Giuliani Engaging In Ex Post Rationalization

The flailing NY Times listens to Rudy's latest defense of Trump and leaps to the obvious, unsupported, unimaginative conclusion - Trump lied:

Giuliani Says Trump Repaid Cohen for Stormy Daniels Hush Money

WASHINGTON — President Trump reimbursed Michael D. Cohen, his longtime personal lawyer, for a $130,000 payment that Mr. Cohen has said he made to keep a pornographic film actress from going public before the 2016 election with her story about an affair with Mr. Trump, according to Rudolph W. Giuliani, one of the president’s lawyers.

That statement, which Mr. Giuliani made Wednesday night on Fox News, contradicted the president, who has said he had no knowledge about any payment to the actress, Stephanie Clifford, to keep quiet before the election.

[Read what Mr. Giuliani said here.]

Asked specifically last month by reporters aboard Air Force One whether he knew about the payment, Mr. Trump said, “No,” and referred questions to Mr. Cohen. He was then asked, “Do you know where he got the money to make that payment?”

“No,” Mr. Trump responded. “I don’t know.”

Please - are there no M*A*S*H fans out there? I remember a classic bit that went roughly like this:

Radar, the company clerk, hands the hapless Col. Blake some papers.

"What am I signing Radar?"

"I'd tell you sir but then you'd know."

"Oh, right". Takes pen, signs.

If I wrote a check for $130,000 I would know where it went and why. But if I were a billionaire with a long time fixer whose role was to make problems go away, I might well have gotten out of the habit of asking where the money was going and why. Plausible deniability was not invented by Trump. Nor was implausible deniability.

That said, I actually think Rudy has opened a new can of worms. Here is what he told Sean Hannity:

When I heard of Cohen’s retainer for $130,000, he was doing no work for the president. I said, “Well, that’s how he’s repaying it, with a little profit and a little margin for paying taxes for Michael.

That sounds to me like an ex post rationalization invented by Giuliani, not an explanation offered by Trump or his attorneys. Giuliani's apparent claim is that Trump was paying a retainer, expenses weren't itemized, so the campaign finance issue can be dodged by claiming this retainer payment was for that expense by Cohen. If it can be shown that Cohen routinely declined to itemize certain "discretion required" expenses then that argument might fly. On the other hand, if Cohen routinely billed for his retainer and all sorts of unseemly expenses the argument is weaker. 

In any case, the Times does have nearly enough to state flatly that Trump lied. There is no reason to assume Trump set up Cohen as his fixer and cut-out and then kept himself apprised of his every unsavory move. But then again, I am not a Resistance Journalist.

Comments

[henry]

ex-post rationalization... the new national pasttime

[Miss Marple the Deplorable]

During my divorce I got bills every month from my attorney.

She never really itemized, except in general terms such as "reviewing documents" or "phone call with opposing counsel."

Of course, this is a different situation, but it is not unreasonable to me that Cohen would be paid a retainer and given his long relationship with Trump, would have simply billed him for general legal services without detailing it.

It's especially reasonable if Cohen was trusted and Trump was exceptionally busy (which he was) and also being watched like a hawk.

[Miss Marple the Deplorable]

http://www.watcherofweasels.org/bill-whittle-kanye-blacks-dems/

Six minute Bill Whittle video, worth watching.

[henry]

Billing transparency is a general problem for services... not just legal services.

[narciso]

This is what is ticking me off,

https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/oreo-craving-al-qaeda-operative-becomes-first-guantanamo-release-in-trump-era/

Btw he is nashiris in law, the fmr interrogation was supervised by haspel in Thailand.

[narciso]

What up sheepdog and wray

https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2018/05/a-bridges-too-far.php?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=sw&utm_campaign=sw

[sbwaters]

None of our legal business legal or accounting bills would ever detail what the bills were for.

To do so would violate legal/accounting HIPPA laws.

... I related the story of our Vet, for our schnauzer, requiring us sign a HIPPA release form.

[henry]

Per Time Magazine, the FBI is butt hurt. Sure the Page / Strzok txts and Comey / McCabe criminality is part of it. But it's really Trump is a big meanie.

http://time.com/5264153/the-fbi-is-in-crisis-and-america-is-paying-the-price/

[henry]

Jim Sciutto @jimsciutto
13h

Breaking: After being interviewed by #specialcounsel, fmr Trump aide Michael Caputo told CNN: “It’s clear they are still really focused on Russia collusion.” He added, “They know more about the Trump campaign than anyone who ever worked there”

[Marlene]

Good Morning! We connected the TV to the sat internet service yesterday. We're trying a few channels on Hulu,Fox Business and TCM the most essential. I watched Rudy on Maria B's show this morning. Maybe I didn't drink enough coffee,but I couldn't follow his explanation of the reimbursement. What a mess.

[Sue]

I wonder why Rudy is talking about it?

[jimmyk]

In any case, the Times does have nearly enough to state flatly that Trump lied.

I think you meant "does NOT" here?

[Extraneus]

Has Rudy exceeded Scaramucci's time on the job yet?

[Threadkiller]

Hewitt just did that thing that he rarely does anymore.

He had some reporter on from Politico. The reporter seemed to be very young and uninformed on all things Bill Clinton.

I tuned in late so I missed the full lead up but it was clearly a Stormy Daniels conversation. Hugh asked the reporter if anyone is going to look at Daniels and her lawer to see if they were blackmailing Trump.

The reporter said "I don't understand what you mean." And Hewitt explained that if they went to Trump and said "give us money or we tell this story" that is blackmail.

After a pause the reporter agreed. I doubt that the reporter will now investigate this angle, but I can tell Hewitt got his gears grinding.

Kudos to Hewitt for pushing something that most people either didn't think of or say out loud.

[Extraneus]

I don't believe it's possible that Trump didn't know about Stormy being paid off.

[narciso]

Al darbi is actually the brother in law of Al midhar line of the two hijackers who came from Malaysia was living in San Diego under their own name, seeking counseling from awlaki, receiving support from a diplomat in the la consulate.

[Michael (fpa P4F) ... Stop the Witch Hunt - Stop the Coup !]

In the US media, the force is frequently referred to interchangeably as the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps or the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
Posted by: Jane | May 02, 2018 at 12:18 PM

One last bit of info to share re yesterday's Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps discussion . . .
[Apologies if someone has already mentioned this; still on permanent catch-up.]
CTLurker is correct that the Iranian group is properly called the "Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)."
However, older Middle East hands like Rhode and Bernard Lewis often used the term Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, because Saddam Hussein also had a specialized group of ultra-loyal troops who were called the Revolutionary Guard, and one would distinguish between the two different groups by calling them the Iranian RGC or the Iraqi RGC.

.

[henry]

Someone butchered a rhinoceros in the Philippines hundreds of thousands of years before modern humans arrived—but who?

I suspect Russian bots. They are always up to something.

https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2018/05/stone-tools-rhinoceros-luzon-philippines-ancient-hominins-science/?beta=true

[narciso]

True David, the fellow who put it together was mustafa chamran a Berkeley grad who had been trained in Lebanon with the PLO.

[jimmyk]

I don't believe it's possible that Trump didn't know about Stormy being paid off.

All he needs is plausible deniability. I guess you are saying it's implausible to you, but plausible deniability is more like "Can you prove otherwise?"

There was probably a regular line item in Cohen's bills: "Payoffs to would-be blackmailers" or "Payoffs to women claiming affairs."

[narciso]

This guy:

http://.shiitenews.org/index.php/articles/item/6958-dr-mostafa-chamran-the-symbol-of-resistance

[JimNorCal]

Via Insty:
Boy Scouts Welcome Girls But Still Exclude All 49,247 Other Genders.
http://babylonbee.com/news/bigoted-boy-scouts-welcome-girls-but-still-exclude-all-49247-other-genders/

OK, spoiler: it's satire.

[Extraneus]

Yeah, that's what I'm saying Jimmy. Considering the fact that he was running for election, Cohen would have been wrong to arrange that without approval.

[James D.]

it's satire.

Probably won't be satire six months from now, though.

[narciso]

Oh lichtblau the conduit for comeys 'airing of grievances, and his book length screwed against ashcroft and the war on terror?

[Threadkiller]

Over at The Poop Scoop I read that Trump had been making payments to Cohen in the amount of $35,000 that added up to around half a million bucks.

I doubt a single payment to Cohen for $130,000 exists.

[narciso]

One of the crew fired from CNN:

https://www.newsbusters.org/journalists/eric-lichtblau

I'm guessing another paid off by fusion.

[Threadkiller]

... $35,000 a month...

[JimNorCal]

If the enemedia spent ten, no FIVE percent of the Trump investigative effort on the Dem Party I say the Dems would all be in jail. Eff Em All

[Tom R]

So 4D chess is entirely dependent on this Felix Slater character no one has ever heard of? ::eyeroll::

It's not my fault you don't know who Felix Sater is. In the past I've provided multiple citations that you could have read to get better informed on the person and his role in the Russian collusion affair. Wouldn't it make you feel a LOT better if it turns out Sater was under the control of Loretta Lynch and the FBI/DOJ and did what they ordered?

[narciso]

Re laufman remember that whole set of links i did tracking him back to the company and iran contra, the October aurprise snipehunt the one into newt?

[henry]

Tom R, short answer, I couldn't care less about Slater.

[Miss Marple the Deplorable]

The world we live in now:

Marco Rubio tries to explain the context of his asinine statement that tax cuts aren't really working.

Marco Rubio
‏Verified account @marcorubio

Although written by intern at Politico, this article is a reminder of how difficult it can be to discuss public policy in political press. Not only did I not back down on tax cut, I doubled down & added detail for rationale

AND the reply!

Monica Lewinsky
‏Verified account @MonicaLewinsky

blaming the intern is so 1990's. 🙄

[Tom R]

Reposting from the last thread.

How then did Mueller get "dirt" on Cohen?

We’ve come full circle back to the Felix Sater question I asked a couple of weeks back that no one was willing to answer.

Do you think Felix Sater is an ally/friend of Trump or do you think he was an FBI asset under the control of Loretta Lynch?

The answer to the question how did Mueller get dirt on Cohen is the same regardless of the answer to the Felix Sater question. What changes is the motive for Mueller.

Sater sent Cohen a blatantly over the top email talking about how Sater could get Putin to help Trump get elected. It supports the Russian collusion narrative. This email almost certainly allowed the Feds to get a warrant to look at all of Cohen’s emails which in turn revealed possible tax evasion with his taxi business.

Regarding Mueller’s motive, if Sater was a true ally/friend of Trump, the email is legit evidence supporting the Russian collusion allegation. However since we also now know Sater was a convicted felon and confidential informant under the control of Loretta Lynch, it’s quite possible Lynch and someone else in the FBI/DOJ ordered Sater to send that email to Cohen as part of their scheme to destroy Trump.

For people like me who believe in the possibility Mueller is working WITH Trump to take down the Deep State corruption, Mueller was likely investigating the criminal activity surrounding the FBI/DOJ ordering Sater to send the bogus email to Cohen. He wasn’t going after Cohen to nail him but he did discover something Cohen did wrong so he followed the law, notified Rosenstein, who then authorized the Feds to conduct the raid on Cohen’s law office.

[narciso]

I brought up ledeen he was a literature professor teaching in Italy, where he ended up stringer for the new republic, as their foreign correspondent, he had contacts with Italian intelligence which was fighting a proxy fight with the soviets through the brigatte, he was also getting tidbits from the company whose man in rome was the late dewey claridge.

[Jack is Back!]

So many WWII TV shows from the 50's to now, other countries included:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_World_War_II_TV_series

They will click memories. They did for me. Forgot most of them.

[Jane]

I wonder why Rudy is talking about it?

Last night when I saw it I thought it was a big slip up, particularly when he went on Shannon's show to clarify.

This morning I think it was probably on purpose to state there is no crime - abusing campaign finance laws and put that on the record.

Who knows.

Dumb question alert: Is there some kind of law that every North Korean have "Kim" in his name?

[henry]

Did Slater cause the levels in the photocopier while he was at it?

[Sue]

I don't think Cohen paid her without first consulting with his client. But not knowing exactly how much he paid is plausible. He could have told Cohen I'll give you x amount of money to settle this and what you don't use is yours.

[Consigliare]

Trump knew it and Rudy Blew it

[Miss Marple the Deplorable]

TRUMP News 24/7
‏ @MichaelDelauzon
6m6 minutes ago

On this National Day of Prayer remember to pray for a world where the same evil people trying to unseat Pres Trump are convincing your kids to believe that this guy is the good guy on a TV Show called 'Lucifer'.

=======================================

I didn't even know this show existed.

From Wikipedia
The series focuses on Lucifer Morningstar, the Devil, who is bored and unhappy as the Lord of Hell. He resigns his throne and abandons his kingdom for Los Angeles, where he ends up running his nightclub "Lux". He becomes entangled in a case and is subsequently invited to be a consultant to the LAPD.

More details, plots and characters on Wikipedia here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucifer_(TV_series)

[narciso]

Now opthe fmr grip gives him a tip about Billy carter brokering c 130s for qaddafi, based on that and some expertise re terrorism becomes a state dept assistant on the subject.

Unfortunately a scandal about powerbrokers in Italian government and business breaks put over there, centered around a Masonic lodge p2

[narciso]

As with Japanese names, the order in reversed like Abe first name.

[jimmyk]

The Daily Beast piece linked by Drudge has this on Giuliani:

In an interview with The Wall Street Journal Wednesday, Giuliani seemed to try to walk back his on-air remarks, saying Trump was “probably not aware” of the payment at the time it was made.

“Cohen was his lawyer and had discretion to settle, as I have had for clients ultimately paying for it,” he told the paper. “Remember October 2016, hardly will recall any of that in detail. I don’t remember it clearly either.”

It's a nothingburger in any case.

[Miss Marple the Deplorable]

http://thefederalist.com/2018/05/03/manafort-lawyers-claim-leaky-mueller-probe-has-provided-no-evidence-of-contacts-with-russian-officials/

[Tom R]

I wonder why Rudy is talking about it?

Two possibilities as I see it. Option 1 is Rudy screwed up and let something accidently slip. Option 2 is Rudy went on Hannity with a scripted list of talking points Trump and his team wanted this info out in the public.

[Sue]

Yeah, those seem to be the only 2 options.

[boris]

"He resigns his throne and abandons his kingdom for Los Angeles"

Next season it will be revealed that Luci actually sold hell to Trump who is converting it into a snowbird resort slash gambling casino slash bordello with dark eyed virgins.

Which Hillary and her coven discovered when they attempted to summon Luci to trade their souls for the presidency. There was the expected flash and sulfurous fumes but the figure standing in their pentagram was Trump.

[Extraneus]

Kim is like what we call a last name, Jane. They put it first.

[GUS]

Who Donald Trump fucked before he became President or even a candidate is nobodies business.
I think Trump was banging a lot of women as a NY/MANHATTAN billionaire. It's funny how the rancid MFM had no interest in who Billy The Rapist was banging whilst CANKLES was in office, running for office or CURB diving.

[Sue]

There was the expected flash and sulfurous fumes but the figure standing in their pentagram was Trump.

Well crap, I thought that was GWB.

[Extraneus]

The most common Korean surname (particularly in South Korea) is Kim, followed by Lee (Rhee, Yi) (second most common) and Park (Pak) (third most common). Together, these top three surnames make up slightly more than half of the Korean population (based on South Korea).

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Appendix:Korean_surnames

[narciso]

Now ledeen served a similar function to manafort according to one go between for Italian intelligence, while in Italy he also had contacts with Israeli intelligence particularly those figures who had contacts in the shahs era,

[Tom R]

Tom R, short answer, I couldn't care less about Slater.

Are you taking that position so you can avoid admitting the possibility that Mueller was really investigating Loretta Lynch and the FBI/DOJ and how they used Sater to plant incriminating evidence to frame Trump? That is what it appears like to me but I don't want to assume.

[GUS]

RODHAM paid for BORIS' DOSSIER.

[Appalled]

GUS:

Hm...might be Melania's business. But it isn't legal business.

[narciso]

after he was dismissed from state, those contacts told him of possibilities of reaching officials in the Iranian govt.

[Sue]

Tom R,

I'm taking the position that Mueller is not investigating anyone associated with Clinton and/or Obama. He is out to get Trump, and anyone he can around him.

[henry]

No, I'm taking the position Slater doesn't matter, whomever Mueller is or isn't investigating. A crowd of wannabe players like Slater just aren't interesting enough to spell their names correctly, let alone waste time on.

[narciso]

This is how iran contra started out, mind you the thinking at the company was we had to reach out before khomeini passed on.

[Miss Marple the Deplorable]

No one seems to be paying attention to that Grand Jury in Little Rock or the Federal prosecutor out in Utah, Huber.

[Miss Marple the Deplorable]

https://religionnews.com/2018/05/02/trump-to-sign-executive-order-creating-new-white-house-faith-based-initiative/

[narciso]

A decade later, sid vicious, who has been carrying soviet water since the 70 uses some blind item in drudge to wage lawfare against ledeen because he has a grudge against him, back when the fmr was dismissing soviet back terrorism

[Extraneus]

Does anyone think that Trump doesn't know about other NDAs, perhaps ones protecting members of Congress? So far he's hinted about knowing things, for example about Tester, and today he said that NDAs are common "among celebrities and the wealthy."

Certain people must be shivering in fear about this.

[Tom R]

No, I'm taking the position Slater doesn't matter, whomever Mueller is or isn't investigating. A crowd of wannabe players like Slater just aren't interesting enough to spell their names correctly, let alone waste time on.

100% thoroughly disagree. There is ample evidence that multiple members of the Obama administration engaged in criminal corruption, weaponized the DOJ/FBI, and illegally spied on Trump before and after the election. If (keyword is "IF") Loretta Lynch and the FBI/DOJ forced Sater to send that email to Cohen claiming he could get Putin to help Trump win the election then in my opinion that is a significant issue that will end up getting several Obama officials indicted. That is what you want to happen right?

[GUS]

The FULL COMMIE defended BILLY the RAPIST, when he was CIGAR-ING LEWINSKY.

Nothing to see hear, move on........
I wonder if they ever checked the OVAL OFFICE carpets for BILLY PRESIDUE/JIZZ stains.

All of this shit is absurd.

[Miss Marple the Deplorable]

Extraneus,

I agree with you. By the way, I saw something a couple of days ago where Tester was the recipient of some of that sex misconduct payoff slush fund the dems apparently have.

[Miss Marple the Deplorable]

List of attendees at the National Day of Prayer event at the White House:

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DcR7bU3U0AAKV51.jpg

[GUS]

Tom R. could you be OUR point man on the SLATER issue. What I mean is,I think most of us here, would love for you to give us updates on how that investigation goes. Could you give us monthly reports. I'll call it TOM R.'S SLATER FILES.
This could be bigger than PLAME.

Thanking you in advanace TOM.

[narciso]

The point Is Tom r, if they want to (redacted) with your life like they are doing with caputo, or michael flynn, they can get any judge any prosecutor to turn your life upside down. The mechanism was little different in Austin Madison Juneau et al

[Captain Hate]

Signs that Kanye may have unleashed the beast: I just heard a reasonably humorous song on kollidge radio "The Wreck of the Hillary Clinton".

[Tom R]

Gus,

I don't expect anyone who routinely engages in assumptions that their absolutist opinions are unassailable facts to under the point about Sater.

[Miss Marple the Deplorable]

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2018/04/27/strzok-page-and-fbi-texting-scandal-explained.html

The investigators say the information provided to Fox News “strongly” suggests coordination between former President Barack Obama’s chief of staff Denis McDonough, then-Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid and former CIA Director John Brennan — which they say would “contradict” the past administration’s public stance about its hand in the process.
===============================

This is the first I have seen Harry Reid and Dennis McDonough connected to this mess.

[JM Hanes]

JiB:

WWII series -- Wow, I had no idea!

[narciso]

Just like chalabi, king of the bazaar anyone who did business in Beirut (like roger tamraz, more on him later) and amman probably wasn't ebfirely on the up and up, but his cause was returning to his homeland, which was problematic for the hashemites who had ties to saddam as well as the French and German goats who looked the other way

[Miss Marple the Deplorable]

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

Live link to National Day of Prayer event in the Rose Garden.

[Captain Hate]

Of all the worthless jizzmops associated with the JEF, McDonough was by far the creepiest.

[narciso]

They all came from lee hamiltons staff, 'a greater hive of scum abd villainy you all not find, but he was considered respectable re iran contra the 9/11 commission the Iraq study group.

[Jane]

Kim is like what we call a last name, Jane. They put it first.

Yeah I know that. All three of the hostages have Kim in their name - both first and last. Your second post is a good explanation.

[narciso]

Sip some people like bib baer who was base chief in kurdistan in the 90s blamed chalabi for a coup there, he subsequently signed up with tamraz an egyptian banker with offices in Beirut with ties to bcci, to get a pipeline deal done.

[Tom R]

The point Is Tom r, if they want to (redacted) with your life like they are doing with caputo, or michael flynn, they can get any judge any prosecutor to turn your life upside down.

I am well aware of what corrupt government officials are capable of.

Let me ask you a legal ethics question. During the course of an investigation into Person A, a prosecutor discovers that Person B, who was not under investigation for any wrongdoing, appears to be guilty of committing an unrelated crime to what the prosecutor was investigating Person A for. Following the Constitutional rule of law, what should an ethical prosecutor do in this situation in regards to Person B?

[GUS]

Tom R. you're not very bright, are you??

{{ don't expect anyone who routinely engages in assumptions that their absolutist opinions are unassailable facts to under the point about Sater.}}

Tommy boy, no one on this blog assumes shit more than you. You're a joke.

[narciso]

We're not speaking of ethical prosecutors full stop, the legal equivalent of piranhas. Take what they did to nunberg someone who had no ties to russia.

[GUS]

Capn, nearly everyone associated with THE JEMF'er is creepy, Chi-town Tiny Dancer is up there in the McDonough realm.

[Jane]

TRUMP AIDE MICHAEL CAPUTO'S SHOCKING STATEMENT TO THE SENATE INTEL COMMITTEE

Caputo, a former Trump campaign adviser, delivered this statement to the committee on Tuesday, May 1, 2018:
+1

'In 2009, my wife and I moved to my hometown of East Aurora, New York to have a family. Making far less money back home, we had a far better quality of life. That is, until the Trump-Russia narrative took off. Today, I can’t possibly pay the attendant legal costs and live near my aging father, raising my kids where I grew up.

'Your investigation and others into the allegations of Trump campaign collusion with Russia are costing my family a great deal of money – more than $125,000 - and making a visceral impact on my children.

'Now I must to move back to Washington, New York City, Miami or elsewhere, just so I can make enough money to pay off these legal bills. And I know I have you to thank for that.

'Here’s how I know: how many of you know Daniel Jones, former Senate Intelligence staffer for Senator Dianne Feinstein? Great guy, right? Most of you worked with him. One of you probably just talked to him this morning.

'Of course, very few of us in flyover country knew Daniel until recently. Now we know that he quit his job with your Senate committee not long ago to raise $50 million from ten rich Democrats to finance more work on the FusionGPS Russian dossier. The one the FBI used to get a FISA warrant and intimidate President Donald Trump, without anyone admitting -- until months after it was deployed -- that it was paid for by Hillary Clinton.

'In fact, good old Dan has been raising and spending millions to confirm the unconfirmable – and, of course, to keep all his old intel colleagues up-to-speed on what FusionGPS and British and Russian spies have found. Got to keep that Russia story in the news.

'Of course Dan’s in touch with you guys. We know from the news that he’s been briefing Senator Mark Warner, vice chairman of this committee. Which one of you works for Senator Warner? Please give Danny my best.

'I saw some of his handiwork just last month. Remember this lede paragraph, from McClatchy on April 13?

'The Justice Department special counsel has evidence that Donald Trump’s personal lawyer and confidant, Michael Cohen, secretly made a late-summer trip to Prague during the 2016 presidential campaign, according to two sources familiar with the matter.

'That’s your pal Dan, isn’t it? He came up with some kind of hollow proof that Michael Cohen was in Prague meeting with Russians when he wasn’t. He tried to sell that to reporters, and they didn’t buy it because it doesn’t check out. So, to get a reporter to write up his line of bull, he gave the documents to the Office of Special Counsel.

'We know that’s likely, because he’s told people he’s briefing investigators.

'So, technically, the special counsel’s office has evidence. Your pal Dan gave them more of the Democrats’ dossier, funded by more Democrats, provided again by Russian and British spies. Information no reporter would write up, but now there’s an angle: the Special Counsel has it. Now it’s a story.

'It’s a clever but effective ruse. That’s a story, just like when reporter Michael Isikoff of Yahoo News wrote this gem on September 16, 2016:

'“…U.S. officials have since received intelligence reports that during that same three-day trip, Page met with Igor Sechin, a longtime Putin associate … a well-placed Western intelligence source tells Yahoo News. That meeting, if confirmed, is viewed as especially problematic by U.S. officials…”

'Dozens of stories were written from the Isikoff piece, doing real damage to the Trump campaign. Of course, now we know Isikoff’s reference to “intelligence reports” was just him renaming a dossier funded by Democrats and dug up by his longtime pal Glenn Simpson and some foreign spies. Once Simpson gave his Clinton campaign opposition research to the feds, it was news.

'This was especially true after Isikoff intentionally labeled the campaign materials as intelligence – just like McClatchy called Dan’s information “evidence.”

'But who is McClatchy’s second source? It couldn’t be Dan; he was the first source. It couldn’t be Simpson; he works for Dan. It can’t be the Mueller investigation; they kicked the McClatchy story to the curb with aplomb. So who could it be – perhaps one of his former Senate Intelligence colleagues? I mean, you’re all in this together. You’re the swamp.

'What America needs is an investigation of the investigators. I want to know who is paying for the spies’ work and coordinating this attack on President Donald Trump? I want to know who Dan Jones is talking to across the investigations – from the FBI, to the Southern District of New York, to the OSC, to the Department of Justice, to Congress.

'Forget about all the death threats against my family. I want to know who cost us so much money, who crushed our kids, who forced us out of our home, all because you lost an election.

'I want to know because God Damn you to Hell.'

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/fb-5682671/TRUMP-AIDE-MICHAEL-CAPUTOS-SHOCKING-STATEMENT-SENATE-INTEL-COMMITTEE.html

[narciso]

Now I give maybe a farthing about this matter, but the other two links what is mattis allowing, now Al darbi is tricky because he went to gitmo he was assaulted by a big bruiser of an an MP,

[Tom R]

Gus,

If it makes you feel better about yourself to pretend that I am dumb I don't have a problem with that.

I suggest you put me on killfile since my posts appear to trigger some form of irrational rage in you.

[narciso]

So they managed a plea to leverage against nashiri, which the prosecutor still botched.

[Tom R]

We're not speaking of ethical prosecutors full stop

Come on narciso that was an evasion. I asked a hypothetical legal ethics question without listing any names. You or anyone else can answer that without tying it in to the Mueller investigation.

[Porchlight]

The entire point of having a retainer arrangement like the one Trump had with Cohen is so the attorney has the funds to do what's needed and the client doesn't need to know about it.

[JM Hanes]

Jane:

:"Dumb question alert: Is there some kind of law that every North Korean have "Kim" in his name?"

It's not just North Korea. There are only a limited number of last names in use on the whole peninsula. It looks like more in the wikipedia chart, but you'll note the column titled "Popular Spellings" -- which represent the multiplicity of "romanized" spellings of the same name (i.e. "Lee, Yi, Rhee, Ree, Rey, Rhie" would, in fact, all be pronounced the same way).

The names derive from the major clan names which have existed for centuries. People would further identify themselves (and still do, I believe) as being from the Andong Kims, for example, meaning they descend from the Kim family branch centered in the Andong region, or the Ulseong Kims, etc. Apparently, Kim no longer makes the top 10 list of surnames in South Korea, but those numbers are probably made up for in the North. It used to be the most common name of all.

[GUS]

Tom R.
I'm not pretending. You ARE dumb as a tampon.
Take your suggestion and your psychobabble and shove them up your ass.

[Miss Marple the Deplorable]

I am listening to the National Day of Prayer, which has an ecumenical group praying right now, including some Protestant women (maybe one was LDS) a Hindu priest, a rabbi, and I believe a Catholic pries will be on shortly.

[The Infamous Ignatz]

Well, it seems to me if Loretta Lynch used a corrupt CI to plant lies to facilitate this witch hunt that is a rather huge data point.
Given what we know of the Dems does it take more effort to believe this guy acted on his own or did as TomR suggests? If the former then I guess you really think LL and BJ were talkin about the grandkids on the tarmac.
Not gettin the TomR hate.

[narciso]

Isn't it interesting jm, yes porch the law means nothing to them, sid vicious can help stripmine a country for French and German interests, back in the 80s his heartthrob was Gary hartpence,

[Miss Marple the Deplorable]

Mowed into his field by Gene Hanson, a North Dakota farmer:

For tablet users:

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DcSFHq-X4AEYb7m.jpg

[The Infamous Ignatz]

You have all the elements of a great joke there MM.

[Miss Marple the Deplorable]

The Catholic priest, now that he appeared in the light rather than in the shadowed background, was Cardinal Wuerl.

[Miss Marple the Deplorable]

President speaking now.

[narciso]

Just like Nigeria can be looted by associates of nark rich, becauce they paid the danegold to red queens foundation.