Trump lawyer Cohen's business partner cooperating with prosecutors - NY Times

[webfact]

Trump lawyer Cohen's business partner cooperating with prosecutors - NY Times

 

FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Donald Trump's personal lawyer Michael Cohen exits a hotel in New York City, U.S., April 13, 2018. REUTERS/Jeenah Moon/File Photo

 

(Reuters) - A business partner of U.S. President Donald Trump's personal lawyer Michael Cohen has agreed to cooperate with prosecutors in investigations, the New York Times reported on Tuesday.

 

Evgeny Freidman, a Russian immigrant who is known as the Taxi King, will avoid jail time and will assist government prosecutors in state or federal investigations, the newspaper report said, citing a person briefed on the matter.

 

The New York State Attorney General's Office said in a press release that Freidman had pleaded guilty to a criminal charge on Tuesday in an Albany, New York, courtroom, but it made no mention of whether he was cooperating with prosecutors.

 

Freidman has been Cohen's partner in the taxi business for years, even after New York City regulators barred Freidman last year from continuing to manage taxi medallions, the New York Times said.

 

Freidman, when asked by Reuters about the report, declined in a text message to answer any questions about cooperating with prosecutors or the terms of his agreement.

 

"This is me taking responsibility for my actions! ... Michael is a dear dear personal friend and a passive client! That's it! ...I hate that I have been grouped in this runaway train that I am not a part of!" Freidman said by text.

 

Freidman's lawyer, Patrick Egan, declined to comment on the Times report.

 

Freidman had been accused of failing to pay more than $5 million (3.72 million pounds) in taxes and five other criminal counts each carrying maximum prison sentences of up to 25 years. In pleading guilty to a single count of criminal tax fraud, Freidman will be sentenced to five years' probation, the attorney general's office said.

 

A spokeswoman for the New York state attorney general did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Reuters. Cohen did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

 

Federal prosecutors in New York are investigating Cohen for possible bank and tax fraud, possible campaign law violations and perhaps other matters related to Trump's presidential campaign, a person familiar with the probe has said.

 

The investigation into Cohen arose in part from Special Counsel Robert Mueller's inquiry into possible collusion between Trump's 2016 presidential campaign and Russia, something that Trump has repeatedly denied.

 

(Reporting by Eric Beech in Washington; editing by Grant McCool and Cynthia Osterman)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2018-05-23

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Another Russian type criminal in Trump's orbit. Shocking!!! Who would have thunk it....

[pegman]

Of all the illegal dealings by Trump it seems to me accounts of Cohen influence peddling to foreign governments and corporations will be what ultimately brings him down. No way they give that kind of $$$ without knowing Trump was behind it. The. Republican Congress will impeach knowing there won't be blowback even from the Trumptards from this type of law breaking.

[zaphod reborn]

6 minutes ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

Another Russian type criminal in Trump's orbit. Shocking!!! Who would have thunk it....

This Russian taxi mafia guy wasn't part of Trump's orbit. Cohen, Trump's lawyer, however, was deeply immersed in the NYC Russian mafia, and the taxi business is a mafia business.  The US Attorney's office in SDNY is putting the screws to Cohen so he flips against Trump or is pardoned.  The DA in NY will prosecute him under state law for this nasty taxi mafia business if he is pardoned.  Cohen may not even be charged by SDNY for the taxi business, because there is a strange double jeopardy law in New York which attaches jeopardy when federal charges are filed (the same offense can't be charged under state laws).  Cohen was one of Trump's connections to Russian dirty money, but this Freidman guy is small peanuts and not part of the Trump criminal conspiracy.

[Chomper Higgot]

5 minutes ago, pegman said:

Of all the illegal dealings by Trump it seems to me accounts of Cohen influence peddling to foreign governments and corporations will be what ultimately brings him down. No way they give that kind of $$$ without knowing Trump was behind it. The. Republican Congress will impeach knowing there won't be blowback even from the Trumptards from this type of law breaking.

You assume of course the GOP are not themselves implicated in Trump’s crimes.

 

We know, for example, that Russians poured $millions into the NRA which the NRA then distributed to the Republican campaign.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

2 minutes ago, zaphod reborn said:

  Cohen was one of Trump's connections to Russian dirty money, but this Freidman guy is small peanuts and not part of the Trump criminal conspiracy.

 

When this guy is a business partner of Trump's long-time personal attorney and fixer, then yes, the guy is in the president's ORBIT, by definition. Not to mention being a taxi industry mafia figure from Trump's NY base, where his ties with Russians are long and deep.

 

I didn't say, and orbit doesn't mean, directly involved with Trump's misdeeds. But rather, traveling in shared circles, aka, Cohen. But given the guy is Russian and linked with Cohen, who knows what kinds of connections MIGHT exist outside the realm of current public knowledge.

 

[Chomper Higgot]

4 minutes ago, zaphod reborn said:

This Russian taxi mafia guy wasn't part of Trump's orbit. Cohen, Trump's lawyer, however, was deeply immersed in the NYC Russian mafia, and the taxi business is a mafia business.  The US Attorney's office in SDNY is putting the screws to Cohen so he flips against Trump or is pardoned.  The DA in NY will prosecute him under state law for this nasty taxi mafia business if he is pardoned.  Cohen may not even be charged by SDNY for the taxi business, because there is a strange double jeopardy law in New York which attaches jeopardy when federal charges are filed (the same offense can't be charged under state laws).  Cohen was one of Trump's connections to Russian dirty money, but this Freidman guy is small peanuts and not part of the Trump criminal conspiracy.

We also know, from Avenatti’s disclosure, that Cohen is using a law firm with ties to Qatar.

 

Qatar has suddenly started investing in struggling Kushner properties, Trump suddenly backs away from sanctions against Qatar.

 

Are Qatar paying Cohen’s legal fees?

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

27 minutes ago, pegman said:

 The. Republican Congress will impeach knowing there won't be blowback even from the Trumptards from this type of law breaking.

 

I wouldn't be so sure of that.

 

AFAICT,  Trump could turn over control of the U.S. to Russia, and most of the Republicans in Congress would bend over and cry, "give it to us harder and deeper please!!!  And don't bother with the KY."

 

The Republican establishment used to stand for certain key things:

--balanced budget

--personal liberty

--national defense

 

But now under Trump and the corporate shills in Congress, instead we get:

--a huge corporate tax cut likely to balloon the federal deficit.

--religious zealots who want the federal government intruding on people's personal lives, and federal laws and policies that fit THEIR religious beliefs.

--and a foreign policy of cozying up to the world's worst dictators and playing footsie with the likes of Russia and China.

 

It's not your mother or father's Republican Party any more.

 

Edited May 23, 2018 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

7 minutes ago, Chomper Higgot said:

We also know, from Avenatti’s disclosure, that Cohen is using a law firm with ties to Qatar.

 

Qatar has suddenly started investing in struggling Kushner properties, Trump suddenly backs away from sanctions against Qatar.

 

Are Qatar paying Cohen’s legal fees?

 

A bit more than that.

 

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-russia-cohen/trump-lawyer-cohen-sought-1-million-from-qatar-in-late-2016-washington-post-idUSKCN1II061

 

Quote

Trump lawyer Cohen sought $1 million from Qatar in late 2016: Washington Post

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump’s longtime personal lawyer Michael Cohen asked the Qatari government for at least $1 million in December 2016 in exchange for access or insight into the Trump administration, the Washington Post reported.

 

 

Qatar turned down Cohen’s offer, made weeks before Trump’s inauguration, the Post reported late on Wednesday, citing several people with knowledge of the situation.
 

A spokesman for Sport Trinity, a company co-owned by Qatari investor Ahmed al-Rumaihi, confirmed Cohen had requested a $1 million fee in a meeting with al-Rumaihi when he was head of the investments division of Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund.

 

 

Edited May 23, 2018 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[Chomper Higgot]

News now out that Cohen has been leaking selected audio recordings relating th his legal battle with Danniels.

 

The problem is those same recordings are in evidence seized by the FBI.

 

Leaking evidence to an ongoing FBI investigation. - Not smart!

[bristolboy]

Actually, there's far more of a threat to Trump coming from the only one of Cohen's 3 clients who so far hasn't figured, at last publicly, in the investigation: Elliott Broidy.

A convicted briber, he secretly lobbied the Trump administration and Trump himself personally, on behalf of Saudi Arabia and the UAE to get the US to punish Qatar.  He partnered with another lowlife named George Nader. There's lot's of other stuff but one very strange thing stands out. He was Michael Cohen's client in one matter only: allegedly to pay hush money to a Playboy model who had gotten pregnant and subsequently had an abortion. He paid 1.6 million dollars. That's an awful lot of money for a guy who didn't have much of a character reputation to begin with. Maybe Broidy was paying it on behalf of someone else? And out of all the lawyers in the USA, why choose Michael Cohen to be your go-between?

https://apnews.com/a3521859cf8d4c199cb9a8567abd2b71

[ballpoint]

1 hour ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

It's not your mother or father's Republican Party any more.

No, it's your weird uncle's.  The one who's kept away from the children and silverware.

[pegman]

1 hour ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

 

I wouldn't be so sure of that.

 

AFAICT,  Trump could turn over control of the U.S. to Russia, and most of the Republicans in Congress would bend over and cry, "give it to us harder and deeper please!!!  And don't bother with the KY."

 

The Republican establishment used to stand for certain key things:

--balanced budget

--personal liberty

--national defense

 

But now under Trump and the corporate shills in Congress, instead we get:

--a huge corporate tax cut likely to balloon the federal deficit.

--religious zealots who want the federal government intruding on people's personal lives, and federal laws and policies that fit THEIR religious beliefs.

--and a foreign policy of cozying up to the world's worst dictators and playing footsie with the likes of Russia and China.

 

It's not your mother or father's Republican Party any more.

 

Sorry, I think you have been watching too much Madcow. Pence is 10x the conservative Trump is. Most Republicans in congress would much rather jhave him in the WH.

[bristolboy]

6 minutes ago, ballpoint said:

No, it's your weird uncle's.  The one who's kept away from the children and silverware.

Actually George Nader, cited in my post above, was convicted of pedophilia in the Czech Republic and served 1 year in jail.

In 2003, he was convicted in Prague, Czech Republic for sexually abusing 10 underage boys. He served one year in prison.^[12

He was also convicted of transporting child pornography in Virgina and got a 6 month sentence for that.

A federal court in Northern Virginia in 1991 gave him a six-month sentence on a felony charge of transporting prohibited sexually explicit materials (pornographic videotapes of underage boys) in foreign commerce (from Germany).^[14]

^{https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Nader_(businessman)}

[FritsSikkink]

So now Cohen the family man is toast. Hello Trump lovers, who do you think will be next?

[zaphod reborn]

1 hour ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

 

When this guy is a business partner of Trump's long-time personal attorney and fixer, then yes, the guy is in the president's ORBIT, by definition. Not to mention being a taxi industry mafia figure from Trump's NY base, where his ties with Russians are long and deep.

 

It's a different criminal conspiracy.  Trump was not part of the taxi mafia conspiracy which involves bribery of public officials.  Trump did use Cohen's network of Russian mafia, but it was only to connect to big money oligarchs who needed to launder dirty money through Trump property investments.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

55 minutes ago, pegman said:

Sorry, I think you have been watching too much Madcow. Pence is 10x the conservative Trump is. Most Republicans in congress would much rather jhave him in the WH.

 

The huge corporate tax cuts and invasion of religious zealotry into federal policies probably would be the same under either Trump or Pence as president, combined with a Republican Congress. Pence as president might/probably would go further than Trump has already gone on the religious zealotry front.

 

The one area of the three I mentioned where there might be a bigger difference between Trump and Pence would be on Trump's affinity for Russia and tyrant dictators. I'm not aware that Pence has shown a personal inclination in that direction.

 

But thus far, the Republicans in Congress have been pretty strongly supportive of Trump, notwithstanding the huge and mounting array of scandals and controversies his administration has amassed. And they're doing everything in their power to try to shut down, impede, discredit the Special Counsel's investigation into Russian election interference/possible Trump campaign collusion.

 

Not because most of them have any particular personal loyalty to Trump himself, but rather, they want and feel they need his slice of rabid Republican right wingers to keep them getting re-elected. And apparently, that takes a higher priority with them than clearly legitimate questions about whether their president and his past and current minions have been selling out the U.S. to Russia.

 

 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

1 hour ago, bristolboy said:

Actually, there's far more of a threat to Trump coming from the only one of Cohen's 3 clients who so far hasn't figured, at last publicly, in the investigation: Elliott Broidy.

A convicted briber, he secretly lobbied the Trump administration and Trump himself personally, on behalf of Saudi Arabia and the UAE to get the US to punish Qatar.  He partnered with another lowlife named George Nader. There's lot's of other stuff but one very strange thing stands out. He was Michael Cohen's client in one matter only: allegedly to pay hush money to a Playboy model who had gotten pregnant and subsequently had an abortion. He paid 1.6 million dollars. That's an awful lot of money for a guy who didn't have much of a character reputation to begin with. Maybe Broidy was paying it on behalf of someone else? And out of all the lawyers in the USA, why choose Michael Cohen to be your go-between?

https://apnews.com/a3521859cf8d4c199cb9a8567abd2b71

 

Wow, that's an interesting story yesterday from the AP, and a whole new layer/chapter in the whole Trump-foreign influences saga.

 

Reading about the exploits of those guys, just one word comes to mind: SWAMP!   VERY DEEP SWAMP.

 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

To use a familiar phrase from another era -- ALL THE PRESIDENT'S MEN out there selling their services to various foreign governments, trying to leverage their connections with Trump in doing so, and then turning around and trying to influence U.S. foreign policy on behalf of mostly shady foreign governments and foreign power figures. Cohen, Broidy, Nader, Flynn, Manafort, Kushner, etc etc etc.

 

One would hope the President and his men would be working on behalf of the American people, not a variety of corrupt, shady, dark foreign interests. But sadly in the current administration, that's simply not the case. The American people and U.S. national interests are mere bystanders, and the real focus is how much money/benefits/deals these guys can gain working on behalf of whomever brings the biggest payday.

 

The U.S. federal government and foreign policy under Trump up for sale to the highest bidders. Shameful.

 

 

 

 

[spidermike007]

Cohen was as filthy as Tiny D. And it appears likely he will spill all the beans. No doubt he has (or had before they raided his offices) evidence of Trumps serial statutory rapes, and many other misdeeds. I believe Tiny D. is going down. I believe he will not be president by this time next year. One can only hope. Get used to saying President Pence.

 

 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Meanwhile, in the latest headlines out of The Swamp, aka Trump's Washington D.C.:

 

A pair of sinkholes have opened up on the White House lawn.

 

https://www.cnn.com/videos/us/2018/05/23/sinkhole-white-house-lawn-es-sot.cnn

 

[Evangelicals fear the sink holes mean the end of times is coming for the Trump Admin...]

 

[The first part is real. Just kidding about the last part...]

 

[bristolboy]

Just now, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

Meanwhile, in the latest headlines out of The Swamp, aka Trump's Washington D.C.:

 

A pair of sinkholes have opened up on the White House lawn.

 

https://www.cnn.com/videos/us/2018/05/23/sinkhole-white-house-lawn-es-sot.cnn

 

[Evangelicals fear the sink holes mean the end of times is coming for the Trump Admin...]

 

[The first part is real. Just kidding about the last part...]

 

Should you be kidding? About a year ago another sinkhole opened just outside the Mar y Lago golf course.Maybe this is his Master's way of letting Trump know he misses him.

http://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-us-canada-40013480/aerial-footage-of-sinkhole-at-trump-s-mar-a-lago-resort

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

1 minute ago, bristolboy said:

Should you be kidding? About a year ago another sinkhole opened just outside the Mar y Lago golf course.Maybe this is his Master's way of letting Trump know he misses him.

http://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-us-canada-40013480/aerial-footage-of-sinkhole-at-trump-s-mar-a-lago-resort

 

The sink holes follow Trump wherever he goes. It's a [lack of] character thing! 

[joecoolfrog]

6 hours ago, FritsSikkink said:

So now Cohen the family man is toast. Hello Trump lovers, who do you think will be next?

Nothing to see , its just a big fat nothing burger with a side helping of fake news.

Once Merika has built its wall , made gun ownership compulsory and restricted voting rights to those with an IQ below 90 , Trumpy baby will rule forever !

[Trouble]

10 hours ago, Chomper Higgot said:

You assume of course the GOP are not themselves implicated in Trump’s crimes.

 

We know, for example, that Russians poured $millions into the NRA which the NRA then distributed to the Republican campaign.

You talking about the large amount of about $2500 the NRA says they received since 2015 from Russians or Americans living in Russia mostly for membership dues and magazines?  There seems to be much about nothing here. Seems like everyone who has ever associated with Russians is now open for criticism and under suspicion.  The Russian guy I workout with on Friday's unfortunately has offered me no money for my vote.  

[Scott]

Off-topic posts removed.   If you are going to post a meme, it's a good idea to have a comment and that the meme is actually related to the topic.  

[pegman]

14 hours ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

 

The huge corporate tax cuts and invasion of religious zealotry into federal policies probably would be the same under either Trump or Pence as president, combined with a Republican Congress. Pence as president might/probably would go further than Trump has already gone on the religious zealotry front.

 

The one area of the three I mentioned where there might be a bigger difference between Trump and Pence would be on Trump's affinity for Russia and tyrant dictators. I'm not aware that Pence has shown a personal inclination in that direction.

 

But thus far, the Republicans in Congress have been pretty strongly supportive of Trump, notwithstanding the huge and mounting array of scandals and controversies his administration has amassed. And they're doing everything in their power to try to shut down, impede, discredit the Special Counsel's investigation into Russian election interference/possible Trump campaign collusion.

 

Not because most of them have any particular personal loyalty to Trump himself, but rather, they want and feel they need his slice of rabid Republican right wingers to keep them getting re-elected. And apparently, that takes a higher priority with them than clearly legitimate questions about whether their president and his past and current minions have been selling out the U.S. to Russia.

 

 

It now seems that Trump was using his fixer Cohen to sell favours to corporations and countries. $400K for a Oval Office meeting from Ukraine. I would bet dollars to donuts that at least one corporation, such as AT&T, went to law enforcement about the shakedowns. Mueller likely has all the wire taps and other evidence needed to despose of Trump. No Republicans will protect the Mafia Pres from what's to come if this is what took place.

[Becker]

5 hours ago, pegman said:

It now seems that Trump was using his fixer Cohen to sell favours to corporations and countries. $400K for a Oval Office meeting from Ukraine. I would bet dollars to donuts that at least one corporation, such as AT&T, went to law enforcement about the shakedowns. Mueller likely has all the wire taps and other evidence needed to despose of Trump. No Republicans will protect the Mafia Pres from what's to come if this is what took place.

Certainly a very appealing scenario but I believe you underestimate how desperate the GOP is to cling to power. 

[pegman]

12 minutes ago, Becker said:

Certainly a very appealing scenario but I believe you underestimate how desperate the GOP is to cling to power. 

 

12 minutes ago, Becker said:

Certainly a very appealing scenario but I believe you underestimate how desperate the GOP is to cling to power. 

They retain power by inserting Pence. If Trump did what it looks like he did there will be very little backlash for voting impeachment. 

[Becker]

20 minutes ago, pegman said:

 

They retain power by inserting Pence. If Trump did what it looks like he did there will be very little backlash for voting impeachment. 

If they let the man-child be removed they will certainly face a backlash from his rabid base. Their only concern is their pathetic dream of MAWA and if he raped a 12 year old girl on Times Square in broad daylight they wouldn't bat an eyelid.

And without these angry old white men the GOP will never win an election again.