One juicy tidbit from Trump's trial not receiving nearly enough attention

[dlk]

Yes, Michael Cohen stole money from the Trump organization, but it was part of a payoff to a company to juice the polls for Trump.

How many other polls have been corrupted with payoffs to favor Trump? That’s the question.

[Lovie777]

1. A lot of them..........................

[dlk]

2. It would seem so

[LymphocyteLover]

54. and he's still doing it, I have no doubt

[DENVERPOPS]

56. It is really simple

Trump and the Entire Republican Party know no other way except to corrupt every last thing they touch, especially elections.

The Know they can't win without cheating on everything.....it's that simple.....

[LymphocyteLover]

58. they are also trying to make it seem like they have more support than they really do, to normalize their madness

[DENVERPOPS]

59. Everyone should be prepared

We Ain't seen nothing yet.........This time around they will be going ALL OUT........They know they must win this election and are rigging it like never before.......from all directions.

I truly believe that on November 5-6 we will see something the likes of which we have never seen in the entire history of the U.S.A....

Katie Bar The Door, folks.........

[LymphocyteLover]

68. They will try, but Dump is more deranged than ever

he simply is not a viable candidate even in this strange world we live in

[DENVERPOPS]

73. I tend to worry less about Trump

and worry a lot more about his mentally deranged 70 Million following.............

[LymphocyteLover]

74. they are the real probelm... but if he is gone so are they

[Rebl2]

69. Possibly the

Majority of them

[Irish_Dem]

3. Yes and the quid pro quo with the media.

Katy Tur and Maggie Haberman.

These are not the only two media professionals the Trump team bribed.

[dlk]

5. The profit motive often interferes with the stories reported

They are clearly in it for the money and, unfortunately, far from alone, unfortunately, which makes those who are willing to accurately report the facts all the more valuable.

[Irish_Dem]

8. Cohen said he helped write the articles!

So the media becomes the Trump propaganda arm.

[Comfortably_Numb]

18. She was shamelessly fluffing drumph a couple of days ago with this gem. And I quote "Trump gets a bad rap for not

listening to his lawyers, but…” I didn’t hear the rest because I was screaming at the tv. She’s a real piece of work. And still no word from M$NBC about her ethics lapse. Not heartening.

[Irish_Dem]

25. Yes MSNBC is ignoring the outright corruption.

[peggysue2]

38. I caught that segment with Tur

The new fluffer-princess for the wanna-be King.

Or has she been designated the Devil's Advocate by MSNBC? Don't bring in a far-right Trumper shill (like Ronna McDaniel) but use one of your own to balance the scale.

The media/4th Estate is failing the country, blindly marching to the tune and . . .

The guillotine.

[Comfortably_Numb]

40. So you too thought her bs was over the top? I admit to not listening to the rest of her ..you know.

How pathetic was she?

[peggysue2]

45. Yes, over-the-top and it was not a one-off

The public turn-around is the mystery bc Tur has been there from the beginning. It was Tur who was assigned to the Trump campaign in 2015 when no one thought Agent Orange had a shot in hell.. She's seen all the insanity from the rallies and speeches and administrative disasters. She's witnessed the continuous threats to the press and anyone who doesn't 'get with the program.'

I do not get it. But now we know (from Cohen's testimony) that Tur has been a willing stenographer, Haberman's kissing cousin.

The whole thing does not compute for me. Pay-off, threats, big bonus from MSNBC? Don't know.

But as a journalist? In my opinion, she's lost all credibility because any reporter who apologizes or makes excuses for Trump is part of the scheme to bring the country to its knees.

Nancy Pelosi saw it. And now I do too.

[Comfortably_Numb]

52. Agreed. I don't get my news from the Marvel Comics Universe, even though I love fiction. I won't be getting

my news from Katy “Trump Stenographer “ Tur any more either. Shame on M$NBC for not even making a token attempt to address this ethical breach.

[Dave Bowman]

57. Her last name should be Tur-ump.

[dlk]

66. I trust and deeply admire Nancy Pelosi

She said the quiet part out loud when she confronted Tur about being a Trump apologist.

[Irish_Dem]

46. It is not just balance, there is a desperate feel to her presentation.

She is emotionally connected to the propaganda in some way.

[Mme. Defarge]

53. I hate it when that happens!

Don’t make me have to start knitting those damned shrouds again. . .

[BonnieJW]

36. All of Fox

Comes to mind. Probably no bribes needed there

[keithbvadu2]

4. There are many polls. Pick the one you like and swear by it. Swear at the others.

[dlk]

6. Words to live by

[marble falls]

7. Why don't polls publish their questions? Wording of questions and placement can skew results.

[dlk]

11. So can the group sampled

[marble falls]

13. That, my friend is the my biggest complaint. Who is the sample and how does it truly relate to all voters ...

... is it a small random selection or a small vetted selection? There are huge problems with both. I still remember "9 out 10 Doctors recommend Chesterfield's fine Virginia Burley tobacco!"

[jaxexpat]

20. I remember that blatant lie from back in the day when ashtrays were everywhere.

Everyone knows the finest Burley tobacco is grown in Western Kentucky! Carcinogens faithfully and lovingly cultivated into every proud, tall plant. Kentucky, where 10 out of 10 doctors agree, they would prefer to practice in another state, but their GPA was too low.

[GreenWave]

55. LOL!

[dlk]

29. The statistical significance of the poll matters

Outcomes can be easily skewed.

[littlemissmartypants]

62. My niece, who's a math genius, hates statistics.

She says it's not real math and she says it with a turned up lip and sour expression.

She's adorable.

❤️

[Demsrule86]

44. I was able to dig in to some polls...and interestingly there was no question about Roe in many of them.

Also, the samples were laughable...the New York Times polls basically used people who had never voted as people who will not vote for Biden this time...they never ever voted! I have seen samples with only registered voters too...and the samples are heavily on the Indies, GOP...but their magical formulas are supposed to 'account' for that. And at the end if they don't think the results are accurate more fluffing of the poll. So none can be trusted.

[calimary]

61. Nice photos you got there at the bottom of your post, Demsrule86!

[usedtobedemgurl]

9. I have not really heard about this.

As corrupt as tsf is, I wonder why Cohen had to steal the money. It was done for tsf. TSF has no morals. Why steal?!?

[dlk]

10. Cohen's bonus was slashed and he was angry

Cohen testified kept part of a payoff to a company for fixing a poll.

[usedtobedemgurl]

12. So not as much stealing as

Taking what was owed to him. TSF always jilted payments. Slashing a bonus, therefore, is not surprising. Was it legal to take what was owed , in the way he did? No. Thanks for the explanation. I appreciate you.

[Captain Zero]

39. That was the one bad poll for trump. Cohen took their bribe to pay himself back

nt

[ecstatic]

16. It adds a lot of important context

Still wrong but I don't think a jury member will hold that against him unless they are an employer. Lol

[jimfields33]

26. Nobody is owed a bonus.

It’d be nice. But if a company withholds a bonus, you can’t go and take it.

[Demsrule86]

47. Are you defending Trump? Cohen took money on his house to pay off Daniels as Trump instructed him too.

Cohen was supposed to be paid over 12 months. But I doubt Trump ever intended to keep his word. Trump played games missing payments...and dragging it out. Meanwhile, Cohen had to make the loan payments. Cohen was not on retainer either. It came out in court. Trump is a sniveling crook and always was.

As for bonuses, Companies who steal promised bonuses should have every employee walk out... a good way to lose talented employees. My future son-in-law had that happen. He found a new job and guess what? He got a signing bonus equal to the promised previous bonus. He also felt no need to train his replacement.

[Bucky]

50. Every time a DUer asks a question like that, they look like the Church Lady

"Are you supporting Donald Trump?"

Lordy, spare me the J Edgar commie-hunt bullshit. No one on this forum deserves to be accused of being pro-Trump.

[dlk]

64. Not defending Trump

How could a post about a bribe to pay off Red Finch Solutions to juice a poll be defending Trump? He micromanages every penny.

[Johonny]

15. Skimming off the top

Common mob practice.

[Johonny]

14. We learned in 2016, Trump had pets in the press

That they leaked info too, they paid for push polls, and they violated campaign finance law with undeclared hush money payments.

But wait we learned more, he acted like a mobster by never talking on his phone, but using his wife or body guard to talk to dicy people. We learned he hired a mob lawyer to check in on if Cohen was still loyal.

Trump was exposes in this trial as the low level mafia wannabe he's always been.

[NJCher]

17. I wonder

If some political science department somewhere has done a study of the influence of poll results on elections.

Another item to check out would be the Red Finch web site. How do they state their corporate mission?

[dlk]

19. Highest bidder; guaranteed results...?

[Scalded Nun]

21. I do not trust a single poll. There is not a single political pie in this country that does not have at least 1

corrupt uber-rich or corporate finger in it.

[Farmer-Rick]

22. I'm shocked! Shocked to find that gambling is going on in here

What those polls everyone swears-by that claim Trump is going to win it all by a giant margin are rigged for bribes? Those reputable polls that are from reputable firms that never make mistakes; are carefully scrutinized by academia while everyone fawns over them? How can this be? How can they be rigged and altered?

Polling corporations would never take money instead of just doing their job. Because corporations are not in it for the money. They are in it to provide valuable public opinion statistics, not to rake in as much money as possible.

The polls are all rigged. Except for a few that are closely held by the campaigns. If a poll is advertised, it's to sway voters and very likely rigged.

[dlk]

30. Who could imagine such malfeasance when the stakes are so high?

Is there anything about Trump that isn’t compromised or dirty?

[duckworth969]

23. Not just Chump polls

Extremely likely a great many polls we see are bought and paid for.

All the more reason to ignore them.

[rurallib]

28. As I understand it much of the work of a polling company is

taking polls to help position products or to create some positive feedback for products such as toothpaste or floor wax. A couple of decades ago my MIL would go to a calling center night after night and call people with questions designed to elicit positive response to all sorts ordinary daily products.

My belief is that they do essentially the same for politics.

[shrike3]

24. I've wondered about that.

If they are somehow juicing the polls.

[edhopper]

27. I said this too

it's not a "tidbit". It should be the main part of the story about what Cohen said. Trump's attempt to corrupt the whole system.
The MSM yawns and says, "sure, typical for Trump."
Imagine if this came out about Biden.

[dlk]

31. True

[patphil]

32. Maybe someone can confirm this.

I can't remember which news service I heard this from, but the comment was made that Michael Cohen gave that company a "bag" with $20,000 in it, and he withheld $30,000 to compensate for what he felt was an inadequate bonus.
The important part, if true, was that it was a cash payment to that company. Of course that suggests not wanting to have the transaction documented.
Can anyone find out whether or not this was the case?

[hadEnuf]

33. How was it stealing if it was used to benefit Trump?

n/t

[raccoon]

34. I figured the polls weren't to be trusted.

[Oopsie Daisy]

35. I missed it too. Thanks for shining a bright light on it!

[Blue Owl]

37. Well there's your reason to disregard any fucking poll that appears in the M$M

[Demsrule86]

41. That explains a great deal...this is one of the many reasons, I consider polls useless.

[thesquanderer]

42. Not news, reported in 2019, and they were nonsense polls, not "real" polls.

2019 CNN article

https://www.cnn.com/2019/01/17/politics/michael-cohen-poll-rigging/index.html

They were silly online polls, and the rigging wasn't even very effective.

[BoRaGard]

43. Part of the Republican war on truth

repubes do whatever they can to deceive the American people

[Ford_Prefect]

48. It is abundantly clear that the practice continues daily.

[republianmushroom]

49. Most, if, not all polls are slanted, one way or another. IMO

[Martin68]

51. Exactly. Sometimes the fact that Trump hired Cohen to lie and break the law seems to get overlooked.

Now that Cohen has served prison time for those crimes, it makes sense that he wants his boss to pay the price for the same crimes.

[brooklynite]

60. If you're thinking of political polls by reputable polling institutions? None.

The poll Trump interfered with was essentially a popularity poll.

[NanaCat]

63. I believe you're confusing 'the polls'

With specific pollsters.

Cohen was probably talking about moving PUBLIC OPINION so that it would reflect in the polls in general. Not that he was doing something so that a specific pollster could manipulate a poll.

If you have evidence that they were attempting to sway specific pollsters, by all means present that. Otherwise, this is a risible claim you're making and has no merit.

[dlk]

65. Cohen testified he paid a bribe to Red Finch Solutions to fix a poll

This fact is what I was referring to in my post.

Given that there is much evidence to support Trump’s widespread cheating, it’s reasonable to consider there may be other polls that have been fixed.

No reason for anyone to get defensive, unless…

[thesquanderer]

67. As I said in post 42, these were non-scientific nonsense online polls, which are notoriously easy to skew,

Last edited Thu May 23, 2024, 01:27 PM - Edit history (1)

and were not legit polls (with scientific sampling, margins of error, etc.), they are just popularity contests and PR silliness, not anything to be taken seriously. I've seen no evidence anywhere that Cohen/Trump did anything to attempt to alter the result of any "real" poll. (Which would be a whole lot harder to do... and in this case, they failed at even getting the results they wanted from these silly online polls!) Which is why this same info wasn't seen as a bigger deal when it first came out in 2019.

[dlk]

70. Do you think the average voter knows the difference?

The firehose of nonsense has polluted elections.

[thesquanderer]

71. Regardless of what the average voter knows, the fact that TFG tried to rig...

...these ridiculous non-scientific online polls (and basically failed!) does not imply that he has therefore likely been (successfully) rigging "legitimate" polls, as so much of this thread suggests people are thinking. Plus these polls were about 10 years ago, when those kinds of online polls were commonplace, before everyone started realizing that those polls were basically useless, you don't see so much of that fake "online polling" anymore.

I'd also say it was not a "juicy tidbit" from the trial... again, it was an old story from 2019, which you never heard all that much about, because it was as much of minor story then as it is today. To me, many of the comments here and the 200+ recs just shows again how easy it is for disinformation to propagate. Far be it from me to defend TFG, but this story provides no reason to believe that the polls showing Trump doing well are being manipulated by Trump, which I think is what this is leading people here to think.

[dlk]

72. I don't recall mentioning anything about legitimate polls

My post was about Michael Cohen’s testimony. The fact remains, there is a firehose of disinformation directed at voters, and a little healthy skepticism is a good thing.