And in other family-values news.....today a judge finalized the restitution payments to to students attending Trump's fake University.
https://www.yahoo.com/gma/judge-finalizes-25-million-settlement-victims-donald-trumps-043500159--abc-news-topstories.html
Originally posted by: PJ Stroh
Hillary's private email acount was in no shape or form illegal and never at any time was subject to a criminal investigation. A crime is not defined by a bunch of drooling inbreeders screaming "lock her up".
But using hidden funds to pay off prostitutes during a campaign. That is a crime. And its a pretty significant one. And the "lock her up" crowd is actually buying the idea that Cohen paid those chicks off with his own cash. ....And its pretty friggin hilarious.
If she used her private email account to hide official government communications while she was SOS from everyone and anyone, it absolutely was illegal. She did, and it was. ...and now everyone who considers what Clinton did to be against the law are a "bunch of drooling inbreeders screaming"? Name calling adds SO MUCH to your credibility!
Clifford/Daniels is now a "prostitute"? I thought she was a porn star. Paying hush money IS NOT a crime, no matter how much you want it to be. Cohen could be guilty of bank fraud, but for that to be true, he would have had to borrow the money to pay the hush money under false pretenses - like he borrowed the money from a bank, telling the bank he wanted the money remodel his home. If that is what happened, he did indeed pay the hush money himself, without any necessary involvement by Trump, as they have both stated. Trump has his own money. If Cohen did commit bank fraud to raise the funds for the hush money, it DOES NOT implicate Trump. Period.
statements of fact aren’t prefaced by a conditional “if” . That’s a great life lesson for the email-gaters.
Trump claims an affair never happened and yet his attourney dishes out a 6 digit sum to keep the subject of the affair quiet...allegedly with his own cash.
And it looks like you believe that, bob. I’ve got nothing to say to that. I’ll let the absurdity of that argument and your support for it stand on its own feet.
Originally posted by: PJ Stroh
statements of fact aren’t prefaced by a conditional “if” . That’s a great life lesson for the email-gaters.
Trump claims an affair never happened and yet his attourney dishes out a 6 digit sum to keep the subject of the affair quiet...allegedly with his own cash.
And it looks like you believe that, bob. I’ve got nothing to say to that. I’ll let the absurdity of that argument and your support for it stand on its own feet.
I stated that she did and it was illegal. No ifs involved. You don't bleach bit an email account because there's nothing there, and you don't insist that only your own lawyer can decide which emails that still exist are subject to scrutiny and which aren't.
I have no reason to believe Trump is lying about this....and you have no reason to believe he is lying either, other than a blind hatred for the man.
Bob something isn’t illegal because you and 90% of right-wing talking heads say it is. Hillary Clinton went through an investigation, and it was determined at the end of that investigation that there weren’t any laws broken. Contrast that with Trump who is trying to shut down an investigation before law enforcement can reach a conclusion as to whether he broke any laws by firing the law enforcement officials investigating him. (This would be obstruction of justice BTW.)
I agree with you Stormy Daniels is not a prostitute. I like that sentiment, so I will give you a thoughtful legal analysis. Paying hush money can be illegal. You mentioned the possibility of him lying to the bank to obtain the loan. That is but one of the reasons paying hush money could be illegal in this case. Another reason is Cohen’s bank issued a SAR. A normal part of that process would be the bank calling the customer and asking what the payment in question was for. I find it unlikely that Cohen answered that truthfully by saying something to the effect of to pay for a hush money agreement with a Porn Star. If he didn’t answer that truthfully, that would be a second offense of wire fraud. Then the third way it could be illegal is as a campaign finance violation. Keep in mind the government prosecuted John Edwards for a campaign finance violation under similar circumstances. These are but three ways the hush money payment could be illegal in the Stormy Daniels case.
Federal Prosecutors were found to have probable cause by the judge who issued the search warrant on Cohen based on these three ways, so the government already has substantially developed some evidence that there were illegalities with this hush money payment.
Furthermore, If Ms. Daniels was told by Mr. Cohen that he was acting as Trump’s attorney in this matter and that her deal was a contract between her and Mr. Trump, it is likely Cohen committed chargeable fraud because he is now claiming the contract wasn’t a deal between her and Mr. Trump, but rather a deal between her and Mr. Cohen himself.
Now, if it is found that both Trump and Cohen were lying when they publicly said Trump had no knowledge of this deal, they could both on the hook for obstruction of justice related to Stormy's hush money payment. It is unlikely that Trump could be charged for Cohen’s bank fraud or wire fraud, (he would have to have knowledge) but he could be charged with the campaign finance violation and if the evidence shows Trump knew about the agreement, he could also be charged with any fraudulent misrepresentations Cohen made to Ms. Daniels. As I understand it, Ms. Daniels is talking to the FBI now.
You also must go through the same analysis for Karen McDougal. I am not going to break that entire thing down like I did with Stormy, but you have to ask yourself why Mr. Cohen had paperwork and information on the deal between McDougal and the National Enquirer as he wasn’t a party to that transaction? If you want the answer, I suggest you read McDougal’s civil complaint against the National Enquirer. Hint it boils down to another fraudulent scheme. McDougal was told she was making a deal with the National Enquirer, but Cohen was really the one making the deal on Trump's behalf. (According to McDougal's civil complaint.) Trump, Cohen and the National Enquirer could all face charges from that hush money payment depending on what the evidence shows.
Using personal email accounts for government business is not illegal - even if Bob and the faux Constituionalists really, really want it to be. Really !
threatening violence to a woman and paying her off during a campaign is illegal. And so is sexual assault. And so is coordinating with Russian sources for information. And so is money laundering. And so is exchanging money and favor with foreign entities from the White HOuse. Trump and his staff stand accussed and/or convicted of these crimes.
But then again....email.
"Using personal email accounts for government business is not illegal "
Actually it is when classified info is on the emails. We already know of some & we never saw half the emails.
"And so is exchanging money and favor with foreign entities from the White HOuse. Trump and his staff stand accussed and/or convicted of these crimes"
What?
Originally posted by: tom
"Using personal email accounts for government business is not illegal "
Actually it is when classified info is on the emails. We already know of some & we never saw half the emails.
"And so is exchanging money and favor with foreign entities from the White HOuse. Trump and his staff stand accussed and/or convicted of these crimes"
What?
Sigh, Tom, something isn’t illegal because you and 90% of right-wing talking heads say it is. Hillary Clinton went through an investigation, and it was determined at the end of that investigation that there weren’t any laws broken. Contrast that with Trump who is trying to shut down an investigation before law enforcement can reach a conclusion as to whether he broke any laws by firing the law enforcement officials investigating him. (This would be obstruction of justice BTW.)
It wasn't a criminal investigation, nor even an "investigation". Loretta Lynch ordered Comey to call the whole thing a "matter", and Comey obeyed. Even though there was evidence found by Comey of Clinton illegally using her private email account to send and/or receive classified communications, Comey decided he wasn't going to make Clinton face any charges long before the "matter" was resolved. I can see three possible reasons for Comey's actions: 1. Blind dedication to the party; 2. He didn't want to be found dead, by suicide, shot in the back of the head twice; 3. The most likely scenerio - he knew if Hillary Clinton was charged, it would implcate MANY MORE people, including Obama, Lynch and Bill Clinton. Perhaps it was all three reasons. James Comey was a dirty cop.
Trump could have fired Mueller a long time ago. Special investigators have been fired by the sitting President without being charged with obstruction of justice. It isn't obstruction of justice when a special investigator refers an action to be taken that is a clear violation of both the 4th and 6th amendments. If anything, Trump's objections to what Mueller and his gang are doing are him standing up for justice, not obstructing it.
It was a criminal investigation. There were no prosecutable crimes discovered. That is the end of the story. Comey is a lifelong Republican and cost Hillary the election when he announced he was re-opening the closed investigation a few weeks prior to the election only to conclude a few days before the election that they were the same emails they already looked at. The idea that he is a dirty cop is ludicrous.
No, you can’t fire someone that is investigating you for criminal behavior to end the investigation. That is textbook Obstruction of Justice. What happened to Nixon when he tried that? Bob, tell me where you got your law degree because that stuff you are ranting about the 4th and 6th amendments is pure nonsense.
To Summarize:
Lifelong Republican Bob Mueller discovered evidence of criminal behavior that he thought was outside the scope of his investigation. He reported this to lifelong Republican Rod Rosenstein who was appointed to his position by Donald J. Trump after Donald J. Trump fired Sally Yates when she told him that Michael J. Flynn was doing shady things with Russia.
Rosenstein and Muller decided to refer it to the Southern District of New York where another lifelong Republican, Trump appointee, and campaign contributor Geoffrey Berman, was in charge. Berman took one look at it and decided to recuse himself. If the case were legally deficient, he could have halted the investigation rather than taking a recusal. That left the career prosecutors in the SDNY in charge. They found evidence of criminal activity. They prepared a warrant, and it was sent back the Justice Department for review where Trump appointee and lifelong Republican Rod Rosenstein approved it.
From there it went before a Federal Judge in the SDNY. The judge (another Republican) found probable cause that crimes were committed and approved the warrant. Judges won’t approve warrants that violate the 4th and 6th amendments. At any time, Republican Trump appointees Jeff Sessions, Rod Rosenstein and Geoffrey Berman could have stopped the investigation in the SDNY if there had been something legally deficient about it. The fact that they didn’t speaks volumes.
In fact, the entire investigation you are complaining about is under the supervision of Republicans most of whom were hand selected by Trump himself.
If Trump manages to get rid of Mueller, it will trigger a constitutional crisis because you will have an unindicted criminal in the White House. Furthermore, it won’t end the investigations. The part of the investigation he seems to be most afraid of is now in the hands of the career prosecutors at the SDNY. It will move forward no matter what Trump does. The state of New York can also run a parallel investigation because the crimes that the SDNY are investigating occurred in New York State. New York State can then bring parallel state charges that Trump won’t be able to pardon his way out of.
