FBI raids Trump lawyer's office

[GrouchoTex]

Not if there's a crime-fraud exception.  Mueller has already used it in his investigations, past and present.

Which makes me think there may be something to this.
Yes, the FISA court allowing this Russia nonsense was done by misleading what and where the info came from.
However, when they go as far as getting a search warrant for legal records, thereby over riding the lawyer- client privilege, there has to be an understanding that there could be a fraud exemption.

[Frank Cannon]

I don't give a crap, I don't care.

Not until Hillary and Bill Clinton and Wasserman Schultz and Huma Abedin are wearing orange behind bars.

They have been illustrated to have done far more egregious violations of law - to the point of treason and they are protected by the very Praetorians going full tilt on Trump.

Nope.  We're just watching what happens after a velvet coup.

So far all the indictments coming out of Mueller's fraudulent investigation have been bullshit, like the 12 Russians that live in Russia and will never be touched, or have had nothing to do with collusion, of which we have had a grand total of 4 people in 2 years. Now we have him playing games with Trumps lawyer.

Mueller and Sessions need t be fired right away.

[XenaLee]

The primary crime here is that Donald Trump dared to exit the plantation.  If he was still a Democrat, none of this would be happening.  He would be the darling of CNN, MSNBC, etc.

By George, I think you've got it!   Same thing happened to Cosby when he leaped off the plantation verbally.  His behavior was apparently A-OK until that happened (See: Harvey Weinstein support by liberal hypocrites).

[edpc]

Charlie Trie and Johnnie Chung got no prison time for funneling a million dollars into Clinton's pockets from Communist China. Trump's lawyer pays a whore a few bucks and his office full of client privileged files is raided by the Feds.

There is a problem here.

They were both convicted and probably had lawyers that were better than whatever Cohen claims to be.  The sentences were part of their guilty pleas.  Since Cohen has yet to be charged with anything, we don’t know what deal he may or may not reach.  It may be nothing due to immunity, the light sentence van der Zwaan received that elicited mockery from you, or something more serious.  We’ll see.

[Hoodat]

Trump attorney Cohen is being investigated for possible bank fraud, campaign finance violations, according to a person familiar with the case

By Carol D. Leonnig, Tom Hamburger and Devlin Barrett April 9 at 6:06 PM

Michael Cohen, the longtime attorney of President Trump, is under federal investigation for possible bank fraud, wire fraud and campaign finance violations, according to three people with knowledge of the case.  .  .  .

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/fbi-seizes-records-related-to-stormy-daniels-in-raid-of-trump-attorney-michael-cohens-office/2018/04/09/e3e43cf4-3c30-11e8-974f-aacd97698cef_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.84eafd5cb9c2


in other words, three members of the Mueller team leaked information of an ongoing investigation to the Washington Post.

[Hoodat]

More from WaPo:

To serve a search warrant on a practicing attorney, federal prosecutors are required to obtain approval from top Justice Department officials. That means the acting U.S. attorney in Manhattan, Geoffrey S. Berman, who was appointed to his role by Sessions in January, as well as Justice Department officials in Washington, probably signed off.

[edpc]

Which makes me think there may be something to this.  Yes, the FISA court allowing this Russia nonsense was done by misleading what and where the info came from.

Trump had dinner with Cohen the night before the 60 Minutes interview with Stormy.  Wait until the rumors Mueller bugged Mar-a-Lago start flying.

[XenaLee]

Which makes me think there may be something to this.
Yes, the FISA court allowing this Russia nonsense was done by misleading what and where the info came from.
However, when they go as far as getting a search warrant for legal records, thereby over riding the lawyer- client privilege, there has to be an understanding that there could be a fraud exemption.

I dunno.  I keep thinking of Chuck Rhoades on Billions.  It may not be personal, but it's damned sure political.  If no fraud occurred, what then?

[GrouchoTex]

More from WaPo:

To serve a search warrant on a practicing attorney, federal prosecutors are required to obtain approval from top Justice Department officials. That means the acting U.S. attorney in Manhattan, Geoffrey S. Berman, who was appointed to his role by Sessions in January, as well as Justice Department officials in Washington, probably signed off.

Which makes me think this isn't going to end well for one or both, Trump and/or Cohen.
This isn't taken on lightly, and there has to be a lot of eyes on it before you make a move like this.

[XenaLee]

Which makes me think this isn't going to end well for one or both, Trump and/or Cohen.
This isn't taken on lightly, and there has to be a lot of eyes on it before you make a move like this.

Well... I can sure feel Hillary's eyes on it.

[INVAR]

So far all the indictments coming out of Mueller's fraudulent investigation have been bullshit, like the 12 Russians that live in Russia and will never be touched, or have had nothing to do with collusion, of which we have had a grand total of 4 people in 2 years. Now we have him playing games with Trumps lawyer.

Mueller and Sessions need t be fired right away.

And 4 more heads of the Hydra will grow right back in their place with the full approval of the Republican party leadership and the gleeful cheers of the Democrats.

[GrouchoTex]

I dunno.  I keep thinking of Chuck Rhoades on Billions.  It may not be personal, but it's damned sure political.  If no fraud occurred, what then?

I won't disagree that it is political, I believe that.
If fraud has not occurred, something has given them cause to put out a warrant to confiscate the records of a practicing attorney, that is pretty big, in and of itself.
Could it be a " velvet coup"?
Sure, but if it was discovered, then what?
Which scenario seems most likely?

I dunno, either.....

[Sanguine]

Bookmark.

[edpc]

I dunno.  I keep thinking of Chuck Rhoades on Billions.  It may not be personal, but it's damned sure political.  If no fraud occurred, what then?

Awesome show.  Between Billions and Sideways, Giamatti has the bitter man with a chip on his shoulder down.

[Right_in_Virginia]

Which makes me think this isn't going to end well for one or both, Trump and/or Cohen.
This isn't taken on lightly, and there has to be a lot of eyes on it before you make a move like this.

Like the FISA warrant that started this whole crap ball rolling?

Sorry, but we can no longer rely on the integrity of a "a lot of eyes of it before you make a move like this".  Not when we know to whom those eyes belong and what they have accomplished thus far.  There has been an ongoing attempt to remove the duly elected President from before he won (remember the "insurance policy"?)  .... with all efforts orchestrated and coordinated through the highest levels of the DOJ, FBI and former administration.  The effort continues through this day. 

[GrouchoTex]

Like the FISA warrant that started this whole crap ball rolling?

Sorry, but we can no longer rely on the integrity of a "a lot of eyes of it before you make a move like this".  Not when we know to whom those eyes belong and what they have accomplished thus far.  There has been an ongoing attempt to remove the duly elected President from before he won (remember the "insurance policy"?)  .... with all efforts orchestrated and coordinated through the highest levels of the DOJ, FBI and former administration.  The effort continues through this day.

Which I've also mentioned in one of my post.

Yet,Which seems most likely?
To believe that the FBI, DOJ, etc, would continue to shoot themselves in the foot?
That they would do this now to save face, out of some sort of pride?
A real coup attempt?
Trump would hire a lawyer who would commit fraud?
Trump ( or someone) is setting up Cohen, or vice-versa?

I don't yet know the answer, myself, but as you mentioned, lawyer-client privilege is a big deal, and to get a court to agree that it can be removed is a big deal.

[XenaLee]

Awesome show.  Between Billions and Sideways, Giamatti has the bitter man with a chip on his shoulder down.

 

[BassWrangler]

At the risk of sounding uninformed.... what crime was committed... what law was broken...

to justify this raid?

Anybody?

@XenaLee

Campaign finance laws. Trump has claimed he didn't pay off Stormy Daniels. We know she got $130,000 from Cohen. They will say that was an in-kind campaign contribution, way over the individual limit. Read Andrew McCarthy's recent column for more analysis.

[XenaLee]

Which I've also mentioned in one of my post.

Yet,Which seems most likely?
To believe that the FBI, DOJ, etc, would continue to shoot themselves in the foot?
That they would do this now to save face, out of some sort of pride?
A real coup attempt?
Trump would hire a lawyer who would commit fraud?
Trump ( or someone) is setting up Cohen, or vice-versa?

I don't yet know the answer, myself, but as you mentioned, lawyer-client privilege is a big deal, and to get a court to agree that it can be removed is a big deal.

The RLs are desperate.... they know at this point they can't cover their @sses on the FISA warrant fiasco... way too late for that.  So now they have to justify their past over-reaches by FINDING something.... anything... at this point, to pin on Trump. 

[GrouchoTex]

The RLs are desperate.... they know at this point they can't cover their @sses on the FISA warrant fiasco... way too late for that.  So now they have to justify their past over-reaches by FINDING something.... anything... at this point, to pin on Trump.

Could be......

[XenaLee]

@XenaLee

Campaign finance laws. Try Trump has claimed he didn't pay off Stormy Daniels. We know she got $130,000 from Cohen. They will say that was an on-line campaign contribution, way over the individual limit. Read Andrew McCarthy's recent column for more analysis.

They can say whatever they damned well please.   They already do, in fact.  The real question is...

can they prove it?

If the payment was not a campaign contribution, and if they can't prove that it was.... what law was actually broken?

[edpc]

Like the FISA warrant that started this whole crap ball rolling?

Sorry, but we can no longer rely on the integrity of a "a lot of eyes of it before you make a move like this".  Not when we know to whom those eyes belong and what they have accomplished thus far.  There has been an ongoing attempt to remove the duly elected President from before he won (remember the "insurance policy"?)  .... with all efforts orchestrated and coordinated through the highest levels of the DOJ, FBI and former administration.  The effort continues through this day.

Sorry, but nobody made Trump boff this chick, renege on promises, then have his lawyer make shady moves a decade later on the eve of the election, because she was a huge liability.  Cohen is on his way to receiving the 2018 Ogden Nash Award and he has no one to blame but himself.

[edpc]

They can say whatever they damned well please.   They already do, in fact.  The real question is...

can they prove it?

If the payment was not a campaign contribution, and if they can't prove that it was.... what law was actually broken?

It's the same scenario surrounding the payoffs and cover-up around John Edwards and Rielle Hunter.  What saved Edwards was the timing.  That could be Cohen's undoing, since it was two weeks before the election.  When Trump said he didn't know about the payment, it put Cohen in a tight spot.  He'll have to back the president up or contradict him.  Either way, it's a problem.

[catfish1957]

But the FBI couldn't find a crime with Hillarys emails.

The FBI is 100% corrupted.

Or Obama, who did much that could have landed him or his administration in prison.

Can you imagine the outrage if this had been toward Obama?

I am not. a DJT fan, but this perpetual witch hunt is wearing thin,

[Hoodat]

I am not. a DJT fan, but this perpetual witch hunt is wearing thin,

How big is Mueller's budget, and how close has he come to running out of money?