I don't see DJTs problem with the Cohen raid

[Algernon Moncrieff]

Seriously, i don't.

Let's go back a few days to the impromptu interview on AF1. DJT was asked whether he knew about the payment to Daniels by Cohen, and he said "no." We all over here at DU assume he's lying, and he well might be. But consider that he never signed the NDA under the assumed name, and now he says he didn't authorize the payment. If all this is true ( and I suppose it could be), Cohen entered into an agreement without his client's consent. Depending on how the funds were sourced by Cohen, there could be charges there as well.

No matter how much I liked my attorney, I'd be pissed off if s/he had entered into an agreement on my behalf without my consent, and I'd be pretty supportive not only of disbarment, but of investigation by law enforcement.

In all seriousness - if Cohen (for example) took campaign money without DJTs knowledge to pay off Ms Daniels, he acted against DJTs interest. The investigation is actually doing the President a favor.

[Wounded Bear]

1. I suspect that Cohen knows (figuratively, of course) where the bodies are buried...

He's been working for Trump for 10 years. He was an executive officer in Trump's company.

Trump is scared for good reason. Mueller and the FBI are about to rip the veil back and expose the whole Trump financial empire.

Late edit: Oh, and about the Stormy Daniels NDA...something that Steve Bannon said once: "There were hundreds of women like that." Hundreds is probably an exaggeration, but it wouldn't surprise me if there were quite a few more out there whose NDAs might be compromised if Cohen goes down.

[Algernon Moncrieff]

6. Dozens seems plausible

[Skittles]

2. the idea that Cohen paid off Stormy without the knowledge of Trump is ridiculous

of course they tried to make it look like he didn't know but what lawyer pays their own money to cover a sex scandal for a client?

[CatMor]

4. I agree....

no way can I believe any lawyer would pay someone off without the consent of their client, specially using their own money.

[Skittles]

21. not to mention Trump would have been screaming about the CROOKED LAWYER

[Algernon Moncrieff]

5. I think it's unlikely, but I can see an "arms length" scenario

Someone lower on the food chain - Don Jr. for example - knew there was a problem; told Cohen to "fix it quietly"; and told Cohen to keep DJT out of it. The clear understanding being that if Cohen gets caught, he falls on his sword. We'll see if he does that. If he pleads out quietly and otherwise keeps his mouth shut, he goes to Club Fed, gets out in 6 months, and Trump pardons him

[Wounded Bear]

7. That may be true...

but the FBI just grabbed a huge stash of documents. Quite possibly, that might make Cohen himself irrelevant.

[Algernon Moncrieff]

14. Indeed it might.

And as long as the documents don't contain privileged communication between Trump & Cohen, they are fair game. I suspect any privileged communication would be struck immediately as inadmissible.

[dalton99a]

12. +1. Trump is a notorious micromanager and a control freak

[manor321]

3. No

There is NO WAY this unannounced raid of a President's lawyer's office and residence is only due to one $130,000 payment to an adult film star.

This raid doesn't happen unless there is much more than that.

[Wounded Bear]

10. Yeah, like I said in reply #1...

Cohen has been with Trump for 10 years. I lay dollars to donuts he knows shit that Trump does not want to go public.

[misanthrope]

17. Hence Trump's body language during his on camera rant today

He looked ready to pop.

[Wounded Bear]

18. Yeah, when he crosses his arms and gets that Mussolini look on his face...

you know he's feeling cornered.

[misanthrope]

20. Yeah, and in addition to the crossed arms

he pulled in his shoulders and head. I've seen the same posture in pouting children ready to throw a fit.

[Skittles]

22. which is why Trump insists Cohen is a GOOD MAN

when it is quite obvious to everyone Cohen is both corrupt and stupid

[Wounded Bear]

23. To Trump, loyalty is everything...

That means personal loyalty to him, which is why he hates real patriots. He doesn't know how to deal with someone who is not wholly self-interested and the only strategy he knows to influence them is bullying and intimidation. Self interested people can be bought.

[Algernon Moncrieff]

11. I'll tell you what - if I were DJT, that's how I'd play it for now

Otherwise, he tends to look guilty. Right now, he can say this is exactly consistent with events. A payment he never authorized and an NDA he never signed.

The problem with that, of course, is it frees Ms. Daniels to talk. That might be the lesser evil from Trumps perspective.

[Exotica]

13. MUCH MORE

They would never do a high-risk move like this (ACP violation putting the investigation at risk to a point) without a massively good reason, nor would Rosenstein sign off on it.

[jberryhill]

16. Agreed. Cohen has been involved in much dirtier dealings

[unblock]

8. Right, because Donnie's all about full disclosure and doesn'tmind feds going through all his records

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

9. Cohen has been Spanky's fixer for many years. He knows *everything.*

[jberryhill]

15. Why do you assume this has anything to do with the Stormy Daniels thing?

I think it is unlikely that this magnitude of search was in pursuit of a $130k payout.

[Wounded Bear]

24. Yeah, it would seem that Ms Daniels is the proverbial "tip of the iceberg"...

Has to be something much bigger underneath.

[Yavin4]

19. That's like saying that Sammy The Bull killed people on behalf of John Gotti

without Gotti knowing it.