BREAKING: Michael Cohen is preparing to flip, per ABC report.
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2. Cohen's current llaw firm is not expected to represent him going forward. This strongly suggests Cohen is preparing to flip and changing representation to somebody experienced specifically in plea deals. No replacement counsel has been identified yet.
3. Sources specifically told ABC that Cohen, now with no legal representation, IS LIKELY TO COOPERATE WITH FEDERAL PROSECUTORS IN NY. This development is believed to be IMMINENT. cc @MichaelAvenatti
@MichaelAvenatti 4. WSJ has meantime confirmed ABC's news that Cohen's current attorneys won't be representing him going forward. We'll know it's official when? Trump loses his mind completely on Twitter as this will hit the WH and Trump family HARD.
@MichaelAvenatti 5. Always bear in mind that Trump's pardons are worth ZERO wherever state crimes are involved. Trump can't pardon ANY state crime whatsoever, only federal crimes. And there are heaps of state crimes involved where Cohen is concerned ( Mueller's been coordinating with NY AG)
@MichaelAvenatti 6. Also bear in mind that Barbara Underwood, the current NY AG, has reiterated the need for NY legislators to get rid of the "double jeopardy" loophole that doesn't allow NY state to charge someone for the EXACT SAME crime they're charged for federally. They're after Cohen HARD.
@MichaelAvenatti 7. IT DOES NOT MAKE A DIFFERENCE in terms of Cohen being charged whether the double jeopardy loophole is eliminated or not, it simply makes a difference in that it makes the NY AG job EASIER, in that she and SDNY/Mueller do NOT need to coordinate on charges to bring.
@MichaelAvenatti 8. If the double jeopardy loophole is eliminated, NY state can charge Cohen for the SAME exact federal crimes he was charged with, meaning any federal pardon for those is completely pointless, and can actually become a liability as a pardon means admission of guilt if accepted.
@MichaelAvenatti 9. Cohen flipping as we know is a HUGE deal and many and especially @MichaelAvenatti who was the first to do so, have been indicating the likelihood of him flipping was extremely high. Cohen knows where ALL the worst Trump secrets are buried.
@MichaelAvenatti 10. Cohen's office and home in NY were searched by FBI that now has ALL of the documents and devices that are pertinent to the case that Cohen kept. Among those are recordings of conversations WITH TRUMP. The Special master has deemed only a TINY portion of the docs privileged.
@MichaelAvenatti 11. With Cohen having NO legal representation and a Friday deadline for them to present documents they want to be reviewed as privileged, it appears clear that Cohen is set to cooperate with investigators. Get the popcorn. 🍿🍿 #MuellerIsComing /END.
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1. Simon Kukes, a Houston-based oil executive, sent an email to a Russian official in Moscow in July 2016, boasting of his connections to Trump campaign and requesting a face-to-face meeting. The official is Vyacheslav Pavlovsky, a former Russian ambassador to Norway.
2. NBC HAS THE EMAILS. Kukes wrote to Pavlovsky" I have been actively involved in Trump's election campagn, and am part of the group on strategy deveopment. I will be in Switzerland July 20 to Aug. 2. Let me know how you are doing and whether you want to meet." Oh. OH.
3. NBC obtained emails through a London-based investigative project funded by MIkhail Khodorkovsky, a Russian opposition figure. The Dossier Center gathers information to try to expose high-level corruption in Moscow. NBC reviewed the emails in conjunction with The Guardian.
1. MANAFORT AGREED TO PLEA DEAL WITH MUELLER. Politely bear in mind, no matter what we actually SEE of this, given the evidence Mueller has, there's NO WAY Mueller entered a plea deal without meaningful cooperation. The cooperation part? Can easily be sealed.
2. This means Manafort could easily do the same as Cohen. Just plead guilty to n. counts, and we don't see any "cooperation" agreement. That doesn't mean it doesn't exist. The two can easily be separated, with the cooperation agreement sealed for obvious reasons here.
3. I absolutely don't think the news about the "joint defense agreement" is current and I also think it is being put out for a specific reason. It's clear that there's been coordinated effort to make everyone think Manafort won't "flip" . That's the easiest way to protect him.
1. Manafort is INDEED in talks with prosecutors (MEANING MUELLER bc HE is the prosecutor in this case) about a possible plea deal. BLOOP, people. BLOOP!
2. Two people familiar with the matter "cautioned that the negotiations may not result in a deal with special counsel Robert Mueller". Naturally, bc there won't be a deal unless Manafort sings like the birdiest birdie that has ever sung.
3. "But the discussions indicate a possible shift in strategy for Manafort" No kidding. When the prospect of the rest of his life in prison materialized, Manafort finally saw that oopsie, he was cornered and if he ever wanted to enjoy life again? Best to talk to Mueller, stat.
2. The details of the story are BEYOND disgusting but pay attention to this detail that former Playmate Shera Bechard cites in her LAWSUIT against Broidy: "Bechard recalled Broidy telling her that he admired Trump’s "uncanny ability to sexually abuse women and get away with it.""
3. "Among Bechard’s allegations are that Broidy refused to wear condoms and didn’t disclose to her that he had genital herpes until years after their sexual relationship, according to a court filing. "
Not even going to comment.
1. Bruce Ohr is the Justice Department lawyer who was told by Christopher Steele that Russian intelligence believed it had Trump "over a barrel". Start seeing why Trump is going after him?
2. These details pertain to a breakfast that happened on July 30, 2016. Ohr described the breakfast to CONGRESS this week in a private interview. And that's how the GOP Trump lackeys went to tell Trump, he found out and decided he can't have a witness at DoJ.
3. So if Trump so much as THINKS of touching Bruce Ohr, that is direct obstruction of justice, and his tweets already constitute witness tampering. AND everyone in Congress who was present at the interview KNOWS that. Just so you know who to hold accountable.
1. What Cohen's actually explosive knowledge of facts covers, that can make the entire house of cards crash: the hacking and the Trump Tower meeting, both of which TRUMP KNEW about and in the hacking case, an event Trump even encouraged.
2. In the case of the hacking, there's a $50,000 mysterious payment Cohen made to an undisclosed tech company to help the Trump campaign, that awfully sounds like the arrangements the Steele dossier says Cohen made to pay off Russian hackers "without it being traced".
3. Cohen's lawyer Lanny Davis specifically said on @maddow that Cohen has knowledge about the hacking that is of interest for Mueller. And the detail of the tech company payment emerged from the indictment. If the connection is accurate (and it seems like it is), this is huge.