CNN BREAKING NEWS (in print this time) on Cohen testimony

[Jeffersons Ghost]

Michael Cohen needs to answer these five questions
By Elie Honig Updated 11:05 AM ET, Mon February 25, 2019

(CNN)Michael Cohen's public testimony before the House Oversight Committee on Wednesday will crackle with the human drama, high stakes and political intrigue of a John Grisham novel. President Donald Trump's longtime attorney -- now a convicted felon soon to report to federal prison -- will respond to grilling by a sharply-divided panel of politicians about the corrupt inner workings of the Trump campaign and the man he once served but has now turned on.

1. Who, if anyone else, was involved in making hush money payments to two women right before the 2016 election?

2. Before you gave false testimony to the Senate about the Trump Tower Moscow project, did you discuss or coordinate your false testimony with anyone else?

3. Did the Trump inaugural committee accept money from foreign contributors or commit other crimes?

4. Did Trump or anyone else ever talk to you or your lawyers about the possibility of a pardon?

5. What questions did you refuse to answer from the SDNY during your attempted cooperation?

https://www.cnn.com/2019/02/25/opinions/michael-cohen-congressional-testimony-five-questions-honig/index.html

[frazzled]

1. This isn't breaking news

It's from an opinion column, suggesting what the Intelligence Committee should ask Cohen.

[Sherman A1]

2. It's Cable Noise Network what would you expect?

It's Infotainment.

[Jeffersons Ghost]

4. Do you prefer Faux News?

[Sherman A1]

5. No

I prefer None of The Above and operate accordingly. If you like CNN or any of the other Cable Infotainment Channels, by all means enjoy. I am able to form my own opinions without Breathless 24/7 Breaking Opinionated Blather sandwiched in between ads for big pharma.

[Jeffersons Ghost]

6. Trrump iss highly critical of CNN, too

[Sherman A1]

7. Trying to make a point there?

Got something to say, just spit it out.

[Capperdan]

8. I hear ya Sherm

Breaking News, Bombshell, everyday. Talk about crying wolf. No one is worse than Ari Melber. He is trying so hard to be the hero. I am glad those guys are there, however, but it does get old.

[Jeffersons Ghost]

21. "I'll make you famous" in a state where Billy the Kid roamed...

[olegramps]

13. Unfortunately, the reporters are constrained in what they can pursue by their networks.

I believe that generally speaking they attempt to do a good job. I know one reporter and I can assure you that he and his staff put in the effort to get to the story right. What happens is they are instructed to allow their guests to make their case unrestricted or it would appear that they are not being objective, but subjective in their reporting. It leads, unfortunately to a false sense of the validity of erroneous opinions. The loss of the printed word and well staffed news rooms with investigative capacity has been lost primarily due to the internet. Times change. People don't sit down in the evening and read the news paper and perhaps talks about what is happening. They want fast digested news excerpts.

[EffieBlack]

15. I was just about to write the same thing ...

[Hoyt]

3. Hope this in not another bust.

[triron]

9. Does this correspond to the 'blocked' youtube vido?

[Jeffersons Ghost]

16. yes, I allow CNN to provide "Breaking News" on my computer; but media on the 1st OP vanished

[Fritz Walter]

10. The BIG question is the one Cohen can't answer

Did cadet bone spurs pack for a one-way trip to Vietnam?
Depending on how this hearing goes, he may want to head to Moscow from there, rather than return to the USA.

[Jeffersons Ghost]

19. yep, it worked for Snowden! LOL for your reply, Fritz

[certainot]

11. Cohen needs to be asked about why Trump wanted Sam Nunberg to study talk radio in 2014 and

if the talkers they listened to were in states the russians targeted for trolling

From “Operation Trump”, by Gabriel Sherman April 3, 2016:

Throughout 2014, the three (Roger Stone, Michael Cohen, and Sam Nunberg) fed Trump strategy memos and political intelligence. “I listened to thousands of hours of talk radio, and he was getting reports from me,” Nunberg recalled. What those reports said was that the GOP base was frothing over a handful of issues including immigration, Obamacare, and Common Core. While Jeb Bush talked about crossing the border as an “act of love,” Trump was thinking about how high to build his wall. “We either have borders or we don’t,” Trump told the faithful who flocked to the annual CPAC conference in 2014.

Why would cheapskate Trump pay for anyone to listen “to 1000’s of hours of talk radio?” If he didn’t pay for it directly from Trump funds, how did he pay for it?

Talk radio king Limbaugh is a Trump friend and provides sanitized transcripts of his show to help keep other talk radio hosts and GOP politicians and media on the same page so it’s unlikely Nunberg listened to a lot of Limbaugh. Unless they were really stupid.

Most of the national talkers follow the Limbaugh lead in interpreting news and events. The most logical reason for listening to that much talk radio would be to get a flavor of issues talked about in different states.

In a Washington Post piece a Russian talked about working for a trolling operation in late 2014.

You got a list of topics to write about.

Did Manafort’s friend Stone, who used talk radio in Florida to attack Al Gore and recount efforts as far back as 2000, use talk radio to coordinate Russian trolling in Tea Party and Republican obstruction and attacks during the Obama administration?

There is circumstantial evidence that the Kremlin has used talk radio at least as far back as 2008 and the McCain campaign, co-chaired by Paul Manafort, when Limbaugh withheld his support until minutes after McCain chose Sarah Palin for VP.

Dems need to ask Cohen, Nunberg if Trump study of talk radio in 2014 was to coordinate w/Kremlin.

Questions that Democrats investigating Trump could to ask Nunberg, but Cohen might also know some answers:

did Trump order that?
if not, who?
if it was your mentor Stone, did he give any indication he had done this before?
how do you know Trump was getting your reports?
who, in what states, were you asked to listen to?
did you include Limbaugh’s daily transcripts in your analysis?
what were you asked to listen for?
in what form did they want your reports? Paragraphs, lists, talking points, topics?
who did you give those reports to?
who ended up with your reports?
did it get further analysis after yours?
did the analysis leave the Trump organization?
was there any mention of Russian involvement?
was there any mention of social media coordination?
who paid for that listening?
how, in what form were you paid?

[Jeffersons Ghost]

18. those are also pertinent questions; thanks for the reply

[Duppers]

12. This is going to be *Must Watch* tv.

Get the🍿 ready.

[Jeffersons Ghost]

20. do you mean this multi-media TV?

https://www.democraticunderground.com/1017533270

[The Liberal Lion]

14. Something in my bones tells me

a stonewalling is about to come on. Cohen will spill no beans.

[OnDoutside]

17. Yes, prepare for the worst, so then you won't feel so bad if it turns out like that.

[The Liberal Lion]

22. Ok, now that it's here I admit I was wrong

[wiggs]

23. something's not right. his testimony will be limited, I think, and I can imagine

that TPTB are aiming for a negotiated way forward, where the worst, most embarrassing stuff (treason, fraudulent election, decades of money laundering, etc) is put aside in lieu of accusations of cheating, campaign violations, racism, etc...

He knows a LOT more than is in his opening statement. There's a lot more he's been part of that is publicly known. If all were made known at once, I suspect TPTB believe the administration would fall, the GOP would fall, and there would be chaos, vulnerability, a power vacuum, loss of stature in the world, etc..

Right now, Cummings is asking about payments to Stormy Daniels. Not the first question I would ask.