https://www.thedailybeast.com/report-trump-allies-worried-about-cohen-tapes-in-fbi-raid
Report: Trump Allies Worried About Cohen Tapes in FBI Raid
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REUTERS/Amir Levy
Michael Cohen reportedly had the habit of taping “conversations with associates,” and “allies” of President Trump are worried that some of those recordings may have been confiscated in Monday’s FBI raid, according to The Washington Post. A Trump adviser told the Post that Cohen’s habit was known and “now we are wondering, who did he tape? Did he store those someplace where they were actually seized?... Did they find his recordings?” Cohen reportedly stored the recordings as “digital files” and would “replay them for colleagues.” One source said Cohen would play the president recordings he made of “his conversations with other top Trump advisers” and claimed it “was his standard practice to do it.” The FBI reportedly did seize “computers and phones” from Cohen as part of a warrant seeking communications that were “potential sources of negative publicity” for Trump, as well as materials related to payouts to adult film star Stormy Daniels and ex-Playboy model Karen McDougal after their alleged affairs with the president. Cohen did not respond to the newspaper’s request for comment, and his lawyer also declined to comment.
Read it at The Washington Post
REUTERS/Brendan McDermid
This cheat has been updated throughout.
An attorney for Michael Cohen denied Thursday evening that the longtime Trump consigliere intended to invoke the Fifth Amendment in an attempt to stay Stormy Daniels’ lawsuit, as Daniels’ lawyer had told MSNBC earlier in the day. “On Monday we had a raid” of Cohen’s office by federal prosecutors reportedly looking for materials related to the $130,000 payment Cohen made to Daniels in 2016, Michael Avenatti said. “Today, we find out that it is his intention to plead the Fifth Amendment against self-incrimination in response to any questions that I may pose to him in connection in connection with our case.” He appeared to be referring to a filing hours before in California federal court, where the parties informed the judge that an application to delay the case would be filed the following day “on the grounds that an ongoing criminal investigation overlaps with the facts of this case, and implicates Defendant Michael Cohen’s Fifth Amendment rights.” But attorney Brent Blakely, who’s representing Cohen in Daniels’ lawsuit, told The Daily Beast: "The statements by Mr. Avenatti are not accurate and continue to be reckless—no decision has been made for Mr. Cohen to assert his Fifth Amendment rights. No questions have even been posed. The civil case filed by Stephanie Clifford involves issues that overlap with a pending criminal investigation. It is common for a civil case to be stayed under these circumstances, and that is what we will be requesting of the U.S. District Court tomorrow. We remain confident in the merits of the case and believe that once the stay is lifted, Ms. Clifford’s frivolous defamation claim against Mr. Cohen will be dismissed, and the rest of the case will be compelled to arbitration.”
Read it at The Hollywood Reporter
3. ANOTHER ONE
4 hours ago
Report: Trump to Pardon Ex-Cheney Chief of Staff Scooter Libby
REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst
President Trump will reportedly pardon Scooter J. Libby, the former chief of staff of Vice President Dick Cheney who was convicted of lying to the FBI and obstruction of justice, according to ABC News. Trump has reportedly “signed off”on the pardon and has been considering it for months. Libby was convicted in 2007 during the investigation into the leak of covert CIA operative Valerie Plame’s identity and was sentenced to 30 months in prison. He claims he “forgot” that Cheney told him Plame’s identity a month before he originally said he had found out. President George W. Bush commuted his sentence, sparing him jail time, but did not pardon him. Libby has also had his law license and voting rights restored since his conviction. Trump has already pardoned former sheriff Joe Arpaio after he was found guilty of criminal contempt.
Report: Trump Allies Worried About Cohen Tapes in FBI Raid
https://www.reddit.com/submit?title...n-tapes-in-fbi-raid?via=desktop&source=Reddit
REUTERS/Amir Levy
Michael Cohen reportedly had the habit of taping “conversations with associates,” and “allies” of President Trump are worried that some of those recordings may have been confiscated in Monday’s FBI raid, according to The Washington Post. A Trump adviser told the Post that Cohen’s habit was known and “now we are wondering, who did he tape? Did he store those someplace where they were actually seized?... Did they find his recordings?” Cohen reportedly stored the recordings as “digital files” and would “replay them for colleagues.” One source said Cohen would play the president recordings he made of “his conversations with other top Trump advisers” and claimed it “was his standard practice to do it.” The FBI reportedly did seize “computers and phones” from Cohen as part of a warrant seeking communications that were “potential sources of negative publicity” for Trump, as well as materials related to payouts to adult film star Stormy Daniels and ex-Playboy model Karen McDougal after their alleged affairs with the president. Cohen did not respond to the newspaper’s request for comment, and his lawyer also declined to comment.
Read it at The Washington Post
REUTERS/Brendan McDermid
This cheat has been updated throughout.
An attorney for Michael Cohen denied Thursday evening that the longtime Trump consigliere intended to invoke the Fifth Amendment in an attempt to stay Stormy Daniels’ lawsuit, as Daniels’ lawyer had told MSNBC earlier in the day. “On Monday we had a raid” of Cohen’s office by federal prosecutors reportedly looking for materials related to the $130,000 payment Cohen made to Daniels in 2016, Michael Avenatti said. “Today, we find out that it is his intention to plead the Fifth Amendment against self-incrimination in response to any questions that I may pose to him in connection in connection with our case.” He appeared to be referring to a filing hours before in California federal court, where the parties informed the judge that an application to delay the case would be filed the following day “on the grounds that an ongoing criminal investigation overlaps with the facts of this case, and implicates Defendant Michael Cohen’s Fifth Amendment rights.” But attorney Brent Blakely, who’s representing Cohen in Daniels’ lawsuit, told The Daily Beast: "The statements by Mr. Avenatti are not accurate and continue to be reckless—no decision has been made for Mr. Cohen to assert his Fifth Amendment rights. No questions have even been posed. The civil case filed by Stephanie Clifford involves issues that overlap with a pending criminal investigation. It is common for a civil case to be stayed under these circumstances, and that is what we will be requesting of the U.S. District Court tomorrow. We remain confident in the merits of the case and believe that once the stay is lifted, Ms. Clifford’s frivolous defamation claim against Mr. Cohen will be dismissed, and the rest of the case will be compelled to arbitration.”
Read it at The Hollywood Reporter
3. ANOTHER ONE
4 hours ago
Report: Trump to Pardon Ex-Cheney Chief of Staff Scooter Libby
REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst
President Trump will reportedly pardon Scooter J. Libby, the former chief of staff of Vice President Dick Cheney who was convicted of lying to the FBI and obstruction of justice, according to ABC News. Trump has reportedly “signed off”on the pardon and has been considering it for months. Libby was convicted in 2007 during the investigation into the leak of covert CIA operative Valerie Plame’s identity and was sentenced to 30 months in prison. He claims he “forgot” that Cheney told him Plame’s identity a month before he originally said he had found out. President George W. Bush commuted his sentence, sparing him jail time, but did not pardon him. Libby has also had his law license and voting rights restored since his conviction. Trump has already pardoned former sheriff Joe Arpaio after he was found guilty of criminal contempt.
