Really.
Now we're asked to believe that Trump cooked this entire thing up as a fund raising scheme?
No leak?
No whispered "Trump is going to be indicted on Tuesday" message?
Just something Trump came up with over morning coffee?

Really? You don't really think we're that stupid, right?

 

Yes, I really think the announcement was a money making scheme of frump. frump steaks; frump university; frump foundation; frump collectible stamps; frump election defense fund.... Hello?

 

Really.
Now we're asked to believe that Trump cooked this entire thing up as a fund raising scheme?
No leak?
No whispered "Trump is going to be indicted on Tuesday" message?
Just something Trump came up with over morning coffee?

Really? You don't really think we're that stupid, right?

 

Again..,.Yes, I really think the announcement was a money making scheme of frump. frump steaks; frump university; frump foundation; frump collectible stamps; frump election defense fund.... Hello?

 

Trump asks for donations up to $3,300 off arrest rumours and launches ‘petition’ over charges
https://news.yahoo.com/trump-asks-donations-3-300-152152708.html

 

Can't have that rascal raising campaign money!
Launch an investigation!
PERP WALK TIME!!

 

I realize Trump and his legal team are in just shit their pants panic over DA Alvin Bragg indicting him. But my God this is just a what the fuck were you thinking desperation red stupid last ditch move that was bound to blow up in their faces. More than one legal pundit said far from getting Robert Costello to try and smear Michael Cohen to try and help Trump's case it actually opened Trump and Costello up to more charges. And now I know why. This was classic obstruction of justice conspiracy involving Trump and multiple other players.



Inside the Failed Plan by MAGA World Lawyers to Keep Michael Cohen on the ‘Right Page’ With Trump

239

• 
  

Jose Pagliery
Fri, March 24, 2023 at 8:42 PM MDT·11 min read



Photo Illustration by Luis G. Rendon/The Daily Beast/Reuters
As a Manhattan grand jury nears a possible decision to indict Donald Trump over his hush money payment to a porn star with whom he had an affair, the former president is on a relentless, aggressive campaign to discredit Michael Cohen, his former “fixer” who did the dirty work.

That effort intensified (and got a bit weird) on Monday, when the grand jury heard from a MAGA-friendly lawyer who briefly advised Cohen years ago—only to turn on him now. Robert Costello called Cohen an unreliable liar, taking the remarkable step of betraying someone he deemed a former client.

Talking to reporters on a New York City street, Costello waved around papers saying that grand jurors deserved to see nearly 330 emails tracking his private interactions with Cohen to “see the full picture.”



Trump Rape Case Jury Will Be Anonymous Due to MAGA Threats of Violence

The Daily Beast has reviewed those emails, which do indeed tell a more complete story—one in which the Trump White House tried and failed to keep Cohen in line, eventually positioning him to testify against his former boss.

The emails show an attempt to establish a backchannel running from Cohen—who was suddenly being investigated by the feds over the $130,000 payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels—all the way to then-President Trump. Costello had long been associated with Trump acolyte Rudy Giuliani, so an opportunity presented itself to establish a Cohen-Costello-Giuliani-Trump chain.

The New York Times previously obtained these emails, using them to document how Cohen turned on Trump. However, this account goes into further detail.

This story starts on April 9, 2018, when the FBI first raided Cohen’s temporary digs at the Loews Regency hotel, just a few blocks from Trump Tower. Department of Justice Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s team probing Trump-Russia allegations left it up to New York federal prosecutors to begin looking into Cohen’s role in the hush payment for violating campaign finance laws.

Jeffrey Citron, a real estate lawyer who already knew Cohen, reached out to him a week later and offered “insight” from his well-connected law firm partner: Costello, an ex-deputy chief of the criminal division at the very same office doing the investigation. Cohen responded the next day, welcoming the help—and immediately met with them both at the hotel that afternoon. Costello mentioned his connection to Giuliani, who was at the time briefly serving as the president’s cybersecurity adviser.

Citron and Costello remembered telling Cohen he had a clear exit from his troubles: cooperate by giving up a bigger fish. According to internal firm notes recounting the meeting, the pair asked Cohen if he knew of any dodgy activity involving Trump—to which he mentioned nothing, save for a potential scandal about “a lot of money missing and unaccounted for” from Trump’s 2017 inaugural committee, which would later be mired in scandal. But they recalled that Cohen did admit to getting reimbursed for the Daniels payment by Trump—a point that would someday be revived by the Manhattan DA. Still, Citron and Costello left the hotel under the impression that Cohen had a clean past, with nothing to give up to the feds.

In later conversations with House Intelligence Committee investigators, Costello told them that Cohen swore he had no dirt on Trump himself that could serve as a get-out-of-jail card, according to internal firm notes, obtained exclusively by The Daily Beast.

“Hope we helped. Bob and I would love the opportunity to be part of and work with your team as we believe we can help you on many levels. Hang tough and think straight,” Citron wrote to Cohen right after the April 17 meeting.


Robert Costello

Photo Illustrations by Luis G. Rendon/The Daily Beast/YouTube
Costello kicked right into action, devising a plan to keep Cohen safe—one that relied on a presidential pardon from Trump, internal emails at the firm show. And Costello seemed eager to share that with him after the New York Daily News quoted a longtime Trump legal adviser warning that Cohen could be pressured to flip on his boss.

“More reason to contact Michael and show him the escape hatch,” Costello wrote to his law partner.

That option seemed all the more promising on April 19, when Giuliani announced he was joining Trump’s legal team to try to shut down the special counsel probe that led prosecutors to Cohen. It was a position of direct influence with the president himself.

“I am sure you saw the news that Rudy is joining the Trump legal team. I told you my relationship with Rudy which [sic] could be very useful for you,” Costello wrote to Cohen that evening.

“Great news for Rudy,” Cohen replied.

Rupert Murdoch Admits He ‘Could Have’ Prevented Rudy’s Lies on Fox but ‘Didn’t’

The next day, Costello told his New York firm partners that “we are officially part of Cohen’s team. Have been authorized to reach out to various players!”

“Are we retained with actual money?” one partner replied. The question would prove prescient.

Over the next few months, Cohen essentially ghosted Costello, getting dozens of emails with commentary and advice but barely responding. The shift followed a suggestive email by Costello that seemed to say too much.

“I spoke with Rudy. Very Very Positive. You are ‘loved.’ If you want to call me I will give you the details. I told him everything you asked me to and he said they knew that. There was never a doubt and they are in our corner. Rudy said this communication channel must be maintained. He called it crucial and noted how reassured they were that they had someone like me whom Rudy has known for so many years in this role. Sleep well tonight, you have friends in high places,” Costello wrote to Cohen from his iPad on April 21.

“P.S. Some very positive comments about you from the White House,” he added.

But when Costello shared that with his law firm partner, he reeled.

“Thought no more emails,” Citron said.

“The emails are safe and privileged. He specified he wanted me to email him after I spoke with Rudy,” Costello replied.

Costello kept up the pep talks over the following weeks, calling it a “win” when a respected federal judge was chosen to monitor the FBI’s handling of Cohen’s legal records and dismissing claims that feds tapped Cohen’s phones as “psychological warfare.” But Cohen didn’t respond to any of them.

By early May, Cohen came to regret ever toying with the idea of using the man who had the president’s ear. Giuliani appeared on Fox News on a Thursday night to discuss the Stormy Daniels payoff with host Sean Hannity—only to shock viewers by laying out the basic facts District Attorney Alvin Bragg Jr. is now using to indict Trump.

“That money was not campaign money. Sorry, I’m giving you a fact now that you don’t know. It’s not campaign money. No campaign finance violation,” Giuliani started.

“They funneled it through a law firm,” Hannity clarified.

“Funneled through a law firm, and the president repaid it,” Giuliani revealed.

“Oh,” Hannity replied, stumbling. “I didn’t know that he did.”

“Yeah,” Giuliani asserted.

Two days later, Costello noted how Cohen began expressing reservations.

“On Saturday, Michael was claiming that he… was convinced that Rudy is screwing things up… I asked him if he would be coming to our office this week and he said definitely, but I do not know if I believe him. I am beginning to wonder if he really has the money to pay us,” Costello wrote to his law partner.

As the days went by, the frustration increased. Cohen wouldn’t sign the “retainer” agreeing to pay Costello for legal work. He stuck instead with a well-heeled Washington lawyer, Stephen M. Ryan, who was being paid for by Trump, emails show.

“Our issue is to get Cohen on the right page without giving him the appearance that we are following instructions from Giuliani or the President,” Costello told his law partner.

At one point, Costello expressed a worry that they were being “slow played.” Still, he continued to guide Cohen, defining legal terms that came up as part of the criminal investigation.

By the end of May, the backchannel plan seemed to be falling apart.

“Cohen again brought up the idea of a meeting with Giuliani and I said I could do that but only after we were officially retained,” Costello told his law partner, noting how Cohen had said “you are on the team but to make an announcement now would generate a media storm.”

Ron DeSantis’ Anti-Free Speech Crusade Would Cancel Fox News

When journalists began speculating whether Trump’s one-time fixer was about to be arrested, the Cohen-Costello-Giuiani-Trump rope started to fray.

On the morning of June 14, Costello texted Giuliani a warning: “He is very agitated and lashing out. Basically he needs a little loving and respect booster. He is not thinking clearly because he feels abandoned. I am very uncertain about our relationship with him.”

An hour later, Cohen fired off an email to Costello that seemed like a warning shot: a link to a Washington Post article documenting how the Trump campaign was actually discrediting him. The president’s one-time consigliere was getting dragged through the mud.

“They are again on a bad path,” Cohen cautioned.

Suspicions were raised when Cohen hired a new lawyer, Guy Petrillo, who had ping ponged between private practice and the Southern District of New York—the same DOJ office investigating Cohen. And, much to Costello’s horror, this guy had prosecuted cases in the 1980s alongside James Comey, whose eventual ascent to FBI director and subsequent firing by Trump gave the MAGA world the Trump-Russia special counsel headache in the first place.

“Does Cohen really want a friend of Comey as his lawyer?” Costello asked Giuliani in a text message thread that noted several other connections. “If you are looking for an anti-Trump gang of lawyers this is it. It would be a monumentally bad choice for Cohen and your team.”

Those worries were made reality when CNN reported that Cohen was now “willing to give information” about Trump, prompting Costello to write another note.


“He asked me to communicate with Rudy and have him tell the President that all of these stories about cooperating are bullshit,” Costello wrote on June 19. “I believe the real issue for Cohen is money. Who is going to pay for these lawyers.”

The last tug on the Cohen-Costello-Giuliani-Trump chain happened that week, when the comedian Tom Arnold claimed that he’d teamed up with Cohen to take down Trump—which apparently made the president himself squirrelly.

“The President has seen this and asked Rudy to reach out to me to reach out to Michael to find out what the truth is,” Costello wrote to his firm partner on June 22. “Rudy asked me to find out if Michael is asking for legal fees to be paid because as he said, ‘as far as I know we (trump) have paid all of his legal fees.’”


Rudy Giuliani

Photo Illustration by Luis G. Rendon/The Daily Beast/Reuters
Citron responded by asking Costello to remind Cohen that “we have credibility with trump and that can only help him, plus fees Will be handled.”

When Cohen hired Lanny Davis—a Democratic operative who also served as Bill Clinton’s lawyer—it became clear to everyone involved in this backchannel ploy that the party was over. Costello texted Giuliani the news, expressing with certainty that Cohen couldn’t possibly afford such a high powered lawyer on his own. In a move that seemed like lobbing a grenade, Costello’s firm sent Cohen a legal bill for $43,857.85, according to a source.

The reaction was swift and severe.

“Jeff and Bob, at no time were you retained and any actions taken by Bob were all pursuant to calls he made me. There will be no payment to your firm,” Cohen wrote to them in mid-July, making clear in follow-up emails that he had never formally agreed to hire them.

When Costello detailed his version of their private talks—recounting how Cohen allegedly felt suicidal when they first met—Cohen rejected the notion of ever wanting to tap a secret line to the White House.

“Your recollection is extremely inaccurate and self serving. I will not waste either of our time refuting what you already know is disingenuous; specifically your peddling of your relationship with Rudy as a ‘back door’ channel to the WH… something I told you I did not want or need,” Cohen shot back.

Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg’s Office Warns Republicans to Back Off Trump Grand Jury

When federal prosecutors finally unveiled the criminal charges against Trump’s fixer and nudged him to sign a plea agreement, the New York lawyers who once schemed to keep Cohen in the Trump fold were laughing.

“This is priceless,” Costello joked, linking to Cohen’s legal defense GoFundMe.

“You should follow this fool as he commits Hari Kari,” he later added, referring to the Japanese suicide ritual.

Cohen ended up serving more than a year in a federal prison, and these lawyers never sued him for unpaid fees. Asked about Costello this week, Cohen was brutal.

“Costello is a despicable person who, like so many lawyers carrying Trump’s water, will find himself with legal troubles of his own,” he told The Daily Beast.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/inside-failed-plan-magaworld-lawyers-024213510.html

 

Why yes, we see the panic in Trump's eyes, at the prospect of an indictment for the Daniels thingy.
Slow news day, stumbler?

 

Jim Jordan committee aides whine Alvin Bragg staffers keep hanging up on them

Tom Boggioni
March 25, 2023



Jim Jordan, Alvin Bragg (Both photos via AFP


Staffers working for House Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan (R-OH) are complaining that they are being treated rudely when they contact Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's office which is currently investigating Donald Trump.

According to a report from the New York Post, an aide working for the powerful Republican Party-controlled committee whined about their treatment which has included hang-ups and blunt talk to stop calling.

Speaking with the Post, one unnamed aide claimed they made a call to Bragg's office "at noon on Wednesday [and] was promptly hung up on after he identified himself to a woman who answered the phone."

When they called back a second time, another staffer working for the Manhattan DA reportedly told them, "Your committee has no jurisdiction over us. You’re wrong. Stop calling us with this bulls—t,” with the GOP staffer complaining to the Post, "I don’t think I’ve ever seen any government entity respond to Congress in that manner. It’s quite embarrassing, but I don’t think anyone is surprised based on how partisan that office has become.”

RELATED: 'I chose to stay away': Woman claims she was invited to join Trump and Stormy in tryst'I chose to stay away': Woman claims she was invited to join Trump and Stormy in tryst

Jordan's committee, as well as the House Oversight Committee, are trying to investigate Bragg's office at the request of House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) since last Saturday when Trump announced that he would be arrested in Tuesday, which never came to pass.

As the Post notes, "In a five-page response, Bragg’s general counsel Leslie Dubeck called the GOP probe 'an unprecedented inquiry into a pending local prosecution' and refused to comply — but left the door open to continue discussions."

You can read more here.



https://www.rawstory.com/alvin-bragg-gop/

 

‘Stop Calling Us With This Bulls**t’: Manhattan DA Bragg’s Office Insults, Hangs Up On Judiciary Committee Staffer Repeatedly
By Zachary LeemanMar 25th, 2023, 3:25 pm
769 comments



AP Photo/Seth Wenig

Multiple calls from a Republican staffer for the House Judiciary Committee were met with cursing and a dial tone by the office of New York District Attorney Alvin Bragg.

Former President Donald Trump \predicted a potential arrest last week following reports Bragg was readying an indictment over an alleged hush money payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels to cover up an alleged affair. Trump has denied any wrongdoing and called the probe a witch hunt.

A staffer for the House Judiciary Committee staffer called Bragg’s office multiple times this week to inquire about requested documents involved in the Trump probe. A staffer for Bragg said, according to a New York Post report, “Your committee has no jurisdiction over us. You’re wrong. Stop calling us with this bullshit.”


Bragg’s attorney previously responded to a request from the House Judiciary Committee by calling the request “unprecedented,” but claimed Bragg was willing to have further conversations.

“[We] request an opportunity to meet and confer with committee staff to better understand what information the DA’s Office can provide that relates to a legitimate legislative interest and can be shared consistent with the District Attorney’s constitutional obligations,” Bragg’s attorney, Leslie Dubeck, wrote.



“Based on your unique role in this matter, we request your cooperation with our oversight of this politically motivated prosecutorial decision,” the request signed by House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan read.


In his own tweet, Jordan blasted Bragg and accused him of simply targeting Trump’s 2024 presidential run.




“The Justice Department wasn’t going to bring this case. The previous District Attorney Cy Vance wasn’t going to bring this case. And even Alvin Bragg himself, when he first gets elected, didn’t want to bring the case. What changed? President Trump on the ballot,” the congressman wrote.

https://www.mediaite.com/politics/s...up-on-judiciary-committee-staffer-repeatedly/

 

Alvin Bragg absolutely needs to tell the treasonous conservative/America Hating/Republican members of the House to just get fucked. This is the worst and most blatant Congressional corruption I have ever seen. And it needs to be stopped in its tracks.

Because what are they really sang? They are saying no one can investigate or indict our Chosen One Traitor Trump. He is above all laws and the Constitution. So if you dare to investigate or indict our wanna be dictator we will use the posers of the federal government to come after you. There is no such fucking thing as state's rights, the rule of law, or law and order when it comes to our Chosen One.

Alvin Bragg Rips House GOP Chairs After Additional Inquiries Into Trump Case

3.6k
Ben Blanchet
Sat, March 25, 2023 at 11:36 PM MDT


Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg slammed House Republican committee chairs mere hours after the lawmakers’ efforts to double down with inquires into former President Donald Trump’s hush money case.

Bragg, who slammed the GOP leaders’ “unprecedented inquiry” in a letter earlier this week, took on a second letter about the case co-authored by Reps. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), James Comer (R-Ky.) and Bryan Steil (R-Wis.) ― lawmakers who lead the House judiciary, oversight and administration committees, respectively.

Bragg, in his response on Saturday, asserted that his office evaluates cases “based on facts, the law and the evidence.”

“It is not appropriate for Congress to interfere with pending local investigations,” Bragg wrote. “This unprecedented inquiry by federal elected officials into an ongoing matter serves only to hinder, disrupt and undermine the legitimate work of our dedicated prosecutors.”



Alvin Bragg

@ManhattanDA
·
Follow













Rep. Jim Jordan

@Jim_Jordan
Our response to Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg: https://judiciary.house.gov/sites/e...j-bs-jc-to-bragg-re-subpoena-and-response.pdf
5:22 PM · Mar 25, 2023




The response to the GOP trio, who wrote that they sought documents and testimony on the case, comes after they took issue with a possible indictment of Trump and claimed Bragg is “under political pressure from left-wing activists and former prosecutors” in his office.

“The potential criminal indictment of a former president ... implicates substantial federal interests, particularly in a jurisdiction where trial-level judges also are popularly elected,” the Republicans argued in a letter on Saturday.

They wrote later in the letter: “Your conclusory claim that our constitutional oversight responsibilities will interfere with law enforcement is misplaced and unconvincing.”

The lawmakers, in their letter, also teased that the Judiciary Committee could draft legislation to protect current — and former — presidents “from such improper state and local prosecutions.”

The DA’s office, aside from communication with the House GOP chairs, has acknowledged the possibility of intimidation and threats around the case in recent days.

The office reportedly received a letter containing white powder with a threatening note addressed to “Alvin” on Friday. The contents of the letter were later deemed to be non-hazardous.


https://www.yahoo.com/news/alvin-bragg-rips-house-gop-053654701.html

 

Secrecy is the coin of the realm for bullies, despots and dictators.

The louder they scream the more we should demand transparency.

 

You mean like someone saying they will release their tax returns and then never doing it?

 

Sharing tax returns with the electorate was common practice from Nixon thru Obama. But we all know why Trump broke with that tradition. As it would expose Trump for the fraud he is.

 

His tax returns have been released now for months.

How come we haven't heard about all this fraud?

 

In 2016, he paid $750. 2017 he again paid just $750. In 2020, he paid 0 income tax. That looks bad and Trump knew it. Releasing tax returns has to do with transparency.

Even Hillary released her tax returns. But not little big man

 

Trump never released his tax returns. Congress had to fight Trump all the way to the Supreme Court to even get six years wroth. And all the other tax returns showing Trump paying no taxes only became available through diligent reporting from news organizations after Mary Trump frond them in her lawsuit materials..

 

You have heard about one small piece of it though you may choose to ignore it. The case against former President Trump, brought by the SDNY, is not just the titillating payoff of a woman to keep her quiet about sex, it is the more important accounting of the payment as "legal services" and the corresponding reduction in taxes, if that were classed as a business expense. It may not seem like a big deal to you or others but the fact is that every business expense that a business claims is a deduction that ALL Americans must eventually pay for. That is the reason that there is constantly a push to make the tax system somewhat more fair to working people. Through all of the legal means that both political parties have used, the wealthy can reduce their taxable income to the point of near zero, while living very fine expensive lives themselves. I'm not saying it's wrong to take advantage of those rules I'm saying there is a better way. I took advantage of every rule, that was to my benefit, my accountant could find. I was in business for 40 years. This is literally the tip of the iceberg as far as former President Trump and his taxes are concerned. I could mention many other things that are questionable about his accounting practices but maybe this is enough to get you thinking about the disparity between the wealthy and the working class. And why it is important to all of us.

 

We have heard about his Trump Tower apartment that grew from 10,996 square feet t0 33,000 square feet when he needed a loan.