COHEN received from TRUMP or acquired himself $1.24 million during last 90 days of the 2016 election

[kpete]

COHEN received from TRUMP or acquired himself $1.24 million during the last 90 days of the 2016 election—only $130,000 of which went to DANIELS.

The STEELE dossier says (1) COHEN was running TRUMP-Russia coordination, and (2) the operation COHEN was running paid off the hackers.

Link to tweet

[CincyDem]

1. So - back to that question about why throw up all this chaff about paying/not paying stormy ?

We always say, when 45's team confesses to one thing it's to hide a bigger thing. What's worse than buying a woman's silence...maybe it's buying a hacker or two.

I'm skeptical of Seth just as a matter of principle but the dossier has enough proven material that the not yet proven stuff that fell into the "it's possible" category is likely moving up into the "it's probable" camp. Not yet proven fact but odds are it gets there. Especially as pieces get proven drip by drip.

[Hortensis]

5. "when 45's team confesses to one thing it's to hide a bigger thing"

Yes. While I have no trouble believing Trump's sleaze-dealer, Cohen, could have had illegal dealings with Russia, that's not something we can know yet.

As for other needed distractions, Rachel's excellent program last night refused the Giuliani/Trump/Stormy distractions consuming most cable programs to focus on the huge events around the Russia investigation. The DoJ is now specifically accusing some Republicans in congress of trying to force the DoJ into giving them classified documents on the investigation specifically so that they can be turned over to Trump. Rosenstein could be fired early next week. Wow! Wow!

[True Blue American]

18. I watched Rachel

Last night. It was really refreshing to hear her talk abou Rod Rosenstein instead of the same ole that is on all day.

BTW, it is Stine not Steen. I heard Rod say so. He said some of the family used Steen, his family uses Stein.

[Hortensis]

2. Strictly a "before it's news" post, and not in a good way.

Intriguing wording, but googling turns up him alone making this claim. Let's be patient and responsible.

And let's also remember the many times Abramson's offerings turned out to be not just wrong, but dishonest, making allegations that obviously could not be true from the beginning.

Abramson's popularity rests solely on his support in 2016 for Bernie Sanders, who he predicted would win many times, presenting phony numbers and made-up facts that were eagerly received by some and as quickly debunked by experts. He's best seen as a player, trying to form opinion.

[kentuck]

3. Prague?

I thought Cohen had never been to Prague??

[Clarity2]

4. Someone we forget in the whole equation

Brad Parscale who recieved more money than anyone - somewhere around 94M?
He says he had to pay off contractors. Who was he paying, and why so much money?
Trump is cheap. Unless hes getting the motherlode of benefits, he doesnt pay out that kind of money. Didnt the guy offer his services for a couple thousand?

Not that I dont think cohen isnt involved in laundering, and the russian mob...and that there is mucho money being moved.

[kentuck]

6. As I recall, he was working out of Texas...

...in the same city as the 13 Russians that were indicted by Mueller?

[Clarity2]

21. Think so

He also recently moved to Florida, north of miami, which I guess is probably conveniently located near “Little Moscow...sunny isles, Fl”

[kentuck]

7. If you think about it, with no campaign finance rules in place to speak of....

...what better way to launder money than thru the political Parties? There really is no accounting whatsoever to huge amounts of money.

[workinclasszero]

13. Yep

Great way for the Russian mob or any other organized crime outfit to launder their dope money.

Thanks SCOTUS!

[meow2u3]

8. K&R for a much needed truth bomb

[triron]

9. What is the doc. Seth is citing? The dossier?

[RandomAccess]

10. The rest of that thread

courtesy of Thread Reader: https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/992772353586233344.html


2/ I don't know what to do with this information—but I know GIULIANI says COHEN had no campaign role, and I know COHEN suddenly had $1.24 million in his pocket in late 2016. And some of it was earmarked by TRUMP to pay off DANIELS. What if the rest of it was *also* to help TRUMP?
3/ A recent report says COHEN did in fact go to Prague—which, if true, means both he and TRUMP lied to the nation about that trip repeatedly. That'd certainly explain why COHEN offered only an incomplete alibi and never showed anyone his passport, though he waved it around a lot.
4/ The STEELE dossier says Cohen went to Prague sometime in August/September 2016. COHEN has an alibi for only a few days within that window. COHEN claims he couldn't have been to Prague because he doesn't have a Prague stamp in his passport. But you can go to Prague without one.
5/ It's believed COHEN was in a nation from which you can travel to Prague with no stamp in the exact time-frame the STEELE dossier alleges he went there.

The only person to (allegedly) examine COHEN's passport for evidence of a Prague trip was TRUMP. Who claimed it looked fine.
6/ COHEN brought his passport on-air with HANNITY, who was secretly COHEN's client—a fact only disclosed when a federal court ordered it disclosed. Suspiciously, HANNITY never looked at the passport or asked detailed questions about its content, despite COHEN using it as a prop.

7/ If, *as the media says*, COHEN went to Prague and not only lied about it but used TRUMP and HANNITY to cover it up; and if, *as the media says*, COHEN got an unexplained $1.11 million from TRUMP and elsewhere in late 2016; STEELE's dossier may very well be *accurate* on COHEN.

8/ Another thing the media says is COHEN is in legal jeopardy for his business practices—and MUELLER will use any indictments against COHEN for such practices to force him to cooperate in the Russia probe. If that's so—and if COHEN did what STEELE said—TRUMP faces a dire endgame.

9/ TRUMP inexplicably gave COHEN $470,000 on a $130,000 bill. TRUMP is known to wildly *underpay* rather than *overpay* subordinates. These facts have led to speculation COHEN used the rest of the money for something else. But COHEN also had $774,000 more:
Cohen took out lines of credit for as much as $774K during campaign: report
http://thehill.com/homenews/news/386334-cohen-took-out-lines-of-credit-for-as-much-as-774k-during-2016-campaign-report

10/ What COHEN taking out so much money in the last 90 days of the campaign suggests is he had *massive clandestine expenditures* which *weren't* being paid for by clients of his—alleged—law practice and which could *not* come directly from TRUMP. That fits STEELE's dossier. /end

PS/ The now-acknowledged DANIELS payoff confirms that COHEN was the "fixer" TRUMP turned to when he had to secretly pay someone who could blackmail him over conduct that could destroy him professionally. So payoffs to hackers would fit *perfectly* into COHEN's *established role*.

[BobTheSubgenius]

11. This rat's nest is far, far worse than people had thought.

And I think it's going to get way worse yet.

[heaven05]

12. that's a lot of money

those rich people just seem to grow money

[bitterross]

14. Under Duress. They were already blackmailing people

That sentence seems rather important. Who else was recruited under Duress before and after the election?

[DesertRat]

15. Giuliani says Cohen had no campaign role

[Bernardo de La Paz]

16. Reading that Twitter thread reminds me IVANKA went to Europe in middle of campaign, meets DENG. nt

[lindysalsagal]

17. Sure sounds like frump. He would put cohen in charge of all collusion.

He knows he can't trust anyone else.

If this is true, they've got cohen by the small hairs, and he's going a way for a long, long time. That's treason.

[Izzy Blue]

19. David Corn on Cohen in Prague

Snip:
Apr. 20, 2018 6:00 AM

"What was interesting (at least to me) was Cohen’s claim that he had never—never ever—been to Prague.

I was one of the first reporters to see the Steele memos—and the first to report their existence in a piece I published on October 31, eight days before the 2016 election. In that article, I did not reveal the sordid but unconfirmed allegations about you-know-what. But I noted two key points: that the memos raised the disturbing possibilities that Putin’s regime was both collaborating with and penetrating Trump’s circle, while collecting possible blackmail information on Trump, and that the FBI was investigating the material in Steele’s memos.

In the weeks after the election, the details in Steele’s dispatches remained secret, and I spent weeks trying to determine if any of the allegations could be substantiated. The claim that Cohen met secretly with Russians seemed to be one of the tales that might be confirmable. I took a stab at that. While pursuing that angle, I called Cohen. He insisted that there had been no trip to Prague and that he had met with no Russians during the campaign.

This week I reviewed my notes from that phone call. Here’s the direct quote from Cohen: “I haven’t been to Prague in 14 years. I was in Prague for one afternoon 14 years ago.”

What’s notable? In that conversation, Cohen acknowledged he had once been to Prague—but a long time ago. In his recent denial, Cohen, whose home and office were raided last week by FBI agents seeking records related to the Stormy Daniels case and other matters (including taxi medallions), asserted he had “never” been to Prague. How significant is this discrepancy? There is no telling. But it is an inconsistency. Cohen’s lead lawyer could not be reached for a comment."

more
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2018/04/michael-cohen-says-hes-never-been-to-prague-he-told-me-a-different-story/

[wishstar]

20. More likely that the slush funds were used for other women-Karen McDougal and the underage accuser

Cohen allegedly had some involvement in the National Enquirer payoff to Karen. Plus, we still don't know why Lisa Bloom's client went silent canceling the press conference abruptly after claiming she was a young teen during involvement with Trump. Bloom said the client was afraid to come forward. Wonder if she received a much larger payoff than Stormy or Karen as well as feeling threatened if she came forward as her allegations are much more damaging.