If he can prove that isnât this game over?
I hope he and his family will be provided protection from this international crime syndicate masquerading as a legitimate government.
Mr. Mueller, weâre ready now.
This sounds to me like the predicate for a âwitness intimidationâ charge from team MuellerâŚ
Is it just me or does this not add up? I feel like Iâm missing something, like the threats, I guess.
Umm, he can be SUBPOENAED.
yeah I get that, itâs got a smell to it
Trumpâs and his lackeysâ threats against Cohen are impeachable (and prosecutable) offenses: witness tampering and obstruction of justice at a minimum. Cohen could, if he wanted to play hardball, file an emergency request in federal court to enjoin Trump and his henchmen from meddling, and also refer the case to the DOJ for prosecution.
Can anyone please explain why the House cannot simply compel Cohenâs testimony, by subpoena or other means. TPM? Josh? Seriously.
Looks like obstruction, smells like obstruction, quacks like obstructionâŚ
More ammo in Muellerâs shot locker.
If he can prove that isnât this game over?
The proof has been in plain sight all along. Trump, who controls the Justice Department, is openly saying the Justice Department should investigate Cohenâs family for unspecified misdeeds, and heâs doing so exactly when Cohen is coming forward.
There doesnât have to be a secret note specifying exactly when and how Trump plans to personally slit Cohenâs throat and with exactly what kind of knife. In fact, most witness tampering or terroristic threat cases turn on much LESS explicit threats.
Nice move by Team Cohen to establish witness intimidation and obstruction. Trump: itâs your move now.
My impression is that they can compel him to come in, but that he can take the 5th or develop amnesia or otherwise make the hearing not useful.
The crucial line in this, I think, is that theyâre also naming rudi as an actor. Even if trump canât currently be indicted, rudi certainly can. And if his attorney-client relationship with trump has been in furtherance of a crimeâŚ
was my thought tooâŚTrump threatens, then the appropriate response is that his threat worked as intendedâŚergo obstruction. Seems pretty smart.
Also, plausibly, couldâve been the plan all along. Trump and Giuliani taunting Cohen so Cohen responds by taking cover out of public view. Very unsettling I believe, either wayâŚ
no need to. He postponed, didnât say no. Also, I think you want him to be cooperative, so it makes some sense to do it on his terms. If he cancels altogether or the delays become unreasonable, then you can compel his testimony.
NiceâŚnow letâs SHOW witness intimidation and wrap this crap upâŚand stuff it down Meadowâs and Jordonâs smug sanctimonious faces.
TPM is the only place I have seen, including NYT and Wapo, that Cohenâs father in law is not just some relative but someone who did a lot of business with Trump and whom Trump knows very well. If TPM is correct, Shusterman is one, if not the only, connection between Trump and Russian money. I donât know why this point has not been made more prominently.
Rudy made an adderall laden threat on CNN that Cohen (and his father in law) were connected to the Russian mob. It was very audacious and I donât think the Chabad House folks who back Cohen and their friends in the Russian mob (the Mogilevich controlled mob to be more precise) took kindly to it. If I were Trump/Rudy, Iâd be worried. As a kid, âdonât f**k with the mobâ seemed like a sensible rule to follow. Thatâs been true into adulthood as well.
Yes, he can be subpoenaed, but that wouldnât help the good guys. Presumably heâd simply refuse to answer, which is what heâs doing anyway, at least for now.
Then your only move is to bring obstruction charges against him, or hold him in one form or another of contempt. Not very useful under the circumstances.