US politics general thread

[greg0205]

So...

We'll know for sure when he appears in court today, but it looks a lot like Michael Cohen has taken a deal and will, or rather has and will be cooperating with the feds.

And... In other news, the jury in Paul Manafort's trial seem to be unanimous on all but one of the eighteen charges. The judge has sent them back to the jury room to see if they can settle it... I think Paulie Walnuts is toast and I think he'll be done today or tomorrow.


Flood of tre45on's rage tweets incoming in 3... 2... 1...

EDIT: Yup, MSNBC just had footage of Mikey heading into the NY FBI field office building to surrender himself... Tax fraud, bank fraud and campaign finance irregularity guilty pleas on the menu.

 

[cerebus]

So...

We'll know for sure when he appears in court today, but it looks a lot like Michael Cohen has taken a deal and will, or rather has and will be cooperating with the feds.

And... In other news, the jury in Paul Manafort's trial seem to be unanimous on all but one of the eighteen charges. The judge has sent them back to the jury room to see if they can settle it... I think Paulie Walnuts is toast and I think he'll be done today or tomorrow.


Flood of tre45on's rage tweets incoming in 3... 2... 1...

EDIT: Yup, MSNBC just had footage of Mikey heading into the NY FBI field office building to surrender himself... Tax fraud, bank fraud and campaign finance irregularity guilty pleas on the menu.

The best

 

[OrbitalDawn]

No, the problem is that tariffs are a bad idea that never works. They had to give out $12 billion in aid for farmers whose businesses were doing just fine before the tariffs kicked in. Are they just going to keep handing out relief packages for industries that are hurting because of a problem that they created, which never needed to exist in the first place?

Ironically they've had agriculture subsidies for decades, created, pushed and maintained by GOP senators/representatives.

Which makes the lone few GOP officials who have criticised the tariffs (but won't do anything about them, of course), saying things like "farmers don't want a handout, they want access to markets" all the more absurd. They've gotten handouts for a very long time and love it.

Do you have a problem with the tariffs on goods and farm subsidies that the EU implements?

Oh wait those are fine because they are not the policies of RONALD DRUMPF.

If you want to be logically consistent, if you have a problem with tariffs on imported goods, then you should also have a problem with any sort of interference of government on the economy. So public healthcare, public schools, welfare, fiat currency, minimum wage etc.

So conservatives aren't consistent about government interference. Thanks for finally admitting it.

 

[OrbitalDawn]

Oh no! A witch has been caught!

Paul Manafort found guilty in federal trial

Jurors have reached a verdict on eight counts in the trial of President Donald Trump's former campaign chief, Paul Manafort.

In a note to U.S. District Court Judge T.S. Ellis, the jurors said they had not reached a consensus on the 10 remaining counts in the bank fraud and tax crimes trial.

Manafort, 69, faces another federal trial next month in Washington, D.C., which also stems from special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 campaign.

Mueller's prosecutors called 27 witnesses to testify against Manafort, and submitted more than 350 exhibits.

 

[greg0205]

Update: The verdict is still happening, but Paul Manafort has been found guilty of the first five charges which were for tax fraud.

Also still happening, Michael Cohen has plead guilty to eight charges.

EDIT: Eight guilty convictions for Paulie Walnuts with a mistrial on the other ten charges. Guilty on five counts of tax fraud, one count of failing to file a foreign bank account and two counts of bank fraud.

 

[OrbitalDawn]

Two more Trump lies exposed.

No indication North Korean nuclear activities stopped: IAEA

The U.N. nuclear watchdog said it did not find any indication that North Korea had stopped its nuclear activities, adding to doubts about the country’s willingness to abandon its arsenal.

Trump said opioid deaths had decreased on his watch.

Reality:

 

[buka001]

Pity old Xarog left. He was riding that Qanon train so hard. Several months later Hillary and co are still free, while Manafort and Cohen et al are guilty.

 

[greg0205]

Breaking News: Everything.

Not to be outdone by today's mob roll-up, Omarosa will be on MSNBC later tonight with a video recording... Yep, video.

 

[OrbitalDawn]

Today, in police state stuff...

St. Louis used no-knock SWAT raids to enforce building code violations.

https://www.riverfronttimes.com/new...rty-policy-after-no-knock-raid-on-wrong-house

One of the more absurd and enraging practices:

The occupants are then ordered to sign a "consent to search" allowing the city's building department to search the home. If they refuse, Schock says, the inspector immediately condemns the property.

Walker's family consented. Ultimately, they were cited for minor code violations and broken front windows — windows, Schock says, that the SWAT team itself had broken during the raid.

 

[greg0205]

Pity old Xarog left. He was riding that Qanon train so hard. Several months later Hillary and co are still free, while Manafort and Cohen et al are guilty.

[B]Michael Cohen[/B]‏
Verified account @MichaelCohen212

@HillaryClinton when you go to prison for defrauding America and perjury, your room and board will be free!
5:03 AM - 20 Dec 2015

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/678410436774141956

 

[OrbitalDawn]

Pity old Xarog left. He was riding that Qanon train so hard. Several months later Hillary and co are still free, while Manafort and Cohen et al are guilty.

The loon that set some of the fires in California is a QAnon person... So much for harmless hijinks.

https://www.rollingstone.com/cultur...n-california-fire-conspiracy-theorist-710023/

In other news, Senate GOP candidate in Arizona, Kelli Ward, is going on a bus tour with rape advocate Mike Cernovich.

https://www.vox.com/2018/8/20/17759718/kelli-ward-mike-cernovich-arizona-republican-primary

 

[greg0205]

Aaaaand Cohen's seventh and eighth guilty pleas are for paying off two women on behalf of a "candidate" to stop them going public to damage his campaign. The payments are campaign finance violations at the direction of the "candidate".

EDIT: Waiting on the actual wording of the pleas, but there is every chance we end off the day with 45 officially being an unindicted co-conspirator.

 

[Bryn]

Paul Manafort found guilty of tax fraud

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-45265676

Ex-Trump campaign chief Paul Manafort has been found guilty on five tax fraud charges at his trial in Virginia.

He was also convicted on one count of failing to disclose foreign bank accounts, and two bank fraud charges.

The jury reached a verdict on eight of 18 charges, but failed to do so on the remaining 10 and the judge declared a mistrial on those.

It was first criminal trial stemming from the justice department inquiry into alleged Russian election meddling.

The verdict came on the fourth day of jury deliberations following a trial that saw 10 days of testimony.

I wonder how much was due to the judge not letting the evidence be neatly tied to each charge, rather than lumping it all together and leaving the jury to their own devices? Seemed like a shocking decision.

 

[OrbitalDawn]

Paul Manafort found guilty of tax fraud

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-45265676



I wonder how much was due to the judge not letting the evidence be neatly tied to each charge, rather than lumping it all together and leaving the jury to their own devices? Seemed like a shocking decision.

Shocking in what way?

Either way, I'd really recommend listening to this week's upcoming All The President's Lawyers podcast with Josh Barro and Popehat. Really great podcast for understanding the legal system and the current issues.

https://twitter.com/Popehat

 

[OrbitalDawn]

Aaaaand Cohen's seventh and eighth guilty pleas are for paying off two women on behalf of a "candidate" to stop them going public to damage his campaign. The payments are campaign finance violations at the direction of the "candidate".

EDIT: Waiting on the actual wording of the pleas, but there is every chance we end off the day with 45 officially being an unindicted co-conspirator.

Cohen admits to working “at direction of the candidate” Trump and national enquirer to silence Karen McDougal. He also admits to Stormy Daniels payment that he made “with and at direction of the same candidate.”

 

[OrbitalDawn]

Cost of New E.P.A. Coal Rules: Up to 1,400 More Deaths a Year

The Trump administration on Tuesday made public the details of its new pollution rules governing coal-burning power plants, and the fine print includes an acknowledgment that the plan would increase carbon emissions and lead to up to 1,400 premature deaths annually.

...

By contrast, the Trump administration analysis finds that own its plan would see 48,000 new cases of exacerbated asthma and at least 21,000 new missed days of school annually by 2030 because those pollutants would increase in the atmosphere rather than decrease.

Poisoning the populace to own the libs.

 

[Bryn]

Shocking in what way?

Either way, I'd really recommend listening to this week's upcoming All The President's Lawyers podcast with Josh Barro and Popehat. Really great podcast for understanding the legal system and the current issues.

https://twitter.com/Popehat

Manafort had 18 serious charges against him. Lumping every single bit of evidence together and expecting the jury to perfectly sort it out amongst themselves was an insane decision imo. The average person would find that a very challenging exercise as the average person is not a legal expert, and the whole point of the jury system is to defer judgement to ordinary people.

 

[OrbitalDawn]

Manafort had 18 serious charges against him. Lumping every single bit of evidence together and expecting the jury to perfectly sort it out amongst themselves was an insane decision imo. The average person would find that a very challenging exercise as the average person is not a legal expert, and the whole point of the jury system is to defer judgement to ordinary people.

You're making this needlessly complex. Having juries is insane.

 

[greg0205]

Okay, the writers of this show are jumping the shark here...

Last week we had the Chris Collins, first to endorse Trump, being indicted episode.

Today was obviously the Manafort and Cohen mid-season finale but... They just snuck Duncan Hunter, the *second* congressman to endorse Trump, getting indicted into a post-credit scene!!

https://edition.cnn.com/2018/08/21/...medium=social&utm_content=2018-08-21T22:16:46

 

[OrbitalDawn]

Today is delivering...

Trump adviser Larry Kudlow hosted publisher of white nationalists at his home