Directly contradicting White House lawyers, Trump says he’s considering firing Mueller.
Worth remembering: Trump has beaten four Grand Jury investigations, New Jersey casino regulators, plus sales tax fraud charges — and two income tax fraud trials that he lost.
“His history has always been that he could use his political connections and pressure to shut things down.” — Trump biographer David Cay Johnston (CNN)
This bigger than Mueller. Trumpsky is toast.
Reading the Wapo article that pogo linked to the OT, Trumpsky said he would’ve installed a different AG if he’d known Sessions was going to recuse himself. That’s as good as admitting guilt, too, isn’t it? He wanted someone who would make sure this Russia thing just went away…and Sessions pulled the rug out from under him.
Is there any sense of folks on Team Trump are finally starting to jump ship?
Question: What about attorney/client privilege with regard to Cohen’s files?
Trump’s next move? Take a vacation as allowed, if not encouraged, by the 25th Amendment to Our Constitution.
“Cornered animals are dangerous.”
bink & flatus, a wag the dog war. it will be yuuuge, across both oceans, domestic and foreign… declaration of martial law will be the icing on his yellow cake. Hollywood will be envious of the staging, the ranting and flair.
the “our country” in referring to the fbi raid on his personal atty as “an attack on our country” is the twit’s way of saying “Je suis l’État”
…Beware, ye Tyrants, of freedom’s fragile flower
For its thorns are sharp, and will one day bind you all
[John T Shillito]
ny times: Mueller Investigating Ukrainian’s $150,000 Payment for a Trump Appearance
WASHINGTON — The special counsel is investigating a payment made to President Trump’s foundation by a Ukrainian steel magnate for a talk during the campaign, according to three people briefed on the matter, as part of a broader examination of streams of foreign money to Mr. Trump and his associates in the years leading up to the election.
Investigators subpoenaed the Trump Organization this year for an array of records about business with foreign nationals. In response, the company handed over documents about a $150,000 donation that the Ukrainian billionaire, Victor Pinchuk, made in September 2015 to the Donald J. Trump Foundation in exchange for a 20-minute appearance by Mr. Trump that month through a video link to a conference in Kiev.
Michael D. Cohen, the president’s personal lawyer whose office and hotel room were raided on Monday in an apparently unrelated case, solicited the donation. The contribution from Mr. Pinchuk, who has sought closer ties for Ukraine to the West, was the largest the foundation received in 2015 from anyone besides Mr. Trump himself.
The subpoena is among signs in recent months that the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, is interested in interactions that Mr. Trump or his associates had with countries beyond Russia, though it is not clear what other payments he is scrutinizing.
Mr. Mueller also ordered the Trump Organization to turn over documents, emails and other communications about several Russians, including some whose names have not been publicly tied to Mr. Trump, according to the three people, who would not be named discussing the ongoing investigation. The identities of the Russians were unclear.
The payment from Mr. Pinchuk “is curious because it comes during a campaign and is from a foreigner and looks like an effort to buy influence,” said Marcus S. Owens, a former head of the Internal Revenue Service division that oversees tax-exempt organizations. He called the donation “an unusual amount of money for such a short speech.”
[…continues…]
Amid the boss’s anger? session’s run for the border…little man from justice coming to Las Cruces. Hide the pot!
Manafort was working out of the Squire, Patton & Boggs law offices, who just “HAPPEN” to be lawyers for Cambridge Analytica and lobbyists for Russia’s Gazprom oil company. This could get truly interesting.
The optics of trump and the entire junta and bolton sitting at the table yesterday while he coddled himself and complained about law and order. Finest military in the world? They looked like a bunch of corporate weenies. I was shocked.
mattis sat across from trump and he should have authorized that military parade…on the border here…killing two birds with one stone. Instead, we piss away millions on trump’s ego and iran, turkey, n. korea and russia continue to taunt the puppet while emperor xi runs the whole show with clean hands. Just as they planned…a minority of stupid American citizens voting for a digital hitler.
For you BiD…
Trump Tweet: Attorney-client privilege is dead!
http://www.msnbc.com/morning-joe/watch/trump-tweets-attorney-client-privilege-is-dead-1207233091844
Mueller Reportedly Investigating Ukraine Payment to Trump Foundation…
wilbur ross, commerce secretary, zoot suit wearer and a tired 80 year old man, saved trump’s casino business back in the day before the russians loaned trump even more money. Will wilbur be able to save the trump name now? will tariffs be the vehicle for redemption?
from the article (2016) —
Wilbur Ross became rich investing in faltering businesses like steel mills and coal mines, finding a fortune in blue-collar industries that others dismissed as beyond saving.
But before he was scooping up Rust Belt factories, the banker was sizing up another troubled asset: Donald Trump. More than two decades ago, Ross represented bondholders who were gunning for Trump after he failed to pay back the high-interest loans he had taken out to build his casino empire.
facebook back in time…2012, zuck’s visit to russia!
BiD, wiki does a nice job of explaining atty-client priv without the gobbledy gook jargon and legalese:
[…]
There are a number of exceptions to the privilege in most jurisdictions, chief among them:
the communication was made in the presence of individuals who were neither attorney nor client, or was disclosed to such individuals,
the communication was made for the purpose of committing a crime or tort,
the client has waived the privilege (for example by publicly disclosing the communication).
[…]
When the privilege may not apply[edit]
When an attorney is not acting primarily as an attorney but, for instance, as a business advisor, member of the Board of Directors, or in another non-legal role, then the privilege generally does not apply.[7]
The privilege protects the confidential communication, and not the underlying information. For instance, if a client has previously disclosed confidential information to a third party who is not an attorney, and then gives the same information to an attorney, the attorney–client privilege will still protect the communication to the attorney, but will not protect the communication with the third party.
The privilege may be waived if the confidential communications are disclosed to third parties.
Other limits to the privilege may apply depending on the situation being adjudicated.
Disclosure in case of a crime, tort, or fraud[edit]
The crime-fraud exception can render the privilege moot when communications between an attorney and client are themselves used to further a crime, tort, or fraud. In Clark v. United States, the US Supreme Court stated that “A client who consults an attorney for advice that will serve him in the commission of a fraud will have no help from the law. He must let the truth be told.”[8] The crime-fraud exception also does require that the crime or fraud discussed between client and attorney be carried out to be triggered.[9] US Courts have not yet conclusively ruled how little knowledge an attorney can have of the underlying crime or fraud before the privilege detaches and the attorney’s communications or requisite testimony become admissible.[10]
Disclosure ostensibly to support lawyer’s own interests[edit]
Lawyers may disclose confidential information relating to the retainer where they are reasonably seeking to collect payment for services rendered. This is justified on policy grounds. If lawyers were unable to disclose such information, many would undertake legal work only where payment is made in advance. This would arguably adversely affect the public’s access to justice.
Lawyers may also breach the duty where they are defending themselves against disciplinary or legal proceedings. A client who initiates proceedings against a lawyer effectively waives rights to confidentiality. This is justified on grounds of procedural fairness—a lawyer unable to reveal information relating to the retainer would be unable to defend themselves against such action.
[….]
pompeo pretends to broker peace in n.korea before trump’s meeting with kim — meeting may be delayed until June.
The invitation to the Russian foreign minister comes amid a diplomatic outreach by Pyongyang ahead of a series of historic summits on the Korean Peninsula.
Kim is scheduled to meet with South Korean President Moon Jae-in on April 27, the first meeting between the leaders of the divided Koreas in a decade.
Meanwhile, US officials said a meeting between the North Korean leader and US President Donald Trump is being planned for late May or early June.
In a surprising move ahead of the summits, Kim traveled personally to Beijing in a secret visit to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping on March 27, the first time the young ruler has met a Chinese leader publicly.
Ri’s visit to Moscow this week included talks on “resolving the situation on the Korean Peninsula,” according to TASS, less than a month after he paid an unannounced visit to Sweden.
“The North Korean regime likely wants to show that not only does it have support but make a show of building support from these high-level visits,” retired US ambassador William Courtney told CNN earlier.
Now Bossert the Homeland Security Advisor has resigned. I wonder if he did a swan dive off the sinking ship?
Holy barrel bombs! Last year after the brave syrian tomahawk missile strike? mattis claimed 20% of the syrian aircraft were destroyed in US raid.
The US airstrike on Syria’s Shayrat airbase Friday destroyed about 20% of the Syrian government’s operational aircraft, Secretary of Defense James Mattis claimed in a statement Monday.
“The Syrian government has lost the ability to refuel or rearm aircraft at Shayrat airfield and at this point, use of the runway is of idle military interest,” Mattis said, describing the strike as a “measured response.”
“The Syrian government would be ill-advised ever again to use chemical weapons,” Mattis said.
Post-WW-2, Russia, followed by China, was the guarantor of DPRK independence. Kim’s validating these relationships now is key to any reduction in his nuclear programs. I see his visits as being a positive step as neither Russia nor China want nukes in Korea.
bossert’s lackluster defence on abc this weekend must have displeased his boss.
yawn…world domination, no more.
BOSSERT: Well, I think the president’s got a point that’s been very clear, and I’m going to reiterate that point. The pendulum has swung in the wrong direction for too long and the United States of America has been take advantage of in their responsibility to provide security for the entire world.
It is time to move that pendulum back in a way that brings regional partners and others with equities in these matters all around the globe into putting their resources and their treasure and their boys and girls on the line, and not just American troops.
American troops aren’t going to fix the six or seven different ongoing conflicts and wars going on in the Middle East or in Syria at this stage. We need regional partnership increased and we need U.S. presence decreased.
It was russia and china that gave us the nuclear proliferation on the korean peninsula…they should clean it up. To pretend that trump brought this on? More pr trash like that pile of phony papers trump displayed during a presser. The puppet trump is being given a gift by russia and china as they created this nuclear kerfuffle. Crisis created, crisis solved. More deflections and trump shtick to avoid seeing how we have been played by the bad guys.
trump still has not named an ambassador to s.korea.
pompeo, like tillerson, running a bare bones state dept. for his boss.
pompeo asks for advice from hillary.
Old tea bagger needs help —
As a sharply partisan Republican member of Congress, CIA Director Mike Pompeo tormented former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton over her response to the deadly 2012 attacks in Benghazi, Libya, which Pompeo called “morally reprehensible.” He also once liked a tweet that branded her successor, John Kerry, a “traitor.”
The blue wave machine continues….a huge tsunami is needed to wash away the trumpswamp. We most likely will be stuck with the trumpence junta for 3 years…but, if they have not weakened our foundation too much? We will survive this attack by china and russia and be free of the junta and congrussians by 2019 – 2020. The damage and cost to the US? trumpian huge.
Jerome Corsi is back, he of swiftboat load of crap has written a book about the deep state (FBI) conspiracy to take down Trump. SFB will have to be dragged out of the Whitehouse he will never admit to anything
Can Mueller flip Cohen? US gymnastics at its best.
The “crime-fraud” exception. That fits. Thanks pat & rr.
Sen Tammy Baldwin looked faintly nauseous this morning when talking about being a passenger on SFB’s Train of Though
SFB is still talking about Hillary Clinton – and as usual in a factless and feckless manner. But using his false statements to support the idea that there is a conspiracy against him
Hmmmm next move? Order large boxes of depends
Hulu makes you pay if you don’t want ads —
ny times via msn:
Raid on Trump’s Lawyer Sought Records of Payments to Women
Pompeo Asks Advice From Hillary – Politico via Ms Wino
pompeo’s memory loss makes him unfit to serve.
one of my law professors had a succinct definition for the crime-fraud exception: If your client tells you he committed murder it’s privileged. If he tells you he plans to commit murder, it’s not.
I view attorney client privilege simply – if the client tells me something or I tell the client something in the context of our attorney-client relationship and no one else is is the room, it’s privileged. If the client asks advice about doing something I know is illegal I don’t advise the client and inform the client why I can’t. In my business it is very common for clients to bring family members into consultations, meetings, etc., and I always tell them that if the family member remains in the room that nothing we say is protected by A-C P if they are asked what I told them. That’s about it. As to waiver of the privilege, that’s usually something that happens after the communication and that gets looked at on a case by case basis. Luckily, waiver arguments are rare.
My Team noticing Mr Zuckerberg is his own worst enemy.
Remember the Beauty Queen from South Carolina who answered the question about world peace or starving kids or kids from the world wanting to eat a piece of cake in peace & quiet & how she went on & on & gobbledygook Mr Gumby my head hurts nyuk nyuk nyuk woo woo woo & Ronald Reagan is my hero?
IMy Team will get back to you.(Sure bet Ford loved the comparison comment from Lindsay Graham, who comes across as someone who would be a delightful cocktail party guest. Oh gossip, I know where the bodies are buried & who’s zoomin’ who. Pass the Lipton French Onion Dip, please.)
Tease.
Whskyjack & his better half give unselfishly of themselves to help their neighbors while Zuckerberg glips & glides like a slippery eel to protect his bazillions as his monster baby Facebook sells democracy & freedom down the sewer.
You like?
So glad I never fell into the Facebook cultists. Those I want to contact me know how to. Howdy.
WITCH HUNT!
Hunt this, President Trump.
We are the majority. Let’s act like it.
The Raid sought records of payments to women. Human trafficking ? What about trafficking boys ? Did mike pence participate ? Did mcconnell or ryan participate ? Did gorsuch and alito ? The 1st Stripper ?
In honor of xrepublican I should have spelled bazillions as BAZ!LL!ONS! in that former comment.
A day in the office is effective for not keeping up on what happens during the day. At least SFB did not go nuclear option and fire Rosenstein today.
Which is the bigger danger:
President Trump, whose instability is the most stable thing about him & attention span lasts about one second
or
Vice President Pence, who has an agenda years built & honed + the friends & relieved enemies who would gladly push through said outlook pronto? Pence could turbocharge Republican destruction of government simply because he isn’t Trump.
Ah, a puzzlement.
To a new world of gods & monsters!
Is John Kasich’s bigger obstacle Pence rather than Trump if he chooses to challenge the incumbents in 2020?
sjwny, this may be a case of mr z meets ms karma. bet the winklevoss twins are chuckling over their sherries right now. here’s a blurb from a 2012 story on the threesome by the guardian:
Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, former Olympic rowers and identical twins, have consistently claimed that Zuckerberg stole the idea for Facebook from them. But thanks to a 2008 settlement, they are now in line for a share in the company’s fortunes.
Facebook on Wednesday announced that it plans to go public in an initial public offering (IPO) that could value the company at $100bn. The twins are believed to have been given 1.2m shares to settle their claim, which could now be worth $300m.
Quite whether it will be compensation enough is difficult to tell. Last year the Winklevosses disputed the settlement and asked for more money, but their claim was dismissed. The fiercely competitive twins’ share in the Facebook fortune is a tiny fraction compared to the potential $28bn Zuckerberg could be worth thanks to his 28% stake in the firm.
Nor will it expunge their portrayal in David Fincher’s hit movie The Social Network. The twins originally hired Zuckerberg to work on a dating site for them while at Harvard. When they fell out with him over the creation of Facebook, the twins tried to get former US Treasury secretary Larry Summers, then Harvard president, to intervene.
this should send a chill down a few spines
Buzzfeed:
Mark Zuckerberg Said That Robert Mueller Has Interviewed Facebook Staff As Part Of The Russia Probe
“Our work with the special counsel is confidential,” Zuckerberg testified at the Senate
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg testified Monday that Special Counsel Robert Mueller has interviewed Facebook staff as part of his probe into Russia’s interference in the 2016 presidential election.
Responding to a question by Vermont Sen. Patrick Leahy, Zuckerberg said people at Facebook were interviewed by the special counsel’s office, but that he personally had not been interviewed.
“And I want to be careful here,” Zuckerberg said during a joint hearing held by the Senate Judiciary and Commerce committees. “Because our work with the special counsel is confidential and I want to make sure in an open session I’m not revealing something that’s confidential.”He said that he was not aware of any subpoenas that Facebook may have received, but said, “I believe there may be. But I know we are working with them.”
The special counsel’s office declined to comment.
Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who is overseeing Mueller’s work, has previously said, “we received exceptional cooperation from private sector companies like Facebook, Oath, PayPal, and Twitter.”
BTW… Craig quotes David Kay Johnston… who is a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist. I’ve read his book “The Making of Donald Trump”… it’s excellent and I highly recommend it.
David Cay Johnston appeared often on Countdown with Keith Olbermann – an excellent, informative guest.
Family on the West coast & co-workers (including one who is Asian & became a citizen about ten years ago) are complaining that Mueller is wasting money & fake news, fake news, fake news. I told em to stop watching Fox. Most are over 60, so my hope is with the Millennials.
Happy Be Kind to Lawyers Day! (You know who you are.)
Something to ponder: Because Rosenstein involved in Comey firing and Sessions recused Mueller has no boss. Let’s roll.
“Let’s roll”
craig, heads? hopefully not ron’s or bobby’s
Trump considering firing Rosenstein to check Mueller
(CNN)President Donald Trump is considering firing Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, multiple people familiar with the discussions tell CNN, a move that has gained urgency following the raid of the office of the President’s personal lawyer.
Such an action could potentially further Trump’s goal of trying to put greater limits on special counsel Robert Mueller.
This is one of several options — including going so far as to fire Attorney General Jeff Sessions — Trump is weighing in the aftermath of the FBI’s decision Monday to raid the office of Michael Cohen, the President’s personal lawyer and longtime confidant. Officials say if Trump acts, Rosenstein is his most likely target, but it’s unclear whether even such a dramatic firing like this would be enough to satisfy the President.
[….continues….]
SFB is on the obstruction train. I don’t understand how anyone could think that firing the people who are investigating you is not obstruction of justice.
BTW, collusion my ass.