Michael Cohen Secretly Taped Trump Discussing Payment to Playboy Model

[FORD]

Matt Apuzzo, Maggie Haberman and Michael S. Schmidt
The Failing New York Times (https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/20/us/politics/michael-cohen-trump-tape.html)
July 20, 2018

WASHINGTON — President Trump’s longtime lawyer, Michael D. Cohen, secretly recorded a conversation with Mr. Trump two months before the presidential election in which they discussed payments to a former Playboy model who said she had an affair with Mr. Trump, according to lawyers and others familiar with the recording.

The F.B.I. seized the recording this year during a raid on Mr. Cohen’s office. The Justice Department is investigating Mr. Cohen’s involvement in paying women to tamp down embarrassing news stories about Mr. Trump ahead of the 2016 election. Prosecutors want to know whether that violated federal campaign finance laws, and any conversation with Mr. Trump about those payments would be of keen interest to them.

The recording’s existence appears to undercut the Trump campaign’s denial of any knowledge of payments to the model. And it further draws Mr. Trump into questions about tactics he and his associates used to keep aspects of his personal and business life a secret. And it highlights the potential legal and political danger that Mr. Cohen represents to Mr. Trump. Once the keeper of many of Mr. Trump’s secrets, Mr. Cohen is now seen as increasingly willing to consider cooperating with prosecutors.

The former model, Karen McDougal, says she began a nearly yearlong affair with Mr. Trump in 2006, shortly after Mr. Trump’s wife, Melania, gave birth to their son Barron. Ms. McDougal sold her story for $150,000 to The National Enquirer, which was supportive of Mr. Trump, during the final months of the presidential campaign, but the tabloid sat on the story, which kept it from becoming public. The practice, known as “catch and kill,” effectively silenced Ms. McDougal for the remainder of the campaign.

Rudolph W. Giuliani, Mr. Trump’s personal lawyer, confirmed in a telephone conversation on Friday that Mr. Trump had discussed payments to Ms. McDougal with Mr. Cohen on the tape. He said the recording was less than two minutes long, said Mr. Trump did not know he was being recorded and claimed that the president had done nothing wrong.

Mr. Giuliani said there was no indication on the tape that Mr. Trump knew before the conversation about the payment from the Enquirer’s parent company, American Media Inc., to Ms. McDougal.

“Nothing in that conversation suggests that he had any knowledge of it in advance,” Mr. Giuliani said.

Mr. Giuliani initially indicated the men discussed a payment from Mr. Trump to Ms. McDougal — separate from the Enquirer’s payment — to buy her story. Later, he said that Mr. Trump and Mr. Cohen had actually discussed buying the rights to Ms. McDougal’s story from the Enquirer, a move that would have effectively reimbursed the newspaper for its payments to her.

That payment was never made, Mr. Giuliani said, adding that Mr. Trump had told Mr. Cohen that if he were to make a payment related to Ms. McDougal, to write a check rather than send cash, so it could be properly documented.

Neither of Mr. Giuliani’s descriptions of the conversations explains why, when The Wall Street Journal revealed the existence of the A.M.I. payment days before the election, Mr. Trump’s campaign spokeswoman, Hope Hicks, said, “We have no knowledge of any of this.” She said Ms. McDougal’s claim of an affair was “totally untrue.”

Mr. Cohen’s lawyers discovered the recording as part of their review of the seized materials and shared it with Mr. Trump’s lawyers, according to three people briefed on the matter.

Mr. Cohen rejected repeated requests for comment. “We have nothing to say on this matter,” Mr. Cohen’s lawyer, Lanny J. Davis, said when asked about the tape.

David J. Pecker, the chairman of A.M.I., is a friend of Mr. Trump’s, and Ms. McDougal has accused Mr. Cohen of secretly taking part in the deal — an allegation that is now part of the F.B.I. investigation.

“It can’t be more than a minute and a half,” Mr. Giuliani said, referring to the length of the conversation. “Twice someone walks in — someone brings soda in for them. It’s not some secret conversation.”

He added: “Neither one seems to be concerned anyone would hear it. It went off on irrelevant subjects that have nothing to do with this. It’s a very professional conversation between a client and a lawyer and the client saying, ‘Do it right.’”

Because the tape showed Mr. Trump learning about the A.M.I. payment, it actually helps Mr. Trump, Mr. Giuliani argued. “In the big scheme of things, it’s powerful exculpatory evidence,” he said.

The recording is potential evidence in the campaign finance investigation, but became tied up in a legal fight over what materials are protected by attorney-client privilege and thus off limits to prosecutors. It is not clear whether a federal judge has ruled on whether prosecutors can listen to the recording.

For a decade, Mr. Cohen served as one of Mr. Trump’s most trusted fixers, aggressively taking on journalists, opposing lawyers and business adversaries. He frequently taped his conversations, unbeknown to the people with whom he was speaking. New York law allows one party to a conversation to tape conversations without the other knowing.

Mr. Cohen used to say he would take a bullet for Mr. Trump, but the relationship soured in the aftermath of the F.B.I. raids in April. In one conversation, Mr. Cohen’s lawyers inquired whether Mr. Trump planned to pardon him, but Mr. Trump’s lawyers gave no indication that the president would do so, according to two people familiar with the discussion.

Mr. Cohen has publicly and privately discussed the idea of cooperating with the F.B.I. In an interview with ABC News this month, Mr. Cohen seemed to be openly inviting prosecutors to talk to him.

“My wife, my daughter and my son have my first loyalty and always will,” Mr. Cohen said. “I put family and country first.” The words got Mr. Trump’s attention, and he asked people if they thought Mr. Cohen was trying to send a message, either to him or the Justice Department.

The Cohen investigation began with the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, who is investigating the Trump campaign’s links to Russia. But as the Cohen case became increasingly focused on Mr. Cohen’s personal business dealings and his campaign activities unrelated to Russia, Mr. Mueller referred it to federal prosecutors in Manhattan, who are now leading the investigation.

The wide-ranging search warrants served on Mr. Cohen this spring show that prosecutors are investigating Mr. Cohen’s involvement in payments to silence women about their relationships with Mr. Trump. In addition to Ms. McDougal’s arrangement, prosecutors also sought evidence of payments to the adult film star Stephanie Clifford, who is better known as Stormy Daniels.

Mr. Trump has denied knowing about those payments, though people familiar with the arrangement have said he was aware of them. But his denial helped suppress public allegations of an affair during the final months of the campaign.

Such payments, depending on how and why they were made, could represent campaign finance violations — a case that harks back to the failed prosecution of the former Democratic senator John Edwards, who tried to hide a pregnant mistress during his presidential campaign.

Mr. Cohen’s case is unusual because the payment to Ms. McDougal was made by American Media Inc. In August 2016, A.M.I. bought the rights to her story about Mr. Trump for $150,000 and a commitment to use its magazines to promote her career as a fitness specialist.

Federal agents are also scrutinizing Mr. Cohen’s personal financial dealings and whether he committed fraud by lying about his assets on bank forms. In particular, the authorities are scrutinizing taxi medallions that Mr. Cohen owned, and whether he accurately accounted for their value, according to several people close to the case.

Matt Apuzzo and Michael S. Schmidt reported from Washington, and Maggie Haberman from New York.

[FORD]

https://www.berfrois.com/wp-content/files_flutter/1331228391Richard-Nixon1.jpg
I can't believe you idiots allow tape recorders of any kind anymore. Have you learned nothing about how to "not be a crook"??

[Kristy]

You are a tool of corporate-controlled media. Please give it a rest.

[Nickdfresh]

So he didn't tape drumpf? Or are you just a tool, period?

[FORD]

Clearly Cohen is planning to flip on Cheeto. That was clear the minute he hired Lanny Davis as his attorney. Lanny Davis is Hillbot #1. He's been a Clinton tool as long as there have been Clintons to be tools for. Davis isn't going to be defending anybody who is protecting the Orange Imbecile.

[Nickdfresh]

I was talking to Kate or whatever the fuck its name is... LOL

[Nickdfresh]

Clearly Cohen is planning to flip on Cheeto. That was clear the minute he hired Lanny Davis as his attorney. Lanny Davis is Hillbot #1. He's been a Clinton tool as long as there have been Clintons to be tools for. Davis isn't going to be defending anybody who is protecting the Orange Imbecile.

He might be planning to flip, but I think the tape was grabbed by the FBI in a raid...

[Kristy]

LOL

What are you, 12?

[FORD]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L40D79JCekg

[Seshmeister]

As a reality show the Trump presidency has been a bit like those 70s/80s shows that showed a big spoiler preview at the start of the show.

So everything we knew about the Cohen Daniels thing months ago has now been admitted by him.

[Nitro Express]

What about Russian collusion? That's what this thing started after. Now it's hush money which probably every politician in office has paid. All this is a nothing burger.

[Seshmeister]

Trumps campaign manager has been found guilty of bank fraud, tax fraud and failure to report a foreign bank account.

His personal lawyer pled guilty to eight federal crimes on Tuesday and said Trump had directed him to make two hush-money payments to women in violation of campaign finance laws.

Trump has said at a news conference that he takes Putins word over the whole of the US intelligence services.

So I guess you are taking the Rudy approach that 'Truth isn't truth'?

Giuliani admitted the infamous meeting at Trump Tower was “originally for the purpose” of getting damaging intel on Clinton.

That is collusion with the Russians. His own lawyer has already admitted it on TV.

[ZahZoo]

I don't buy into the Rudy approach... there are some key facts with the Manafort conviction though, that can't be tied to the Trump campaign no matter how you twist it. All the bank/tax fraud crap occurred years before Trump was a candidate and none of it is even remotely connected to the 2 months Manafort was with the campaign.

I'm not sure about the Cohen plea and if the hush-money payments fall into a campaign finance violation. I've watched a couple of interviews with various "legal" experts and don't know enough about the fine points to say one way or another...

Not sure why the "Trump Tower" meeting with that Russian woman continues to be such a big deal. It happened... so far the only consequence that seems possible is someone... most like likely Trump Jr and the son-in-law might be implicated in lying about it. But nothing about that meeting influenced the election nor was criminal in nature. All involved were guilty of being a part of stupid crap... but none of it amounts to having any proven impact to the final election results. Give them all dumbass participation awards and move on...

[Seshmeister]

That was just the opening round, Manafort has a bigger trial in Washington next month where one of the charges is acting as a foreign agent.

We'll see if all comes together but the facts are that 10 years ago banks stopped lending to Trump, he goes to Russian Oligarchs for money, never released his accounts for the election, employs Manafort who is up to his eyes in Russian criminal oligarchs and asks in the middle of a presidential debate for Russia to hack his opponents systems. Which they did. Since becoming president he sucks up to Putin including an unprecedented 2 hour meeting with no witnesses.

All the Russian FB stuff probably didn't swing the election but the Coney letter the week before probably did.
https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/the-comey-letter-probably-cost-clinton-the-election/

What is more important now is how much do they own Trump.

[FORD]

Or how the whole situation causes Trump to own himself, in his fits of Orange Hulk rage & insanity.....

https://i.imgur.com/FtQfm4K.png

[Seshmeister]

BOOM!

The snake has been turned...



Lanny Davis, who was hired by Mr Cohen last month, told National Public Radio Mr Trump's former attorney would "never" accept a pardon from "a man that he considers to be a corrupt and a dangerous person".

The unexpected statement comes as yet another blow to Mr Trump's chances of extricating himself from what is developing into a legal minefield.

Mr Davis has said his client “has information” on the president that would interest special counsel Robert Mueller, investigating possible links between the Trump campaign and Russia.

Asked on CNN whether his client would speak to Mr Mueller, Mr Davis said that: “I do believe that he has information about Mr Trump that would be of interest both in Washington as well as New York state.

“I know that he wants to tell the truth about Mr Trump and when he first came to me we had long conversations about his views, about the suitability of Mr Trump to be president of the United States, and I believe that Michael Cohen is motivated for his country as well as concern about his family.


More at
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/michael-cohen-donald-trump-pardon-trial-guilty-russia-investigation-a8502451.html?utm_campaign=Echobox&utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Facebook#Echobox=1534934741

[Seshmeister]

Wow took a rare look at Fox News there - it is basically the official Trump TV isn't it. Loved the irony of them saying 'Cohen has lied in front of the American people who could possibly take him seriously now?' :)

That Harris Faulkner at least makes a change from the usual blondes, good for 52 but insanely biased for a so called news channel.

[Nitro Express]

Trumps campaign manager has been found guilty of bank fraud, tax fraud and failure to report a foreign bank account.

His personal lawyer pled guilty to eight federal crimes on Tuesday and said Trump had directed him to make two hush-money payments to women in violation of campaign finance laws.

Trump has said at a news conference that he takes Putins word over the whole of the US intelligence services.

So I guess you are taking the Rudy approach that 'Truth isn't truth'?

Giuliani admitted the infamous meeting at Trump Tower was “originally for the purpose” of getting damaging intel on Clinton.

That is collusion with the Russians. His own lawyer has already admitted it on TV.

It's a whole lot of noise about nothing. Nothing more than a bunch of Washington insiders spraying stink in the air to distract the public from their own crimes and to discourage anyone outside of their little insiders club from running for the presidency. That's what this is all about. Remember this started as an investigation on Russian collusion. They couldn't find anything so they just kept digging for any kind of dirt they could find. Now we are investigating Washington madam's, porn stars, and Playboy playmates. Just the path the investigation has taken proves the thing is a joke. Trump isn't liable for his campaign manager's crimes. Paying the hush money had nothing to do with the campaign at all. This is all a red herring to distract the public from the false dossier and all the dirty dealings going on inside the Justice Department and FBI to stop an outsider from being president.

This has nothing to do with Donald Trump. This has everything to do with keeping people they want out of the presidency out. In the last election there were two independent candidates that had a shot at winning the presidency. Listen to the Strzok tapes. He was going to make sure neither Trump or Sanders were going to be president. Well the Democrat Party did Bernie in. Trump made it to the presidency. Now they are trying to get rid of him and all they have is a campaign manager that cheated on his taxes way before he ever worked for Trump and a lawyer that paid some hush money that has nothing to do with campaign finances.

It's all hype. It's all distraction. I suggest we look into who was selling our uranium to the Russians and who was involved in all of that. Funny. It's some of the people involved in the Mueller investigation. Now if you were in their shoes you would be doing the same thing hoping to avoid and investigation on you.

[Nitro Express]

I don't buy into the Rudy approach... there are some key facts with the Manafort conviction though, that can't be tied to the Trump campaign no matter how you twist it. All the bank/tax fraud crap occurred years before Trump was a candidate and none of it is even remotely connected to the 2 months Manafort was with the campaign.

I'm not sure about the Cohen plea and if the hush-money payments fall into a campaign finance violation. I've watched a couple of interviews with various "legal" experts and don't know enough about the fine points to say one way or another...

Not sure why the "Trump Tower" meeting with that Russian woman continues to be such a big deal. It happened... so far the only consequence that seems possible is someone... most like likely Trump Jr and the son-in-law might be implicated in lying about it. But nothing about that meeting influenced the election nor was criminal in nature. All involved were guilty of being a part of stupid crap... but none of it amounts to having any proven impact to the final election results. Give them all dumbass participation awards and move on...

More importantly this whole investigation started as trying to show the election of Donald Trump was not valid due to Russian collusion. They could not find anything so they kept trying to find any dirt anywhere. They found a campaign manager who didn't pay his taxes on work he did that has nothing to do with Trump. They found a lawyer paying some hush money which really has nothing to do with campaign finance since no funds from the campaign were used. This is a bigger story than Strzork and his lover in the FBI colluding to keep Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump from being president? I would say the real corruption is in the FBI and Justice Department. Are we talking about that? There's real evidence there. No. The news media is more interested in porn stars. Washington madams and former Playboy playmates. I guess they figure the public is more interested in that stuff. Oh my gosh. Trump might have banged some skanks and his campaign manager was a crook. Impeach him now! It's all a joke.

It's all a nothing burger. If anything. If you haven't paid your taxes don't work on the campaign of an outsider candidate that wins the presidency. Work for an insider. You will never be investigated. Haha!

[Nitro Express]

Oh well. Omarossa says The Donald is sexually obsessed with his daughter Ivanka. Maybe some incest going on there. Maybe Ivanka's kids are not Jared's but Donald's. Mueller needs to investigate that.

[Nitro Express]

The whole investigation at this point is to create negative noise before the November elections in an attempt to hurt the Republicans. Right now Trump's approval rating is around 50%. In reality the only thing that is going to hurt Trump is a downturn in the economy. If the economy keeps doing well Trump is fine. If the Republicans do well in November you will see Mueller resign and the investigation fade away and be forgotten. It's really just a political slander attempt at this point rather than a real investigation on anything. The skunks will spray stink hard and heavy until November.

[Kristy]

That is collusion with the Russians.

Afraid not slave SESH What that is stands as being nothing more than Trump sucking Putin dick for favors. No question Putin has a lot on Trump that could possibly cost him a great deal financially but never destroy him completely. Seeking dirt on Clinton is not all that hard to do but the F A T Orange Blunder in his gross stupidity never realized he did not need Putin to do so. The F A T Orange Blunder's imbecilic behavior and increasing mental illness has lead him to believe Putin knows what's best for him. That to is hardly collusion unless the F A T Orange Blunder is not only giving Putin and the FSB confidential and top secret information in which case is has gone from collusion to absolute treason which I believe Trump has committed.

[Kristy]

The whole investigation at this point is to create negative noise before the November elections in an attempt to hurt the Republicans. Right now Trump's approval rating is around 50%. In reality the only thing that is going to hurt Trump is a downturn in the economy. If the economy keeps doing well Trump is fine. If the Republicans do well in November you will see Mueller resign and the investigation fade away and be forgotten. It's really just a political slander attempt at this point rather than a real investigation on anything. The skunks will spray stink hard and heavy until November.

https://memegenerator.net/img/instances/58494422/you-belong-to-that-psycho-other-group-what-color-is-the-sky-on-your-planet-.jpg

The economy has nothing to do with the mid-terms. It never has.

[Seshmeister]

Paying the hush money had nothing to do with the campaign at all. This is all a red herring to distract the public from the false dossier and all the dirty dealings going on inside the Justice Department and FBI to stop an outsider from being president.

This has nothing to do with Donald Trump. This has everything to do with keeping people they want out of the presidency out.

That's completely clearly not true since it was a letter from the Director of the FBI a week before the election which made Trump president. A letter making allegations which came to absolutely nothing.

https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/the-comey-letter-probably-cost-clinton-the-election/

[Seshmeister]

Right now Trump's approval rating is around 50%.

Probably in a single dodgy poll for example one using landlines during the day getting old people.

His average rating was standing at around 42% and that's before this weeks stuff. It even being 42% to be honest is a pretty fucking shocking indictment of the American public as well as showing how powerful having a propaganda TV News and who knows what else social media campaign.

https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/trump-approval-ratings/

[Nickdfresh]

He'll be polling in the 30's again....

[Nickdfresh]

The whole investigation at this point is to create negative noise before the November elections in an attempt to hurt the Republicans. Right now Trump's approval rating is around 50%. In reality the only thing that is going to hurt Trump is a downturn in the economy. If the economy keeps doing well Trump is fine. If the Republicans do well in November you will see Mueller resign and the investigation fade away and be forgotten. It's really just a political slander attempt at this point rather than a real investigation on anything. The skunks will spray stink hard and heavy until November.

Jesus dude, tell us how Hitler wasn't really so bad and was just misunderstood...

[Nitro Express]

Jesus dude, tell us how Hitler wasn't really so bad and was just misunderstood...

You really show how delusional you are by making that statement. Go ahead and have your fantasies in your little echo chamber.

[Nitro Express]

Probably in a single dodgy poll for example one using landlines during the day getting old people.

His average rating was standing at around 42% and that's before this weeks stuff. It even being 42% to be honest is a pretty fucking shocking indictment of the American public as well as showing how powerful having a propaganda TV News and who knows what else social media campaign.

https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/trump-approval-ratings/

Look. I've been hearing how this guy had no chance of winning the election and how his "grab her by the pussy" statement just ruined his campaign and then it's he's really not our president the election was rigged and his popularity isn't what they say. It never stops. Watch. The guy willl finish two whole terms and people will say, he never was president. It all was an illusion.

The Democrats would have a chance if they offered real solutions to real problems but they don't. It's all bash Trump and that's all your hear. For us not in the echo chamber it gets old. Try having some competent leadership and some workable strategies that result in real solutions. Most of us are busy and when we see an investigation on campaign rigging go on for two years and end up on hush money and some campaign manager not paying his taxes because they couldn't find any Russian collusion we figure ah, Mueller doesn't have shit. It's that simple.

It's all sore losers still crying and scared criminal insiders worried their crimes might be discovered because they no longer have a buddy in the Executive Branch. Call it Fear and Loathing in Washington DC. It's what it is.

[Seshmeister]

The first collusion trial is next month.

[Nitro Express]

Based on what evidence? Look. Mueller is focusing on Playboy Playmates and porn stars now. It’s all going towards a sex scandal now and it’s going to be reminiscent of Kenneth Star going after Bill Clinton. It’s all about trying to influence the November elections and if all this fails to influence voters to vote Democrat, Mueller is going to resign and the investigation is over. Then the pissing match will be about some other nonesense.. I probably will backfire on the Democrats like how it backfired on the Republicans. People got so sick of hearing where Bill was sticking things it really devolved into a joke. They were able to trap Bill into committing purjury. That ruined his post presidency law career but they did pretty well getting Hillary into political office and selling her influence and laundering the money through a foundation. It’s all political pissing. No wonder nothing ever get’s fixed in Washington DC and most people perceive the federal government to be a big fucking joke.

[Kristy]

Based on what evidence? Look. Mueller is focusing on Playboy Playmates and porn stars now. It’s all going towards a sex scandal now and it’s going to be reminiscent of Kenneth Star going after Bill Clinton. It’s all about trying to influence the November elections and if all this fails to influence voters to vote Democrat, Mueller is going to resign and the investigation is over. Then the pissing match will be about some other nonesense.. I probably will backfire on the Democrats like how it backfired on the Republicans. People got so sick of hearing where Bill was sticking things it really devolved into a joke. They were able to trap Bill into committing purjury. That ruined his post presidency law career but they did pretty well getting Hillary into political office and selling her influence and laundering the money through a foundation. It’s all political pissing. No wonder nothing ever get’s fixed in Washington DC and most people perceive the federal government to be a big fucking joke.
http://www.occasionalplanet.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/vast-right-wing-conspiracy.jpg

[Nickdfresh]

You really show how delusional you are by making that statement. Go ahead and have your fantasies in your little echo chamber.

Sure guy who regurgitates alt-right white nationalist talking points..

[Seshmeister]

Based on what evidence? Look. Mueller is focusing on Playboy Playmates and porn stars now. It’s all going towards a sex scandal now and it’s going to be reminiscent of Kenneth Star going after Bill Clinton. It’s all about trying to influence the November elections and if all this fails to influence voters to vote Democrat, Mueller is going to resign and the investigation is over. Then the pissing match will be about some other nonesense.. I probably will backfire on the Democrats like how it backfired on the Republicans. People got so sick of hearing where Bill was sticking things it really devolved into a joke. They were able to trap Bill into committing purjury. That ruined his post presidency law career but they did pretty well getting Hillary into political office and selling her influence and laundering the money through a foundation. It’s all political pissing. No wonder nothing ever get’s fixed in Washington DC and most people perceive the federal government to be a big fucking joke.

You are failing to keep more than one thing in your head at a time. The Stormy Daniels thing is like a Clinton scandal, technically worse because it involves a breach of campaign fund rules but I grant you, in this day in age I can understand an argument of him getting away with that. How many times did he lie about it though? Anyway just because he has that scandal already doesn't mean that there isn't a much worse scandal coming and there is. Trump is a crook he always has been.

[FORD]

The "worse scandal" is going to break very soon. Let's just say that Cheeto's Nazi fanbase is really going to hate this, because a Jewish accountant named Weiselberg is going to be the one to bring down the Orange Imbecile. He's got Cheeto's books going back to the 1970's, and he just got immunity from the Feds.

I'm predicting that Donald Trump will not be President as of February 2019. If this gets real bad, really quickly, the Republican party might demand he pulls a Nixon and resigns before the November Congressional elections. But of course, Pence & the Kochs would not want him gone before January 20, because they would want Pence to be eligible for a 10 year theocracy, under the terms of the 22nd Amendment. The Amendment was passed after FDR's death and also limits a president to two elected terms, but they can still run for election twice, provided they serve less than two terms of a previous President's term in office.

Though the Amendment has been around since the late 1940's it's never actually been enacted. Arguably, LBJ might have been the one to do so, had the disaster of the Vietnam War not caused him to abandon his campaign for his own 2nd term in 1968 (having served a little over a year of JFK's term and then winning his own election in 1964)

[FORD]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jX63-LtkaMs

[Seshmeister]

I think it's far from over, these people are all in a bubble. 20 years ago maybe but now?

What would it take for Republicans to vote for impeachment these days?

[Kristy]

Free reign to loot the Department of the Treasury

[Kristy]

...and quit posting your Commie Dumb Turks propaganda slave FORD

[Terry]

I think it's far from over, these people are all in a bubble. 20 years ago maybe but now?

What would it take for Republicans to vote for impeachment these days?

Scientific evidence that Trump's base has deserted him in sufficient numbers where voting for impeachment won't hurt THEIR own political futures. From all indications, that isn't even close to happening.

The Democrats would have to win much larger majorities in both the House and Senate than they're on track to - and they might not even get over 51 in the Senate - to have the numbers needed to have a successful impeachment in terms of actually removing him without any Republican Congressional support.

I wouldn't say impeachment is totally beyond the realm of possibility, but not because of anything The Young Turks are saying.

[Seshmeister]

http://www.collectedcurios.com/Red_Capped_Ostrich_2018.jpg

[ZahZoo]

I think it's far from over, these people are all in a bubble. 20 years ago maybe but now?

What would it take for Republicans to vote for impeachment these days?

I don't see any Impeachment activities getting any serious consideration outside of a few vocal "Never-Trump" idiots in office, some wealthy wackos not in office and a portion of the media obsessed with it.

Current Democratic leaders are publicly advising staying away from the subject for good reason. Republicans aren't even giving it any consideration.

If you take an objective look at what occurred with both Nixon and Clinton that led to Impeachment proceedings and the final results. This Trump crap isn't anywhere close to opening up any serious Congressional action leading in the direction of Presidential impeachment.

All you have to date is Trump hired or allowed a number of people within his campaign that were dirty long before the president ran for office... but nothing that Trump has done himself in office to qualify for impeachment proceedings. In order to go that route hard evidence of something the President actual did would have to surface... in a year and half no one has produced anything even remotely close to that criteria.

[Nickdfresh]

I don't see any Impeachment activities getting any serious consideration outside of a few vocal "Never-Trump" idiots in office, some wealthy wackos not in office and a portion of the media obsessed with it.

Current Democratic leaders are publicly advising staying away from the subject for good reason. Republicans aren't even giving it any consideration.

If you take an objective look at what occurred with both Nixon and Clinton that led to Impeachment proceedings and the final results. This Trump crap isn't anywhere close to opening up any serious Congressional action leading in the direction of Presidential impeachment.

All you have to date is Trump hired or allowed a number of people within his campaign that were dirty long before the president ran for office... but nothing that Trump has done himself in office to qualify for impeachment proceedings. In order to go that route hard evidence of something the President actual did would have to surface... in a year and half no one has produced anything even remotely close to that criteria.

Um, his lawyer just "flipped" that said he directed him to violate campaign finance law. Something well-within the "high crimes and misdemeanors" criteria, especially when coupled with the pile of circumstantial evidence that he's Putin's bitch and his White House is effectively failing in its primary existence of protecting the American people from foreign threats by blocking bipartisan anti-election meddling legislation. I agree it's unlikely Trump will actually be impeached. But he will deliver a large majority of the guber'mint into blue hands...

And I find it quite interesting you refer to the Dems as "never trump idiots" while failing to acknowledge the "I'll suck trump's small cock no-matter what 'til the end!" Republican'ts. Many of the hardest core of which are now under indictment for corruption...

[ZahZoo]

On the lawyer flipped thing... it's not clear that Trump violated any campaign finance law at this point. Cohen paid the money to the two women and entered a guilty plea. That doesn't directly implicate Trump... from what I've read and interviews with legal experts there "may" an implication for conspiracy to violate campaign finance laws. That doesn't mean Congress would automatically tee up an impeachment hearing. Trump could be charged for it after he leaves office.

On the "never trump idiots" I was referring to Maxine Waters and friends... Do you really want to debate the merits of that idiot..?

[Seshmeister]

On the lawyer flipped thing... it's not clear that Trump violated any campaign finance law at this point. Cohen paid the money to the two women and entered a guilty plea. That doesn't directly implicate Trump... from what I've read and interviews with legal experts there "may" an implication for conspiracy to violate campaign finance laws.

Cohen told the judge that — in violation of campaign finance laws — he paid two women hush money "in coordination and at the direction of a candidate for federal office ... for the principle purpose of influencing the election."

There has to be an investigation of that at some point to see if there is truth in the allegation but it seems highly likely to be true given Cohen would have no other motivation to pay the money and that he seems to have kept evidence including recordings of it.

I agree it doesn't mean Trump will be impeached though - in fact I think it's very unlikely unless the Democrats do incredibly well in the mid term election.

[Nickdfresh]

On the lawyer flipped thing... it's not clear that Trump violated any campaign finance law at this point. Cohen paid the money to the two women and entered a guilty plea. That doesn't directly implicate Trump... from what I've read and interviews with legal experts there "may" an implication for conspiracy to violate campaign finance laws. That doesn't mean Congress would automatically tee up an impeachment hearing. Trump could be charged for it after he leaves office.

On the "never trump idiots" I was referring to Maxine Waters and friends... Do you really want to debate the merits of that idiot..?

I think Sesh has the first part of your ridiculous comment covered. I have no problem saying Waters is an idiot. Apparently, you seem ignore the giant pieces of mindless shit on your side of the isle. We can start by discussing who's been indicted. What has Maxine Waters been indicted for exactly? Maybe we can start in my yard with that complete smarmy asshole Collins, who everyone hated here - Republicans included. Or the guy in CA that threw his wife under the bus for stealing from campaign funds because "she handled all the finances.."

[Nickdfresh]

...

I agree it doesn't mean Trump will be impeached though - in fact I think it's very unlikely unless the Democrats do incredibly well in the mid term election.


The Democrats will own the House, the Senate I have doubts. At least in 2018...

[FORD]

If Cheeto can't be impeached for something he did before he was in office, then how did Ken $tarr get away with spending millions of dollars investigating a questionable real estate deal that Bill Clinton was involved in sometime in the early 1980s??

Granted, Starr came up with nothing on those accusations and eventually moved on to Clinton getting his dick sucked, but the original point of the investigation was the old news real estate deal. And unlike what Cheeto did, Clinton's alleged crime had absolutely no impact on the 1992 election

[ZahZoo]

Yep, Sesh covered my ridiculous comment better than I presented. But, ended up at the same place. Cohen making the claim doesn't automatically implicate Trump for an impeachable offense.

Clearly the investigation will dig into that and should do so... but there's a very complicated legal landscape regarding private funds, paying off floozies and campaign finance laws. It's not trivial nor logical in any possible way. Nothing is simple and straight-forward in legal matters here.

The Clinton/Starr investigation was also another Special Council "witch hunt" which in the long run was a strategic mistake that cost the Republicans considerably. Like this Trump Russian collusion investigation the premise it started under hasn't turned up anything substantial and is only ending up in some sexual soap-opera scandal cesspool where the President is concerned to date... Coincidence..?

Don't think that I'm sitting firmly planted on the Republican side of this... overall I think all this bullshit is a gawd-damned waste of time, money and intellectual capital. Both sides are dirty as all get up. I'd prefer they all get run out of their leadership positions and banned from public service for life. It's a revolting distraction that needs to be cleaned up, wrapped up and the country focused on real issues facing the nation and world.

[Seshmeister]

If Cheeto can't be impeached for something he did before he was in office, then how did Ken $tarr get away with spending millions of dollars investigating a questionable real estate deal that Bill Clinton was involved in sometime in the early 1980s??

Granted, Starr came up with nothing on those accusations and eventually moved on to Clinton getting his dick sucked, but the original point of the investigation was the old news real estate deal. And unlike what Cheeto did, Clinton's alleged crime had absolutely no impact on the 1992 election

You are talking about justice or fairness which is irrelevant, impeachment is a political process not a legal one.

There is a good podcast on about the Lewinsky affair called Slow Burn that I would recommend which can shine a historical light on things now from a distance. Some of the FBI guys are quite ashamed about the pressure put on her that she was told she would get 25 years in jail if she didn't admit to the affair when in reality no court would impose a sentence on a 21 year in those circumstances.

[FORD]

https://images.dailykos.com/images/581473/story_image/TMW2018-08-29color.png

[Nitro Express]

If Cheeto can't be impeached for something he did before he was in office, then how did Ken $tarr get away with spending millions of dollars investigating a questionable real estate deal that Bill Clinton was involved in sometime in the early 1980s??

Granted, Starr came up with nothing on those accusations and eventually moved on to Clinton getting his dick sucked, but the original point of the investigation was the old news real estate deal. And unlike what Cheeto did, Clinton's alleged crime had absolutely no impact on the 1992 election

The Mueller investigation is taking on a similar flavor. It's gone from being an investigation on Russian election tampering to a sex scandal. The Star report just gave comedians and late night show hosts great material to make fun of. Bill Clinton's mistake is he lied under oath and he got impeached and disbarred for it. Technically Bill Clinton should have gone to prison for lying under oath but it didn't happen. So as the Mueller investigation starts to read like a tabloid with sex, porn stars, Playboy playmates, and hush money it will give the media something to talk about but as far as hurting the president, it's a nothing burger. Unless Trump commits perjury like Bill Clinton did he's pretty much safe. As long as the economic numbers are up and the markets are up, he has nothing to worry about. All the noise is just partisan ass blasting.

[Nitro Express]

Yep, Sesh covered my ridiculous comment better than I presented. But, ended up at the same place. Cohen making the claim doesn't automatically implicate Trump for an impeachable offense.

Clearly the investigation will dig into that and should do so... but there's a very complicated legal landscape regarding private funds, paying off floozies and campaign finance laws. It's not trivial nor logical in any possible way. Nothing is simple and straight-forward in legal matters here.

The Clinton/Starr investigation was also another Special Council "witch hunt" which in the long run was a strategic mistake that cost the Republicans considerably. Like this Trump Russian collusion investigation the premise it started under hasn't turned up anything substantial and is only ending up in some sexual soap-opera scandal cesspool where the President is concerned to date... Coincidence..?

Don't think that I'm sitting firmly planted on the Republican side of this... overall I think all this bullshit is a gawd-damned waste of time, money and intellectual capital. Both sides are dirty as all get up. I'd prefer they all get run out of their leadership positions and banned from public service for life. It's a revolting distraction that needs to be cleaned up, wrapped up and the country focused on real issues facing the nation and world.

Ah they just leaned on Cohen and intimidated him into pleading guilty and of course you know there is a deal made for doing so. A guilty plea gives something for the media to hype but the law is so vague on campaign finance that nothing is going to hold up in a court of law. It's trial by media basically. Yup it's a waste of millions of dollars and this and the Starr investigation just proves partisan games are more important to the politicians and bureaucrats than is fixing real problems. Covering ones insider crimes and partisan maneuvering is what it's all about. Hell if we applied the law to most our so called public servants, most of them should be thrown in jail. We probably could nail most of the US congress on insider trading alone.

[Seshmeister]

Ah they just leaned on Cohen and intimidated him into pleading guilty and of course you know there is a deal made for doing so. A guilty plea gives something for the media to hype but the law is so vague on campaign finance that nothing is going to hold up in a court of law. It's trial by media basically.

Wait you seriously don't think Cohen is guilty?

[FORD]

https://i.imgur.com/gtS21pa.png

[Nitro Express]

Wait you seriously don't think Cohen is guilty?

Look. This investigation has been going after all sorts of people. The FBI has even held Ted Malloch when him and his wife were coming into the US to spend Easter with family. This kind of shit is an old game called intimidating friends to turn on friends being investigated. Oh we have this dirt on you but we will make a deal if you ratt so and so out. They held Malloch to search his phone to try and find something to threaten him on. So it's a no brainer. Roger Stone is another guy Mueller has been trying to intimidate. It's search for dirt, intimidate, and try to get someone to turn. That's why this whole investigation has gone from Russian collusion and election tampering to a sex scandal. There is no substance to it. It's a bunch of nothing that has cost the US taxpayer millions.

[Seshmeister]

The cost is ridiculously irrelevant in the scheme of things.

Some of these people are really really bad people as your president would say. Manafort is a monster and has been for years. Cohen is a total crook and Roger Stone is a creep beyond belief.

I'm not getting this from tabloid pieces or 'fake news' I've known about a couple of these guys for years, they are notorious. The rat statement by Trump was hilarious. It's like the Sopranos but with the cast of Veep.

You and Fox News are talking like the FBI is some left wing pressure group - the FBI are like all law enforcement everywhere and lean to the right.

[Seshmeister]

BTW I had to Google this fine upstanding character Malloch you were so concerned about and he is another liar with dodgy connections as reported in the Financial Times.

https://www.ft.com/content/ce317948-efbb-11e6-930f-061b01e23655

[ZahZoo]

LOL every last one of those people are liars, crooks and criminals to varying degrees. A lot of people thought electing an "outsider" would be a great thing and expose the establishment politicians as the crooks they are... all it did was add new variants of swamp monsters to an already vile shit hole...

[Seshmeister]

This time you got a bunch of worse crooks but that doesn't mean that will happen with the next political outsider. France seems to be doing ok with theirs.

It's almost like a lot of people wanted the opposite of Obama so since his was one of the cleanest presidencies in recent years that meant voting for a crook. :)

[Nitro Express]

The cost is ridiculously irrelevant in the scheme of things.

Some of these people are really really bad people as your president would say. Manafort is a monster and has been for years. Cohen is a total crook and Roger Stone is a creep beyond belief.

I'm not getting this from tabloid pieces or 'fake news' I've known about a couple of these guys for years, they are notorious. The rat statement by Trump was hilarious. It's like the Sopranos but with the cast of Veep.

You and Fox News are talking like the FBI is some left wing pressure group - the FBI are like all law enforcement everywhere and lean to the right.

The FBI leaned to the right when J Edgar Hoover ran it. It ran to the left when James Comey ran it. The problem with the FBI is it's always been politicized and a blanket statement that law enforcement always leans right is ridiculous. As far as Cohen goes to get Trump on those hush money payments you have to prove Trump's exact intent. He could have made those hush payments to protect his television ratings or to keep his family from getting pissed at him. You only have to look at the case of presidential candidate John Edwards who paid hush money to cover up an affair. The jury never did agree on why Edwards made those payments and the case never was re-tried.

Juicy stories about Manafort and Stone who were business partners by the way and both worked as lobbyists and political consultants. Stone admits he was the guy would would hang with porn stars in Hollywood hanging by the pool in a Speedo. Yeah if you want to dig into what kind of pudding these guys dipped their dicks that might generate some interest mainly because the left somehow thinks it will weaken Trump's standing with the moral conservatives in his base. Nobody really cares. Nobody would care if Stone and Manafort worked on the Democrat side of things. If that was the case you probably would have the ding dong Republicans spreading the tabloid shit. Hell if Manafor and Stone were lefties they would be looked at as being cool just like Bill Clinton is looked at as being cool by the left. Nobody cared he was shooting jazz all over interns in the Oval Office. Bill should have just said "Yeah. I jazzed that bitch up!' and avoided lying under oath. It's all laughable soap opera and the media loves this shit. As far as substance and as far as any real meaning on how things are running it's a bunch of nothing.

This all was about Russian collusion and having a illegitimate president due to a rigged election. Now we are talking about sex. Seems to be where these investigations always go when they can't find enough evidence to convict on the original reason there is an investigation in the first place. The same shit was said about George W Bush. The court decided the election and it wasn't a true election. The goof still stayed in the presidency and managed to invade Iraq on a lie and that probably cost this country $6 Trillion. So far, Trump has kept from doing such stupid shit and from what I see he's no worse than the previous two bozos who filled the seat so I really don't care what the current buzz is in the Get Trump soap opera is. It's all partisan ass juice.

[Nickdfresh]

The Mueller investigation is taking on a similar flavor. It's gone from being an investigation on Russian election tampering to a sex scandal. The Star report just gave comedians and late night show hosts great material to make fun of. Bill Clinton's mistake is he lied under oath and he got impeached and disbarred for it. Technically Bill Clinton should have gone to prison for lying under oath but it didn't happen. So as the Mueller investigation starts to read like a tabloid with sex, porn stars, Playboy playmates, and hush money it will give the media something to talk about but as far as hurting the president, it's a nothing burger. Unless Trump commits perjury like Bill Clinton did he's pretty much safe. As long as the economic numbers are up and the markets are up, he has nothing to worry about. All the noise is just partisan ass blasting.

What part of Paul Manafort's convictions had to do with a sex scandal? It's just getting idiotic: pick a small part of the investigation and paint the entire investigation with it...

[Seshmeister]

Yeah if you want to dig into what kind of pudding these guys dipped their dicks that might generate some interest mainly because the left somehow thinks it will weaken Trump's standing with the moral conservatives in his base. Nobody really cares.

If anyone still thought that the so called Christian Right were 'moral' that ship has sailed with Trump...

[Nitro Express]

This time you got a bunch of worse crooks but that doesn't mean that will happen with the next political outsider. France seems to be doing ok with theirs.

It's almost like a lot of people wanted the opposite of Obama so since his was one of the cleanest presidencies in recent years that meant voting for a crook. :)

Dude. Obama's attorney general was running guns to the Mexican drug cartels. Obama bragged he liked killing people with drones. Cleanest presidency?

[Nitro Express]

What part of Paul Manafort's convictions had to do with a sex scandal? It's just getting idiotic: pick a small part of the investigation and paint the entire investigation with it...

Yeah. Yeah. Manafort didn't pay taxes on some money he made overseas but now articles are being written on his so called juicy sex life. It's all going to sex in the media. We have gone from Russian collusion to sex. Why? An attempt to influence the November elections. The investigation is a joke my friend and after November all the nonsense will probably fade away. Trump will stay in office. Impeachment won't happen. He probably will win a second term if the economy stays good. Will the Dems win the house in November? Who knows.

[Nitro Express]

If anything it all will show what a tub of shit most the broadcast media is these days.

[Seshmeister]

It's all relative but by US president standards Obama was clean

https://image.ibb.co/dyn9tU/pres_crims.jpg

[Seshmeister]

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DliSHQwX4AA6ko_.jpg

[Nickdfresh]

Dude. Obama's attorney general was running guns to the Mexican drug cartels.

Oh fucking please! It was part of an ATF sting to trace American firearms ending up in the hands of the Mexican drug dealers you're so afraid of. Way to completely mischaracterize it, NyQuil Strawman.


Obama bragged he liked killing people with drones. Cleanest presidency?

Bragged when? Quote? What part of that did the Republidicks oppose?

[Nickdfresh]

Yeah. Yeah. Manafort didn't pay taxes on some money he made overseas but now articles are being written on his so called juicy sex life. It's all going to sex in the media. We have gone from Russian collusion to sex. Why? An attempt to influence the November elections. The investigation is a joke my friend and after November all the nonsense will probably fade away. Trump will stay in office. Impeachment won't happen. He probably will win a second term if the economy stays good. Will the Dems win the house in November? Who knows.


Um, I've never heard of anything regarding Manafort's sex life but thank god you're doing your due diligence! "Juicy"? I'm not sure presumably bored hookers who can't wait to get out of there counts as "juicy"...

[Seshmeister]

In her book, Daniels also delivers a below-the-belt blow to the size-obsessed Trump, describing his genitals in lurid detail. She says his penis is “smaller than average,” but “not freakishly small.”

“He knows he has an unusual penis,” Daniels claims. “It has a huge mushroom head. Like a toadstool…

“I lay there, annoyed that I was getting f—– by a guy with Yeti pubes and a d— like the mushroom character in Mario Kart …

“It may have been the least impressive sex I’d ever had, but clearly, he didn’t share that opinion,” Daniels continues.


https://image.ibb.co/m3JsWe/Little_Donald.jpg

[FORD]

https://www.mensjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/mf/_main2_mushroom.jpg

[Seshmeister]

It seems that for the first time in his life Marco Rubio was right about something... :D

I guess if there was the slightest doubt left in her mind about whether this whole thing was true, Melania now knows one way or the other. It would be easy to guess he had a small dick but the mushroom thing?

[ZahZoo]

Way too much info... I could have gone my whole life without any of this shit...

[Seshmeister]

Buzzfeed issue a correction on their story about this... :)

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DnYbvVdWsAEsslC.jpg:large

[Seshmeister]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=20&v=5Ji8i7Wy4mo

Oh dear...