Very interesting development: Cohen has dropped the libel lawsuits he filed against BuzzFeed & Fusion GPS over the dossier. Now won’t have to answer related questions in litigation. Comes days after McClatchy reported Mueller has evidence he was in Prague. https://t.co/mo8MBdcZAo
— Natasha Bertrand (@NatashaBertrand) April 19, 2018
A necessary, sensible move, which makes me think he will undermine it somehow within 72 hours.https://t.co/QVOhNy6d39
— IPleadTheFifthHat (@Popehat) April 19, 2018
Politico:
Embattled attorney Michael Cohen has dropped a pair of much-touted libel suits against BuzzFeed and the private investigation firm Fusion GPS over publication of the so-called dossier detailing alleged ties between President Donald Trump and Russia.
Cohen abandoned the suits late Wednesday as he continues to fight to recover documents and electronic files seized from his home, office and hotel room last week by federal authorities as part of what appears to be a broad criminal investigation into his conduct.
“The decision to voluntarily discontinue these cases was a difficult one,” Cohen’s attorney David Schwartz said. “We believe the defendants defamed my client, and vindicating Mr. Cohen’s rights was — and still remains — important. But given the events that have unfolded, and the time, attention, and resources needed to prosecute these matters, we have dismissed the matters, despite their merits.”…
“If there’s one thing Democrats and Republicans agree on today, it’s that the dossier was an important part of the government’s investigation into potential collusion between the Trump Campaign and Russia,” BuzzFeed News said in a statement.
In a separate statement, Fusion GPS said: “With his decision, it appears that Mr. Cohen can now focus on his many other legal travails.”
Dropping the suits could help Cohen avoid being questioned by lawyers from Fusion GPS or having to turn over evidence related to the case — both steps that could undercut his defense in the criminal probe.
The move could also bolster Cohen’s effort to delay a suit brought in Los Angeles by porn star Stormy Daniels, who claims to have had a sexual encounter with Trump about a decade ago. It could have been difficult for Cohen to convince that judge to put Daniels’ case on hold while Cohen continued to press civil suits in other federal courts…
Yeah, all that stuff going on a public record under oath, that he'd either have to answer fully or lose the suit, gee, I just don't know what to think.
— soonergrunt ?? (@soonergrunt) April 19, 2018
The guilty flee where no Mueller pursueth. https://t.co/DfFOlwe8YB
— Molly Jong-Fast (@MollyJongFast) April 19, 2018
Amazed to learn that this guy, who denied on television the existence of an attorney-client relationship btw Cohen and Trump in the Stormy Daniels matter, remains involved in any way. https://t.co/r1PavrP8yE pic.twitter.com/UcU2notuNr
— southpaw (@nycsouthpaw) April 19, 2018
News breaks that the allegations against Cohen in the dossier are true.
A week later, the empty suit puts down his saber and runs away.
Cohen and Trump are idiot peas from the same pod. Capable of nothing more than empty threats made by weak men. https://t.co/MbF1RZx1id
— The Hoarse Whisperer (@HoarseWisperer) April 19, 2018
germy
An empty suit with bad taste in clothing.
Adam L Silverman
This is NOT Mother approved!
Yutsano
“I was never in Prague!”
WE HAVE THE RECEIPTS!!!
“…Well you’re still poopyheads.”
the Conster
Michael “Sammy the Bull Gravano” Cohen. Knows where all the bodies are buried, and my well founded suspicion is that at the bottom of it all is child sex trafficking. Trump mentioned human trafficking unbidden today. He knows it’s all going to come out.
LAO
Once again, I’m struck by the president’s failure to understand that the difference between being a “subject” of an investigation and being a “target” of an investigation is razor thin.
I guess that’s a good thing for the country?
Mnemosyne
@the Conster:
Agreed. “Pizzagate” didn’t come out of nowhere. It was way too specific.
LAO
And, not surprising but still disheartening:
Allowing Congress to interfere with an active criminal investigation is a recipe for disaster, I need a drink.
germy
Mnemosyne
@LAO:
It worked to get Iran/Contra assholes like Oliver North off the legal hook, so I’m not surprised they’re trying it again.
Barbara
The biggest issue for Cohen here is that there is simply no way he can maintain an affirmative lawsuit without testifying on his own behalf. His willingness to answer questions about many of the same matters that would come up in questioning from Mueller’s team would make it impossible for him to invoke the Fifth Amendment. He could even end up waiving that right inadvertently. Most people who are adequately represented would have realized that it was crazy to bring civil actions to begin with because of the possibility of a criminal inquiry. No doubt, he was serving as his own attorney at the time.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
@the Conster: Trump Modeling Agency, just saying.
the Conster
@Mnemosyne:
Roseanne and her nutbar conspiracy theorists brought it up too. Governor of Kentucky’s first public comment about the teacher strike is to ask who is home protecting children from sexual predators. Conservatives are all creepy AF, and I assume it’s because the GOP has effectively become a pedophile ring of wife beaters.
the Conster
@Enhanced Voting Techniques:
Cohen knows all about that, too. It’s going to be very very bad.
germy
Lock up Cohen. And lock up the man who sold him that blazer.
RepubAnon
Damages in a defamation case are measured by the harm to one’s reputation. If nothing else, Cohen would have had a difficult time showing any harm to his reputation in the defamation cases.
Ruckus
@the Conster:
I believe that you may be judging them too lightly. And by a large margin.
germy
bluefish
Thank heaven for very very little boys.
Immanentize
@the Conster: I suppose to Hannity that is a form of “real estate?”
Corner Stone
@the Conster:
These are nutjobs who are obsessed with who pees in what public bathrooms. They can’t say the word “vagina” on the floor of a statehouse lege or Congress.
There is a lot going on there.
Immanentize
@LAO:
That’s how Ollie North slid.
Yutsano
@germy: I…
I just can’t anymore.
Millard Filmore
Iran/Contra was criminal activity that did not degrade the international power and standing of the USA. The information given to Congress is sure to leak in a spectacular way. I do not see how spreading information about treason, as opposed to normal crimes, will be helpful to the Republican party, or Trump. Its not like Trump and his gang can spin this like North did, claiming to be patriots.
ETA: crap, must have pushed the wrong button. This is a reply to Mnemosyne.
Immanentize
@the Conster:
Also too, corrupt AF.
JPL
@LAO: Bloomberg has an article about Rosenstein’s visit to the White House, and mentioned that it doesn’t mean he won’t be. Let’s not tell Trump. I need a good night’s sleep.
TenguPhule
@LAO:
Trump confesses he is prepared to obstruct justice the moment he feels threatened.
Immanentize
@LAO: Targets don’t have to go to the Grand Jury. Really the only difference.
TenguPhule
@LAO:
All we need is an INTENTIONAL repeat of Ollie North and a bar on state charges due to immunity.
ETA: Immanentize got there ahead of me
? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?
@the Conster:
Would human trafficking finally be enough to destroy what’s left of Trump’s anemic support?
Immanentize
@? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?: No.
? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?
BTW, speaking of Ollie North, why wasn’t that guy ever whacked?
Jeffro
@LAO: oh he (Rod) is SO lying
Good for him
TenguPhule
@Millard Filmore:
what? It hurt us for years with South and Central America.
Roger Moore
@LAO:
It’s a high stakes gamble. On the one hand, Congress can certainly damage the investigation by interfering; that’s rather the point for the Republicans who are doing it. On the other hand, Congress interfering unsuccessfully risks spreading the damage beyond the people directly implicated. Very few people would know or care who Devin Nunes is if he hadn’t tried to protect Trump; now he has a target on his back.
I think this is the biggest difference between Watergate and Trump/Russia. In Watergate, important Republicans decided to sacrifice the sitting Republican President to protect the party as an institution. In Trump/Russia, the most important Republicans have made the opposite decision and are risking the party to protect Trump. That may be because Watergate was Nixon’s own stupidity while Trump/Russia sucked in more of the party, or it may be because of other changes in the political landscape.
TenguPhule
@? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?:
No. These people want to reintroduce slavery.
LAO
@Immanentize: You know what we call targets in my practice, former subjects.
And thank you all re: the Ollie north comments, I did not realize that.
? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?
@Roger Moore:
Such as?
JPL
@Jeffro: He’s buying time.
Roger Moore
@TenguPhule:
He did that a while back when he tweeted (to paraphrase) there was no obstruction except to protect himself.
Roger Moore
@? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?:
The politicization of news is the big one. The Republicans may well figure they can brazen the thing out because their loyal voters will happily believe whatever cockamamie story they feed to Fox News. Or, on the flip side, they may have calculated they’ll pay such a steep price for abandoning Trump that the risk from protecting him is the lesser evil.
Adam L Silverman
Hmmm…
Barbara
I am not sure why people think getting Comey memos is somehow like Ollie North investigation. North was himself the target and Congress insisted on subjecting him to public questioning, giving him “use immunity” so that he could not get away with invoking the Fifth Amendment. The prosecutor was unable to prove that they did not rely on that testimony when they prosecuted him. I’m not saying Congress couldn’t try to pull something like that this time around, I am just curious why people think the Comey memos are the beginning of that kind of strategy.
Frankensteinbeck
@Adam L Silverman:
wat
TenguPhule
@Adam L Silverman: Please proceed.
Timurid
@Adam L Silverman:
What the actual fuck?
LAO
@Adam L Silverman: ?
? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?
@Adam L Silverman:
So much for the theory Ghoulini has been trying to stay out of sight for fear of prosecution.
? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?
@Roger Moore:
They’re fools if they believe that will ultimately save them.
Mike J
@Roger Moore:
And those ingrates known as American voters still gave the White House to Carter. There’s no upside in denouncing your guy, there’s no downside in sticking by him.
Adam L Silverman
@LAO:
Yarrow
@Mnemosyne:
It’s always projection with them. Another thing to consider, why “cuck-servative” and “cuck” became a popular phrase with them.
MattF
@Adam L Silverman: I’m having some difficulty seeing how 9/11 fits into all this. But… aw… so, why not…
chris
More legal fun:
ETA
sukabi
@Adam L Silverman: couldn’t watch that all the way thru…Pense’s leering at Drumpf made my skin crawl. Uuuugggghhhhh.
MattF
@Yarrow: I’m feeling that special kind of nausea.
Adam L Silverman
@Yarrow: You used to be able to find screen grabs online of the ads that Stone would place for black men to have sex with his wife while he submissively watch. I think they’ve been taken down.
Fair Economist
@the Conster:
It’s already almost certain that there was trafficking going on with underage models in Trump’s “modeling” company. Projection, always projection.
Yarrow
@MattF: @Adam L Silverman: Rumor has it it’s not just Roger Stone.
efgoldman
@LAO:
Why would you be surprised by a four- year-old’s lack of understanding?
Adam L Silverman
@Yarrow: I’m sure.
efgoldman
@Mike J:
But four years later……
Frankensteinbeck
@efgoldman:
Yeah, that information’s a little vague for regular people. Trump is an incurious dimwit, although I do take seriously reports that when he is trying to be charming to someone one on one, he still has that skill. It doesn’t transfer to group settings, so we don’t get to see it.
Mnemosyne
@TenguPhule:
Yes, but it didn’t hurt us with anyone important, like the European powers. Nobody cares what an empire does in its colonies. They only care if we start screwing with our peers.
Mike in DC
@LAO:
Yes. Once he’s identified as a target, it’s way too late to stop what’s coming.
Mnemosyne
@Roger Moore:
This is only a guess, but I suspect the GOP has been taking Russian money since at least Citizens United, and possibly earlier. If Trump goes down for his Russian connections, the whole façade crumbles.
My question is whether Mueller has the stomach to bring down the political party he’s been a loyal member of for 40+ years, or if he’s going to flinch and pull his punch.
efgoldman
@Mnemosyne:
I believe – have always believed – that Mueller’s team will prosecute anything prosecutable which they have a reasonable chance of winning.
MisterForkbeard
@LAO: I like the part where Trump has tacitly admitted that if they WERE targeting him, he’d have to fire both of them.
Thank you, Obstruction of Justice.
lollipopguild
@Adam L Silverman: How long has it been since Rudy911 was an actual practicing lawyer?
Jeffro
@JPL: absolutely
Jeffro
@Adam L Silverman: perhaps so that they can both talk about the deep shit they are in and call it attorney-client privilege?
Rudy has to have been grilled by Mueller’s team by now, and sense what’s coming…
Adam L Silverman
@lollipopguild: Long long time.
Adam L Silverman
@Jeffro: Who knows at this point.
efgoldman
Thread dead, Fred?
Yutsano
@efgoldman: The mourning over Lily is taking precedence right now.
Roger Moore
@Mike J:
And they gave it right back to Reagan 4 years later. Most of the people who worked for Nixon were allowed to go back into government. Even scum like Robert Bork weren’t taken down by Watergate. There’s no telling how much long-term damage it could have done to the party if they had stuck by Nixon and let him drag them down with him.
Roger Moore
@Mnemosyne:
I don’t know what Mueller will do, but he’s not the only person who has power here. If the Democrats retake Congress, they can do a lot to investigate the whole thing. One of the reasons I don’t want Adam Schiff to try running for higher office is because he’d be the chairman of the House Intelligence committee, which would give him a lot of power to investigate the Russian election meddling.
Shalimar
@Mnemosyne: Not just Pizzagate. The rumormongering is still ongoing. The big rightwing underground rumor last week was that NYPD and the FBI found videos on Weiner’s computer of Hillary Clinton sexxing minors and they were about to come out. They obviously did not come out because they clearly do not exist, but they are still obsessed with child sex trafficking.
efgoldman
@Shalimar:
And Weasel Face’s new lawyer, who I’m sure has convinced WF that he can fix it because of his connections, wouldn’t have anything to do with that, would he?
Shalimar
@efgoldman: I didn’t see behind the curtain, but that was my first thought too. “You seriously trust the NY FBI office and NYPD to be accurate in their Clinton rumors when they never have been before?”
(((CassandraLeo)))
@TenguPhule: It might make a difference if the trafficking victims were discovered to be white. Probably depends to a certain extent on social class, gender, sexual orientation, and some other factors as well.
Really, I don’t think you can pull off all the Republicans’ support no matter what they’ve done, but, as Senator Doug Jones of fucking Alabama can attest, you can whittle it away. A revelation like this would be certain to whittle away support, even if it didn’t cause it to collapse as, in a less horrific world, it would. (Of course, in a truly just world, the support would’ve collapsed a long time ago – take your pick of causes.)