kingdragonfly:

Lanny Davis, one of Cohen’s lawyers, issued a statement after the plea saying that Trump directed Cohen to 'commit a crime.'
..."

The fact that his lawyer is making the claim (as opposed to Cohen himself) should go some way to defusing the inevitable "you can't trust Cohen, he's a liar" defense that will be used if it ever gets that far.

The "perjury trap" explained by Rudy:

From WIkipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unindicted_co-conspirator

"The term unindicted co-conspirator was familiarized in 1974 when then U.S. President Richard Nixon was named as an unindicted co-conspirator in indictments stemming from the Watergate Investigation. Nixon was not indicted due to concerns about whether the United States Constitution allowed the indictment of a sitting President (see Executive privilege)."

In English: I broke the law, but so did this other guy who hasn't been arrested yet.

Washington Post: "How the campaign finance charges against Michael Cohen may implicate Trump":

 

Standing before Judge William H. Pauley III, Cohen admitted guilt on two criminal counts: willfully causing an unlawful corporate contribution and making an excessive campaign contribution.

 

The first count dealt with Cohen’s negotiation of an agreement with an unnamed company — the context of the government’s delineation of charges makes clear that it’s American Media Inc., publisher of the National Enquirer — to pay former Playboy model Karen McDougal $150,000. That payment was aimed at preventing her from being able to share her story of a year-long affair with Trump with any other media outlet.

 

The second count addressed the infamous payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels, negotiated by Cohen shortly before the election. That payment, of $130,000, was made with funds drawn from a home equity line of credit obtained by Cohen in 2015. That line of credit was itself obtained fraudulently according to another of the guilty pleas Cohen entered on Tuesday.

 

To the layperson, this likely sounds as a slightly more noxious example of business as usual in politics. It’s not. Cohen made that very clear when he stood up to accept guilt for his actions, in two phrases.

 

The payment to McDougal was made “in coordination with and at the direction of a candidate for federal office,” he said, adding that it was made “for the principal purpose of influencing the election.” The Daniels payment was similarly made “in coordination with and at the direction of the same candidate” and for the same reason.

 

Those points are important. As we noted when the Daniels payment was first reported, making a payment of $130,000 to bury a story is of dubious legality in the abstract. How and if it violates the law depends on the relationship of the person making the payment to the campaign and whether such payments were in the standard course of practice of his business.

 

Cohen’s sworn assertions in court make clear that he was acting on behalf of the campaign with the aim of aiding the candidate’s election. This wasn’t Trump Organization attorney Michael Cohen making yet another payment to yet another woman — it was Cohen on behalf of the campaign making a campaign-related expenditure. Had the Trump campaign paid the $130,000 with legally contributed donations and reported it, it would have been perfectly legal, however politically problematic. It didn’t.

 

Watching CNN domestic at the moment. Cohen's lawyer just stated that Cohen has incriminating information about the Russia investigation. Implication is that he can (and is willing to) tell Mueller things that will damage if not destroy Trump. Hope floats.

Rikkitic:

 

Watching CNN domestic at the moment. Cohen's lawyer just stated that Cohen has incriminating information about the Russia investigation. Implication is that he can (and is willing to) tell Mueller things that will damage if not destroy Trump. Hope floats.

 

 

 

I really hope so, but clearly ~40% of the people are so obsessed with Trump as God Emperor, they don't care if he's a crook, a liar, a racist, condones sexual assault of women, ad nauseum.  They damned well should have known that before they voted for him.  Not like Nixon.

Justice would be served to not see him impeached (which I don't think is going to happen), but to spend the rest of his presidency as an unpopular, impotent, drainpipe sniffing dotard, tweeting insults at the moon.

Cohen's a crook, but seems to have found a conscience - I doubt his flipping on Trump and guilty plea was entirely motivated by no choice but to plea-bargain.

ABC - Robert Mueller's victory could be a tipping point for Donald Trump's presidency

Today marks the biggest legal setback for United States President Donald Trump - two of his inner circle are now convicted felons and the hounds are getting closer to the gates. ...

 

This raises intriguing questions:

 

 

1. Will Mr Mueller be able to persuade Manafort to flip in exchange for a light sentence?
2. Will the judge be lenient in his sentencing given his posture toward the prosecution?
3. And will the President pardon Mr Manafort?

 

In relation to number one, Mr Mueller's hand is unmistakably strengthened by the guilty verdict because Manafort finally faces the real prospect of spending the rest of his life in jail.

Rudy Giuliani's Trump truthism: Darcy cartoon:

On "Meet the Press" Kellyanne Conway called Sean Spicer's false claims about Trump's Inauguration crowd size "Alternative Facts."
A year later, Trump's lawyer Rudy Giuliani said on "Meet The Press" that "Truth isn't truth."

gzt: There is still plenty of legal room for denial on the evidence presented.

I agree. Legal, time, denials, thats a long watch. Mid terms and 2020 are a better watch. But he's done nothing positive, not upset the apple cart as much as many thought, no WW3 and so on. As I have always felt, its time to cut the US down a peg. Then, we have China to fill the gap....Thats the next thread. With Russia. Deja Vu?

tdgeek:

 

gzt: There is still plenty of legal room for denial on the evidence presented.

 

I agree. Legal, time, denials, thats a long watch. Mid terms and 2020 are a better watch. But he's done nothing positive, not upset the apple cart as much as many thought, no WW3 and so on. As I have always felt, its time to cut the US down a peg. Then, we have China to fill the gap....Thats the next thread. With Russia. Deja Vu?

 

If you think the world Trump's been creating is safer than it was before he arrived as POTUS, I politely suggest that you're dreaming.

I don't think he was suggesting the world was safer than before Trump, just that WWIII hasn't actually started yet. But when "Is not competent enough to have started Armageddon yet" is the highest compliment you can be paid, you should rethink your life.

My point was that all hell will break loose. It has if you are the POTUS on a daily basis, or in the White House or a US citizen as your leader and country gets ridiculed. That's it. When he goes, or is voted out, the stupid stuff he implemented will be reversed. In fact you could argue that as he has pushed NK and Iran away, and that these countries will seek interractions with non US countries, it may well be safer. Any problem area in the world where the US is not wanted, and where non US countries will pick up the tab is a good thing. Prior to Trump the US has been a bully, now its disliked more than before. There is no WW3, no Wall to provoke terrorist action by Mexicans and the US on each other, NK and Iran are stalemates for the US, and while trade is becoming a problem, medium term, countries will and are looking elsewhere for stable trade partners. He is screwing up his own country predominantly. Many of the pics in this thread are jokes on him, that's where it has ended up. There has not been the serious dialogue anywhere that shows the concerns for ruining the world, it hasn't got that far past being a farce. Should he go sooner or later, the US is still a joke, led by crooks, once he has gone, not many left who can be trusted 

This is funny

Lorraine Woellert, a journalist with Politico was on the plane. She said the only source of news they had was a TV airing Fox News.

"When you're on Air Force One, you don't have access to your phone or wi-fi, so you're literally in an information bubble," she said.

While you can use internet on a commercial flight, you cannot on Air Force One. And the only TV channel you can watch is Fox News. :-)