Intermarkets' Privacy Policy
Support


Donate to Ace of Spades HQ!


Contact
Ace:
aceofspadeshq at gee mail.com
Buck:
buck.throckmorton at protonmail.com
CBD:
cbd at cutjibnewsletter.com
joe mannix:
mannix2024 at proton.me
MisHum:
petmorons at gee mail.com
J.J. Sefton:
sefton at cutjibnewsletter.com


Recent Entries
Absent Friends
Bandersnatch 2024
GnuBreed 2024
Captain Hate 2023
moon_over_vermont 2023
westminsterdogshow 2023
Ann Wilson(Empire1) 2022
Dave In Texas 2022
Jesse in D.C. 2022
OregonMuse 2022
redc1c4 2021
Tami 2021
Chavez the Hugo 2020
Ibguy 2020
Rickl 2019
Joffen 2014
AoSHQ Writers Group
A site for members of the Horde to post their stories seeking beta readers, editing help, brainstorming, and story ideas. Also to share links to potential publishing outlets, writing help sites, and videos posting tips to get published. Contact OrangeEnt for info:
maildrop62 at proton dot me
Cutting The Cord And Email Security
Moron Meet-Ups






















« Body of Mollie Tibbets, College Student Who Went Missing While Jogging, Found
Suspect in Custody, Subject to an Immigration Detainer
| Main | Antifa Beats the Shit Out of Bernie Sanders Supporter, Thinking He's "Alt-Right" Because He... Was Carrying an American Flag »
August 21, 2018

Former Trump Lawyer Michael Cohen Pleads Guilty to Campaign Finance Violations;
Claims He Paid Off Mistresses at Trump's "Direction" with "Purpose of Influencing Election"

Strange way to describe what would be seen in other contexts as "paying off a potential or actual blackmailer."

US President Donald Trump's former lawyer Michael Cohen has pleaded guilty in a Manhattan court to violating campaign finance laws.

He said he did so at the direction of "the candidate" and that he acted for the "purpose of influencing election".

Mr Cohen's admission was related to hush money paid to Mr Trump's alleged mistresses.

The 51-year-old admitted eight counts, including tax and bank fraud in a plea deal with prosecutors.

In the court on Tuesday he said that he had been directed by "a candidate for federal office" to break federal election laws.

In other news, Hillary Clinton deliberately concealed the purpose of her Fusion GPS payments as run-of-the-mill "legal services" payments to Perkins-Coie and hardly a word about that has been mentioned in the media, let alone by any federal prosecutor or DOJ staffer.

Apparently some violations of FEC laws are good and just, so long as you're a Democrat; then no one can say what your "intent" is.

Speaking of intent, that's pretty important here. The reason Cohen claimed Trump did this with the "purpose of influencing the election" is 1, because that's what prosecutors wanted him to say for his deal and 2, candidates do not have to disclose non-campaign expenditures for everything. They don't have to disclose that they spent money to see a Broadway show, for example.

Even if they were photographed there and that, somehow, wound up making the news and advancing their campaign.

So this payment is only of any legal consequence if it was made with the primary intent of influencing the election.

And not, say, avoiding embarrassment and marital strife.

In Trump's case, he can say, and probably will say, "I didn't make that payment to advance my campaign, I made it because I felt that these women would try to cash in and talk about this, which would harm my relationship with my wife."

Which, obviously, it would. In fact, the media has been making just this case, by breathlessly reporting that Melania wasn't staying at the White House and was deliberately avoiding appearing in public because she was upset by the betrayal.

So: How do you establish his intent was actually to "influence the election" and not just "avoid a strain on my marriage"? One can say that both are in play, but you'd have to prove he had the primary intent of doing one rather than the other.

Because there's no law against paying hush-money to someone who might want to damage your reputation.

Now, maybe Cohen has tapes of Trump specifically tying this to his election campaign. But maybe we just have to take his word for it.

And again, if this is now a Very Serious Offence: It's been known for a year that Hillary Clinton deliberately hid the purpose of her payments to Perkins Coie as "legal services" when in fact a big chunk of that money went for oppo research.

Rather than simply omitting mention of them, she filed a deliberately false report for the purpose of disguising the nature of the payment.

Why is Trump required to disclose the purpose of every nickel he spent in 2016 while Hillary Clinton is permitted to straight-up file false reports with the FEC without any criminal investigation whatsoever?


digg this
posted by Ace of Spades at 05:55 PM

| Access Comments




Recent Comments
Oldcat: "The Bible was pretty clear about this. Love growin ..."

Soothsayer: " What's funny is ALL these CEO's and Corporations ..."

Sebastian Melmoth: "Wings were no KC and the Sunshine Band, I can tell ..."

Deplorable Jay Guevara[/i][/s][/b]: "The real question is why didn't Chapman smoke Yoko ..."

A dude in MI: "He'd have to look directly at her. And that wou ..."

He learned almost too late that Moron is a feeling creature: "Honestly, boomers probably do believe Lennon was a ..."

nerdygirl: "[i]202 Obama fixed healthcare. I was assured by Mc ..."

mrp: " Out: Guy Fawkes mask In: Drug-Addled Luigi ..."

garrett: ">>The Bible was pretty clear about this. Love grow ..."

Axeman: " The Bible was pretty clear about this. Love grow ..."

Ray Van Dune : "70 Is busting Trudeau's balls a Logan Act violatio ..."

Taylor Lorenz : "[i]I was only like 8 when he was killed, but I dis ..."

Recent Entries
Search


Polls! Polls! Polls!
Frequently Asked Questions
The (Almost) Complete Paul Anka Integrity Kick
Top Top Tens
Greatest Hitjobs

The Ace of Spades HQ Sex-for-Money Skankathon
A D&D Guide to the Democratic Candidates
Margaret Cho: Just Not Funny
More Margaret Cho Abuse
Margaret Cho: Still Not Funny
Iraqi Prisoner Claims He Was Raped... By Woman
Wonkette Announces "Morning Zoo" Format
John Kerry's "Plan" Causes Surrender of Moqtada al-Sadr's Militia
World Muslim Leaders Apologize for Nick Berg's Beheading
Michael Moore Goes on Lunchtime Manhattan Death-Spree
Milestone: Oliver Willis Posts 400th "Fake News Article" Referencing Britney Spears
Liberal Economists Rue a "New Decade of Greed"
Artificial Insouciance: Maureen Dowd's Word Processor Revolts Against Her Numbing Imbecility
Intelligence Officials Eye Blogs for Tips
They Done Found Us Out, Cletus: Intrepid Internet Detective Figures Out Our Master Plan
Shock: Josh Marshall Almost Mentions Sarin Discovery in Iraq
Leather-Clad Biker Freaks Terrorize Australian Town
When Clinton Was President, Torture Was Cool
What Wonkette Means When She Explains What Tina Brown Means
Wonkette's Stand-Up Act
Wankette HQ Gay-Rumors Du Jour
Here's What's Bugging Me: Goose and Slider
My Own Micah Wright Style Confession of Dishonesty
Outraged "Conservatives" React to the FMA
An On-Line Impression of Dennis Miller Having Sex with a Kodiak Bear
The Story the Rightwing Media Refuses to Report!
Our Lunch with David "Glengarry Glen Ross" Mamet
The House of Love: Paul Krugman
A Michael Moore Mystery (TM)
The Dowd-O-Matic!
Liberal Consistency and Other Myths
Kepler's Laws of Liberal Media Bias
John Kerry-- The Splunge! Candidate
"Divisive" Politics & "Attacks on Patriotism" (very long)
The Donkey ("The Raven" parody)
Powered by
Movable Type 2.64