Re: Stormy Weather (Trump & Women)
Posted: Fri May 04, 2018 4:54 pm
That is not dead which can eternal lie, and with strange aeons bring us some web forums whereupon we can gather
http://www.octopusoverlords.com/forum/
Someday, when the story of Donald Trump’s decline and fall comes to be written, historians may wonder at the impact of a hiring decision that passed by unnoted at the time. When Stormy Daniels brought on Michael Avenatti, she unleashed a force of nature who has been steadily besting Trump at his own game. Now, two months after Avenatti first appeared on the porn actress’ behalf, Daniels’ lawyer has laid a series of traps that have genuinely imperiled Trump’s presidency.
In hiring Avenatti, Daniels both benefited from bringing on a zealous advocate and from dumping one of the world’s worst lawyers. If you want to know more about Avenatti’s predecessor Keith Davidson and haven’t already showered today, have a look at William Bastone’s deep dive in the Smoking Gun. “Davidson specializes in extracting payments in exchange for the quashing of incriminating videos and/or details about sexual indiscretions, STDs, and all manner of regrettable behavior,” Bastone writes.
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If Robert Mueller is silent as the tomb, Michael Avenatti is a midtown traffic jam—specifically, the one between 30 Rock and the Time Warner Center. At this point he has replaced the old “full Ginsburg” with the Avenatti ricochet—MSBNC to CNN to MSNBC and back to CNN in the same day. He is a risk-taker and a rule-breaker. He gets his energy from insulting enemies and taking theatrical umbrage at their pathetic responses. But if he mirrors Trump in certain respects, Avenatti is deeply unlike him in ways that matter greatly to their conflict. His ego is large, but aligns with his desired outcome. His impulse is to use the truth to his advantage rather than to spin a convenient lie.
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Could the Daniels case bring Trump down? It has the advantage of obviousness. The Russia scandal, comprising various scenarios around collusion and an encyclopedia of unpronounceable names, is difficult to follow and understand. The Stormy Daniels story, if less important, has the virtue of being extremely easy to follow: sex with a porn star, lies, and hush money. If there’s not enough rope here to hang Trump with, it does give him enough rope to hang himself, which Trump shows every indication of doing.
He doesn't post any evidence to back that claim up, so take it with a grain of salt. But if true:After significant investigation, we have discovered that Mr. Trump’s atty Mr. Cohen received approximately $500,000 in the mos. after the election from a company controlled by a Russian Oligarc with close ties to Mr. Putin. These monies may have reimbursed the $130k payment.
Ralph-Wiggum wrote: ↑Tue May 08, 2018 6:16 pm Stormy Daniel's lawyer posted this on Twitter today:
He doesn't post any evidence to back that claim up, so take it with a grain of salt. But if true:After significant investigation, we have discovered that Mr. Trump’s atty Mr. Cohen received approximately $500,000 in the mos. after the election from a company controlled by a Russian Oligarc with close ties to Mr. Putin. These monies may have reimbursed the $130k payment.
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/emai ... estigationThe Clintons' relationship with Viktor Vekselberg, the billionaire whose name appears in the documents, has taken on new significance amid an expanding criminal investigation into his company. Last week, authorities raided the offices of Vekselberg's firm, Renova Group, following allegations of bribery from several of Renova's subsidiaries.
Vekselberg had been named head of a partnership dubbed the "Russian Silicon Valley" just three months before a Clinton Foundation employee began pushing the State Department to approve Bill Clinton's proposed meeting with Vekselberg and a handful of other Russian executives.
The emails, obtained by conservative-leaning Citizens United and provided first to the Washington Examiner, do not reveal any illegal activity on the part of the State Department, the Clintons or their foundation.
But the records shed light on one of many relationships that blurred the lines between the Clinton's political, financial and philanthropic pursuits while Hillary Clinton served as secretary of state.
Vekselberg's Renova Group has donated between $50,000 and $100,000 to the Clinton Foundation, donor records show. Another firm associated with Vekselberg, OC Oerlikon, donated $25,000 to the Clinton Foundation.
Renova's interests in mining, oil and telecommunications have helped Vekselberg become one of Russia's wealthiest individuals and an influential figure within the Kremlin.
Beginning in May 2010, Amitabh Desai, a Clinton Foundation employee who acted as a frequent liaison to the State Department on behalf of Bill Clinton, asked agency officials if they had any objections to the former president's plan to meet with a handful of Russian executives on an upcoming swing through the country.
"Would State have concerns about WJC seeing any of these folks?" Desai wrote on May 14, 2010, using Bill Clinton's initials. Vekselberg's name appeared on the list of Russian businessmen.
After receiving no reply, Desai asked senior members of Hillary Clinton's staff again 10 days later for their thoughts on Bill Clinton's proposed meetings. On June 3, 2010, Desai said he and the former president "urgently need feedback" about what he had described as a "possible trip to Russia."
Finally, after Desai entreated the State Department for a response to the list of names for the fourth time on June 7, 2010, Jake Sullivan, a top aide to Hillary Clinton, forwarded the request to another State Department official and asked: "What's the deal [with] this?"
In April of that year, Bill Clinton's staff had submitted to the State Department ethics office a request for the former president to deliver a paid speech in Moscow on June 28, 2010, an engagement that necessitated the trip to Russia that Desai described.
Renaissance Capital, a Russian investment bank, paid Bill Clinton $500,000 for that speech, according to his wife's financial disclosures from 2010. The State Department had given its approval for the trip just two days after Bill Clinton's office filed its request.
The former president's travel to Russia for the speech and potential meetings with Vekselberg and others came as Hillary Clinton's State Department labored to drum up interest in a technology-sharing project, led by Vekselberg, called Skolkovo.
Hailed as the Russian version of Silicon Valley, Skolkovo was conceived during President Obama's "Russia Reset" as a way to attract investors to Moscow-based technology start-ups.
Hillary Clinton, responsible for the mechanics of the Russia Reset, was tasked with finding companies to invest in and work with Skolkovo in the early months of her tenure.
Four days after Hillary Clinton met with then-Russian President Dmitri Medvedev in March 2010, Medvedev announced that Vekselberg would head up the Skolkovo project.
Just one day after Hillary Clinton had a private phone call with John Chambers, CEO of Cisco, Medvedev met with Cisco executives in California. That same day, Vekselberg announced that Cisco and Boeing would invest in Skolkovo.
Both Cisco and Boeing are major Clinton Foundation donors. Cisco paid Bill Clinton $256,000 for a speech in Oct. 2010, just three months after Vekselberg's announcement that the firm would invest $1 billion in Skolkovo.
As Peter Schweizer, author of "Clinton Cash," noted in his report on the technology project, 17 of the 28 companies that were ultimately listed as "key partners" in Skolkovo were also Clinton Foundation donors.
The Clinton's relationship to Vekselberg continued throughout Hillary Clinton's time at the State Department.
I must say I am impressed you can loathe them and yet worship how they play the game even after losing.
Renova Group donated between $50,000 and $100,000 to the Clinton Foundation, but it's not clear when the contribution occurred, according to the foundation's public list of donors.
Vekselberg may also be of interest to investigators because of his close ties to the Kremlin. He built his fortune following the collapse of the Soviet Union through a series of deals in the oil and gas sector.
He had as I understand it seven clients. One of whom might well be Columbus Nova or Andrew Intrater.malchior wrote: ↑Tue May 08, 2018 6:57 pm The whataboutism is one thing. However, the idea that openly disclosed donations to the Clinton Foundation == money paid directly into a secret slush fund definitely used to pay hush money is breathtakingly stupid. Especially when the slush fund is controlled by a lawyer with essentially one client who happens to be the President of the United States.
http://money.cnn.com/2018/05/08/media/a ... index.htmlAT&T confirmed Tuesday evening that it paid President Trump's personal lawyer Michael Cohen in 2017 for "insights into understanding the new administration."
The payments were revealed in a document published by Stormy Daniels' attorney Michael Avenatti Tuesday afternoon.
Avenatti alleged that Essential Consultants, a shell company set up by Cohen before the election to pay Daniels, was paid by several corporations, including AT&T. AT&T was seeking government approval for its acquisition of Time Warner at the time. Time Warner is CNN's parent company.
A document released by Avenatti stated that "Essential received $200,000 in four separate payments of $50,000 in late 2017 and early 2018 from AT&T."
An AT&T spokesman would not confirm the amount, but did confirm that it enlisted Cohen's company.
"Essential Consulting was one of several firms we engaged in early 2017 to provide insights into understanding the new administration," AT&T said Tuesday evening. "They did no legal or lobbying work for us, and the contract ended in December 2017."
You do know what a slush fund is, right? Political bribery + paying off a porn star = slush fund.Rip wrote: ↑Tue May 08, 2018 7:08 pm Ah-Oh AT&T paying into that so-called slush fund as well.
http://money.cnn.com/2018/05/08/media/a ... index.htmlAT&T confirmed Tuesday evening that it paid President Trump's personal lawyer Michael Cohen in 2017 for "insights into understanding the new administration."
The payments were revealed in a document published by Stormy Daniels' attorney Michael Avenatti Tuesday afternoon.
Avenatti alleged that Essential Consultants, a shell company set up by Cohen before the election to pay Daniels, was paid by several corporations, including AT&T. AT&T was seeking government approval for its acquisition of Time Warner at the time. Time Warner is CNN's parent company.
A document released by Avenatti stated that "Essential received $200,000 in four separate payments of $50,000 in late 2017 and early 2018 from AT&T."
An AT&T spokesman would not confirm the amount, but did confirm that it enlisted Cohen's company.
"Essential Consulting was one of several firms we engaged in early 2017 to provide insights into understanding the new administration," AT&T said Tuesday evening. "They did no legal or lobbying work for us, and the contract ended in December 2017."
Well, she lost. I like people who weren't losers. I think Hillary Clinton’s done very little for the game. I’m very disappointed in Hillary Clinton. Back me up on this, Orrin Wormtongue.GreenGoo wrote: ↑Tue May 08, 2018 7:27 pm And on that note, if he's a big fan of how the game is played without worrying so much about the player, he really should have supported Clinton. She's a much better player. That's self evident. Unless you think the game ends on election day, which would be shortsighted and dumb, so that can't be it.
Well AT&T paid money to the same shell company as Columbus Nova paid money to. Either it wasn't a slush fund or AT&T paid money to this so-called slush fund.malchior wrote: ↑Tue May 08, 2018 7:32 pmYou do know what a slush fund is, right? Political bribery + paying off a porn star = slush fund.Rip wrote: ↑Tue May 08, 2018 7:08 pm Ah-Oh AT&T paying into that so-called slush fund as well.
http://money.cnn.com/2018/05/08/media/a ... index.htmlAT&T confirmed Tuesday evening that it paid President Trump's personal lawyer Michael Cohen in 2017 for "insights into understanding the new administration."
The payments were revealed in a document published by Stormy Daniels' attorney Michael Avenatti Tuesday afternoon.
Avenatti alleged that Essential Consultants, a shell company set up by Cohen before the election to pay Daniels, was paid by several corporations, including AT&T. AT&T was seeking government approval for its acquisition of Time Warner at the time. Time Warner is CNN's parent company.
A document released by Avenatti stated that "Essential received $200,000 in four separate payments of $50,000 in late 2017 and early 2018 from AT&T."
An AT&T spokesman would not confirm the amount, but did confirm that it enlisted Cohen's company.
"Essential Consulting was one of several firms we engaged in early 2017 to provide insights into understanding the new administration," AT&T said Tuesday evening. "They did no legal or lobbying work for us, and the contract ended in December 2017."
The revolting thing if anything is it is no different than they did for Obama, Clinton, Bush, Reagan and so on. No one cared until now. Wonder why?Kurth wrote: ↑Tue May 08, 2018 8:46 pm These payments and the companies making them (AT&T, Novartis, probably others) suck. What legitimate purpose could those payments possibly serve other than buying influence? Not to get all pollyanna here, but I didn't think this level of corruption was so . . . blatant. At least pay some legitimate lobbyists in some fancy lobbying firms. Don't pay hundreds of thousands of dollars to Michael Fucking Cohen for "insights into understanding the new administration."
There's simply not a big enough vomiting smilie for this.
Seems like the obvious answer is that AT&T paid money to a slush fund? AT&T says the LLC didn’t provide any lawyer services to them, so it seems like the money was solely used to buy influence. As said above, though, the big question is where this money went after Cohen got it.Rip wrote:Well AT&T paid money to the same shell company as Columbus Nova paid money to. Either it wasn't a slush fund or AT&T paid money to this so-called slush fund.malchior wrote: ↑Tue May 08, 2018 7:32 pmYou do know what a slush fund is, right? Political bribery + paying off a porn star = slush fund.Rip wrote: ↑Tue May 08, 2018 7:08 pm Ah-Oh AT&T paying into that so-called slush fund as well.
http://money.cnn.com/2018/05/08/media/a ... index.htmlAT&T confirmed Tuesday evening that it paid President Trump's personal lawyer Michael Cohen in 2017 for "insights into understanding the new administration."
The payments were revealed in a document published by Stormy Daniels' attorney Michael Avenatti Tuesday afternoon.
Avenatti alleged that Essential Consultants, a shell company set up by Cohen before the election to pay Daniels, was paid by several corporations, including AT&T. AT&T was seeking government approval for its acquisition of Time Warner at the time. Time Warner is CNN's parent company.
A document released by Avenatti stated that "Essential received $200,000 in four separate payments of $50,000 in late 2017 and early 2018 from AT&T."
An AT&T spokesman would not confirm the amount, but did confirm that it enlisted Cohen's company.
"Essential Consulting was one of several firms we engaged in early 2017 to provide insights into understanding the new administration," AT&T said Tuesday evening. "They did no legal or lobbying work for us, and the contract ended in December 2017."
Which is it?
He sure is draining that swamp, eh?Rip wrote: ↑Tue May 08, 2018 9:07 pmThe revolting thing if anything is it is no different than they did for Obama, Clinton, Bush, Reagan and so on. No one cared until now. Wonder why?Kurth wrote: ↑Tue May 08, 2018 8:46 pm These payments and the companies making them (AT&T, Novartis, probably others) suck. What legitimate purpose could those payments possibly serve other than buying influence? Not to get all pollyanna here, but I didn't think this level of corruption was so . . . blatant. At least pay some legitimate lobbyists in some fancy lobbying firms. Don't pay hundreds of thousands of dollars to Michael Fucking Cohen for "insights into understanding the new administration."
There's simply not a big enough vomiting smilie for this.
I'd throw my dart at the later. That said, I'm not exactly why the shell company is committed to working on an either/or basis. You make it sound like Monty Python skit
Who didn't care until now? Who is this no one you are referring to. And what makes "everyone" his unquestioning lapdog of loyalty and undying love if he is no different than Obama, Clinton, Bush, Reagan and so on. No entiendo?
Quite possibly. Apparently AT&Ts payments stopped after Net Neutrality was repealed.Jeff V wrote:Obviously, it went to those who killed Net Neutrality.
I must be ignorant, but if you could help a guy out and get me a link to a single comparable story I'd appreciate learning something new. Anything where an AT&T or Norvartis was paying money into a slush fund for Obaman, Clinton, Bush or Reagan to use. It doesn't even need to be a slush fund that was used to pay off a mistress. I'm reasonable.
Kind of like Giuliani? (who also needs to brush up on facts, it appears)Zarathud wrote:It's not like Cohen was practicing law.
Let me offer an alternative explanation of the affair and the payoff. It is still just a hypothesis, but, I would argue, it fits more comfortably with what we know about the various players than the reported version of events: Donald Trump, not Elliott Broidy, had an affair with Shera Bechard. Bechard hired Keith Davidson, who had negotiated both Playboy playmate Karen McDougal’s deal with the National Enquirer and Stormy Daniels’s NDA with Trump. Davidson called Cohen, and the two of them negotiated a $1.6 million payment to Bechard.
At this point Cohen needed to find a funding source. Cohen asserts he took out a home equity loan to come up with a mere $130,000 to pay off Stormy Daniels, so it seems clear he couldn’t have fronted the $1.6 million for the Bechard deal himself. So Cohen reached out to Elliott Broidy, a very rich Republican fundraiser with several pending and highly lucrative business deals with foreign governments: deals that hinged on whether Broidy could convince the U.S. government to take various actions. By stepping up to take responsibility for the affair and to fund the seven-figure settlement, Broidy was ensuring that he could continue to peddle his influence with Trump to governments around the world.