MUELLER BOMBSHELL?
Posted on | December 7, 2018 | Comments Off on MUELLER BOMBSHELL?
Here’s the headline stack from the top of the Drudge Report:
President Goes Off On Special Counsel Hours Before New Bombshells...
MUELLER: COHEN HELPFUL... MEMO...
SDNY: LOCK HIM UP... 40-PAGE FILING...
'MOTIVATED BY GREED, LIVED DOUBLE LIFE'...
Paid More Than $4,000,000 by Promising Access...
Claims in touch with Russian seeking 'political synergy'...
MANAFORT ACCUSED OF 'DISCERNIBLE LIES'... MEMO...
Contacts with admin while under investigation...
Details Remain Under Seal...
TRUMP TWEETS: Totally clears the President. Thank you!
John Kelly questioned in obstruction probe...
What does it all mean? Give me some time to go through this Friday document dump, and I’ll try to figure it out.
UPDATE: Kemberlee Kaye at Legal Insurrection reports:
Friday afternoon, federal prosecutors issued a sentencing memorandum recommending “a substantial term of imprisonment” for former Trump attorney, Michael Cohen.
“As set forth herein, consideration of the factors set forth in 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a) weighs heavily in favor of a substantial term of imprisonment. In particular, the nature and seriousness of the offenses and the need to promote respect for the law and afford adequate deterrence are especially weighty considerations,” says the memo.
Cohen pleaded guilty to charges of tax evasion, fraud, and lying to Congress.
UPDATE II: One America News Network:
U.S. President Donald Trump’s former campaign chairman Paul Manafort lied to federal investigators about a payment and contacts with Trump administration officials, the U.S. special counsel investigating whether Trump’s 2016 campaign colluded with Russia said in a court filing on Friday.
Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s office submitted the filing to a U.S. District Court judge in Washington who had asked for more details on Mueller’s allegations last month that Manafort had breached a plea agreement by lying.
“In his interviews with the Special Counsel’s Office and the FBI, Manafort told multiple discernible lies — these were not instances of mere memory lapses,” Mueller’s office said in the filing.
According to the filing, Manafort lied about his interactions with Russian-Ukranian political consultant Konstantin Kilimnik, Kilimnik’s efforts to tamper with witnesses, the circumstances surrounding a $125,000 payment to a firm working for Manafort, and Manafort’s contacts with officials in the Trump administration.
Manafort also provided investigators with shifting accounts about information relevant to another Department of Justice investigation.
The filing also said that Manafort, who maintains he has been truthful to Mueller, appeared before a grand jury twice.
UPDATE III: Fox News:
The White House responded to the filing by distancing itself from Manafort.
“The government’s filing in Mr. Manafort’s case says absolutely nothing about the president,” White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said. “It says even less about collusion and is devoted almost entirely to lobbying-related issues. Once again the media is trying to create a story where there isn’t one.”
Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani told Fox News the memos show prosecutors “have nothing” on the president and “we are very happy about it.”
That’s the bottom line, really. For the past couple of days, the liberal media have been hyping up anticipation that finally, Mueller had found “Russian collusion,” but he hasn’t found it and, after nearly two years of looking, it doesn’t seem likely he ever will. Just now on Fox News, Anthony Scaramucci said it was as “very good day for the president,” because it doesn’t appear that Mueller has gotten anything from either Cohen or Mueller that hurts Trump.