JUST IN -- Michael Cohen is postponing his scheduled testimony before the House Oversight Committee, citing "ongoing threats against his family from President Trump and Mr. Giuliani...as well as Mr. Cohen's continued cooperation with ongoing investigations." https://t.co/fm6BMHB9iE
If there was anything that depressed him more than his own cynicism, it was that quite often it still wasn't as cynical as real life.
No big surprise there. He was not going to be able to testify about much that matters, and it would have ended up just being an unproductive gossip session, I think.
"Spirits in the shape of hawks and eagles flew ever to and from his halls; and their eyes could see to the depths of the seas, and pierce the hidden caverns beneath the world."
Manafort's lawyers figured out how to properly redact documents, so there were no new big surprises revealed in the response they filed yesterday, essentially arguing that Manafort was just dazed and confused, not intentionally lying. The most interesting thing to happen was that the judge denied their motion to waive Manafort's personal appearance at the hearing scheduled for tomorrow morning. Manafort has not personally appeared since he showed up a hearing last October in a wheelchair because of his problems with gout, but this time the judge ruled "Given the number of court appearances defendant has been permitted to waive, the significance of the issues at stake, and the fact that his being available to consult with counsel may reduce the likelihood that the defense position with respect to the issues discussed will change after the hearing, defendant's motion is denied without prejudice to future motions." It should be an interesting hearing, but I suspect that it will be a sealed proceeding and that we won't get to know what was said.
"Spirits in the shape of hawks and eagles flew ever to and from his halls; and their eyes could see to the depths of the seas, and pierce the hidden caverns beneath the world."
Meanwhile, following the postponement of Michael Cohen's voluntary testimony before the House Oversight committee (see Frelga's post above), he has been subpoenaed to testify before the Senate Intelligence committee. However, even assuming that he doesn't try to fight the subpoena and avoid appearing, most testimony before that committee has been private, not public, so we are not likely to hear what he says right away. It should be noted that he has testified before this committee before, and it was in that testimony that he made the statements about the Moscow Trump Tower that he later admitted were false. It should also be noted that the Senate Intelligence committee is the only Congressional committee that has conducted truly a truly bipartisan investigation into the allegations of Russian interference in the 2016 election and possible collusion with the Trump campaign. I suspect that there is a high likelihood that both the House Intelligence committee and the House Oversight committee will also issue subpoenas to try to compel Cohen to testify before he reports to prison on March 6.
"Spirits in the shape of hawks and eagles flew ever to and from his halls; and their eyes could see to the depths of the seas, and pierce the hidden caverns beneath the world."
"Spirits in the shape of hawks and eagles flew ever to and from his halls; and their eyes could see to the depths of the seas, and pierce the hidden caverns beneath the world."
That's a big deal, but it still is only allegations of lying and obstruction of justice. However, there are some intriguing new details in the indictment.
ETA: And witness tampering. Let's not forget witness tampering. Although Stone's actions with Credico were more blatant than Mr. Trump's and Giuliani's actions with regard to Cohen. Same kind of thing, though. The biggest difference being that Stone's threats to Credico were made directly to him, whereas as Mr. Trump and Giuliani's threats to Cohen were made publicly.
EATA: Just because this indictment only alleges obstruction, lying, and witness tampering does not mean that there won't be a superseding indictment in the future. Given the stuff that is in there, I would guess that there might be, and that others will be charged as well.
"Spirits in the shape of hawks and eagles flew ever to and from his halls; and their eyes could see to the depths of the seas, and pierce the hidden caverns beneath the world."
Apparently, concurrent with the arrest in Florida, a search warrant was executed on Stone's NYC home.
ETA: So this morning I had to tell my husband who Roger Stone is. I explained that he's one of those consultant types that latches onto political campaigns and does stuff that may not be illegal but is definitely dirty. I also told him that I've read a lot of crazy things about him, some of which I'm not sure is actually true. Like how he has a tattoo of Nixon on his back. Everyone says it's there but I can't get my head around that actually happening. My husband, perfectly deadpan, replied, "It's not on his back." And then we went straight to the gutter because where else do you go from there?
Last edited by River on Fri Jan 25, 2019 5:29 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Reportedly, the senior campaign official referred to in the indictment is Steve Bannon. The indictment says "After the July 22, 2016, release of stolen (Democratic National Committee) emails by Organization 1, a senior Trump Campaign official was directed to contact STONE about any additional releases and what other damaging information Organization 1 had regarding the Clinton Campaign. STONE thereafter told the Trump Campaign about potential future releases of damaging material by Organization 1." If it is true that that the senior Campaign official referred to is Bannon, who was the head of the campaign after Manafort was fired, who directed him to contact Stone? In my mind, there are only two possibilities, Jared Kushner, or Donald Trump, with the latter by far the most likely possibility. And we know for a fact that Donald Trump knew that it was Russia that was doing the hacking, because of his ill-advised "Russia, if you are listening …" public comment. We are very, very, very close to an allegation to that the current president of the United States conspired with a foreign adversary to hack a campaign opponents' emails and disseminate that stolen information for the purpose of influencing the election. Very, very, very close.
ETA: Speaking of Manafort, the judge at his hearing today ordered another hearing on February 4 to determine whether he breached his plea agreement. This hearing will be sealed. "Manafort, appearing in public for the first time since October, used a cane and sat slouched forward at the defense table. His hair is now virtually white." The prosecutors stated that they did not intend at this time to bring additional charges against Manafort as a result of his alleged breach, but reserved the right to do so in the future.
"Spirits in the shape of hawks and eagles flew ever to and from his halls; and their eyes could see to the depths of the seas, and pierce the hidden caverns beneath the world."
This is a scandal. The article - @RudyGiuliani Donor Linked to Russian Mobs (#Mogilevich and Chernoy) just disapeared from the website of @MoscowTimes Guess what, I did snapshots from google cash and I will remain https://t.co/MGYXV22kcK
If there was anything that depressed him more than his own cynicism, it was that quite often it still wasn't as cynical as real life.
It is pretty extraordinary that FBI agents (not being paid, by the way, though that looks like it is going to change soon), pounded on his door before dawn, armed and wearing bullet-proof flack jackets. This is not usual behavior.
"Spirits in the shape of hawks and eagles flew ever to and from his halls; and their eyes could see to the depths of the seas, and pierce the hidden caverns beneath the world."
As he comes down the steps for his post-indictment hearing news conference, Roger Stone, who was a Nixon campaign aide, strikes the Nixon double V pose. https://t.co/5sWXvthvLs
If there was anything that depressed him more than his own cynicism, it was that quite often it still wasn't as cynical as real life.
“There, peeping among the cloud-wrack above a dark tor high up in the mountains, Sam saw a white star twinkle for a while. The beauty of it smote his heart, as he looked up out of the forsaken land, and hope returned to him. For like a shaft, clear and cold, the thought pierced him that in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty for ever beyond its reach.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Return of the King
It's literally the same arm-angle that Nixon used. It is eerie.
"Spirits in the shape of hawks and eagles flew ever to and from his halls; and their eyes could see to the depths of the seas, and pierce the hidden caverns beneath the world."
If they indict Don Jr. will they come banging at his door in the pre-dawn hours too?
"Spirits in the shape of hawks and eagles flew ever to and from his halls; and their eyes could see to the depths of the seas, and pierce the hidden caverns beneath the world."
Of course, the day would not be complete without a quote from Rudy Giuliani:
"Another false statement case? God almighty. I thought they were taking all this time with Stone to try to develop something on him, not to have a lot about ‘I don’t remember this’ or ‘I don’t remember that.’”
"Spirits in the shape of hawks and eagles flew ever to and from his halls; and their eyes could see to the depths of the seas, and pierce the hidden caverns beneath the world."
All this rich, dark Schadenfreude is making me a bit queasy, I have to admit.
“There, peeping among the cloud-wrack above a dark tor high up in the mountains, Sam saw a white star twinkle for a while. The beauty of it smote his heart, as he looked up out of the forsaken land, and hope returned to him. For like a shaft, clear and cold, the thought pierced him that in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty for ever beyond its reach.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Return of the King
