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US Politics The Mueller Investigation - report is out

Just in...

Associate of Roger Stone says he’ll reject plea offer in Mueller probe

WASHINGTON — An associate of Trump confidant Roger Stone said Monday that he is rejecting a plea offer in the special counsel’s Russia investigation.

In an email to The Associated Press, Jerome Corsi, a conservative author who has pushed conspiracy theories, said he planned to reject a potential plea deal with prosecutors.


He did not elaborate, but in earlier interviews with other news organizations, he said he had been offered a chance to plead guilty to a single count of lying to investigators. He said he planned to reject that offer because it would force him to admit to willfully lying, which he insisted he did not do.

“They can put me in prison the rest of my life,” Corsi told CNN. “I am not going to sign a lie.”


Mueller’s team has questioned Corsi, a former Washington bureau chief of InfoWars, as prosecutors scrutinize Stone’s possible connections to WikiLeaks.


American intelligence agencies have said Russia was the source of the hacked material released by the anti-secrecy website WikiLeaks in the closing weeks of the 2016 presidential election. Those emails included messages from John Podesta, the chairman of Democrat Hillary Clinton’s campaign.


Mueller is trying to determine whether Stone and other associates of President Donald Trump had advance knowledge of WikiLeaks’ plans.


ABC News reported that Corsi had provided copies of a draft plea agreement in which he would have admitted to lying about an email about an associate’s “request to get in touch with an organization that he understood to be in possession of stolen emails and other documents pertaining to the 2016 U.S. presidential election.”

Let's see if he's more like Papadopolous (not two whole weeks in prison!!! Please!) or Manafort (he'll rot inside).
 
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Michael Cohen pleads guilty to lying to Congress over Trump Tower deal in Russia


https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/29/nyregion/michael-cohen-trump-russia-mueller.html

Michael D. Cohen, President Trump's former lawyer, who pleaded guilty in August to breaking campaign finance laws, made a surprise appearance in a Manhattan courtroom on Thursday morning and pleaded guilty to a new criminal charge, the latest turn in the special counsel's investigation of Mr. Trump and his inner circle.

At the court hearing, Mr. Cohen admitted to making false statements to Congress about his efforts to build a Trump Tower deal in Moscow during the 2016 presidential campaign. That real estate deal has been a focus of the special counsel investigation into whether the Trump campaign conspired with Russian operatives.

In written testimony to the Senate Intelligence Committee, Mr. Cohen played down the extent of his contact with the Kremlin about the potential project and made other false statements about the negotiations, which never led to a final deal.

Mr. Cohen's new guilty plea comes at a particularly perilous time for Mr. Trump, whose presidency has been threatened by Mr. Cohen's statements to investigators. In recent days, the president and his lawyers have increased their attacks on the Justice Department and the special counsel's office.

The new guilty plea in Federal District Court marks the first time the office of the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, has charged Mr. Cohen. In exchange for pleading guilty and continuing to cooperate with Mr. Mueller, he may hope to receive a lighter sentence than he otherwise would.

The move comes just two weeks before Mr. Cohen, 52, is scheduled to be sentenced for his earlier guilty plea. That case, which also included bank and tax crimes, was brought by federal prosecutors in Manhattan.

This week, Mr. Mueller accused Mr. Trump's onetime campaign manager, Paul Manafort, of repeatedly lying to investigators in breach of a plea agreement. And Mr. Trump's lawyers recently submitted his written responses to questions from Mr. Mueller, who the president accused on Tuesday of operating a 'Phony Witch Hunt.'

It was just three months ago that Mr. Cohen, pleading guilty for the first time, stood up in a different Manhattan courtroom and accused Mr. Trump of directing hush-money payments during the 2016 campaign to conceal potential sex scandals. Those payments formed the basis of the campaign finance charges against Mr. Cohen.

Although Mr. Cohen's first plea agreement did not include a formal cooperation deal, he had sat for repeated interviews with Mr. Mueller's investigators.
 
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Federal agents raid office of lawyer who previously did tax work for Trump
Federal agents have reportedly raided the Chicago City Hall office of a lawyer who previously did tax work for President Trump.

The Chicago Sun-Times reports that federal agents removed everyone from the office of Chicago Finance Committee Chairman Ed Burke on Thursday morning, covering the floor-to-ceiling windows with brown paper.

A spokesman for the U.S. attorney’s office declined to comment when contacted by the Sun-Times. A man who answered the door of the office when a reporter knocked also declined to comment.

Burke's office did not immediately respond to The Hill's request for comment.

Burke worked for Trump for more than a decade doing property tax work.

Burke’s law firm of Klafter & Burke has worked with Trump’s companies repeatedly to reduce the property tax that Trump Tower and his other properties in Chicago have had to pay, according to the Sun-Times.

Over his 12 years working for Trump, Burke was allegedly able to cut the property taxes on the downtown tower by more than $14 million.

Burke stopped working for Trump this summer, citing “irreconcilable differences” in letters filed with the Illinois State Property Tax Appeal Board.

The federal agents appearance at the Chicago office of Burke’s takes place on the same day Trump’s former personal attorney Michael Cohen entered into a plea agreement to cooperate with special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation
into Russian interference in the 2016 election.

Last week, Trump submitted his written answers to a list of questions from Mueller, whose probe he has repeatedly dismissed as a "witch hunt."

things just keep getting better :)
 
WASHINGTON — Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort may face additional charges after lawyers in special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation said he lied to them and broke his plea agreement, prosecutors said Friday. U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson set a tentative sentencing date of March 5 as prosecutors plan to disclose next week what they believe are the lies Manafort told since pleading guilty in September and agreeing to cooperate with the investigation. Manafort’s lawyers will have an opportunity to respond and a judge is expected to hear arguments before deciding if he breached his plea deal. Prosecutor Andrew Weissmann said prosecutors had not yet decided whether to file new charges.
 
Let's catch up:

The Mueller Russia Investigation: A Full Docket Of Developments Set For Friday

Friday is shaping up as a busy day in the Justice Department's Russia investigation.

Special counsel Robert Mueller faces deadlines in two federal courts in cases involving two former Trump insiders, a former FBI director treks up to Capitol Hill for a closed-door interview, and a onetime Trump campaign adviser gets out of prison.

Here's a quick breakdown of what's on tap for the day:

Mueller's office to detail Paul Manafort's alleged lies

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Friday is the deadline for Mueller's team to submit to federal court in Washington, D.C., a document spelling out how President Trump's former campaign chairman Paul Manafort allegedly violated his plea agreement.

Manafort pleaded guilty in September to two conspiracy charges in Washington and agreed to cooperate "fully" and "truthfully" with federal prosecutors, including Mueller's team in its investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election.

But last week, the special counsel's office said that Manafort had repeatedly lied to prosecutors since agreeing to cooperate, which it says violated his plea deal. Mueller's team did not provide any details on how Manafort may have breached the agreement or what he allegedly lied about.

That information is expected to be made public Friday, when Mueller's team is to submit to Judge Amy Berman Jackson a document detailing Manafort's alleged "crimes and lies," including those it says he committed after he signed his cooperation agreement.

Manafort's lawyers have rejected the government's allegations. They say Manafort met several times with investigators and provided what he believed to be truthful information.

Under his agreement, Manafort cannot withdraw his guilty plea.

Jackson has set a tentative sentencing date of March 2019 for Manafort, who was convicted by a federal jury in a separate case in Virginia in August. Manafort, 69, faces the possibility of spending the rest of his life in prison.

Leniency for Cohen?

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As Manafort's plea deal appeared to collapse last week, another one came together for Mueller. Trump's former personal lawyer and fixer, Michael Cohen, pleaded guilty to lying to Congress about efforts well into 2016 to build a Trump Tower in Moscow.

Cohen admitted that his work for the Trump Organization on the proposed Moscow real estate deal ran through at least June 2016, deep into the presidential race.

He also said that he kept Trump and Trump's family regularly informed of his efforts and that he had a 20-minute phone conversation with a Kremlin official to try to enlist the Russian government's help in securing land and financing for the project.

Cohen had lied about all three of those things in his 2017 testimony to Congress, according to court papers. He lied, the filings say, for two reasons: to minimize links between the Moscow project and Trump and to give the "false impression" that the project ended before the Republican primaries began in order to limit the ongoing Russia investigation.

Cohen's plea agreement indicates that he has met with the special counsel's team at least seven times. His lawyer, Guy Petrillo, says Cohen is prepared to continue that cooperation, as needed.

Cohen, who also pleaded guilty earlier this year to eight counts of financial crimes and campaign finance violations, is scheduled to be sentenced Dec. 12 in New York by Judge William H. Pauley.

In a court filing last week, Cohen's attorneys requested leniency in sentencing, asking the judge for time served. They say Cohen has taken responsibility for his actions and cooperated fully with the special counsel's office.

He also has voluntarily provided assistance to New York state investigators, Cohen's lawyers say. Cohen met with the New York attorney general's office regarding its suit against the Donald J. Trump Foundation and provided information and interviews to the state's Department of Taxation and Finance.

Cohen has cooperated, his lawyers point out, despite the president's attacks on the special counsel's office, as well as Trump's salvos against Cohen himself.

"In the context of this raw, full-bore attack by the most powerful person in the United States, Michael, formerly a confidante and adviser to Mr. Trump, resolved to cooperate, and voluntarily took the first steps toward doing so," his lawyers write.

Mueller's office is expected to file a memo with its recommendations for Cohen's sentencing on Friday. If the special counsel says it believes the sentencing should be lenient ? as it did earlier this week for Trump's first national security adviser, Michael Flynn ? that would suggest that the former Trump fixer has been a helpful witness.

Welcome back, Comey

Former FBI Director James Comey is set to return to Capitol Hill for a transcribed interview behind closed doors with the House Judiciary and Oversight committees on Friday.

For a time, though, it appeared that the interview might not happen.

Comey originally contested a subpoena from the Judiciary Committee's Republican chairman, Bob Goodlatte. The former FBI chief said he would gladly meet for a public hearing, but he did not want to come in for a closed-door interview because of concerns over "selective leaking and distortion."

Comey ultimately withdrew his legal challenge to the subpoena and agreed to appear, although the committee has agreed to release the transcript as soon as possible afterward.

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Former FBI Director James Comey is set to return to Capitol Hill for a transcribed interview behind closed doors with the House Judiciary and Oversight committees on Friday.

For a time, though, it appeared that the interview might not happen.

Comey originally contested a subpoena from the Judiciary Committee's Republican chairman, Bob Goodlatte. The former FBI chief said he would gladly meet for a public hearing, but he did not want to come in for a closed-door interview because of concerns over "selective leaking and distortion."

The interview is likely to be among the last gasps of the panels' Republican-led investigations into decisions made in 2016 by the FBI and the Justice Department. Democrats take control of the House in January, putting them in charge of setting the investigative agenda.

Former Attorney General Loretta Lynch has also been issued a subpoena to appear.

Papadopoulos to exit federal prison

Not to be outdone, George Papadopoulos, the man whose barroom chatter helped trigger the Russia investigation, wraps up his two-week prison sentence Friday. He has served his time at a medium security federal prison in Oxford, Wis.

Papadopoulos, who worked as a foreign policy adviser to the Trump campaign, pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his contacts with Russians during the 2016 campaign. He agreed to cooperate with investigators.

Prosecutors with Mueller's office requested a sentence within the guideline range of zero to six months. They said his lies hampered the investigation. He also did not provide substantial assistance to investigators despite agreeing to cooperate, prosecutors say.

After sentencing, Papadopoulos asked the court to delay his prison time until a separate case challenging Mueller's appointment had concluded. Those requests were denied.

In recent months, Papadopoulos has attacked the Russia investigation on Twitter. He has suggested that he was set up as part of a conspiracy targeting Trump.

Once he emerges from federal prison on Friday, Papadopoulos is not entirely off the hook. He still faces a year of supervised release.
 
Mueller opened the floodgates on Cohen and Manafort

Washington (CNN) ? In what has been a slow drip of information on Robert Mueller's Russia investigation, the spigot opened up today with insight on four key players:

1) Michael Cohen: Southern District of New York investigators today asked the court to impose a "substantial term of imprisonment" for Cohen's various finance-related crimes -- and that Cohen "was motivated ... by personal greed, and repeatedly used his power and influence for deceptive ends."

Why it matters: While prosecutors don't mince words about Cohen -- and stop short of calling him a cooperative witness -- they do say he has been helpful in the investigation, providing "relevant and useful information" on contacts with "persons connected to the White House." Cohen is set to be sentenced next Wednesday.

2) Paul Manafort: Manafort lied about five major issues during his cooperation with Mueller's investigation, Mueller's filing said, including his cooperation with administration officials and interaction with a Russian associate.

Why it matters: We found out last week that Mueller's team accused Manafort of lying, and now we know what they think Manafort was lying about. What Manafort knows has been crucial -- he has long been considered the key to several questions central to Mueller's investigation into Russia and the 2016 campaign. This could now lead to more criminal charges.

Meanwhile, Rudy Giuliani said early Friday that Mueller accused Manafort of lying about Trump.

3) James Comey: The former FBI chief faced sharp questions in a closed-door, day-long meeting as Republicans sought answers on Mueller's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 elections. Comey declined to answer many of them, according to members from both parties.

Why it matters: Comey fought to have this hearing made public: Expect to see a transcript of the interview released in the next 24 hours.

4) John Kelly: Mueller's investigatorsinterviewed the chief of staff about possible obstruction of justice (Kelly is reportedly leaving the administration in coming days).

Why it matters: Kelly is important because he's another senior administration official talking to investigators -- and also joined the Trump team after the campaign wrapped up. It could mean Muller's investigation expands beyond the campaign and transition, since most of the other interviews have been with campaign or transition team members.

The Trump report?: Mueller's report isn't out yet, but President Donald Trump is already beginning to discredit it. Regardless of what Mueller finds, Trump promised his own report, via tweet Friday morning. "We will be doing a major Counter Report to the Mueller Report. This should never again be allowed to happen to a future President of the United States!"

Trump also filled some key vacancies in his administration, naming William Barr as his next attorney general and Heather Nauert, currently at the State Department, as the next UN ambassador -- replacing Nikki Haley.

The would-be 2020 field also came into more focus this week, with Deval Patrick and Michael Avenatti making it official that they won't run. Meanwhile, Democrats like Joe Biden, Michael Bloomberg, Kamala Harris and more seem to be edging closer to running. And Elizabeth Warren's candidacy got a bit more complicated, since it's clear some Democrats still aren't happy with how she handled questions around her Native American heritage.

The Point: Drip, drip, drip. With these new court filings, Mueller's investigation just opened up in a big way -- and this thing isn't over yet.

Stunning. 8o
 
This thread is the eptiome of the "it's happening!" meme

When the doomsday comes and goes they always predict another one next year

I hope I'm wrong. Would love to see some justice.
 
It would probably be a lot cheaper and easier to just vote the guy out and take a lesson in how he got to be President in the first place.

Irs not as if anything is actually a huge shock. He is a buisnessman, his business dealings are well known, he is not or was not a politician and it looms as if the govt staff could have just been covering for the presidential nominee and putting him becoming President at all costs first before realizing how dumb that was to do. Seriously, very stupid and its going to happen again with soneone even worse I bet.

Its stupid to have thus dumb waste of time investigation now and been going so long that the next election will be over by the time its finished.

People are going to lie and say whatever they need to to save their own arse, its not as if politicians are ever honest anyway.
 
Yeah... it would be cheaper and easier, however my concern is that he's doing damage now and who knows what another year or more could bring? He's already started a tariff war with China which is undermining confidence in our stock market which is sending it diving. The yield curve inverted for the first time since the great recession of 2008 which is extremely ominous, last thing we need is another recession. He's appointing conservative judges who are against various important civil liberties and who serve for life with no possibility of being removed, on all levels of government. If we can get him out of there sooner, I think $30 million or so is a fine cost to pay because he's costing us more and more (and far more than $30 million). I mean yeah I am seeing a slight bump in my take-home pay (for now), but my retirement account has lost about $5 grand since this trade war started.

But you're right in that I HOPE that we learn something as a nation as to how/why he was able to be voted in in the first place, once the dust settles.
 
Well... unfortunately the time for debating if he is going to be damaging or not is over.


The Republican party clearly knew that he was the wild card and would damn well know all about him beforehand and also would have known his inexperience would be either an excuse for any misdeeds or make him a scapegoat should he be impeached withouy losing face.


All this investigation amonst a pack of politicians, lawsuits, what a crock of shit andctital waste of time.

If anything this should be a very low key investigation so people are taken off guard and could say what they really think as under investigation these guys just say whatever to save themselves.


Also: the rest of the world would realise hes a dickhead and most have years of experience with international affairs.

Theres been plenty of strange leaders with their oddities before so I dont think any tarriff or whatever will do much long term as there are plenty of other countries and markets than America, maybe it will work in your favour but not for long as America has not adapted to be as competitive on the global market (we haven't either).
 
But you're right in that I HOPE that we learn something as a nation as to how/why he was able to be voted in in the first place, once the dust settles.

I have no shortage of ideas on how this happened. Hillary was the lesser of evils, but other than that, there was no compelling reason for people to vote for her. She came off to me that she felt like she was entitled to be president (going all the way back to the Bill Clinton administration when she acted as more of a "co-president" than a First Lady). She completely took for granted Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, which ultimately doomed her campaign and lost Iowa, Florida and Ohio, all states that voted for Obama. Living in a swing state, I voted for her, but if I didn't, I very well may have voted for Gary Johnson, even though he comes off as a real lightweight (but Bill Weld would have been a fantastic veep). Even a few weeks ago, Hillary was quoted as saying, "There's a zero percent chance there's a zero percent chance I'll run again." For all of Trump's faults, I can understand why some swing voters would have been attracted to him because whatever anyone may say about him, he's authentic. He's 100 percent himself, for better or worse (mostly worse).
 
I do understand Trump's continued appeal, but he's not who he wants everyone to think he is. He's just whoever he thinks he needs to be in a particular moment and then the next moment arrives...

The Mueller Report will play out in a political theater for Trump (unless his kids are headed for the hoosegow, in which case I'm thinking pardons will be granted... oh please please!), and then the pointy pitchforks come out.

And unless the Republicans for some reason find him uniquely useful for another term, he's toast. Politically. At which point, the difference between impeachment and removal versus losing the nomination would be academic.

We'll see.

Trump is really going to regret picking a fight with the media. It's not a winnable fight in a true democracy. And losing that battle can take up a lot of ink.

We'll see.
 
This interview is surreal, even for Trump. There are some gems in here...

Exclusive: Trump says he is not concerned about being impeached, defends payments to women

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump said on Tuesday he was not concerned that he could be impeached and that hush payments made ahead of the 2016 election by his former personal attorney Michael Cohen to two women did not violate campaign finance laws.

?It?s hard to impeach somebody who hasn?t done anything wrong and who?s created the greatest economy in the history of our country,? Trump told Reuters in an Oval Office interview.

?I?m not concerned, no. I think that the people would revolt if that happened,? he said.

Federal prosecutors in New York said last week that Trump directed Cohen to make six-figure payments to two women so they would not discuss their alleged affairs with the candidate ahead of the 2016 presidential election.

They said the payments violated laws that stipulate that campaign contributions, defined as things of value given to a campaign to influence an election, must be disclosed, and limited to $2,700 per person.

Democrats said such a campaign law violation would be an impeachable offense, although senior party leaders in Congress have questioned whether it is a serious enough crime to warrant politically charged impeachment proceedings.

Impeachment requires a simple majority to pass the House of Representatives, where Democrats will take control in January. But removal of the president from office further requires a two-thirds majority in the Senate, where Trump?s fellow Republicans hold sway.

Cohen is scheduled to be sentenced on Wednesday in New York for his role in the payments to the two women - adult film actress Stormy Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal. Trump has denied having affairs with them.

Earlier this year, Trump acknowledged repaying Cohen for $130,000 paid to Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford. He previously disputed knowing anything about the payments.

?PEANUT STUFF?

Trump has slammed Cohen for cooperating with prosecutors, alleging that the lawyer is telling lies about him in a bid to get a lighter prison term. He has called for Cohen to get a long sentence and said on Tuesday his ex-lawyer should have known the campaign finance laws.

?Michael Cohen is a lawyer. I assume he would know what he?s doing,? Trump said when asked if he had discussed campaign finance laws with Cohen.

?Number one, it wasn?t a campaign contribution. If it were, it?s only civil, and even if it?s only civil, there was no violation based on what we did. OK??

Asked about prosecutors? assertions that a number of people who had worked for him met or had business dealings with Russians before and during his 2016 presidential campaign, Trump said: ?The stuff you?re talking about is peanut stuff.?

He then sought to turn the subject to his 2016 Democratic opponent.

?I haven?t heard this, but I can only tell you this: Hillary Clinton - her husband got money, she got money, she paid money, why doesn?t somebody talk about that?? Trump said.

The president said he could work with Democrats in Congress, but suggested that would not happen if they issued subpoenas and pursued investigations against him.

?We?re going to go down one of two tracks. We?re either going to start the campaign and they?re going to do presidential harassment. Or we?re going to get tremendous amounts of legislation passed working together. There?s not a third track,? he said.

?Look, they?ve been looking for two years about collusion. There?s no collusion,? he said.

Trump has dismissed the special counsel?s probe into possible collusion between his 2016 presidential campaign and Russia as a witch hunt.

Reporting by Jeff Mason and Steve Holland; Additional reporting by Roberta Rampton; Editing by Kevin Drawbaugh and Peter Cooney

It will be interesting if there is collusion!

 
Cohen gets three years:

Michael D. Cohen, the former lawyer for President Trump, was sentenced to three years in prison on Wednesday morning in part for his role in a scandal that could threaten Mr. Trump’s presidency by implicating him in a scheme to buy the silence of two women who said they had affairs with him. The sentencing in federal court in Manhattan capped a startling fall for Mr. Cohen, 52, who had once hoped to work by Mr. Trump’s side in the White House but ended up a central figure in the inquiry into payments to a porn star and a former Playboy model before the 2016 election. Judge William H. Pauley III said Mr. Cohen had committed a “smorgasbord” of crimes involving “deception” and motivated by “personal greed and ambition.” “As a lawyer, Mr. Cohen should have known better,” the judge said. Before he was sentenced, a solemn Mr. Cohen, standing at a lectern, sounded emotional but resolved as he told the judge he had been tormented by the anguish and embarrassment he had caused his family.

“I blame myself for the conduct which has brought me here today,” he said, “and it was my own weakness and a blind loyalty to this man” – a reference to Mr. Trump – “that led me to choose a path of darkness over light.” Mr. Cohen said the president had been correct to call him “weak” recently, “but for a much different reason than he was implying.” “It was because time and time again I felt it was my duty to cover up his dirty deeds rather than to listen to my own inner voice and my moral compass,” Mr. Cohen said. Mr. Cohen then apologized to the public: “You deserve to know the truth and lying to you was unjust.” Federal agents raided Mr. Cohen’s office and home in April, and he later turned on Mr. Trump, making the remarkable admission in court that Mr. Trump had directed him to arrange the payments.

Mr. Trump at first denied knowing anything about the payments, but then acknowledged that he had known about them. This week, he insisted that the payments were “a simple private transaction” — not election-related spending subject to campaign-finance laws.
He also maintained that even if the hush-money payments were campaign transactions in violation of election regulations, that should be considered only a civil offense, not a criminal one. Judge Pauley had the final say. The judge said Mr. Cohen’s assistance to the special counsel’s office, though useful, had not “wiped the slate clean,” and a “significant term” of prison was justified.

In the end, the judge gave Mr. Cohen three years for the crimes he committed in New York and two months for lying to Congress, to be served at the same time. He was also asked to pay nearly $2 million in fines, forfeitures and restitution.Mr. Cohen’s sentencing was unusual because it involved guilty pleas he made in two separate cases, one filed by federal prosecutors in the Southern District of New York and a later one by the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, who is investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election.

In the case brought by Mr. Mueller’s office, Mr. Cohen pleaded guilty to lying to Congress about the duration of negotiations to build a Trump Tower in Moscow, as well as about the extent of the involvement of Mr. Trump. Mr. Cohen revealed that Mr. Trump was more involved in discussions over the potential deal during the election campaign than previously known. The investigation of Mr. Cohen by the United States attorney’s office in Manhattan burst into public view in April when the F.B.I. raided his office, apartment and hotel room. Agents hauled off eight boxes of documents, about 30 cellphones, iPads and computers, even the contents of a shredder.
Four months later, on Aug. 21, Mr. Cohen pleaded guilty to campaign finance violations, tax evasion and making false statements to a financial institution.

Mr. Cohen admitted in court that he had arranged the payments “for the principal purpose of influencing the election” for president in 2016. The payments included $130,000 to the adult-film actress Stormy Daniels, which the government considers an illegal donation to Mr. Trump’s campaign since it was intended to improve Mr. Trump’s election chances. (The legal limit for individual contributions is $2,700 in a general election.) Mr. Cohen also admitted he had arranged for an illegal corporate donation to be made to Mr. Trump when he orchestrated a $150,000 payment by American Media Inc. to a former Playboy playmate, Karen McDougal, in late summer 2016. Prosecutors in Manhattan wrote last Friday to Judge Pauley that Mr. Cohen, in arranging the payments, “acted in coordination with and at the direction” of Mr. Trump, whom they referred to as Individual 1.

On Nov. 29, charged by Mr. Mueller’s office with lying to Congress, Mr. Cohen pleaded guilty again.
The two prosecuting offices each wrote to Judge Pauley, offering sharply contrasting portrayals of Mr. Cohen. The Southern District depicted him as deceitful and greedy and unwilling to fully cooperate with its investigation. It said it declined to sign Mr. Cohen as a formal cooperator because he refused to discuss fully any crimes in his past or crimes by others that he was aware of — its policy for witnesses who seek to cooperate. The Southern District wrote to the judge that Mr. Cohen had a “rose-colored view of the seriousness” of his crimes, which they said were “marked by a pattern of deception that permeated his professional life.”

Mr. Mueller, on the other hand, said Mr. Cohen had “gone to significant lengths to assist” the Russia investigation and recommended that he receive some credit for his help. Lawyers for Mr. Cohen, who once claimed he would “take a bullet” for Mr. Trump, cited his cooperation with Mr. Mueller and his attempts to assist the Southern District prosecutors in asking that he be spared prison. Mr. Cohen’s lawyers, Guy Petrillo and Amy Lester, argued in a memorandum to the judge that Mr. Cohen had taken responsibility for his crimes and had cooperated with Mr. Mueller’s office, meeting seven times with those prosecutors to offer information. They also noted that Mr. Cohen had met twice with prosecutors in Manhattan. Mr. Trump last week weighed in with his own sentencing recommendation, tweeting angrily, “He lied for this outcome and should, in my opinion, serve a full and complete sentence.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/12/...tion=click&module=Top Stories&pgtype=Homepage



 
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cohen also promises he'll spill all the beans after the investigation

An adviser to former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen says the former political fixer will "state publicly all he knows" about President Donald Trump after special counsel Robert Mueller completes his investigation.

Lanny Davis said Wednesday that Cohen "continues to tell the truth about Donald Trump's misconduct over the years."

Davis, who was previously an attorney for Cohen, said he will assist Cohen in testifying before any Congressional committee "interested in the search for truth and the difference between facts and lies."
 
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