• Two students from Covington Catholic High School addressed the photos circulating on social media of students from the school wearing blackface during basketball pep rallies, claiming the kids in the video “meant nothing by it” because they were “just showing school spirit.”
• Worst idea ever – Arizona Republican lawmaker has proposed taxing online porn $20 to view with the proceeds going to a fund to help build Trump’s beloved wall.
A spokesman for Special Counsel Robert Mueller has made a rare statement regarding the bombshell report by Buzzfeed alleging Donald Trump instructed his lawyer, Michael Cohen, to lie to Congress.
This evening, spokesman Peter Carr issued a statement saying, “Buzzfeed’s description of specific statements to the Special Counsel’s office, and characterization of documents and testimony obtained by this office, regarding Michael Cohen’s Congressional testimony are not accurate.”
UPDATE: The special counsel’s office has taken the rare step of issuing a statement in response to our report on Michael Cohen being directed by Trump to lie to Congress:https://t.co/WA2fZcdK9upic.twitter.com/PY1r9LxDid
To be clear: Mueller is not disputing that Cohen says Trump told him to lie. He’s disputing the line about corroborating evidence taken from Trump Org emails, texts, etc. Still a huge deal. But not a total refutation. In fact, Cohen’s 11/30 memo says Trump directed him to lie.
I can’t speak to Buzzfeed’s sourcing, but, for what it’s worth, I declined to run with parts of the narrative they conveyed based on a source central to the story repeatedly disputing the idea that Trump directly issued orders of that kind.
This is the most scrutinized political scandal in American history by a mile. If you think the reporters and editors at Buzzfeed didn’t throughly comb through every detail of this scoop numerous times, you are sorely mistaken.
Mueller’s office is nitpicking to calm down Trump.— Charlotte Clymer🏳️🌈 (@cmclymer) January 19, 2019
One of the Buzzfeed reporters responded to the statement: “We are very confident in our reporting…”
“We have seen documents. We have been briefed on documents. We are very confident in our reporting," BuzzFeed News reporter Jason Leopold, who co-wrote bombshell new report, says. pic.twitter.com/5RXOx8rvo0— MSNBC (@MSNBC) January 18, 2019
Buzzfeed is reporting that Donald Trump instructed his former ‘fixer,’ Michael Cohen, to lie to Congress regarding plans to build a Trump Tower in Moscow.
The Buzzfeed article is said to be based on “interviews with multiple witnesses from the Trump Organization and internal company emails, text messages, and a cache of other documents.”
President Donald Trump directed his longtime attorney Michael Cohen to lie to Congress about negotiations to build a Trump Tower in Moscow, according to two federal law enforcement officials involved in an investigation of the matter.
Trump also supported a plan, set up by Cohen, to visit Russia during the presidential campaign, in order to personally meet President Vladimir Putin and jump-start the tower negotiations. “Make it happen,” the sources said Trump told Cohen.
And even as Trump told the public he had no business deals with Russia, the sources said Trump and his children Ivanka and Donald Trump Jr. received regular, detailed updates about the real estate development from Cohen, whom they put in charge of the project.
Cohen pleaded guilty in November to lying about the deal in testimony and in a two-page statement to the Senate and House intelligence committees. Special counsel Robert Mueller noted that Cohen’s false claim that the project ended in January 2016 was an attempt to “minimize links between the Moscow Project and Individual 1” — widely understood to be Trump — “in hopes of limiting the ongoing Russia investigations.”
Now the two sources have told BuzzFeed News that Cohen also told the special counsel that after the election, the president personally instructed him to lie — by claiming that negotiations ended months earlier than they actually did — in order to obscure Trump’s involvement.
There’s much more at the link.
Trump’s current lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, responded to the report saying, “If you believe Cohen I can get you a great deal on the Brooklyn Bridge.”
But as many point out, the Buzzfeed report doesn’t rely on information from Cohen.
The report dropped at 10:11pm ET last night, so the Trumpster came out swinging this morning on Twitter:
Kevin Corke, @FoxNews “Don’t forget, Michael Cohen has already been convicted of perjury and fraud, and as recently as this week, the Wall Street Journal has suggested that he may have stolen tens of thousands of dollars….” Lying to reduce his jail time! Watch father-in-law!
Folks are now looking back at the testimony Trump’s nominee for Attorney General, William Barr, gave this week with new eyes as he was directly asked if “a president persuading a person to commit perjury would be obstruction?”
Klobuchar: A president persuading a person to commit perjury would be obstruction. Is that right?
Barr: Yes
Klobuchar: You also said that a president, or any person, convincing a witness to change testimony would be obstruction. Is that right?
The allegation that the President of the United States may have suborned perjury before our committee in an effort to curtail the investigation and cover up his business dealings with Russia is among the most serious to date. We will do what’s necessary to find out if it’s true. https://t.co/GljBAFqOjh— Adam Schiff (@RepAdamSchiff) January 18, 2019
Those of us in law enforcement call this obstruction of justice. You go to prison if convicted. https://t.co/x6mTVL6qHR— Andrew Janz (@JanzAndrew) January 18, 2019
There’s a new revelation in the ever-unraveling saga of twists and turns behind the scenes of the 2016 Trump campaign today.
The Wall Street Journal (a conservative newspaper I’ll point out) is reporting that the Trump campaign paid a small IT company to rig online polling on websites like Drudge and CNBC in Trump’s favor.
And the company was paid by none other than Trump’s former ‘fixer,’ Michael Cohen.
The tech guy was, apparently, John Gauger, chief information officer at Liberty University in Virginia, where Trump supporter Jerry Falwell Jr. is president.
The WSJ‘s story is behind a firewall, but check this from CNN:
According to the paper, Cohen paid John Gauger, the owner of RedFinch Solutions LLC, between $12,000 and $13,000 for activities related to Trump’s campaign, including “trying unsuccessfully to manipulate two online polls in Mr. Trump’s favor” and creating a Twitter account called “@WomenForCohen” that “praised (Cohen’s) looks and character, and promoted his appearances and statements boosting” Trump’s candidacy.
In making the claim, Gauger told the paper he wasn’t fully paid for the work, though the Journal said Cohen was reimbursed $50,000 — the amount the two originally agreed on for Gauger’s services — by the Trump Organization. Gauger, according to the paper, also received a boxing glove “worn by a Brazilian mixed-martial arts fighter” along with the cash payment.
The payment to Gauger was mentioned by prosecutors in Cohen’s charging documents.
When Michael Cohen wanted to illegally rig an online poll on Trump’s behalf with Trump’s cash, he secured the help of evangelical @LibertyU’s chief information officer. Layers of rot upon layers of rot. https://t.co/TyQ19ITdsh
Donald Trump went on one of his usual Sunday morning Twitter rants raging about his former ‘fixer,’ Michael Cohen, becoming a “Rat” after the FBI “BROKE INTO AN ATTORNEY’S OFFICE!”
Of course, the FBI didn’t ‘break’ into Cohen’s office. A federal judge authorized a legal search warrant after finding that there was a good reason to believe evidence of a crime would be found in his office.
p.s. They did find that evidence. Cohen was sentenced to three years in prison this week.
Remember, Michael Cohen only became a “Rat” after the FBI did something which was absolutely unthinkable & unheard of until the Witch Hunt was illegally started. They BROKE INTO AN ATTORNEY’S OFFICE! Why didn’t they break into the DNC to get the Server, or Crooked’s office?
The president of the United States just wondered in front of millions of Twitter users why someone didn’t break into the Democratic National Committee offices.
Doesn’t that sound familiar? I’m thinking circa 1972 and a certain Richard Nixon…?
History truly repeats itself.
By the way, Cohen tweeted that the FBI was “extremely professional, courteous and respectful” during the search.
‘”I am unhappy to have my personal residence and office raided,” Cohen told CNN in an interview. “But I will tell you that members of the FBI that conducted the search and seizure were all extremely professional, courteous and respectful. And I thanked them at the conclusion.”‘
Judge Ken Starr, former Solicitor Generel & Independent Counsel, just stated that, after two years, “there is no evidence or proof of collusion” & further that “there is no evidence that there was a campaign financing violation involving the President.” Thank you Judge. @FoxNews
It’s worth noting that Ken Starr has absolutely NO idea what Special Counsel Robert Mueller has found during his investigation.
Also – the Ken Starr/White Water investigation went on for four years. Mueller was appointed to head up the current investigation in May 2017 meaning he’s spent less than half the time Starr took to look into White Water.
Similarly, Starr expanded his investigation far afield from his original mandate. So arguments that Mueller should ‘ignore’ crimes not related to Russia along the way are ridiculous.
When the police investigate a robbery and trip over a dead body, they don’t ignore the body.
So where are all the missing Text messages between fired FBI agents Peter S and the lovely Lisa Page, his lover. Just reported that they have been erased and wiped clean. What an outrage as the totally compromised and conflicted Witch Hunt moves ever so slowly forward. Want them!
• Janet Jackson is headed to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame along with Stevie Nicks, The Cure, Radiohead, Def Leppard, Roxy Music, and the Zombies. Nicks becomes the first woman to be inducted twice having been honored previously as part of Fleetwood Mac.
• Fox News host & Donald Trump superfan, Sean Hannity, was caught deleting past tweets that showed his connections to the president’s former lawyer, Michael Cohen, just hours before Cohen was sentenced to three years in prison Wednesday.
• CBS News reports that Donald Trump is considering his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, to be his third Chief of Staff.
• Tony Award winner and current Golden Globe nominee Billy Porter dropped a few holiday tracks on Soundcloud just in time for Christmas. The collection – “A Billy Porter Christmas” – can be found here.
Check out his smooth, soulful “Christmas Time Is Here” below.
Michael Cohen, Donald Trump’s former lawyer and so-called ‘fixer,’ was sentenced today to three years in prison for his role in secret hush money scandals regarding alleged affairs between Donald Trump and two women.
His crimes included campaign finance violations as well as lying to Congress.
The sentencing in federal court in Manhattan capped a startling fall for Mr. Cohen, 52, who had once hoped to work by Mr. Trump’s side in the White House but ended up a central figure in the inquiry into payments to a porn star and a former Playboy model before the 2016 election.
Judge William H. Pauley III said Mr. Cohen had committed a “smorgasbord” of crimes involving “deception” and motivated by “personal greed and ambition.”
“As a lawyer, Mr. Cohen should have known better,” the judge said.
Before he was sentenced, a solemn Mr. Cohen, standing at a lectern, sounded emotional but resolved as he told the judge he had been tormented by the anguish and embarrassment he had caused his family.
Referencing Trump recently calling him ‘weak,’ Cohen agreed with that assessment but for different reasons than Trump.
“It was because time and time again I felt it was my duty to cover up his dirty deeds rather than to listen to my own inner voice and my moral compass,” Mr. Cohen said.
Cohen had also served as deputy finance chair of the Republican National Committee.
COHEN SENTENCED TO THREE YEARS IN PRISON.
Also hit with forfeiture of $500,000, restitution of $1.4 million and a fine of $50,000.
As judge read sentence, Cohen closed his eyes and shook his head slightly as if in disbelief, Bloomberg News reports.
Two years ago, Michael Cohen had visions of being chief of staff. He then began soaking up mega contracts from major companies to influence the president. Trump winning was going to be a gold mine for him. And now… he’s going to jail for three years.
“Mr. Cohen should have known better.” — Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen was sentenced to 36 months in prison. He is ordered to surrender on March 6. https://t.co/VtoGjJqt2C
Donald Trump’s former personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, pleaded guilty this morning in a New York court to lying to Congress regarding a Moscow real estate project that Trump and his company pursued during the months he was running for president.
Trump repeatedly said during the 2016 campaign he had no deals, interests or financial ties in or to Russia.
In a nine-page filing, prosecutors laid out a litany of lies that Cohen admitted he told to congressional lawmakers about the Moscow project — an attempt, Cohen said, to minimize links between the proposed development and Trump as his presidential bid was taking off.
Cohen falsely said efforts to build a Trump-branded tower in Moscow ended in January 2016, when in fact discussions continued through that year, the filing said. Among the people Cohen briefed on the status of the project was Trump himself, on more than three occasions, according to the document.
Trump has repeatedly said that he had no business dealings in Russia, tweeting in July 2016, “For the record, I have ZERO investments in Russia” and telling reporters in January 2017 that he had no deals there because he had “stayed away.”
Tom Winter of NBC News was in the court room and reports on what Cohen testified to:
BREAKING: Michael Cohen names the president in court involving Moscow project, and discussions that he alleges continued into 2017. @Tom_Winter explains after attending the court hearing this morning. https://t.co/6VteqRXgoDpic.twitter.com/iw9Mld32KV
Trump immediately told reporters that he could have pursued the deal in Russia and there would have been nothing wrong with that, but he didn’t.
He went on to say the man who was his personal lawyer for years and years is “a weak person.”
TRUMP, speaking to reporters outside the White House, says Michael Cohen is “a weak person. And by being weak, unlike other people that you watch, he’s a weak person, and what he’s trying to do is get a reduced sentence. So he is lying about a project everybody knew about.” pic.twitter.com/QVSGJcoRa6
Trump less than an hour ago: “I will probably be meeting with President Putin. We haven’t terminated that meeting. I was thinking about it, but they’d like to have it. I think it’s a very good time to have the meeting. ” https://t.co/iikpOXs7xQ
One more thing – don’t forget this email from Felix Sater to Michael Cohen in 2015 saying, “Buddy, our boy can become president of the USA and we can engineer it.”
Reminder of a Felix Sater email sent to Michael Cohen in 2015:
“Buddy our boy can become president of the USA and we can engineer it,” Sater wrote. “I will get all of Putins team to buy in on this, I will manage this process.” https://t.co/4fbCWHQpN9
Here’s where it starts to get really interesting, kids.
The AP is reporting that former attorney and ‘fixer’ for Donald Trump, Michael Cohen, has received a subpoena from investigators looking into possible state violations regarding the Trump Foundation.
Investigators in New York state have issued a subpoena to Michael Cohen as part of their criminal probe into the Trump Foundation.
A spokesman for Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s tax department confirmed the subpoena to The Associated Press on Wednesday.
The subpoena was issued after Cohen’s attorney said the longtime lawyer for President Donald Trump has information that would be of interest to prosecutors at both the state and federal level.
As a close Trump confidant, Cohen could potentially be a significant source of information for state investigators looking into whether Trump or his charity broke state law or lied about their tax liability.
As the AP notes, a president can’t pardon anyone found guilty of state charges.
The entire Trump family could possibly face legal jeopardy.
Making the rounds on morning political TV, Michael Cohen’s lawyer Lanny Davis now says Cohen is more than happy to speak to Special Counsel Robert Mueller about “Russian collusion” during the 2016 presidential election.
Michael Cohen is willing to speak with Special Counsel Robert Mueller about a “conspiracy to collude” with Russia during the 2016 presidential campaign, his lawyer said on Tuesday night.
“Mr. Cohen has knowledge on certain subjects that should be of interest to the special counsel and is more than happy to tell the special counsel all that he knows,” Davis told the network.
“Not just about the obvious possibility of a conspiracy to collude and corrupt the American democracy system in the 2016 election, which the Trump Tower meeting was all about, but also knowledge about the computer crime of hacking and whether or not Mr. Trump knew ahead of time about that crime and even cheered it on.”
That said, its been repeated over and over that Justice Department guidelines say a sitting president can’t be indicted.
But, he can certainly be handcuffed at the close of the inauguration of the next president in January 20121.
Davis told MSNBC this morning that at this time he feels its indisputable that Trump committed a crime.
