Explainer: What legal risks does Cohen's testimony pose to Trump?

[metisdead]

Some troll posts and the replies have been removed.

[DoctorG]

13 hours ago, xylophone said:

Signed cheques..........for a start.

The payoff was supposedly for $130k. What we have here is 2 cheques for $35k each with no demonstration that they relate to the payoff.

As I sad... nuttin!

[Credo]

34 minutes ago, DoctorG said:

The payoff was supposedly for $130k. What we have here is 2 cheques for $35k each with no demonstration that they relate to the payoff.

As I sad... nuttin!

Hmmmm.   Well you have two checks.   One from Trump, the other from his son and CFO of Trump Organization.   The CFO is cooperating with Mueller, so he may shed some light on it.   And no denial from Trump, so I'd say it's a pretty good bet it wasn't a donation for his daughter's college fund.

[xylophone]

2 hours ago, DoctorG said:

The payoff was supposedly for $130k. What we have here is 2 cheques for $35k each with no demonstration that they relate to the payoff.

As I sad... nuttin!

More to come in this sorry saga involving a liar, a cheat and a crook...........then of course there's Cohen!

[mtls2005]

3 hours ago, DoctorG said:

The payoff was supposedly for $130k. What we have here is 2 cheques for $35k each with no demonstration that they relate to the payoff.

As I sad... nuttin!

 

 

[Nyezhov]

4 hours ago, lannarebirth said:

But to investigate all you need is a credible suspicion.

Actually, with the politicization of the US Criminal Justice system, it doesnt need to be credible.

[xylophone]

4 hours ago, DoctorG said:

As I sad... nuttin!

A lot of nuttin here....................

 

·  Over the last two years, while speculation about Russia has dominated the headlines, investigators have been quietly and methodically pursuing a different thread — Mr Trump's finances, and those of the Trump Organisation.

 

·  "Is there any other wrongdoing or illegal act that you are aware of regarding Donald Trump that we haven't yet discussed today?" Democratic Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi asked.

 

"Yes," Cohen said. "Those are part of the investigation that's currently being looked at by the Southern District of New York."

 

·  The obvious place to start is the payments Cohen made on Mr Trump's behalf during the campaign to silence women with whom he'd had affairs.

 

Cohen has already pleaded guilty to violating campaign finance laws — a felony offence — by paying off the adult film actress Stephanie Clifford, better known as Stormy Daniels.

 

·  Mr Trump has repeatedly, shamelessly denied having any knowledge of the payments. That lie imploded yesterday as Cohen gave Congress irrefutable, documentary proof of the President's involvement.

 

Cohen said Mr Trump reimbursed him for the expense of the pay-off to Ms Clifford with 11 such cheques, disguised as monthly payments for legal services.

 

 

 

·  And this doesn't end with a few dodgy payments to women. Cohen's testimony also raised questions about various types of fraud Mr Trump may have committed.

 

He claimed Mr Trump had submitted inflated financial statements to get a loan from a bank, and under questioning from Congresswoman Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez, suggested he'd done something similar to get a better rate on insurance.

 

"To your knowledge, did the President ever provide inflated assets to an insurance company?" Ms Ocasio-Cortez asked.

 

"Yes," Cohen said.

 

 

 

 

[Morch]

19 hours ago, EVENKEEL said:

Yep, all the wacky dems are good at is "keep Investigating"  Their theory is if you throw enough shit on the wall something is bound to stick. Pathetic really. 

 

Yeah, and now, let's have another Benghazi investigation.

[Morch]

2 hours ago, Nyezhov said:

Actually, with the politicization of the US Criminal Justice system, it doesnt need to be credible.

 

Don't recall Trump supporters, yourself included, much concerned about such matters whenever Trump comes up with one of his dreamed up allegations, or assertions of blame.

 

Guess "lock her up" is and was, cool - for some. 

[Nyezhov]

11 minutes ago, Morch said:

 

Don't recall Trump supporters, yourself included, much concerned about such matters whenever Trump comes up with one of his dreamed up allegations, or assertions of blame.

 

Guess "lock her up" is and was, cool - for some. 

Tu Quoque again, regardless, somehow I find campaign rhetoric to be not quite at the level of weaponization of prosecutorial power. Words and deeds differ, and hopefully, the Ox will be goring some Democrats someday so civil libertarians can unite

[pedro01]

7 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

For a criminal investigation one needs actual proof. Were such proof to exist would Trump/ family not already be charged?

I pity the prosecutor that charges Trump and fails to convict. Actually I don't pity them at all.

Thing is - even if they do move against him - it'll take years anyway and he'll do all he can to delay it.

 

But the bottom line is - for all the tax stuff, Trump can hide behind his advisors. 

 

It's not as if Trump does his own tax returns is it? Nor his own tax planning. That's why people pay tax lawyers so much $$$$ - to get out of taxes. Trump has plausible deniability on tax.

[attrayant]

5 minutes ago, pedro01 said:

For all the tax stuff, Trump can hide behind his advisors. 

 

It's not as if Trump does his own tax returns is it? Nor his own tax planning. That's why people pay tax lawyers so much $$$$ - to get out of taxes. Trump has plausible deniability on tax.

 

Sure - I bet nobody's ever tried that before.

 

Don't blame the accountant for your 'gross negligence' — you are 100% responsible for your returns

 

"If you pay someone to prepare your tax return, whether it be a tax preparation service or a professional accountant, you are still 100 per cent responsible for the accuracy of your return.

 

And, if you fail to disclose income on your return, not only will you be liable for the tax owing on this undisclosed income, plus arrears interest, but you could be hit with a “gross negligence” penalty."

[Morch]

17 minutes ago, Nyezhov said:

Tu Quoque again, regardless, somehow I find campaign rhetoric to be not quite at the level of weaponization of prosecutorial power. Words and deeds differ, and hopefully, the Ox will be goring some Democrats someday so civil libertarians can unite

 

Deflect away. Trump is into this kinda thing while in office, and the same goes for supporters. Don't recall much objections to such.

[longtom]

This is nuts. Trump needs our full support, he is out giving his all - making peace on the Korean peninsula, and all the fools back home can do is stab him in the back and try undermining and distracting him. Madness, sheer madness. On the bright side, Trump has proved he does not cave in to the constant negativity and hate, which is a miracle in itself. If things go pear shaped and Kim starts flinging nukes around I just hope the left will 100% own it, they should.

I am truly shocked that you got so many likes for this post!

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[Nyezhov]

12 minutes ago, Morch said:

 

Deflect away. Trump is into this kinda thing while in office, and the same goes for supporters. Don't recall much objections to such.

Deflecting to where? I dont see the DOJ seeking wiretaps on political folks do I? Leaks about investigations into Democratic operatives? 

[pedro01]

19 minutes ago, attrayant said:

 

Sure - I bet nobody's ever tried that before.

 

Don't blame the accountant for your 'gross negligence' — you are 100% responsible for your returns

 

"If you pay someone to prepare your tax return, whether it be a tax preparation service or a professional accountant, you are still 100 per cent responsible for the accuracy of your return.

 

And, if you fail to disclose income on your return, not only will you be liable for the tax owing on this undisclosed income, plus arrears interest, but you could be hit with a “gross negligence” penalty."

 

That's a rule for you and me - not a billionaire with 100 lawyers. It won't stick.

[Morch]

3 minutes ago, Nyezhov said:

Deflecting to where? I dont see the DOJ seeking wiretaps on political folks do I? Leaks about investigations into Democratic operatives? 

 

You don't seem to have much issues with Trump, while in office, engaging in dreamed up legal allegations, or pronouncing strong views on people being guilty of this or that. It's almost as if you were trying real hard to make POTUS the least accountable person/position out there. Carry on.

[Berkshire]

1 hour ago, pedro01 said:

Thing is - even if they do move against him - it'll take years anyway and he'll do all he can to delay it.

 

But the bottom line is - for all the tax stuff, Trump can hide behind his advisors. 

 

It's not as if Trump does his own tax returns is it? Nor his own tax planning. That's why people pay tax lawyers so much $$$$ - to get out of taxes. Trump has plausible deniability on tax.

If it was only the taxes.  How about the financial fraud?  Overinflating his net worth to get a loan?  Using charitable money as his personal piggy bank?  Campaign finance violations?  Inaugural committee shenanigans?  But I think the big one will be money laundering.  Donald should never have run for President...

 

  

 

[Chomper Higgot]

1 hour ago, pedro01 said:

Thing is - even if they do move against him - it'll take years anyway and he'll do all he can to delay it.

 

But the bottom line is - for all the tax stuff, Trump can hide behind his advisors. 

 

It's not as if Trump does his own tax returns is it? Nor his own tax planning. That's why people pay tax lawyers so much $$$$ - to get out of taxes. Trump has plausible deniability on tax.

His accountant is a cooperating witness for the SDNY.

 

Your arguments regarding 'plausible deniability' are hogwash - ask Martha Stewart.

[Chomper Higgot]

1 minute ago, Berkshire said:

If it was only the taxes.  How about the financial fraud?  Overinflating his net worth to get a loan?  Using charitable money as his personal piggy bank?  Campaign finance violations?  Inaugural committee shenanigans?  But I think the big one will be money laundering.  Donald should never have run for President...

 

  

 

It's even better than that.

 

Cohen was deputy chair of the GOP Finance committee. 

 

He's got the dirt on Russian money being directed to the GOP via the NRA. 

 

 

We're not done yet. 

[Nyezhov]

3 hours ago, Morch said:

 

You don't seem to have much issues with Trump, while in office, engaging in dreamed up legal allegations, or pronouncing strong views on people being guilty of this or that. It's almost as if you were trying real hard to make POTUS the least accountable person/position out there. Carry on.

Trump is a rude, crude, boor who has exposed how rotten the system is just by playing in the Washington sandbox. The USA will outlast and survive one man (if you take the position that he is a problem) just like it outlasted and survived his predecessors.

 

But will the USA outlast the damage to the system? Not if there isnt accountability.

[seajae]

considering they have already shown many of his statements are lies/not true and that the while thing was scrip[ted by the democrats in a meeting before he testified I actually cant see a lot happening, He is a convicted liar and was caught out again during this BS testimony and has again been referred to be charged with even more lying from this episode. Having meetings with democrats to organize what they wanted him to say and then stopping the republicans from asking him certain questions or stopping him from answering is a real stunner, was a total charade from the start. Cant get over how pathetic US citizens are to put up with the crap coming from democrats, legalizing baby killings, putting illegals above their own citizens etc, totally pathetic and they are letting it go because their choice didnt get the presidency, what a total laugh they are, at least in Australia its not as bad, even think the US is becoming worse politically than Thailand, what a bunch of %^$&^*#

[mtls2005]

I honestly didn't know that trump made a run at buying the Buffalo Bills in 2014 after Ralph Wilson passed. The Pegulas ultimately bought the Bills.

 

 

https://www.si.com/specials/greatest-sports-what-ifs/nfl/2017/donald-trump-buffalo-bills

 

 

Evidently, as revealed by Cohen, trump drastically over-valued his "assets" in an attempt to get a loan, to buy the Bills, from Deutsche Bank (and impress other owners with his "bloated" wealth. No clue if this was criminal. Teflon Don seems appropriate.

 

 

 

He famously passed on buying the Cowboys eons ago for $50 million, now valued at ~ $ 5 billion.

 

Certainly explains his tirades on "kneeling". 

 

One example of over-valuing one property:

 

 

 

[Chomper Higgot]

My bet is on Trump being hit with tax fraud first.

 

Though I suspect his children might be charged before he is.

[Jingthing]

My bet is on Trump being hit with tax fraud first.
 
Though I suspect his children might be charged before he is.

I can't predict but going after Ivanka especially would box in 45 like nothing else. Maybe a resignation can be negotiated. Could be the biggest deal of his life.

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[Chomper Higgot]

4 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

I can't predict but going after Ivanka especially would box in 45 like nothing else. Maybe a resignation can be negotiated. Could be the biggest deal of his life.

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I don’t think he is capable of putting anyone’s interests edited his own, including his children.

[keemapoot]

4 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

I can't predict but going after Ivanka especially would box in 45 like nothing else. Maybe a resignation can be negotiated. Could be the biggest deal of his life.

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It might be that Don Jr. is the first to drop. There seems to be a case building process concerning him.

[Yellowtail]

I wonder how many of the guys squealing about Trump overstating his income to get a loan are in trouble with Thai Immigration now that the Income Letters have been discontinued. Too funny.

 

I see Cohen's Go-Fund-Me is on fire....

[Morch]

4 hours ago, Nyezhov said:

Trump is a rude, crude, boor who has exposed how rotten the system is just by playing in the Washington sandbox. The USA will outlast and survive one man (if you take the position that he is a problem) just like it outlasted and survived his predecessors.

 

But will the USA outlast the damage to the system? Not if there isnt accountability.

 

That just another routine go to argument you often throw in. And it doesn't improve with repetition. Trying to minimize Trump's role isn't going to work. Trying to blame the system isn't going to work. Unless you feel that the POTUS is neither part of the system, or that accountability and obligations aren't relevant to his position, the above is just extra deflection on top of previous efforts.

 

Trump is a problem. That the US got other, more deep-rooted problems doesn't change that. Nor does it grants Trump that free pass. Like it or not, a whole lot of Trump's political career amounts to "damage to the system". One could argue that there are other sources, sure. Doesn't change that this here topic refers to the current POTUS, Trump.

[Jingthing]

It might be that Don Jr. is the first to drop. There seems to be a case building process concerning him.

I think 45 would sell Junior down the river but not Ivanka.

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