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Rudy Giuliani ....poor fool ,backing Chump..... |
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carbon20
Moderator Joined: April 08 2006 Location: West Australia Status: Offline Points: 65816 |
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Posted: May 03 2018 at 3:18pm |
Donald Trump's new lawyer Rudy Giuliani and Fox friends expose untruths in Stormy Daniels sagaBy North America correspondent Conor Duffy Posted 49 minutes ago United States President Donald Trump has bragged about a crushing winning record in the estimated 3,500 legal cases he has been involved in over the past three decades, but Stormy Daniels has him twisted in knots. The determined porn star, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, and her made-for-cable television lawyer Michael Avenatti have proved implacable foes and Mr Trump's lawyers have scored some huge own goals. For those who have On Air Force One on April 5, the President offered the seemingly implausible explanation that his lawyer Michael Cohen made the payment without his knowledge or reimbursement. Media player: "Space" to play, "M" to mute, "left" and "right" to seek. They defied everyone's experience of litigation as an expensive, almost never-ending sinkhole for hard-earned cash. Those first payments had many wondering where one could find a lawyer who not only made payments on your behalf to fix problems, but never sent you a bill. Then last night Mr Trump's latest lawyer Rudy Giuliani spectacularly blew up that explanation on the friendly territory of Sean Hannity's program on Fox News (remember Hannity was outed as Mr Cohen's mystery third client). Mr Giuliani revealed the truth that the relationship between Mr Trump and Mr Cohen was more conventional and his lawyer had racked up billable hours. Media player: "Space" to play, "M" to mute, "left" and "right" to seek. It was a stunning admission and one that was seized on by Daniels' media-savvy lawyer Mr Avenatti.
In a series of tweets that appear to have been drafted by a lawyer (Mr Giuliani perhaps), Mr Trump confirmed that was true while trying to avoid the obvious legal pitfall by declaring the payment did not breach campaign finance laws.
Mr Giuliani appeared to contradict himself on that point on Hannity β saying the payment was to avoid personal pain in his home life while also speculating about how it would have looked if the (alleged) affair was made public before an election debate. Political opponents have already filed a lawsuit alleging the payment violated the law because it was an undeclared campaign expense. Under campaign laws violations have to be "knowing and wilful", which is why Mr Giuliani's comments caused such a stir. The disclosure does not mean Mr Trump will be prosecuted, much less convicted, but the failure to at least get a story straight and stick to it will ensure the tale of the President and the porn star remains front of mind. And if the alibi runs into that much trouble in the friendly surrounds of a Hannity interview, how would it hold up under the glare of an investigation? Still, Mr Trump has been something of a Teflon Don surviving the release of the access Hollywood tapes β a scandal that would have killed most candidates. Media player: "Space" to play, "M" to mute, "left" and "right" to seek. For now though investigators are cataloguing records seized from Mr Cohen, who faces prosecution. Ms Daniels is doing Mr Trump more harm than his rivals in the Democratic and Republican parties combined. While the President suffers, Daniels continues to profit and build on her reputation as one of the biggest names in the industry. In February she released a film called Stormy Trumps All. |
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carbon20
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Donald Trump admits to reimbursing Stormy Daniels hush money payment, but 'not from the campaign'Updated 39 minutes ago Media player: "Space" to play, "M" to mute, "left" and "right" to seek. United States President Donald Trump has abruptly changed his story on what he knows about a pre-election hush money payment to the American porn star who claims to have had an affair with him. Key points:
Mr Trump reversed his denial that he had any knowledge of the $US130,000 payment made to Stormy Daniels. He had previously said the payment was entirely done by his lawyer Michael Cohen, but now Mr Trump says Ms Daniels was paid for "false and extortionist" claims. On Twitter, Mr Trump said Mr Cohen received a monthly retainer "from which he entered into, through reimbursement, a private contract between two parties, known as a non-disclosure agreement".
Mr Trump's tweets outlining the arrangement came after Rudy Giuliani, one of his attorneys, said Mr Trump reimbursed Mr Cohen for the hush money paid to Ms Daniels days before the 2016 presidential election. His comments appeared to contradict the President's past claims that he did During an appearance on Fox News Channel's Hannity, Mr Giuliani said the money to repay Mr Cohen had been "funnelled β¦ through the law firm and the President repaid it". Asked if Mr Trump knew about the arrangement, Mr Giuliani said: "He didn't know about the specifics of it, as far as I know." Media player: "Space" to play, "M" to mute, "left" and "right" to seek. Mr Giuliani later suggested to The Wall Street Journal that while Mr Trump had repaid the $130,000, Mr Cohen had settled the payment to Ms Daniels without Mr Trump's knowledge at the time. Mr Trump's comments come amid reports in US media that federal investigators kept logs of Mr Cohen's phone lines prior to raiding his offices, hotel room and home last month, seizing records and documents. NBC had earlier reported that Mr Cohen's lines were wiretapped to allow investigators to hear the calls, but the news organisation later clarified investigators were only able to see who was calling who. Undisclosed loan or reimbursementExperts said revelations over Mr Trump's knowledge of the payment raised a number of questions, including whether the money could be seen as reimbursement for a campaign expenditure. Asked aboard Air Force One last month whether he knew about the payment, Mr Trump said flatly: "No." Mr Trump also said he didn't know why Mr Cohen had made the payment or where he got the money. In a phone interview with Fox and Friends last week, however, Mr Trump appeared to muddy the waters, saying that Mr Cohen represented him in the "crazy Stormy Daniels deal". The White House referred questions to the President's personal legal team. Mr Giuliani, a former New York City mayor and ex-US attorney who joined Mr Trump's legal team last month, said the President had repaid Mr Cohen over several months, indicating the payments continued through at least the presidential transition, if not into his presidency. He also said the payment "is going to turn out to be perfectly legal" because "that money was not campaign money". No debt to Mr Cohen is listed on Mr Trump's personal financial disclosure form, which was certified on June 16, 2017. Mr Giuliani also described the payment to Ms Daniels as "a very regular thing for lawyers to do". Ms Daniels' lawyer, Michael Avenatti, called the comment "a stunning revelation". "Mr Trump evidently has participated in a felony and there must be serious consequences for his conduct and his lies and deception to the American people," he said. Hannity also Cohen's clientMr Giuliani made the statements to Fox host Sean Hannity, who has his own connection to the case. It was recently revealed in court that Mr Hannity is one of Mr Cohen's clients. Mr Hannity has described his personal dealings with Mr Cohen as centred on real estate advice and said that it "never rose to any level that I needed to tell anyone that I was asking him questions". Ms Daniels, whose legal name is Stephanie Clifford, says she had a sexual encounter with Mr Trump in 2006, months after his third wife gave birth to his youngest child, and was paid to keep quiet as part of a nondisclosure agreement she is now seeking to invalidate.
She has also filed a defamation suit against Mr Trump after he questioned a composite sketch she released of a man she says threatened her to stay quiet. The White House has said Mr Trump denies having a relationship with Ms Daniels. Mr Cohen had said previously: "Neither the Trump Organisation nor the Trump campaign was a party to the transaction with Ms Clifford, and neither reimbursed me for the payment, either directly or indirectly." He notably did not include the President personally. Asked about Mr Cohen's denial, Mr Giuliani said that he did not know whether Mr Cohen had made the payment without asking Mr Trump but that he had "no reason to dispute that". 'It implicates the President directly'The payment to Ms Daniels has raised numerous legal questions, including whether it was an illegal campaign contribution and, now, a loan. "If this is true then it looks like Cohen may have made an unreported loan to the campaign rather than a contribution," said Richard L Hasen, an expert in election law at the University of California, Irvine. He said that might be better for Mr Cohen, but not for Mr Trump, because it undermines the argument that Mr Cohen was acting independently.
Law firms advance expenses for clients as a matter of course, and so there's nothing inherently improper about a lawyer covering a particular payment and then being reimbursed for it. In this case, though, the client who apparently reimbursed the expense was running for President and the money was paid just days before the election, raising questions about whether Mr Cohen's law practice was functioning as a vendor for the campaign and whether the expense was therefore an unreported campaign expenditure. If so, that could be legally problematic. Andrew Herman, an attorney specialising in campaign finance law at Miller & Chevalier, said Mr Giuliani's argument that this was a private payment unrelated to the campaign appears to be "pretty far-fetched" given the timing β weeks before the election while Mr Trump was under fire for his behaviour with women and for an "Access Hollywood" tape in which he spoke of groping women without their consent. But if Mr Cohen or Mr Trump could establish that discussions with Ms Daniels over the payment long predated his run for office, that could help them with the argument that the money was a personal rather than political expense. |
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carbon20
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Donald Trump says Giuliani needs to 'get facts straight' on payment to porn star Stormy DanielsPosted about 2 hours ago PHOTO: Donald Trump and Stormy Daniels allegedly had an affair prior to the 2016 elections. ((L) AP: Pablo Martinez Monsivais (R) Reuters: Danny Moloshok) President Donald Trump has insisted "we're not changing any stories" about the 2016 hush payment to porn actress Stormy Daniels, even as he further muddied the explanation for the settlement by suggesting the new face of his legal team needs to "get his facts straight." Key points:
Mr Trump said Rudy Giuliani β who upended the previous White House defence this week by saying the President knew about his personal lawyer Michael Cohen's $130,000 payment to Ms Danielsβ was "a great guy but he just started a day ago" and was still "learning the subject matter."
Mr Giuliani's revelation on Wednesday night had blindsided White House aides creating new legal headaches as Mr Trump had previously denied any knowledge of the payment meant to quiet Ms Daniels about an alleged affair with Mr Trump prior to the 2016 election. On Thursday, Mr Trump had abruptly changed his story via Twitter, reversing his denial of the payment. He said Ms Daniels was paid for "false and extortionist" claims, and Mr Cohen received a monthly retainer "from which he entered into, through reimbursement, a private contract between two parties, known as a non-disclosure agreement". 'Consuming everything in it's path'Media player: "Space" to play, "M" to mute, "left" and "right" to seek. White House bureau chief for Voice of America Steve Herman likened the Stormy Daniels saga to a lava flow that "moves slowly, but it consumes everything in it's path". "There's been a lot of human casualties so far in the White House with people having their credibility destroyed and getting into disputes with the President, finding that they are unable to really do their jobs in the way that they are traditionally done," Mr Herman told ABC.
Mr Herman said he believed Mr Giuliani's comments were an "off-the-cuff remark, giving us a look behind the curtain" rather than a planned legal strategy. With the US mid-terms only a few months away, Mr Herman warned that if the Republicans were to lose the House of Representatives, then "we would almost certainly see impeachment proceedings against the President". But Mr Herman said an impeachment would be unlikely to pass the senate.
'Perfectly legal' or legally problematicMedia player: "Space" to play, "M" to mute, "left" and "right" to seek. While Mr Giuliani said the payment to Daniels was "going to turn out to be perfectly legal," legal experts said the new information raised a number of questions, including whether the money represented repayment of an undisclosed loan or could be seen as reimbursement for a campaign expenditure. Either could be legally problematic. Mr Giuliani insisted Mr Trump didn't know the specifics of Mr Cohen's arrangement with Ms Daniels until recently, telling Fox & Friends on Thursday the President didn't know all the details until "maybe 10 days ago." Mr Giuliani told The New York Times Mr Trump had repaid Mr Cohen $35,000 a month "out of his personal family account" after the campaign was over. He said Mr Cohen received $460,000 or $470,000 in all for expenses related to Mr Trump. But no debt to Mr Cohen was listed on Mr Trump's personal financial disclosure form, which was certified on June 16, 2017. Asked if Mr Trump had filed a fraudulent form, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said, "I don't know." Media player: "Space" to play, "M" to mute, "left" and "right" to seek. Mr Giuliani had said the payment was not a campaign finance violation, but also acknowledged that Ms Daniels' hushed-up allegations could have affected the campaign, saying, "Imagine if that came out on October 15, 2016, in the middle of the last debate with Hillary Clinton." Questions remain about just what Mr Trump knew and when. 'Crazy Stormy Daniels deal'Ms Daniels, whose legal name is Stephanie Clifford, is seeking to be released from a non-disclosure deal she signed in the days before the 2016 election to keep her from talking about a 2006 sexual encounter she said she had with Mr Trump. She has also filed defamation suits against Mr Cohen and Mr Trump. Speaking to reporters on Air Force One several weeks ago, Trump said he did not know about the payment or where the money came from. In a phone interview with Fox and Friends last week, however, he appeared to muddy the waters, saying Mr Cohen represented him in the "crazy Stormy Daniels deal." Media player: "Space" to play, "M" to mute, "left" and "right" to seek. Ms Sanders said on Thursday that Mr Trump "eventually learned" about the payment, but she did not offer details. For all the controversy Mr Giuliani stirred up, some Trump supporters said it was wise to get the payment acknowledgement out in the open. Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie said, "You know, there's an old saying in the law, 'Hang a lantern on your problems.' ... So the fact is that Rudy has to go out there now and clean it up. That's what lawyers get hired to do." Daniels herself weighed in via Twitter, saying: "I don't think Cohen is qualified to 'clean up' my horse's manure. Too soon?" Mr Trump is facing mounting legal threats from the Cohen-Daniels situation and the special counsel's investigation of Russian meddling in the election and possible coordination with the Trump campaign. Mr Cohen is facing a criminal investigation in New York, and FBI agents raided his home and office several weeks ago seeking records about the Daniels nondisclosure agreement. Mr Giuliani has warned Mr Trump that he fears Mr Cohen, the President's longtime personal attorney, will "flip," bending in the face of a potential prison sentence, and he has urged Mr Trump to cut off communications with him, according to a person close to Mr Giuliani. Mr Giuliani, a former New York City mayor and US attorney, joined Trump's legal team last month. Mr Trump called the continuing news stories about Ms Daniels "crap" and said the White House would offer an accounting of the payments. But he offered no details. |
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Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth.π
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CRS, DrPH
Expert Level Adviser Joined: January 20 2014 Location: Arizona Status: Offline Points: 26660 |
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I get the feeling that the rest of the world is laughing at us Yanks!
Well, I didn't vote for him....
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CRS, DrPH
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carbon20
Moderator Joined: April 08 2006 Location: West Australia Status: Offline Points: 65816 |
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Well you do have a Clown as leader.....but..
I don't think they laughing, I guess they feel sorry for you having this excuse for a Man leading you,
Not to worry Mid terms not far off, then it's bye bye donny
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Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth.π
Marcus Aurelius |
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Technophobe
Assistant Admin Joined: January 16 2014 Location: Scotland Status: Offline Points: 88450 |
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I can hope. But, not too much; the rabid Trumpetts may well keep him in longer.
Point out his flaws and they, rightfully, point out those of the opposition. The comparisons of scale do not seem to get a look-in. A few floating voters may have realised their error, but in the dirty waters of politics, his supporters are blined by the other mud: THERE IS LOTS OF IT IN THAT SWAMP. |
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How do you tell if a politician is lying?
His lips or pen are moving. |
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carbon20
Moderator Joined: April 08 2006 Location: West Australia Status: Offline Points: 65816 |
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because he has always been "the boss"and fired anyone showing dis- loyalty he thinks he can get away with it in office dosnt he realise that there are some very smart people out there who can see straight though him,
Then there's the people that voted for him.. .. not very well travelled......
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Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth.π
Marcus Aurelius |
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CRS, DrPH
Expert Level Adviser Joined: January 20 2014 Location: Arizona Status: Offline Points: 26660 |
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Gawd, we can only hope! Don't forget, Trump won in spite of all the polls being in Hillary's favor. I don't take anything for granted. However, I believe that the tide is starting to turn against him. Trump's trade war with China is heating up, and US farmers (who tended to be enthusiastic Trump supporters) are going to be taking it in the chops: Angst hangs over farm belt after reports that China stopped buying US soybeans
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CRS, DrPH
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carbon20
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The New York Times: Giulianiβs Law Firm Undercuts His Statements as They Part Ways. https://google.com/newsstand/s/CBIwxpvN6zo
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Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth.π
Marcus Aurelius |
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