I took the liberty of copying oskar's post from the $130,000 hush payment thread to the op here because the live-linked NYT article "sets the scene" ~ my initial reaction was "this is going to explode" ~ and it definitely did EXPLODE ~ much more to come on this ~ Sooz

MUCH work went into getting the subpoenas ~ the 5minute video [accessible via the end link] is well worth watching ~ Sooz

MSNBC’s Maddow marvels at the ‘incredibly specific steps’ required to green-light FBI’s raid on Cohen
Noor Al-Sibai / 09 Apr 2018 at 22:34 ET

MSNBC host Rachel Maddow and NBC investigative reporter Tom Winter on Monday night marveled at how little fanfare went into the FBI’s raid of Trump attorney Michael Cohen’s office at 30 Rockefeller Center in Manhattan — and how much paperwork prosecutors had to file to make it happen.

Holding a four-page portion of the U.S. Attorney‘s manual, Winter drove home how difficult it is for the bureau to raid a lawyer while upholding attorney-client privilege.


“They’ve got to get all sorts of approval, all sorts of sign-offs, to be able to do this,” Winter said before elaborating on the sensitive handling of the information following its seizure.

The reporter went on to describe the creation of an “entirely separate team” tasked with analyzing the information. When and if the seized information is introduced as evidence, he said, the people on the team “can’t be aware of any communications that occurred as it related to attorney-client privilege.”

Watch below, via MSNBC: [video accessible via the end link]

https://www.rawstory.com/2018/04/msnbcs-maddow-marvels-incredibly-specific-steps-required-green-light-fbis-raid-cohen/

Watching the noose tighten is confusing but fascinating ~ apparently and not surprisingly, the DiC is in a full-blown rage ~ in all the pics and videos of the DiC's reactions, his arms are folded tightly against his chest ... which is an obvious self-defense pose ~ the transcript, live-linked below, is well worth reading ~ other "live links" in original ~ Sooz

In new tantrum, Trump calls raid on lawyer’s office an ‘attack on our country’
04/10/18 08:00 AM
By Steve Benen

[Video, The Rachel Maddow Show, 4/9/18, 9:00 PM ET, "Legal woes deepen for Trump team as FBI raids Cohen work, home", accessible via the end link.]

The details are still coming into focus, but we know that the FBI raided the office and hotel room of Michael Cohen, Donald Trump’s personal attorney, yesterday. As NBC News reported, we also know that the search warrants “were sought and executed by FBI agents and federal prosecutors in New York in coordination with special counsel Robert Mueller’s team after an initial referral from Mueller’s office.”

As for why federal law enforcement launched this raid, that gets a little tricky. It appears that officials are looking for information about the $130,000 in hush money Cohen paid porn star Stormy Daniels shortly before the 2016 election, though as Rachel noted on last night’s show, Cohen has been at the center of all kinds of controversies, and the Washington Post and New York Times reported separately that the president’s attorney is also under investigation for possible bank fraud.

One that’s perfectly clear, however, is that Trump isn’t taking the news especially well.


To fully appreciate the scope of the presidential tantrum, it’s worth checking out the transcript. Trump characterized the FBI raid as a break-in; he used the words “disgrace” or “disgraceful” nine times; and he lashed out at the special counsel’s office, Attorney General Jeff Sessions, federal investigators, Hillary Clinton, and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein.

One gets the sense the president is unfamiliar with the phrase, ‘Never let ‘em see you sweat.”

Indeed, between yesterday’s comments in the White House’s cabinet room, and this morning’s tweets, it appears the pressure is starting to get to Trump, and panic is setting in.

As for Robert Mueller, Trump was asked whether he intends to fire the special prosecutor. The president didn’t answer directly, though he did say, “Well, I think it’s a disgrace what’s going on. We’ll see what happens…. And many people have said, ‘You should fire him.’”

As recently as three weeks ago, prominent congressional Republicans said they saw no need to shield Mueller from White House interference because, as several GOP lawmakers said, they saw no evidence that Trump might fire the special counsel.

Perhaps now would be a good time for Congress to reconsider those assumptions.

http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/new-tantrum-trump-calls-raid-lawyers-office-attack-our-country#break

The interesting [to me] tidbit here is that Michael Cohen is suddenly now no longer associated with a big law firm [Squire Patton Boggs] ~ or maybe the tidbit is that he was ever associated with a big law firm ~ ~ Sooz

LIVEWIRE
FBI Raids Trump Lawyer Michael Cohen’s Office, Home, And Hotel Room
By Kate Riga | April 9, 2018 4:01 pm

The FBI on Monday raided the office of Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer, obtaining a search warrant after a referral from the office of Special Counsel Robert Mueller according to the New York Times.

The Wall Street Journal reported that the agents also searched Cohen’s home and Manhattan hotel room.

Agents reportedly seized materials related to the $130,000 payment Cohen made to porn actress Stormy Daniels days before the 2016 election to prevent her from speaking out about the alleged affair she had with President Donald Trump. The FBI, the Times reported, seized “records related to several topics.”

The law firm where Cohen had an office issued a statement regarding the raid. “The firm’s arrangement with Mr. Cohen reached its conclusion, mutually and in accordance with the terms of the agreement,” said a statement from Squire Patton Boggs LLP. “We have been in contact with federal authorities regarding their execution of a warrant relating to Mr. Cohen. These activities do not relate to the firm and we are in full cooperation.”

Cohen’s lawyer Stephen Ryan slammed the search. “The decision by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in New York to conduct their investigation using search warrants is completely inappropriate and unnecessary,” he said in a statement. “It resulted in the unnecessary seizure of protected attorney client communications between a lawyer and his clients.”

He added: “These government tactics are also wrong because Mr. Cohen has cooperated completely with all government entities, including providing thousands of non-privileged documents to the Congress and sitting for depositions under oath.”

Daniels’ lawyer, Michael Avenatti, responded to the news with a tweet:


Jeff Zeleny reported on CNN that Trump is watching the drama unfold from the White House. “I’m told the President has been watching news coverage of this development this afternoon from the White House,” Zeleny said. “I’m told by a White House official this was not coming as a surprise to the president.

“He had a head’s up in some way this had happened earlier today,” he added.

Last month, Daniels sued Trump and the company Cohen set up to make the payment, saying that the nondisclosure agreement she signed for the money should be nullified since Trump never signed it.

She appeared on CBS News’s 60 Minutes to tell her story at the end of March.

Trump spoke out about the case for the first time last week, telling reporters on Thursday that he didn’t know about the payment. He referred questions to Cohen.

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/fbi-raids-michael-cohen-office

IMO, Cohen brought it all on himself with his incoherent public rationalisations.

Evidence is piling up quickly ~ anyone want to guess how long the DiC can or will survive in this mental/emotional environment? ~ ~ Sooz

Mike Allen 3 hours ago
Inside the West Wing with Trump enraged

Sources close to the president say that a political dispute with special counsel Robert Mueller has turned visceral and personal after the feds' raid on the New York offices of Michael Cohen, Trump's personal lawyer and fixer.

What we're hearing: One of the sources said: "Mueller's investigation has been drip, drip. This was a giant leap forward ... a personal hit. ... They were moving in inches. Today, they moved a mile."

• Until now, when storms hit, Trump could turn to Hope Hicks to explain things to him, suggest wording, simmer him down. With her departure from the White House, we saw the president working out his fury in real time.

• The source continued: "This is the first crisis post-Hope Hicks. ... This was different: I've never seen him like this before. ... This is the president you're going to see more of from here on out: unvarnished, untethered."

• Another source close to Trump said: "He takes the Russia stuff as a political hit job. This was a personal affront. This was the red line" of intrusion into personal financial matters.

The president — arms crossed defiantly — held a stunning on-camera venting session during an appearance with his senior military leadership where a potential strike on Syria took second billing to Michael Cohen ("With all of that being said, we are here to discuss Syria tonight").

• The WashPost cites three sources as saying Cohen "is under federal investigation for possible bank fraud, wire fraud and campaign finance violations."

• A statement from Cohen's lawyer, Stephen Ryan, said: "The US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York executed a series of search warrants and seized the privileged communications between my client, Michael Cohen, and his clients."

During the 10-minute rant, Trump ...

• ... used "disgrace" seven times and "disgraceful" twice.

• ... fumed about an action by agents of the government he heads: "I just heard that they broke into the office of one of my personal attorneys — a good man. ... It's a total witch hunt."

• ... accused those agents of his government of "an attack on our country, in a true sense. It's an attack on what we all stand for."

• ... said, repeating back a question: "Why don't I just fire Mueller? ... Well, I think it's a disgrace what's going on. We'll see what happens. But I think it's really a sad situation when you look at what happened. And many people have said, 'You should fire him."

• ... referred to the investigation as "the most conflicted group of people I've ever seen. The Attorney General made a terrible mistake ... when he recused himself. ... [W]e would have ... put a different Attorney General in."

• ... quadrupled down on firing FBI Director James Comey: "One of the things they said: 'I fired Comey.' Well, I turned out to do the right thing, because if you look at all of the things that he's done and the lies, and you look at what's gone on at the FBI with the insurance policy and all of the things that happened — turned out I did the right thing."

Be smart: Close aides are recommending against firing Mueller. But that means little these days.

The big, surreal picture: Take a minute to think about the history unfolding before our eyes. You have the president’s top lawyer getting raided by the FBI, prompting the president to warn of an epic attack on government and signaling he might try to can the special counsel investigating him.

• This is on the eve of the arguably most powerful and well known CEO of our generation getting grilled by Congress, in part because the Russians used his platform to try to elect the man at the center of it all.

• History books will be written about this — and you were there to see it all unfold.

https://www.axios.com/trump-reaction-cohen-mueller-raid-4de566f7-2b18-4419-a689-69ec81666ffc.html

Absolutely, oskar! ~ but it goes well beyond "... his incoherent public rationalisations" ~ Cohen is a hack and has reveled in his role as the DiC's "fixer" for decades ~ now that his and the DiC's sky is falling, he and the DiC are panicking ~

Personally, I'm experiencing a weird reaction of both horror [at the total corruption] and enjoyment [watching it all unravel] ~

Sooz

Had Cohen's public statements been terse "No comments", this "raid" might not have happened. As I said somewhere else, he should be disbarred merely on the basis of being too stupid to be a lawyer.

Yes, but trump is so enraged and panicked he might just fire Mueller. I wonder if he will and what repercussions might happen, if any. Also, if there are any - will they be lasting or will just blow over after a while? It seems as if everything, no matter how negative, usually does end up with him being somehow exonerated - someone else's fault after the constant and never-ending spinning of the right that his base swallows whole.

You remember how anything that happened in government, no matter how remote from Obama, was Obama's fault. Following that logic isn't the issuance of warrants by a federal judge to search Grabem's former layer's office, Grabem's fault?

In fact, if Grabem supporters believe Meuller's investigation is going into overreach that's Grabem's fault too. The guy just keeps kicking himself in the face. It's the right wing who should be frothing at the mouth and demanding he resign. Instead, they just froth.

Exactly - and since they are in charge it seems to eventually get swept under the rug. Truth is, 'power and party before country' is their true motto. I don't think it would change a thing if they made it so among the pseudo patriots who seem to have taken over the republican party.

IMO, firing Mueller would be the end of the Republicans for at least a decade and I think they know it.

From my Facebook feed ~ this sums it up neatly, if a bit incompletely ~ top DoJ, FBI, and the AG/SDNY brass had to pass on it too ~ ~ Sooz

Mueller had nothing to do with this raid. does Trump know that?

i agree that this is historic. it would be a lot of fun if it weren't so terrifying.

Fox and friends didn't report the details, so no, he doesn't.

So does that mean this is a raid at the state level and Trump can't pardon Cohen if there are any convictions?

Allegedly, Mueller passed along a "tip" to either the AG/SDNY or the FBI ~ that "tip" put the wheels in motion ~

Sooz

I'm thinking that once the FBI gets "involved", the matter becomes federal ~ I know the DiC appointed the AG/SDNY, which should also make the matter federal ~ but things are so convoluted here, who knows? ~

Sooz

It depends if they are charged under state or Federal law I would think. Its not just a matter of who is involved.

That's what I would expect... but who knows. Murrica is a very confusing and confused place.

Michael Cohen and the absolutely amazing history of the once-coveted New York City taxi medallion

This clarifies the process and illustrates Trump's complete ignorance... again. Isn't the taxi biz in NYC allegedly corrupt?


(CNN) — When FBI agents raided the home and office of President Donald Trump's personal lawyer Michael Cohen on Monday, they were after documents related to the hush agreement Cohen cut with porn star Stormy Daniels 11 days before the 2016 presidential election.

But, they were also in search of documents tied to Cohen's ownership of New York City taxi medallions, according to CNN's Pamela Brown and Gloria Borger. Cohen has held numerous New York City medallions in his portfolio, according to records.

Which is totally fascinating. And totally New York City.

More-> https://www.cnn.com/2018/04/10/politics ... index.html

Hey! New York's an expensive place to live. Sometimes a guy's got to work two jobs. Trump fixer by day. Cabby by night.

We are witnesses to the DiC's overwhelming "must" of self-preservation first, so I don't doubt the DiC would toss Cohen aside in a nanosecond if it served his own purpose ~ ~ Sooz

MSNBC’s Donny Deutsch: Michael Cohen has the power to ‘bring down the Trump presidency’ — but Trump will ‘do anything’ to stop him
Travis Gettys / 11 Apr 2018 at 09:03 ET

MSNBC’s Donny Deutsch knows attorney Michael Cohen personally, and he does not believe that he will serve a lengthy prison term to protect President Donald Trump.

The “Morning Joe” contributor said he’s spoken recently to the president’s longtime attorney, and he’s advised Cohen to look out for the interests of himself and his family — but so far he remains loyal.

“Michael at this point, for whatever his emotional, legal, personal reasons is devoutly, devoutly, devoutly loyal to this president — where I can’t understand it, candidly,” Deutsch said. “I will see it as this unfolds, (the FBI raid) two days ago it was not about Russia, it was not. It was about banking and finance. When you scratch that scab, there’s a lot of pus coming out of it.”

Host Joe Scarborough scolded Deutsch for his language on the morning news program, saying viewers and their children might be trying to enjoy breakfast, and he then segued to Cohen’s family.

“You know Michael — he has children, he has a wife, he has a family,” Scarborough said. “The man has to be awfully isolated by now, and I just can’t imagine that he’s willing to sacrifice the well being of his children for the well being of Trump’s children.”

Deutsch agreed, and said Cohen has a chance to stand “on the right side of history.”

“In every instance they raided a lawyer’s, the FBI raided lawyers, they’ve ended up in jail,” Deutsch said. “Michael can have one of two legacies. Michael can have a legacy of spending time in jail and being one of ‘all the president’s men’ — the man — or he can have a legacy in the history books that maybe changes the course of history and brings down this presidency. That’s obviously very heavy on Michael’s shoulders and decisions he has to make.”

Scarborough said Cohen shouldn’t worry about bringing down Trump’s presidency, but instead focus on telling the truth to investigators — but Deutsch said those choices cannot be separated.

“The calculus clearly changed for his story arc with what happened a couple days ago,” Deutsch said. “There is going to be that crossroad. That is why Donald Trump was sitting there the other day like this [with his arms crossed and glowering].”

“Donald Trump knows what’s there,” Deutsch added. “Donald Trump will do anything but allow this rock to be peeled open — even if this means him quitting or getting impeached. He’s not going to allow this process to go forward, he cannot.”

[Video accessible via end link or at https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_cont ... bp-w2mWRtg]

https://www.rawstory.com/2018/04/msnbcs-donny-deutsch-michael-cohen-power-bring-trump-presidency-trump-will-anything-stop/