47 thoughts on “Vote Republican = Vote Putin”

  1. the guardian:  

    Manafort juror says ‘one holdout’ kept jury from convicting on all counts

     
    The jury in the trial of Paul Manafort would have convicted the former Trump campaign chairman on all 18 criminal charges if not for one juror who had questions about the reasonable doubt standard of guilt, a juror told Fox News on Wednesday.
     
    “There was one holdout,” the juror in the trial, Paula Duncan, said in an interview. We all tried to convince her to look at the paper trail. We laid it out in front of her again and again and she still said that she had a reasonable doubt.“
    […]
    “We didn’t want it to be hung so we tried for an extended period of time to convince her. But in the end she held out and that’s why we have 10 counts that did not get a verdict,” she said.
     
    Duncan said she was speaking out to inform the public and that she was not concerned about her safety. Ellis said that he had received threats and he has not released juror names, citing worries about their safety.
     
    “I thought that the public, America, needed to know how close this was and the evidence was overwhelming,” she said.
    Duncan said she was a Trump supporter and wanted to believe that Manafort was innocent. She noted that even his critics had described him as a brilliant political consultant and that Trump had trusted him with overseeing his campaign.
     
    “I did not want Paul Manafort to be guilty. But he was and no one is above the law.“
    […]
    Duncan said the deliberations were heated at times, leading some jurors to tears at one point, but that politics did not influence their decision-making.
     
    “I think we all went in there like we were supposed to and assumed that Mr Manafort was innocent. We did due diligence, we applied the evidence, our notes, the witnesses and we came out with guilty verdicts on the eight counts,” she said.

  2. wapo:  

    […]
    The charging documents allege that Pecker and his company, American Media Inc., owner of the National Enquirer, were more deeply and deliberately involved in the effort to help the Trump campaign than was previously known. AMI also played a key role in the effort to silence adult-film star Stormy Daniels, prosecutors allege.
     
    Pecker and AMI did not respond to requests for comment Wednesday. Nor did Cohen or his attorney.
     
    The documents do not name many of the individuals involved other than Cohen, but their identities are clear from the descriptions and what is publicly known of the events in question.
     
    Prosecutors said their evidence includes records seized from AMI.
     
    Details of AMI’s involvement in the Trump campaign have been leaking out for months, and the publisher’s effort to buy the rights to former Playboy model Karen McDougal’s story of an affair with Trump has been challenged in open court. But Cohen’s plea to campaign finance and other violations offered striking new insights about AMI’s role in the Daniels case.
    […]

    “The Cohen information vindicates what we said from Day 1: AMI is a corporate shill posing as a media organization,” said Peter Stris, the attorney who represented McDougal in her lawsuit against AMI this year. “It worked secretly with Michael Cohen to illegally silence Karen McDougal on Trump’s behalf. And that should deeply trouble all Americans, regardless of their politics.”

  3. politicususa:
    Rachel Maddow explained on Wednesday that while Michael Cohen may have pleaded guilty on Tuesday, he still isn’t finished doing legal damage to Donald Trump.
     
    The MSNBC host explained that today’s news that Cohen was issued a subpoena as part of a probe into the Trump Foundation could spell more trouble not just for the president but for his children.
     
    Maddow explained how eager Cohen was to respond to the subpoena and said the news “could end up being a very serious matter for not just Trump’s charity and the president himself but also for his three eldest children.”
    She added that he wouldn’t be able to pardon them either, given the fact that it’s a lawsuit at the state level.

    [….continues…]

  5. Republican does mean Putin now.  The greedy old perverts are no longer hiding their connection to Putin, they are blatant in their actions.  The speaker travels to Moscow and returns with new orders from Putin. That should have been screaming headline news, with all that SFB has caused it rates a sentence on the comics page.

    Only a few more days until campaign season starts and America wakes up to voting time.  In Maryland the governor is already running ads touting his trumpian world – even though his meme is he is not a trumpian.  Makes me sick that there are dems supporting him.

  7. Im trying not to get too wound-up with all of this political (great aint it ) stuff right now…its like emotional vampire-ism…but just cant help it a little….

    I would like ot  suggest that Nancy Pelosi take just a little bit of that huge corporate cash that she brags about….that she …..in her own words is even better raising than most republicans…and spend it on getting control of the Senate…..the dems need to concentrate of all things possible……but will she do something that is not directly helping herself……..

    Connect each and every one of those Republicans to the treasons ouse potus….especially that flea-head Rand Paul for going over to talk to Put in personally (how hard can it be to call him a traitor now)……I expect that now that Trump is in real trouble…..that the Ds will start getting some back bone……Lanny Davis was great on fox…dems should watch and learn…..Ocasio was great answering Chris Coumos q uestion about “where are we going to get the money to pay for health care for all….and all of the other things that she….and that the dems have been saying that they want for years……they should all watch and learn…..matter of fact….get all of these old Vampire Democrats out and let in some fresh blood young ones in…….what we got to lose…????????  our country…….Israel owns it already….maybe new take over dems can get it back for us……..just finished doing some body work on my new seld build motor home yesterday…never painted a veichle before…but going to  try it wit h what they  call rapt or psint….its acutally a bed liner paint for the bed of pick up trks……..will take pics and share of Stugs pic day……lot of work to do for the dems NOW….but will they sit and wait it all out, hope for the best and come up short as always……later

     

     

  8. Im trying not to get too wound-up with all of this political (great aint it ) stuff right now…its like emotional vampire-ism…but just cant help it a little….

    I would like ot  suggest that Nancy Pelosi take just a little bit of that huge corporate cash that she brags about….that she …..in her own words is even better raising than most republicans…and spend it on getting control of the Senate…..the dems need to concentrate of all things possible……but will she do something that is not directly helping herself……..

    Connect each and every one of those Republicans to the treasons ouse potus….especially that flea-head Rand Paul for going over to talk to Put in personally (how hard can it be to call him a traitor now)……I expect that now that Trump is in real trouble…..that the Ds will start getting some back bone……Lanny Davis was great on fox…dems should watch and learn…..Ocasio was great answering Chris Coumos q uestion about “where are we going to get the money to pay for health care for all….and all of the other things that she….and that the dems have been saying that they want for years……they should all watch and learn…..matter of fact….get all of these old Vampire Democrats out and let in some fresh blood young ones in…….what we got to lose…????????  our country…….Israel owns it already….maybe new take over dems can get it back for us……..just finished doing some body work on my new seld build motor home yesterday…never painted a vehicle before…but going to  try it wit h what they  call rapt or paint….its actually a bed liner paint for the bed of pick up trks……..will take pics and share of Stugs pic day……lot of work to do for the dems NOW….but will they sit and wait it all out, hope for the best and come up short as always……later

    Renee, I posted a message for you when you posted a pic with you and that other babe (niece) to say hola…….say hola good wishes to you and Rick Rick…..sorry….but the way to stay healthy…is to change the diet…..mostly organic, and herbs, super food powders….and the like…along with …..try a lite version of a very easy to do yoga called the 5 Tibetans (it works for the health of your eternal organs and gland….once a day will keep the Dr away…….yeah yeah i know…..you dont like to be told anything……..sue me U good friend with the Pogo…..but he cant….he is still the vp of the lunch club (still have the ….Signed papers )…..conflict of interest……….later spidey gal.

     

     

  9. Bink, the way I read the article is that the distinction Volokh made was between those who were convicted based on legitimate evidence or would have been based on the apparent evidence but the pardons were issued despite that evidence, in which case Burdick would apply, and people who were convicted but evidence exonerating them emerged or was suppressed or the sentence didn’t fit the crime and a commutation was granted, in which case guilt is not an issue. That said, Volokh’s opinions are seldom evenhanded, and they always lean right. And his last paragraph is a backtrack from his acknowledgment of the language in Burdick.

  10. solar, just for you a story in the des moines register about your favorite abogado:

    4 things Michael Avenatti said in Des Moines (and 4 things Iowans said about him)
    Michael Avenatti, the attorney representing adult film actress Stormy Daniels in her lawsuit against President Donald Trump, made another visit to Iowa Wednesday as he explores a possible run for president.
    The lawyer-turned-cable-news-regular toured Marshalltown, which was recently struck by a tornado, with state Rep. Mark Smith, D-Marshalltown, and spoke to about 30 people at a reception for the County Iowa Democratic Elected Officials Association at the Iowa State Association of Counties Annual Conference. He is scheduled to attend a luncheon with county elected officials in Des Moines on Thursday.
    [….]
    What Michael Avenatti said:
    1. ‘The question in 2020 is not who would make the best president’
    “In 2016, the Democratic Party ran, in my view, the most qualified candidate to ever seek the office of the presidency of the United States. Ever. … But the question in 2020 is not who would make the best president of the United States. … The question is, ‘Can the individual beat Donald Trump?’ And as a party we need to be really, really honest with ourselves and each other when we answer that question.”
    2. ‘I will not run’ if Trump and Pence aren’t on the ballot
    “If Donald Trump resigns and does not run, and if Mike Pence does not run and resigns … I will not run. So people that say that this is about me wanting to become president of the United States or about ego or anything else, that’s just simply not true.”
    3. ‘We should have fought like hell’ on Merrick Garland
    “We should have fought like hell to get an up-down vote on Judge Garland for the U.S. Supreme Court, and we didn’t. … I would have shut the government down if I (wasn’t) getting an up-down vote. … I would have gone on a 50-state tour. I would have worked morning, noon and night and drummed up support among the American people to give me that up or down vote. I would have done any number of things. What I would not have done was sat back and allow the Republicans to effectively steal the seat and ultimately install their pick after the election.”
    4. ‘I’m not going to accept any corporate PAC dollars’
    “In the event that I decide to run, I’m not going to accept any corporate PAC dollars. I know some others that are thinking about running have said the same thing. But here’s the other thing I’m going to say: Anybody that runs for the presidency of the United States should refund any corporate PAC dollars they’ve received since January 1, 2016. It’s not enough to be a Johnny-come-lately on the issue … ”
    [….continues…]

  11. requoting in case you missed it

    avenatti:

    “If Donald Trump resigns and does not run, and if Mike Pence does not run and resigns … I will not run. “

  12. and for all the anti-Nancy fans, here’s a repeat from a guardian story:
    Nancy Pelosi has a simple message for Democrats running for Congress this fall: “Just win, baby.”
     
    The House minority leader said Democrats running in conservative House districts across the country should do what they must to win – including running against her.
    “I think if they have to do that to win the election, I’m all for winning,” Pelosi said in an interview with Politico Playbook on Tuesday. “I think many of them are saying we need new leadership. I don’t take offense at that.”

  13. Bink, and finally, Volohk’s speculation about what a judge would consider the effect of a pardon is the equivalent of IMPOTUS’ “Squirrel” comments talking about irrelevant shit when bad shit about him comes out to change the subject. Judges have no role in pardons and what they think is irrelevant to the effect of a pardon.

  14. bink & pogo, I don’t yet have the cite, but it’s my understanding that if a prez deigns to pardon you you’re pardoned whether you accept it or not.    the question of guilt or innocence notwithstanding.

  15. Patd…..thanks for the info in the Avenger-Avenatti……I think that he should and will run regardless……he like the spot lite too much now not to run….But the real reason the he should run….is that with the like of Trump and Avanetti……..it will open the doors for any one to run for potus….not just the crime familys….that have all the cash……and if you take the money out of politics….just like the new bloods want….(Campaign Finance Reform ….is the way save it all)….then “ANY one can grow up to be POTUS”….even…..and yes still in the Cosmic vibrations business….i will have a little post for you on friday night……just before we go dancing……dress up we going someplace special….and as always….shoes are optional…………later

     

  16. Patd, read the wiki on Burdick. Burdick said the intended recipient could refuse the pardon. If you’re masochistic you can read the opinion.

    Burdick also clarified the judge’s role in a pardon situation in the course of ongoing litigation – it is to hear the acknowledgment and acceptance or rejection of the pardon and proceed to dismiss or proceed, respectively.

  18. If one is not guilty of a crime that he/she was wrongly convicted, a pardon does not provide a route to justice.

  19. Go back to the Inquisition. All one had to do to escape a horrific death was convert to Catholicism. At what cost in the scheme of things??

  20. Flatus, no disagreement there. The only thing a pardon does is stop the punishment and restore constitutional rights. USLegal has a good discussion.

  21. …and hey, would I convert to Catholicism rather than suffer the consequences of the inquisitors’ torture?  In a heartbeat.  A few Hail Marys and crossing myself rather than starvation, boiling oil forced into nether orifices, burning at the stake, etc… seems like a no brainer.

  22. Pogo, thanks for the interesting discussion in USLegal.

    In re conversions, please consider these exemplars: The Vietnamese monks who self-immolated rather than be forced into Catholicism under the sick government that we were supporting when we took over from the French. Or patriots such as McCain who suffered horrendous torture while resisting their captors to the best of their abilities. Their actions were pursuant to the Code of Conduct.

  25. I want to know did Michael Cohen go to Prague and pay off Russian hackers?

  28. Lanny Davis says Cohen was never in Prague.  Mickey C says he was never in Prague…except for the time he said he went to Prague 14 years ago.

    It should be easy enough to figure out.  It is said he entered Prague through Germany (darned EU open borders), so what’s his trail in Germany?  Time gaps?  Prolly security footage at train stations, etc., if there no digital footprints in the sand from burner phones, prepaid cards or cash.

  29. kgc & BiD, so maybe mikey only went to a town down the road from prague.

     

    pogo, thanks for the burdick synopsis.  this helped clarify somethings:
    There are substantial differences between legislative immunity and a pardon; the latter carries an imputation of guilt and acceptance of a confession of it, while the former is noncommittal, and tantamount to silence of the witness.
     
    There is a distinction between amnesty and pardon; the former overlooks the offense, and is usually addressed to crimes against the sovereignty of the state and political offenses, the latter remits punishment and condones infractions of the peace of the state.

  30. daily beast:

    National Enquirer Publisher David Pecker Granted Immunity in Cohen Investigation

    Federal prosecutors have granted immunity to David Pecker, CEO of American Media, Inc., as part of the investigation into Trump’s former personal attorney, Michael Cohen, The Wall Street Journal reports. Pecker has reportedly “met with prosecutors and shared details about payments” Cohen made “in an effort to silence two women who alleged sexual encounters with” Trump—including the president’s “knowledge of the deals.” AMI is the publisher of the National Enquirer, and the company’s executives were reportedly involved in the payoffs of adult film star Stormy Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal—who both claim they had affairs with Trump. Daniels was paid $130,000 from Cohen’s shell company and later reimbursed by Trump. McDougal’s story was bought by the Enquirer for $150,000 in a deal that was reportedly brokered by Cohen. Dylan Howard, chief content officer of American Media, has also been indicted by prosecutors but “won’t be criminally charged in the Cohen investigation.” This comes after The Daily Beast reported that Pecker, who is a longtime friend of Trump and Cohen, went into a “state of calculated retreat” after the FBI raided Cohen. Cohen was convicted on Tuesday on campaign finance, bank and tax fraud charges. He told he court that he was directed to make payments to two women before the 2016 election at he direction of the Trump.

  31. the hill:
    The decision of President Trump’s former longtime lawyer Michael Cohen to plead guilty to multiple fraud charges and campaign finance law violations reportedly came after a conversation he had with his father earlier this year, who said he did not survive the Holocaust to have his name “sullied” by Trump.
     

     
    The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday that a person familiar with the conversation said the exchange prompted Cohen, who once said he would “take a bullet” for the president, to break with Trump.
    Maurice Cohen, a Polish Holocaust survivor, reportedly urged his son not to protect Trump and said that he did not survive the Holocaust to have his name “sullied” by the president, a person familiar with the conversation told the Journal.
    […continues…]

  32. mediaite:

    Morning Joe Gets Heated: Michael Cohen ‘Wrapping Himself in the Holocaust’ to Explain Situation
    Morning Joe‘s hosts on Thursday clashed over a report that Michael Cohen flipped on President Donald Trump because of urging from his father, a Holocaust survivor.
     
    The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday that Cohen’s “father urged him not to protect the president, saying he didn’t survive the Holocaust to have his name sullied by Mr. Trump.” Earlier this week, Cohen implicated the president when he pleaded guilty to a slew of felonies, including bank fraud and campaign finance crimes.
    MSNBC’s Donny Deutsch, a friend of Cohen’s, said on Morning Joe that after Charlottesville, the lawyer began receiving texts accusing him of “standing by as they’re putting jews in the oven.”
     
    “That shook him to his core,” Deutsch said, adding this was after Charlottesville, when Cohen was still “standing by” the president.
     
    “I have a lot of problems with somebody wrapping themselves in the Holocaust in order to justify their own behaviors,” Commentary magazine’s Noah Rothman fired back at Deutsch.
     
    “He was not — ” Deutsch protested. “You’re not hearing what I’m saying.”
    “This guy spent quite a bit of time lobbying the president and the press to pay his legal bills, threatening to talk to Mueller,” Rothman said. “His moral righteousness, I have questions about.”
     
    Deutsch further explained, that “As a Jew and as a man, when Charlottesville happened and that basically people were attacking Michael… he was deeply, deeply moved and offended as anyone would be.”
     
    Mika Brzezinski was less generous to Cohen, noting the lawyer “pleaded guilty to breaking the law repeatedly.”
    “So for him to all of a sudden see the light, it’s just a little far-fetched, don’t think think?” she said. “He knew all along that the president was crooked — because he broke the law for him!”

  33. cnn:

    Attorney General Jeff Sessions fired back at President Donald Trump Thursday afternoon, after Trump said he “never took control” of the Justice Department.

    “I took control of the Department of Justice the day I was sworn in, which is why we have had unprecedented success at effectuating the President’s agenda — one that protects the safety and security and rights of the American people, reduces violent crime, enforces our immigration laws, promotes economic growth, and advances religious liberty,” Sessions said in a statement.
    “While I am Attorney General, the actions of the Department of Justice will not be improperly influenced by political considerations. I demand the highest standards, and where they are not met, I take action. However, no nation has a more talented, more dedicated group of law enforcement investigators and prosecutors than the United States.”
    “I am proud to serve with them and proud of the work we have done in successfully advancing the rule of law,” he added.
     

  34. Bink, everything in the law is always up for debate. Everything is subject to argument – especially when the “clearest” treatment of the subject we’re debating is 103 years old.

  35. I wonder if Cohen’s answer will be the same now that he has pled guilty

  36. Flatus, I’m no monk and I’m no McCain-  and I’m talking about saving my own ass, unlike McCain and monks who were engaging enemies and acting for the protection of others. Change the context and my answer might be different. And we’re talking about expressing a false act of belief in religion – about which I hold little regard.

    RR,  exactly. The judge is acting consistently with the Burdick decision.

  38. Lanny Davis said Cohen has never been in Prague.  That’s not true.  Cohen admitted he had been in Prague but not recently.

  39. some interesting legal jeopardy discussed in this afternoon’s report on pecker immunity in

    the guardian:

    David Pecker, chief executive of the company that publishes the National Enquirer, the tabloid magazine involved in hush-money deals to women ahead of the 2016 US presidential election, was granted immunity by federal prosecutors as part of the investigation into Donald Trump’s former personal lawyer Michael Cohen, it emerged on Thursday.

    Pecker met with prosecutors to describe the involvement of Cohen and Trump in payoffs to women who alleged affairs in the past with the president, the Wall Street Journal reported. Pecker, a longtime friend of Trump, was initially subpoenaed by federal investigators four months ago.

    […]
    According to prosecutors, AMI advised Cohen throughout the course of the campaign, leading to the purchase of the Daniels and McDougal stories “so as to suppress them and prevent them from influencing the election”.
     
    Prosecutors continued that Pecker, AMI’s CEO, helped “deal with negative stories about [Trump’s] relationships with women by, among other things, assisting the campaign in identifying such stories so they could be purchased and their publication avoided”.
    [….]
    Trevor Potter, former Republican chairman of the Federal Election Commission (FEC) and current CLC president, told the New York Times that AMI could now be in legal jeopardy. Such activity “is not like the action of a media company deciding what to cover and exercising editorial judgment”, Potter said.
     
    “Cohen says they entered into an agreement with Trump and his campaign to use corporate money to squelch information detrimental to Trump’s election. That presents a serious legal problem for AMI.”
     
    In a follow-up statement on the CLC website, Potter added: “If Trump himself knowingly and willfully violated the law, or engaged in or directed a conspiracy to do so, he too could be facing criminal penalties.”
     
    But Pecker’s apparent decision to corroborate Cohen’s account is an important loss for the president, who had long relied on Pecker as a key media ally.
    [….]

    But according to a source at AMI who spoke to Vanity Fair, Pecker and Trump’s relationship soured and the friends have not spoken in roughly eight months. The National Enquirer editor, Dylan Howard, also reportedly granted immunity by federal prosecutors, is particularly angry at Trump.

  40. nbc news: Did Trump just inadvertently admit to violating federal law?

     

    In an interview with Fox News Thursday morning, President Donald Trump said the payments that his former lawyer, Michael Cohen, admitted making to Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal were not illegal.
    “They weren’t campaign finance,” he said. “They came from me,” adding, “They didn’t come out of the campaign.”
    Does it matter that Trump paid the two women out of his own pocket, rather than using campaign funds? Yes, but it raises the possibility that he committed a campaign finance law violation — failure to report a campaign expense — that’s different than the one to which Cohen pleaded guilty in federal court on Tuesday.
    […]
    In the case of McDougal, Cohen pleaded guilty to encouraging American Media, publisher of the supermarket tabloid National Enquirer, to pay McDougal $150,000 to keep quiet. That violated two campaign-finance laws: one that makes it illegal for a corporation to give money directly to a campaign, and another that limits how much any individual can contribute.
    The Daniels case is different. If Trump had paid the money to her directly, that would not necessarily be illegal, if it had been accounted for correctly. A candidate can contribute any amount of money to his own campaign. But all such contributions have to be publicly reported as campaign expenditures, and the Daniels payment, which Trump clearly did not want disclosed, was not reported.
    [….continues…]

  42. Anyone see the pic of the holdout juror?  Reasonable doubt my ass. The MAGA cap gave her away.

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