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You are here: Home / Economics / C.R.E.A.M. / Trump Crime Cartel Open Thread: The Friends of Mikey Cohen

Trump Crime Cartel Open Thread: The Friends of Mikey Cohen

by Anne Laurie|  April 16, 201810:58 pm| 57 Comments

This post is in: C.R.E.A.M., Foreign Affairs, Open Threads, Russiagate, Trump Crime Cartel, Assholes, Riveted By The Sociological Significance Of It All

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New, major Michael Cohen investigation news:
-His bank flagged wires to LLC as suspicious, sparking criminal investigation
-His loan application may have misstated purpose of funds
-Elliott Broidy wired same LLC, then wired Cohen after LLC exposed https://t.co/eiG3k6wyy1

— Justin Miller (@justinjm1) April 15, 2018

Oh, and Cohen covered up Junior's affair too. A lot of things are starting to fall into place here. pic.twitter.com/NWN82W0O9y

— Zeddy (@Zeddary) April 16, 2018

Vanity Fair, “Under Siege, Michael Cohen Is Vacillating Between a New Level of Exasperation and Trumpian Business-as-Usual”:

…As much as the raid has spooked President Trump, and in contrast to the breezy, cigar-smoking images portrayed, it has also weighed heavily on Cohen. In the days since the raid, according to two people familiar with his thinking, Cohen has grappled with the seriousness of his legal situation and the impact it has had on his family, and the fallout that may follow in the weeks, months, and perhaps years to come. These people explained that Cohen feels as though he is a means to an end—as “collateral damage” and a “disposable” element being used to get to his old boss.

Cohen, according to these people, has vacillated between this new level of exasperation and his typical Trumpian chest-beating manner. He has suggested to people close to him that perhaps he should act as his own attorney, because he may be the most apt person to defend himself. He has expressed anger at the lack of outrage over the fact that his legal office and private residence were searched when he says he was willing to cooperate with any subpoenas. “Where is the A.C.L.U?” he has said; at times, he has jokingly asked whether there is going to be a “Million Michael March”—a reference to the renowned 1995 African-American display of unity—to retrieve his documents. Cohen, according to these people, has also been dismayed by the silence from Trump’s inner circle in Washington, many of whom he expected would have his back. One person familiar with his thinking said that he’s gotten messages from thousands of people since last Monday, but “it’s been a ghost town from D.C.,” other than from the president…

I’m still giving two to one odds – on Cohen using Russian money to as his catch and kill /hush money – any takers – I’m saying Russian wire transfers show up through Cohen ;) https://t.co/SL0oyGgwSt

— John Cusack (@johncusack) April 16, 2018

Well, keep in mind that almost all of Cohen’s own money is from businesses started with money from Russia or Ukraine. So it’s really just a question of how recent a vintage. https://t.co/GD1ikqrwBg

— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) April 16, 2018

And they both grew up in a neighborhood where Fred Trump was one of the biggest landlords. There's a very dense set of possible Russia connections for the Trump family in Brooklyn. Little Russia sprung up inside/around the core of their real estate empire.

— RAGEPATH (@ragepath) April 16, 2018

But of course- my bet is- payoffs for say last 5 years- comes from same crew who been giving him his credit line / Cambridge analytic crowd – https://t.co/uVZKw2dQPP

— John Cusack (@johncusack) April 16, 2018

look, the best script to option is the one about the time Michael was running the casino cruise boat biz in Florida for the two goodfellas from Ukraine. https://t.co/atbgijIXtE

— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) April 16, 2018

The prediction market has a indictment factored in pic.twitter.com/KP8q2h7Rmb

— Acyn Torabi (@Acyn) April 16, 2018

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Reader Interactions

57Comments

  1. 1.

    Corner Stone

    April 16, 2018 at 11:05 pm

    His loan application may have misstated purpose of funds

    You mean he didn’t write down, “Pay off a porn star who boned someone who has no idea what I am doing with this money?”
    Shocked face.

  2. 2.

    Smiling Mortician

    April 16, 2018 at 11:10 pm

    I’m . . . I dunno. I worked all day, y’know? Jesus fuck. The stuff that happens when you don’t have time to check the ‘net.

  3. 3.

    Adam L Silverman

    April 16, 2018 at 11:11 pm

    Oopsie!

    Filed under "Everything is Terrible" …

    "Sometimes it’s good to take a step back and remember that we live in a world where we are forced, on a regular basis, to think about Donald Trump’s sex life, because Donald FREakin’ Trump is the president."https://t.co/ggRi4OB4xG

    — Joy Reid (@JoyAnnReid) April 17, 2018

    https://t.co/e2NcBMNSoy

    — Joy Reid (@JoyAnnReid) April 17, 2018

  4. 4.

    Millard Filmore

    April 16, 2018 at 11:11 pm

    May the God I don’t believe in bless all the Balloon Juice community. You all have helped me to stay sane all these months of the Trumpian pretendership. It is good that these dots are getting connected outside of Mueller’s operation … he can charge ahead without being a single point of failure, carrying the whole load.

    Things are finally looking up.

  5. 5.

    Mnemosyne

    April 16, 2018 at 11:13 pm

    These people explained that Cohen feels as though he is a means to an end—as “collateral damage” and a “disposable” element being used to get to his old boss.

    Poor bastard is just figuring this out now?

  6. 6.

    Millard Filmore

    April 16, 2018 at 11:14 pm

    @Corner Stone:

    You mean he didn’t write down, “Pay off a porn star …

    I cannot help wondering why he needed to get a home loan like this. I wonder (hope?) its because he was tapped out paying off so many other women.

  7. 7.

    Mnemosyne

    April 16, 2018 at 11:17 pm

    @Millard Filmore:

    I wonder if it was part of the money-laundering scheme to try and further conceal the source of the payoff. ?

  8. 8.

    Gin & Tonic

    April 16, 2018 at 11:19 pm

    @Mnemosyne: Maybe one of these days I’ll feel sorry for the dumb schmuck.

    Nah. Fuck it.

  9. 9.

    Cheryl Rofer

    April 16, 2018 at 11:20 pm

    He has suggested to people close to him that perhaps he should act as his own attorney, because he may be the most apt person to defend himself.

    Yes. Please let it be so.

  10. 10.

    Adam L Silverman

    April 16, 2018 at 11:21 pm

    WH continues remarkable effort of trying to distance Trump from Cohen. Hogan Gidley on @ac360 says Cohen is one of “many” Trump lawyers. Earlier today, Sanders: “I believe they've still got some ongoing things, but the President has a large number of attorneys, as you know.”

    — Manu Raju (@mkraju) April 17, 2018

  11. 11.

    Millard Filmore

    April 16, 2018 at 11:22 pm

    @Mnemosyne: Yeah, he did a million plus for some other right winger, yet it was the home loan that trips him up to get him the attention he deserves. As Gin & Tonic says, “Fuck it.” I will accept any reason in this to smile.

  12. 12.

    RobertDSC-Mac Mini

    April 16, 2018 at 11:23 pm

    I wish the federal Judge had scratched the concept of the special master. Two losses in one hearing.

  13. 13.

    Gin & Tonic

    April 16, 2018 at 11:23 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: Question: did previous Presidents have large numbers of attorneys? If not, why not?

  14. 14.

    satby

    April 16, 2018 at 11:24 pm

    My oldest dog Rosie is 91 in dog years. But I figured out that in Trump years I’m 100 years older than her.

  15. 15.

    tobie

    April 16, 2018 at 11:26 pm

    Someone at dkos posted that the law firm Squire Patton Boggs paid Michael Cohen $500,000 in 2017, when he became an “associate” of the firm. He also got free office space at Rockefeller Square. We know Cohen didn’t bring any business to the firm so the whole arrangement strikes me as weird. The fact that SPB represents Gazprom and Cambridge Analytica only makes the arrangement sound more suspicious.

  16. 16.

    Adam L Silverman

    April 16, 2018 at 11:28 pm

    @Gin & Tonic: Depends. At one time President Clinton had several to handle the Paula Jones lawsuit and to handle the Starr investigation. But other than that he did not. Part of the difference here is that the current president wasn’t an elected official when he became president. Rather he runs a business that is essentially him, his eldest children, Michael Cohen who was not working for him in a legal capacity, several other people doing similar work to Cohen – going out and setting up deals, and some staff. And that business is made up of over 50 smaller shell companies that are opaque. Basically it is structured as if it was an organized crime organization. So the current president has a lot of attorneys, or has had a lot of attorneys, because of what he was doing prior to being president.

  17. 17.

    Gin & Tonic

    April 16, 2018 at 11:31 pm

    So I am now finding out that a stupid W-2 that my wife got because of some idiotic adjustment to two hours of overtime she worked at an employer that she last set foot in *three years ago* is preventing me from e-filing either Federal or state. It shows $8.11 in wages and $8.11 in tax withheld, and that’s a flag that prevents e-filing. Now I have to print fucking 20+ pages of Federal plus the same amount or more of two separate states. For a fucking $8 W-2, for money she didn’t actually get. I am unhappy, and this Sagamore Rye isn’t lightening my mood.

  18. 18.

    Adam L Silverman

    April 16, 2018 at 11:34 pm

    @Gin & Tonic: Have you considered retaining Michael Cohen to assist with your problem? Sean Hannity highly recommends him.

  19. 19.

    NotMax

    April 16, 2018 at 11:37 pm

    (pushes briefcase full of cash across table) “I’m not paying her off, you do it.”

    (pushes briefcase back) “I’m not doing it.”

    “I know, let’s get Mikey!”

  20. 20.

    efgoldman

    April 16, 2018 at 11:38 pm

    @Adam L Silverman:

    the President has a large number of attorneys, as you know.”

    Has he paid any of them?

  21. 21.

    Ben Cisco

    April 16, 2018 at 11:38 pm

    There’s that number again…

    This is big. The GOP tax bill is now even less popular; only 27% think it's a good idea. Most people foresee higher deficits and most benefits going to the wealthy and corporations. https://t.co/VoaZsBWpRO— Topher Spiro (@TopherSpiro) April 17, 2018

  22. 22.

    Another Scott

    April 16, 2018 at 11:38 pm

    @Gin & Tonic: Bummer. :-(

    I just did our taxes. We get a huge, yoooooge, $458 refund this year. About $700 less than last year.

    WooHoo.

    I can’t wait to see how much of that yooooooge refund will be clawed back next year. :-/

    Hang in there, G&T.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  23. 23.

    brettvk

    April 16, 2018 at 11:38 pm

    @tobie: Is the Boggs here related to Cokie Boggs Roberts? [checks Wikipedia] Yep, named for her deceased brother. It’s a small world amongst our betters.

  24. 24.

    Gin & Tonic

    April 16, 2018 at 11:39 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: I think if I were to retain Michael Cohen for my tax issues, the next step would be to strip naked and walk into the nearest IRS office saying “do with me what you will.”

  25. 25.

    Adam L Silverman

    April 16, 2018 at 11:44 pm

    @efgoldman: I do not know.

  26. 26.

    Mnemosyne

    April 16, 2018 at 11:47 pm

    @Adam L Silverman:

    And that business is made up of over 50 smaller shell companies that are opaque. Basically it is structured as if it was an organized crime organization.

    Or like the Church of Scientology, as G pointed out the other day. Six of one, half a dozen of the other.

  27. 27.

    Adam L Silverman

    April 16, 2018 at 11:47 pm

    @Gin & Tonic: That’s a technique!

  28. 28.

    Mnemosyne

    April 16, 2018 at 11:49 pm

    @Another Scott:

    We got a pretty decent refund this year, along with a warning that the new tax law means we’ll have to pay next year. Sigh.

  29. 29.

    Ruckus

    April 16, 2018 at 11:50 pm

    Mickey is astounded that his crappy legal sheepskin isn’t keeping him out of trouble after he’s spent years running an illegal mob facilitation shop?
    Well knock me over with a feather I couldn’t be more surprised at that. As most of our resident legal eagles have said on numerous occasions, criminals are usually not all that smart. And we are seeing the proof of this every day.

  30. 30.

    Ruckus

    April 16, 2018 at 11:51 pm

    @Mnemosyne:
    Difficult to run a cult any other way.

  31. 31.

    tobie

    April 16, 2018 at 11:53 pm

    @brettvk: Yes, there is the Cokie link. I gather that Squire Patton Boggs is a huge law firm. That may explain why Gazprom and Cambridge Analytica would approach them for counsel. Still the $500,000 payment to a lousy lawyer who didn’t bring in any (official) business seems odd.

  32. 32.

    Ruckus

    April 16, 2018 at 11:55 pm

    @Mnemosyne:

    Poor bastard is just figuring this out now?

    I’ll refer you to my comment at #29

  33. 33.

    Shalimar

    April 16, 2018 at 11:57 pm

    @tobie: Can’t find the link now, but I read somewhere that Cohen had actually referred something like 5 clients as part of the deal. Records were kept separate so the firm had no clue what Cohen had done for those clients or whether he had continued to meet with them.

  34. 34.

    MisterForkbeard

    April 16, 2018 at 11:57 pm

    @Mnemosyne: Likewise. We’re going to really be in it next year, but this year was basically fine.

  35. 35.

    Yarrow

    April 16, 2018 at 11:59 pm

    Cohen, according to these people, has also been dismayed by the silence from Trump’s inner circle in Washington, many of whom he expected would have his back

    He really is delusional. Anyone who has observed Trump for any amount of time, and certainly while he’s been in office, can tell you loyalty only goes one way with Trump. You have to be loyal to him. He won’t be loyal to you.

  36. 36.

    Fair Economist

    April 17, 2018 at 12:02 am

    @NotMax: lol

  37. 37.

    Ruckus

    April 17, 2018 at 12:05 am

    @Adam L Silverman:
    I’ve stated here before that I’ve owned 2 companies that I owned for a total of 24 yrs and that I’ve used the services of lawyers occasionally. Never had one on retainer, they were trying to get deadbeats to pay me what they owed me. And I couldn’t tell you any of their names, that’s how often I needed their services. Yes drumpf’s scams were much larger than my legit businesses but having to have multiple lawyers to set up dummy corps to hide money, to move money around to avoid taxes and to pay off people he fucked and fucked over is a sign of an extremely dishonest man. But you knew that.

  38. 38.

    Peale

    April 17, 2018 at 12:10 am

    @Yarrow: yeah. He had 100% confidence. Which is why he taped conversations.

  39. 39.

    Peale

    April 17, 2018 at 12:12 am

    @Gin & Tonic: meh. They’ll contact social services and find you some clothes. They really aren’t bad people.

  40. 40.

    patrick II

    April 17, 2018 at 12:15 am

    @Mnemosyne:

    Poor guy. As if the women he was paying off weren’t merely disposable objects for him and Trump.

  41. 41.

    Yarrow

    April 17, 2018 at 12:17 am

    @Ben Cisco: Oh, the tax bill isn’t popular? When that comes up I always like to revisit what Mitch McConnell said about it when the bill passed:

    “If we can’t sell this to the American people, we ought to go into another line of work,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said after the bill’s passage.

    They’re not selling it to us so another line of work for them it is!

  42. 42.

    Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (formerly Mumphrey, et Al.)

    April 17, 2018 at 12:21 am

    Really, this fucklehead is surprised Donald Tяump isn’t helping him out here? Has he met this guy? Jesús Marimba…

  43. 43.

    Adam L Silverman

    April 17, 2018 at 12:26 am

    Is everyone enjoying Infrastructure Week?

  44. 44.

    Ruckus

    April 17, 2018 at 12:26 am

    @Yarrow:
    Fair enough, how about stable boys? At one of those huge dairies with hundreds of cows. They could shovel shit, they are good at it. Although I’m not sure that merely hundreds of cows would keep up with their normal output.

  45. 45.

    Ruckus

    April 17, 2018 at 12:29 am

    @Adam L Silverman:
    Frankly can’t say that I am.

  46. 46.

    Parfigliano

    April 17, 2018 at 12:29 am

    @Peale: I think its that he was taping conversations is now public knowledge is whats really got Mikey pissing his pants. Mobsters generally take a dim view of being taped. They have their own airtight NDA.

  47. 47.

    Yarrow

    April 17, 2018 at 12:31 am

    @Adam L Silverman: Infrastructure Week is my favorite week every week!

  48. 48.

    tobie

    April 17, 2018 at 12:34 am

    @Shalimar: Now I’m totally confused…how could he refer five clients when according to his own / his counsel’s testimony he has at most three clients. Nothing, but nothing, is straight with these guys.

  49. 49.

    Ruckus

    April 17, 2018 at 12:36 am

    @Parfigliano:
    They were going to find out eventually anyway. But by finding out now publicly I’d bet that rather drastically lowers his sell out value to Bobby M., who probably has everything and really at that point has little more use for Mickey. Mickey is screwed, really screwed, and from both ends.

  50. 50.

    Ruckus

    April 17, 2018 at 12:38 am

    @tobie:
    He has 3 clients now, he supposedly referred 5 clients to the law firm that paid him half a mil. Don’t have to be the same clients.

  51. 51.

    Ken

    April 17, 2018 at 12:41 am

    @Adam L Silverman: I don’t want to be hasty. I’d prefer to give infrastructure week at least another day.

  52. 52.

    Adam L Silverman

    April 17, 2018 at 12:48 am

    @Ken: Fair enough.

  53. 53.

    jl

    April 17, 2018 at 1:10 am

    @Yarrow: “If we can’t sell this to the American people, we ought to go into another line of work,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said after the bill’s passage.

    Depends on what kind of work McConnell was talking about. Probably wasn’t legislative work in an honest functioning democracy. McConnell was talking about another kind of work. Then it makes sense, just that so far it looks like Congressional GOP screwed up their con this time.

  54. 54.

    tobie

    April 17, 2018 at 1:10 am

    @Ruckus: Well, if he was referring clients to the firm, that would make sense. I thought Shalimar was suggesting the five were Cohen’s clients:

    Records were kept separate so the firm had no clue what Cohen had done for those clients or whether he had continued to meet with them.

    As I said, nothing is straight with these fellows.

  55. 55.

    Vhh

    April 17, 2018 at 1:18 am

    @Adam L Silverman: Trump Org is a crime family, with Donald as Capo di Tutti Capi, the kids and operators of shell firms as capos, then local bosses, etc. Cohen is the Consigliere. I wonder if there is any violence in sddition to the financial extortion.

  56. 56.

    Vhh

    April 17, 2018 at 1:22 am

    @Adam L Silverman: By Fri, Cohen will be a coffee boy. Wonder if he’ll sing to Bobby Three Sticks.

  57. 57.

    Ruckus

    April 17, 2018 at 1:43 am

    @tobie:
    What I’m saying is that of those 5 he supposedly got paid 1/2 a mill for, 3 may, or may not be the same 3 he claims he has now. Or they could be 3 of the 5. It might not have anything at all to do with any clients, moved or not moved to the firm that paid him money. The entire thing could have been money laundering. It could be a payoff for something else. It could have been a half mil for his boyish good looks and charm.
    Wanna bet that Bobby M knows what it was for?

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