Textbook corruption! And the leading Repubs are tepid and weak in all of their statements. Where is the outrage?
What is clear is that Cohen was deep at work negotiating the presidentâs business interests through someone convicted of defrauding investors of $40 million even while working as one of the most public faces of Trumpâs presidential bid.
Thatâs an asset, not a liability, with this crew.
Perhaps Trump will propose a wall between Ukraine and Russia and make Putin pay for it? Everything in Donaldâs life revolves around building a personal empire. All his minions are guilty of doing his bidding and Mueller now has the evidence to prove it.
The question is, has Sater flipped?
O yes.
Thatâs why he told his family he was going to prison and the president was too.
Edit to add: I think Jeff Sessions has talked to Mueller, too.
How does Sessions continue as A.G. ? It seems he is as corrupt as Trump.
Lots of âkaboomâ articles in the last 24 hours. Benjamin Wittesâ toy cannons are gonna run out soon. Weâre now at the âcat out of the bagâ stage of the Russia investigation. We now know that Trump actively courted Russia and Russia actively courted Trump. We know it goes all the way back to 2015.
TPM was the first to break the story that Sater was actively taking the lead to shop a Trump hotel in Moscow. The WAPO article adds Michael Cohen (who directly advised the campaign). So that puts the Trump campaign and Trump org. at the center of the Russia conspiracy. What proves this connection is that the email came from a subpoena of Trump org emails.
The NYT article adds a lot more flavor through the thing they seem to be best at: talkinâ 'bout emails. This time, we have juicy emails from Felix Sater himself which shows a very close connection to Trump, and a guy who had enough pull in Russia to get the attention of the Putin government. He put Ivanka in Putinâs office and watched over Trumpâs kids when they made a trip to Moscow. We also see that Sater actively believes that a deal with Russia is key to Trump winning. Letâs not forget who Sater is: Heâs a mobster with connections to the Italian and Russian mafias. Thereâs also another thing that comes out of this email chain: Felix Sater is a type of double agent and an opportunist, but his primary loyalty is to Moscow.
The first primary that Trump won was not New Hampshire, it was the contest for Putinâs endorsement, which happened in December 2015. Keep in mind that Michael Flynn and Jill Stein had their big dinner with Putin at the RT Gala in December 2015. The other people at that table were basically Putinâs national security council. They talked at length with Flynn about what changes they wanted to see in US policy. By the time Flynn connected with the Trump campaign, the Trump campaignâs priorities and those of Russia were perfectly aligned.
So what other piece of information do we need to complete the story? We know that the TT Moscow project didnât take off in 2016, and I suspect that Putin change the terms of the deal. Instead of the hotel, Putin substituted something else: a share of the sale of Rosneft + loans from Vnesheconombank for the Trump/Kushner orgs, and others. We need the proof for those other incentives. The point is that Russiaâs play to Trump was financial. In exchange, Putin upped the ask from Trump: repeal of sanctions, changes in US policy on NATO, Ukraine, Syria, and a more isolationist posture that allowed Russia to dominate its old Soviet sphere of influence.
Trump sold out his country to make a buck. Itâs treason. Legally, this makes Trump very vulnerable to bribery charges and conspiracy to violate anti-bribery laws. Itâs almost poetic if a crime that outlaws base venality is what brings Trump down.
And just after I typed that commentâŚWAPO comes out with another cannon blast - Cohen writing an email in his capacity in the Trump Org imploring Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlinâs top press aide to directly intervene to get the Trump Tower Moscow project moving.
How did Cohen know to email Peskov? How did he get the contact info? Cohen was clearly lobbying Putin. Trump campaign and org were basically indistinguishable at this point. They courted Russia.
While I think that Trump may now be open to bribery and US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act charges, I think thereâs also the matter of Treason. At the end of the day, Trump sold out his country for a buck. Thatâs what this boils down to.
The treason statute, 18 USC 2381 states the following: âWhoever, owing allegiance to the United States, levies war against them or adheres to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort within the United States or elsewhere, is guilty of treason and shall suffer death, or shall be imprisoned not less than five years and fined under this title but not less than $10,000; and shall be incapable of holding any office under the United States.â
You know whatâs missing from this statute? Clear mens rea/mental state terms like âintentâ, âknowingly/knowledgeâ, âmalice aforethoughtâ, âwillfullyâ. That means that proving that the act constituting treason took place may be enough to prove the crime itself. Compare that to obstruction of justice, where you have to prove the act and the mental state. Thatâs why thereâs so much focus on all the different times Trump has seemed to intentionally interfere with the investigation.
I havenât read enough case law on treason, and many legal scholars state that itâs hard to prove. However, the plain language of the statute says that if you establish the act that shows âadherenceâ to the enemies of the US and âaid and comfortâ to such enemy, then it seems like the crime itself should be provable. I think the issue with treason is not that itâs harder to prove than other crimes, but that itâs harder for a Republic to contemplate at this level and on this scale. Itâs more about political will than legal analysis.
I would like more legal scholars in the criminal and constitutional fields to take a hard look at treason. Trump may be a case of first impression because our prior leaders have been law abiding for the most part. But just because itâs a case of first impression doesnât mean that what Trump did isnât a crime that is punishable and should be punished under existing US laws.
How does Sessions continue as AG? Heâs committed perjury publicly 3 times.
And 3 letters tells you why heâs still there - G O P
Liked x infinity
I agree so strongly.
Lawfare Blog regarding the House opening an impeachment inquiry. It is a good summary of Trumpâs behaviors and actions.
Because Sessions may be cooperating with Mueller. I donât think that WAPO article about Trump pressuring Sessions to stop the Arpaio investigation wouldâve been published without Sessions (or someone approved by Sessions) leaking to the press.
Yeah thatâs how I see it.
I have a feeling that it was right around the time that Trump started publicly attacking Sessions that Sessions was blabbing to Mueller. Now I think Trump knew or suspected that he was.
Any way you want to look at Trump, any facet you want to examine, from any direction at all, there is more than enough right now to get rid of him. The pressure is building on them, too.
Heâs toast ultimately - itâs just a fucking matter of when.
How long, O lord?
I think the usual talking heads are going to start pushing the âthereâs no crime in collusionâ thing. The argument will be that as long as russia only engaged in âindependent expendituresâ everything is fine.
From this comment I take it that you think only collusion is the issue here? Hardly They wouldnât be all over the financial trail if that was all they were looking for.
Thereâs so much.
It wouldnât be the first time.
And how schadenfreudelicious if itâs the emails that provide the evidence.
Oh, no. Iâm well aware that thereâs bribery and money laundering and tax evasion and likely outright theft (along with various conspiracy counts and likely other crimes violent and not). Iâm just predicting what the GOP spinners will go for. Theyâve taken a consistent line that anything other than the most specific actions related to influencing the election should be off limits for investigation, and done their best to ignore all the other stuff.