Flynn in major trouble for speaking to Russia about sanctions

[boutons_deux]

Trump lashes out at New York Times over Michael Cohen coverage, vows his attorney won’t ‘flip’

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/...nl_most&wpmm=1

friendless, disrespected, so-called Pres Trash is so lost in his sicko fantasy world that he "thinks" people will pay many $Ks in fines, years in prison to protect him.

[boutons_deux]

Mueller Says That Until Yesterday He Had Almost Forgotten to Investigate Giuliani



WASHINGTON —The independent counsel, Robert Mueller, told reporters that, prior to news reports on Thursday, he had “almost forgotten” to investigate the former New York mayor Rudolph Giuliani.

“Like most Americans,

I had totally forgotten about Rudy Giuliani’s existence,”

he said. “But then when he popped up on the news I was, like,

‘Hold on—shouldn’t we be investigating him?’ ”

Mueller was at a loss to explain why he had failed to investigate Giuliani earlier. “I have no idea how it could have slipped my mind,” he said.

“His role in Trump’s campaign was as fishy as all get-out.”

He said that other members of his team were “poking fun” at him for not deciding to investigate Giuliani before Thursday. “I mean, think about it:

how do you do a criminal investigation of the Trump campaign and leave Rudy out of it?”

he said. “I’ve got to say, I’m pretty darn embarrassed about the whole thing.”

When asked for an estimate of when the Russia inquiry might wrap up, Mueller responded, “I honestly can’t say. I was hoping to bring it to a close in the next month or two, but now that we’re also investigating Rudy Giuliani, God only knows how long it’ll take.”

https://www.newyorker.com/humor/borowitz-report/mueller-says-that-until-yesterday-he-had-almost-forgotten-to-investigate-giuliani

[boutons_deux]

A veteran defense lawyer explains how the feds could flip Michael Cohen

“They’re going to threaten him with a long prison term and try to turn him into a canary that sings,” Alan Dershowitz,

the raid suggests that prosecutors believe they have overwhelming evidence of a crime or crimes.

, known for his combative verbal style,

raised some eyebrows in the Trump administration when he said the federal agents raiding his office were “extremely professional, courteous and respectful.”

"I don’t have direct knowledge of this case. But I do know how federal prosecutors work.I think they had enough for an arrest before they got the warrant, but

they don’t know the extent of what it is. Now they’re filling in the blanks and tightening it up.

Because it all originated with Mueller. He went to the Southern District of New York

1

and said, “Here’s what I have. I don’t have a mandate to prosecute Cohen, but I’ve learned about other crimes committed in SDNY.”"

“I’ve got Trump’s guy in my crosshairs. But politically it’s a big problem because it’s outside of my mandate.”

To go to the Southern District and get this warrant, you need an unbelievable amount of evidence. It’s a very high bar

—not just to search an attorney’s office, but the attorney of the president, and you have to show there’s a legitimate belief that contraband or instrumentalities of the crime will be present.

Practically, they would want to explain to the judge there’s a legitimate fear that the evidence might just disappear [with a subpoena].

If Cohen said “I’m going to take care of this for you,” then Trump is probably a co-conspirator.

Or if Trump says “just make her go away.”

Or, God forbid, Trump says “We can’t afford this right before the election.”

the Southern District of New York had way more than they needed to charge Cohen when they conducted the raid.

They had him dead to rights before they obtained the warrant.

The warrant application probably said,

“These are the crimes we believe Cohen has committed, and

we believe the evidence of these crimes is contained there, because

we have reason to believe he’s taping this conversations and

is keeping the notes and ledgers of these conversations in his office.” Now they’re sifting through what they have to put icing on the cake.

would expect they’re ready to do a reverse proffer

11

with Cohen in August.

You’re going to want to get this right, because everybody’s watching.

August or September, they’ll sit down with Cohen’s criminal lawyer and lay out just how bad it really is.

You get through the door because

you’re looking at bank fraud,

then you’re like holy , this is tax fraud, or

money laundering, or

FCPA stuff

12

. Once the camel’s nose is under the tent, you can’t keep the camel out.

You sit down with Cohen’s people and say:

“We’re going to indict you on bank fraud,

on campaign finance violations,

on tax fraud,

on wire fraud, and on

obstruction of justice or

whatever else they found from the search.

We are 100% certain of a conviction on bank wire fraud, it’s as clear as the hand in front of your face. I’m definitely going to win on these.”

You make the pitch: “I’ve got you on this stuff. You’re either going to plead on this, or I’m going to indict you.”

And Cohen says, “if you’re going to indict me, why should I plead?”

And you say, “if you make us indict you and go to trial I’m also going to add the campaign finance and the tax fraud and who knows what else.

I won’t add this stuff if you plea, but your plea requires that you debrief on this other thing—POTUS

2b1.1 is the section of the sentencing guideline that will drive the negotiations. Bank fraud, wire fraud, all of the frauds, the loss tables lay out how the numbers drive the jail time. Over $100,000, over a million, etc.

If your house is worth $1 million, the fraud could be $1 million.

What the government is allowed to use for a loss is so, so unfair. It’s not actual loss, it’s potential loss, the biggest number that it’s touching.

The tax fraud, it’s not the $5,000 you cheated on, it’s the $500,000 you filed on.

“If you are convicted,

we’re going to get a res ution order and take every goddamn thing you own: your house, your car, your watch.”

if you agree to forfeit $150,000 and plead to bank fraud and cooperate, then you could be looking at any sentence, even probation. That’s

cooperation credit, 5k1.1, what they call substantial assistance to the prosecution.

Almost every federal judge in the country will follow a sentencing recommendation on the guidelines and

if Cohen is looking at a big number, he is going to go to jail.

The only way to get out of that is to get the cooperation credit.

I’ve had a guy go from a guideline range of 30 years to a sentence of probation because he pled and cooperated.

.... etc, etc.

https://qz.com/1256340/michael-cohen...-can-flip-him/

[boutons_deux]

Fusion GPS founders explain Trump’s biggest fears for the New York Times — it’s not Stormy or Russia

the founders of Fusion GPS—the people who hired “pee tape” dossier author Christopher Steele—think that’s what Trump is fearing right now,

“A string of bankruptcies in the 1990s and 2000s may have left Mr. Trump’s companies largely unable to tap traditional sources of financing,”

“That could have forced him to look elsewhere for financing and partners at a time when money was pouring out of the former Soviet Union.”

“But a comprehensive investigation could raise questions about the Trump Organization’s

compliance with anti-money-laundering laws and

the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which —

according to the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Department of Justice —

makes it a crime for a United States company to act with willful blindness toward the corrupt activities of a foreign business partner,”

Fusion “pored over Donald Trump’s business records for well over a year, at least those records you can get without a badge or a subpoena.”

https://www.rawstory.com/2018/04/fusion-gps-founders-explain-trumps-biggest-fears-new-york-times-not-stormy-russia/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaig n=Feed%3A+TheRawStory+%28The+Raw+Story%29

[TSA]

Pavlov how you going to spin the latest EC revelations?

The Unraveling

[Reck]

Do I even bother?


One last time then.... Nunes

[Pavlov]

Pavlov how you going to spin the latest EC revelations?

The Unraveling

What's your conspiracy theory here?

I don't see anyone actually challenging the story about Papadopoulos. Again they're just mad the story got out.

[boutons_deux]

totally lacking in details,

"we do know" ?

"information"?

so as to inspire Fox viewers' conspiracies.

s bag Nunes? G M A F B

Fox?

[Pavlov]

I really don't get where Nunes is trying to go here. Of course there wasn't any Five Eyes agency involved because no one was spying on Papadopoulos. Dude sat there and bragged directly to an Australian diplomat. No State would probably get wind of that at some point and it's been clearly reported that the Australian ambassador to the US was at least one of the people who helped get the information to the FBI, so State certainly could be a part of that chain as well.

It would help immensely if TSA would explain his conspiracy theory clearly. That won't happen.

[boutons_deux]

Michael Cohen Has Said He Would Take a Bullet for Trump. Maybe Not Anymore.

That one-sidedness has always been at the heart of President Trump’s relationship with

his longtime lawyer and fixer, Michael D. Cohen,
who has said he would “take a bullet” for Mr. Trump.

For years

Mr. Trump treated Mr. Cohen poorly, with gratuitous insults, dismissive statements and, at least twice, threats of being fired,

according to interviews with a half-dozen people familiar with their relationship.

“Donald goes out of his way to treat him like garbage,” said Roger J. Stone Jr.,

Mr. Trump’s informal and longest-serving political adviser, who, along with Mr. Cohen, was one of five people originally surrounding the president when he was considering a presidential campaign before 2016.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/20/u....co/M34kkP0sQb

So I wonder how many $Ms that 3rd rate lawyer Cohen, The Best People, has pocketed while being Trash's whipping boy?

[TSA]

I really don't get where Nunes is trying to go here. Of course there wasn't any Five Eyes agency involved because no one was spying on Papadopoulos. Dude sat there and bragged directly to an Australian diplomat. No State would probably get wind of that at some point and it's been clearly reported that the Australian ambassador to the US was at least one of the people who helped get the information to the FBI, so State certainly could be a part of that chain as well.

It would help immensely if TSA would explain his conspiracy theory clearly. That won't happen.

There was no official intelligence product used to open an investigation targeting Trump.

[Pavlov]

There was no official intelligence product used to open an investigation targeting Trump.

Not from Five Eyes, no. Papadopoulos wasn't being spied upon by anyone.

The story of how the information got from Papadopoulos' mouth to the FBI's desk is fairly well known.

What is your conspiracy theory, TSA?

[Chris]

There was no official intelligence product used to open an investigation targeting Trump.

Everyone knows you don't with Australian diplomats. Investigations every time!

[Spurminator]

There was no official intelligence product used to open an investigation targeting Trump.

I see you've been given today's talking point.

Is it a requirement that investigations begin with official intelligence products?

[Pavlov]

Everyone knows you don't with Australian ambassadors. Investigations every time!

Every time you brag to them you have contacts with Russians to influence the US presidential election, yes.

What is your conspiracy theory here, Chris?

[Pavlov]

There was no official intelligence product used to open an investigation targeting Trump.

Everyone knows you don't with Australian diplomats. Investigations every time!

GCHQ first became aware in late 2015 of su ious “interactions” between figures connected to Trump and known or suspected Russian agents, a source close to UK intelligence said. This intelligence was passed to the US as part of a routine exchange of information, they added.

Over the next six months, until summer 2016, a number of western agencies shared further information on contacts between Trump’s inner circle and Russians, sources said.

The European countries that passed on electronic intelligence – known as sigint – included Germany, Estonia and Poland. Australia, a member of the “Five Eyes” spying alliance that also includes the US, UK, Canada and New Zealand, also relayed material, one source said.

Another source suggested the Dutch and the French spy agency, the General Directorate for External Security or DGSE, were contributors.

It is understood that GCHQ was at no point carrying out a targeted operation against Trump or his team or proactively seeking information. The alleged conversations were picked up by chance as part of routine surveillance of Russian intelligence assets. Over several months, different agencies targeting the same people began to see a pattern of connections that were flagged to intelligence officials in the US.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/...m-links-russia


I mean that's like seven different countries right there.

My question to each of you is this: What is your conspiracy theory that accounts for all this sigint AND the Papadopoulos story?

Hillary did it?

[TSA]

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/...m-links-russia


I mean that's like seven different countries right there.

My question to each of you is this: What is your conspiracy theory that accounts for all this sigint AND the Papadopoulos story?

Hillary did it?

None of that was in the EC. There was no official intelligence product used to open an investigation targeting Trump.

[Pavlov]

None of that was in the EC. There was no official intelligence product used to open an investigation targeting Trump.

Dodge #1.

What is your conspiracy theory regarding all this sigint and the blabbening?

[TSA]

Dodge #1.

What is your conspiracy theory regarding all this sigint and the blabbening?

This isn’t a theory. There was no official intelligence product used to open an investigation targeting Trump.

[Pavlov]

This isn’t a theory. There was no official intelligence product used to open an investigation targeting Trump.

What exactly is the problem with that?

Does it have to be "official"?

What makes intel "official"?

Walk me through the process that every piece of intel must go through to be legitimately used in an investigation.

Provide links.

I predict you will not do anything of the sort.

[Pavlov]

Seven countries provided intel that started in the investigation on the Trump/Russia connection which actually did exist and TSA is concerned with some kind of paperwork technicality.

lol

[Spurminator]

What exactly is the problem with that?

Does it have to be "official"?

What makes intel "official"?

Walk me through the process that every piece of intel must go through to be legitimately used in an investigation.

Provide links.

I predict you will not do anything of the sort.

He was only given the talking point, not the rationale for the talking point.

[Pavlov]

He was only given the talking point, not the rationale for the talking point.

IT WASN'T NOTARIZED SO MUELLER MUST BE FIRED

[Chris]

lol "all this sigint"

[Pavlov]

lol "all this sigint"

Yes, sigint from seven countries plus the Papadopoulos story.

The quote and link were provided for you.

What is your conspiracy theory, Chris?