — 12/13/2018 @ 5:08 amYou may be right. Only an utter fool would go there. But if “you can do anything,” I guess it’s hard to stay away.
JRH (fe281f) — 12/13/2018 @ 5:20 amMonica Lewinsky for head of state.
nk (dbc370) — 12/13/2018 @ 5:31 amYou guys do realize that all this [makes pumping motion in air with semi-closed fist] was before Trump became President? No Alberto Gonzalezes and “enhanced interrogations”, no non-existent yellowcake, no Eric Holders selling guns to drug cartels, no Lois Lerners?
nk (dbc370) — 12/13/2018 @ 5:34 amYes good point. tbh if Trump is impeached *for this* it’s a really bad idea and people will revolt, imo. There is way more coming down the pike though.
JRH (fe281f) — 12/13/2018 @ 5:40 amMike Flynn chatted with the FBI for over 60 hours. (yes, I know happyfeet: the dirty filthy sloppy-bummed FBI).
JRH (fe281f) — 12/13/2018 @ 5:41 amThis escapade just gives insight into Trump’s felonious and dishonest nature, and his willingness to lie and cover sh*t up and pay people to do the same.
JRH (fe281f) — 12/13/2018 @ 5:43 amBut you’re fine with this abuse of power, that ignores actual treasonous activities,
Narciso (7d6e72) — 12/13/2018 @ 5:46 amYour just figuring out Trump is shifty?
mg (8cbc69) — 12/13/2018 @ 5:47 amlol.
The interrogations were the right thing to do another there would be a funeral pyre where the library tower stands now.
Narciso (7d6e72) — 12/13/2018 @ 5:53 amIncompetent, sadistic freaks who torture prisoners primarily because that’s how they get their jollies; and secondarily because they’re incapable of simple information gathering and analysis, and elementary detective work.
nk (dbc370) — 12/13/2018 @ 6:07 amBut enough about your Chicago police department, Mitchell and jesson deserve medals, they are air force pyachologists.
Narciso (7d6e72) — 12/13/2018 @ 6:12 amThe practices they employer were approved by the fastidious European xourt.
More practices from your neck of the woods
Narciso (7d6e72) — 12/13/2018 @ 6:14 amhttps://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2018/12/flynns-fate-4.php
Mitchell and jesson deserve medals, they are air force pyachologists.
In the pit of evil counselors, those medals will be red hot.
nk (dbc370) — 12/13/2018 @ 6:20 amSmallest violin for the fellow who pulled the Vincent the chin act,
Narciso (7d6e72) — 12/13/2018 @ 6:24 amThree senators tweedle dum tweddle dummer and tweddle vouched for the leaker Wolfe,
Narciso (7d6e72) — 12/13/2018 @ 6:27 amLannie Davis statement is as genuine as anything else he said
Narciso (7d6e72) — 12/13/2018 @ 6:38 amTwain was wrong it wasnt just the leg
https://legalinsurrection.com/2018/12/incoming-ny-attorney-general-vows-to-use-full-power-of-the-state-to-get-trump/?fbclid=IwAR231wsg0HIgOCqDU1dXRNYxLrzPAhYS5ZVtVAT7w7NJnabXNpR1QQ24EdQ
Narciso (7d6e72) — 12/13/2018 @ 6:43 am136… talk about can’t see the forest for the trees…
Colonel Haiku (f00165) — 12/13/2018 @ 7:00 amIt puts him with the cool kids coronello.
Narciso (7d6e72) — 12/13/2018 @ 7:04 amOT, but Comey Schmomey… https://www.amgreatness.com/2018/12/12/comey-continues-to-display-his-lack-of-credibility/
Colonel Haiku (f00165) — 12/13/2018 @ 7:20 amIt doesn’t surprise me, but as with mark felt they don’t really care.
Narciso (7d6e72) — 12/13/2018 @ 7:23 amMr. Robotov? https://inews.co.uk/news/technology/russian-robot-boris-man-in-suit-russia-24/
Colonel Haiku (f00165) — 12/13/2018 @ 7:23 amReminds of the ersatz gorilla in the python librarian sketch.
Narciso (7d6e72) — 12/13/2018 @ 7:24 am“The practices they employer were approved by the fastidious European xourt.”
No they weren’t.
“In this case the Court had no access to the applicant as he was still being held by the US
authorities in very restrictive conditions so it had to establish the facts from various
other sources. In particular, it gained key information from a US Senate Committee
report on CIA torture which was released in December 2014. It also heard expert
witness testimony. The Court held that in the applicant’s case there had been violations
of Article 3 (prohibition of torture) of the Convention, because of the Government’s
failure to effectively investigate his allegations and because of its complicity in the CIA’s
actions that had led to ill-treatment, as well as violations of Article 5 (right to liberty
and security), Article 8 (right to respect for private life), and Article 13 (right to an
effective remedy) in conjunction with Article 3.”
https://www.echr.coe.int/Documents/FS_Secret_detention_ENG.PDF
Davethulhu (c2a30b) — 12/13/2018 @ 7:46 pmThe original practices, not the garbage like the excuses that freed Moroccan detainees to plan operations in Spain, including the one in 2017
Narciso (7d6e72) — 12/13/2018 @ 7:50 pmFeel free to link, Narciso.
Davethulhu (c2a30b) — 12/13/2018 @ 8:06 pmWho cares what the landlords of Dachau and Auschwitz think? Maybe we should get the opinions of China, Argentina and Cuba, too?
nk (dbc370) — 12/13/2018 @ 8:22 pmIt comes from a little known profile of John yoo in Esquire by John Richardson (yes the son of the station chief kicked out of Saigon before the diem coup)
Narciso (7d6e72) — 12/13/2018 @ 10:09 pm