Michael Cohen has never represented me in any matter. I never retained him, received an invoice, or paid legal fees. I have occasionally had brief discussions with him about legal questions about which I wanted his input and perspective.
So.... Cohen lied to court? And, nothing Hannity related in the Cohen papers is privileged?
Can we talk to the writers of this show about pacing and contrived plot twists? I keep waiting for one of the supporting characters to ride in on a giant armadillo.
Eta: Wait, it got better
I assumed those conversations were confidential, but to be absolutely clear they never involved any matter between me and a third-party.
But... Cohen (or his lawyers?) was the one who disclosed Hannity as the client.
Also, what legal matters do NOT involve a third party in some way?
If there was anything that depressed him more than his own cynicism, it was that quite often it still wasn't as cynical as real life.
Both Cohen's lawyers, and the U.S. Attorney's office have filed letters to the judge responding to her request that they propose Special Master candidates should she decide it necessary to appoint one. Cohen's lawyers proposed four attorneys, all of whom are highly partisan. The U.S. Attorney's office proposed three highly respected retired magistrate judges, as well providing additional information as to how long it would likely take for them to provide Cohen's attorneys with copies of the seized material. I particularly like the concluding paragraph of their letter. "Finally, we received earlier today Cohen’s list of persons recommended to serve as a Special Master. We are prepare to provide our views on these recommendations, should the Court deem that appropriate."
"Spirits in the shape of hawks and eagles flew ever to and from his halls; and their eyes could see to the depths of the seas, and pierce the hidden caverns beneath the world."
"Finally, we received earlier today Cohen’s list of persons recommended to serve as a Special Master. We are prepare to provide our views on these recommendations, should the Court deem that appropriate."
That is a sterling example of tactful wording! The attorney's office should be commended for their restraint!
When the night has been too lonely, and the road has been too long,
And you think that love is only for the lucky and the strong,
Just remember in the winter far beneath the bitter snows,
Lies the seed, that with the sun's love, in the spring becomes The Rose.
The cancelation allows members to leave town a day early. I've seen speculation that this is done in anticipation of Trump firing Mueller, and the large protests that are expected to follow.
Trump may well fire Mueller, but I think it is stretch to assume that is why members of Congress are being let out early.
Sounds like a Saul Abramson kind of speculation.
"Spirits in the shape of hawks and eagles flew ever to and from his halls; and their eyes could see to the depths of the seas, and pierce the hidden caverns beneath the world."
Voronwë the Faithful wrote:Trump may well fire Mueller, but I think it is stretch to assume that is why members of Congress are being let out early.
Sounds like a Saul Abramson kind of speculation.
Heh. No, the original tweet shared what appear to be an email ordering Pittsburgh Police Department to report in SWAT gear in preparation for possible riots. The two links, the one to the House of Representative closing up early and the one about Pittsburgh Police Department, were posted in replies.
Meanwhile, McConnell killed a bipartisan effort to vote on the legislation that would protect Mueller. His justification was, basically, I don't want to.
If there was anything that depressed him more than his own cynicism, it was that quite often it still wasn't as cynical as real life.
Some ponderings regarding current news:
Trump called Jay Goldberg (a former/retired lawyer of Trump's) looking for advice. Goldberg advised the resident that Michael Cohen would turn on him and that he might even wear a wire. He suggested a lawyer (who turned Trump down). How does a 2 person conversation like this get in the news? Why? To what end or purpose?
Cohen's 'lawyering', from what we know, seems to focus on a few areas; NDA's, mediation/intimidation, perhaps real estate money laundering or tax evasion, not so much court cases. The Trump organization has lawyers who handle litigation (Trump University & libel lawsuits, for example).
Hannity made $36 million in 2017, but Cohen had to take out a home equity loan for $130,000 to pay Stormy Daniels and Hannity expected pro bono advice (or perhaps/maybe it was $10 worth of opinions on real estate. Details seem to change.) from Cohen? Odd. Hannity is in near-daily communication with Trump and it is said he 'practically has a desk' at the WH. He gives Trump suggestions for Tweets. Trump has been known to cite Hannity advice to WH advisers. Hannity isn't an expert in anything. He's not even a college graduate. It's just strange. Bizarre. If Obama would have had such a close relationship with, say, Anderson Cooper or Rachel Maddow influencing policy and staff and acted as a direct mouthpiece, I wonder how that would have been viewed by Republicans? It would have been unacceptable, as it should be.
As with almost everything in this topsy-turvy hypocritical WH, we're in an alternate reality. It greatly lacks professionalism and dignity. This is what narcissists do, they are detrimentally audacious. So much so that rules/laws have not been made to prevent the things they do because normal people presume such measures are not needed because no normal human being would do such things.
I move the last few posts from the Trump's America thread to this one, which I renamed to cover the various scandals that may or may not be related to the Russia investigation.
The other two pieces of news of note yesterday were that Stormy's lawyer, Michael Avenatti, indicated that they were considering amending their lawsuit to directly accuse Trump of defamation based on his tweet attacking Daniels over the sketch released of the man she says threatened her and her child, and that Karen McDougal, the ex-Playboy model, reached a settlement with the parent company of the National Enquirer that allows her to speak out about her alleged affair with Trump.
"Spirits in the shape of hawks and eagles flew ever to and from his halls; and their eyes could see to the depths of the seas, and pierce the hidden caverns beneath the world."
And the latest is that Cohen has abruptly dropped his defamation lawsuits against Buzzfeed and Fusion GPS about the Steele dossier. It could just be an indication that he knows he needs to focus on other things, but there is a possibility that it is a sign that he is preparing to flip on Trump. As I said before, I think if that happens Trump is going down.
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"Spirits in the shape of hawks and eagles flew ever to and from his halls; and their eyes could see to the depths of the seas, and pierce the hidden caverns beneath the world."
Only if Congress decides to do anything about it, though, which will only happen if the drunk-on-antiheroes US public can decide it gives a flip.
Edit: let's amend that to "the drunk-on-antiheroes US public can decide it gives more of a flip about corruption and criminal behavior than it does about party loyalty"
In my opinion, if Cohen testifies that Trump sent him to Prague to secretly meet with the Russians during the campaign to coordinate with them, even a GOP-controlled congress would have no choice but to act.
Meanwhile, apropos Rose's earlier post about state claims protecting against Trump pardons, NY attorney general Eric Schneiderman (who I mentioned before) is seeking to change NY state law to add an exception to double jeopardy (the legal rule that a person can't be tried twice for the same offense) that would allow him to charge individuals under state law who have previously been charged under federal law and pleads guilty or has a jury sworn in and then is pardoned.
"Spirits in the shape of hawks and eagles flew ever to and from his halls; and their eyes could see to the depths of the seas, and pierce the hidden caverns beneath the world."
Dave_LF wrote:Only if Congress decides to do anything about it, though, which will only happen if the drunk-on-antiheroes US public can decide it gives a flip.
Edit: let's amend that to "the drunk-on-antiheroes US public can decide it gives more of a flip about corruption and criminal behavior than it does about party loyalty"
I have wondered what it would take for the "I could stand in the middle of 5th Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn’t lose voters" crowd to have the veil lifted from their eyes. From a party who likes to tout patriotism, they sure seem to have turned a blind eye to the cyber attacks from Russia and refuse to see it for the aggressive assault on our democracy that it is. From my experience with devotees of narcissists, it usually takes personal betrayal at which point some will become the angriest of detractors. Some will continue to overlook/forgive an awful lot because they don't want to admit they were wrong/taken in by a huckster.
This might do it for some:
Voronwë the Faithful wrote:In my opinion, if Cohen testifies that Trump sent him to Prague to secretly meet with the Russians during the campaign to coordinate with them, even a GOP-controlled congress would have no choice but to act.
I read about the move by Eric Schneiderman last night. Heh, heh, heh.
Trump has a new lawyer! None other than Rudy Giuliani. You can't make this stuff up.
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"Spirits in the shape of hawks and eagles flew ever to and from his halls; and their eyes could see to the depths of the seas, and pierce the hidden caverns beneath the world."
just talked to Giuliani who said his role on Trump team is limited. He worked with Mueller at DOJ & as NYC Mayor (Mueller at FBI) He hopes knowing Mueller can help bring the investigation to conclusion, saying it "needs a little push." How soon? "maybe a couple of weeks"
+++Divide By Cucumber Error. Please Reinstall Universe And Reboot +++
If there was anything that depressed him more than his own cynicism, it was that quite often it still wasn't as cynical as real life.
I just checked Michael Avenatti (Stormy Daniels lawyer) on Wikipedia. I'm far from an expert in such matters, but he doesn't sound like an ordinary run-of-the-mill lawyer. He seems pretty confident that things are not going to go well for Cohen (and subsequently Trump).
I couldn't view the webpage for Raskin Law, Trump's new lawyers from Miami, Martin & Jane Serene Raskin. White collar criminal defense husband/wife team. I wonder if they are concerned about potential crimes committed in Florida.
That is a sterling example of tactful wording! 
