Cohen was reportedly concerned that his wife could be implicated alongside him in charges associated with his financial wrongdoings because she filed taxes jointly with him. He also was motivated by his father’s interests, WSJ reported.
John Light
Michael Cohen remains our big story today, but there’s plenty else going on. Here’s more on those stories. (Updated.)
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Watching the Sanders press conference this morning, Sanders seems to have moved another big notch forward in terms of very clipped answers. Basically every answer is, I don’t have anything more for you. In addition, she has rolled out what seems like a new talking point. Each time she’s asked if Trump committed a crime she said repeatedly “he did nothing wrong. There are no charges against him.”
A number of people noted overnight that President Trump’s first and second Congressional endorsers in 2016 have now both been indicted. Those are Chris Collins of New York and Duncan Hunter of California.
John LightSo, yesterday turned out to be busy. Paul Manafort was found guilty on eight counts; the judge declared a mistrial on the other 10. Michael Cohen submitted a guilty plea in Manhattan Federal Court, and implicated Trump in the crimes he said he committed. Late in the day, Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-CA) was indicted, meaning that Donald Trump’s first two congressional supporters (Hunter and New York Rep. Chris Collins) have been charged with crimes.
Also, TPM rolled out a new front page.
Here’s more on those stories, and what we’re following today. (Updated)
Josh MarshallAs yours may be, my head is still spinning from the events of the day. Let me just start with a few observations.
This afternoon, just as all hell was starting to break loose, I talked to John Dean about Watergate, Trump Russia and similarities between the two. Listen here.
Here is a transcript and video of Trump’s brief comments on today’s news. Note that there’s no discussion of Cohen, only Manafort – transcript per pool report.
"Nothing to do with Russian collusion, continue with the witch hunt." Trump briefly talks Manafort; mum on Cohen. pic.twitter.com/8x8YswReFQ
— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) August 21, 2018
Transcript after the jump …
Developing: Cohen appears to directly implicate a “candidate” in the campaign finance violations he is currently pleading guilty to.
Very bad news here for President Trump in the Cohen pleas. Directly implicates an unnamed "candidate" in his campaign finance crimes. https://t.co/1676SxkUnM pic.twitter.com/qDYvnsp9UJ
— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) August 21, 2018
A lawsuit filed by 20 GOP-controlled states and supported by the Trump administration could end up becoming a serious liability for Republican candidates this November. The suit seeks to gut the remainder of the Affordable Care Act, and will go before a conservative Texas federal judge in early September, just two months before voters go to the polls to decide which party controls the House, the Senate, and dozens of influential state and local seats.
Rudy Giuliani on Thursday tried to change the subject from Michael Cohen’s guilty plea. He called on the DOJ to “wake up” and suggested Hillary Clinton should be indicted over the Steele dossier.
Trump: Everyone would be poor if I got impeached pic.twitter.com/DtKr11NSkK
— TPM Livewire (@TPMLiveWire) August 23, 2018
Trump won't say whether he will pardon Manafort pic.twitter.com/5tpXHPAmEd
— TPM Livewire (@TPMLiveWire) August 23, 2018
In response to his former lawyer’s guilty plea this week, President Donald Trump expressed Thursday that he would like to do away with the government’s long-held practice of offering shorter sentences for those defendants willing to cooperate with the government in criminal cases.
Trump: Cohen Is 'Not Somebody That Was With Me That Much,' I'd 'See Him Sometimes' pic.twitter.com/Fa9aZ9NqR1
— TPM Livewire (@TPMLiveWire) August 23, 2018
Asked Wednesday what evidence Michael Cohen had that President Donald Trump knew ahead of time about the June 2016 Trump Tower “dirt” meeting, Cohen’s attorney Lanny Davis said simply: “I can only say that he was present during a discussion with [Donald Trump] Jr. and dad, and beyond that, his testimony to the Senate Intelligence and House Intelligence committees was accurate.”
Cohen on Tuesday maintained that his earlier testimony to the Senate Intelligence Committee, in which he claimed he personally had no advanced knowledge of the meeting, was still accurate.
"at this juncture I can only say that he was present during a discussion with junior and dad" about the Trump Tower meeting. pic.twitter.com/K4npwEQaUI
— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) August 22, 2018
CNBC reported Wednesday on a $50,000 expense reported by Michael Cohen in January 2017 to the Trump Organization “buried in legal documents released Tuesday”. Cohen presented the expense to Trump Organization executives as “a handwritten sum at the top” of another document, CNBC reported. The Trump Organization would later say the expense was “payment for tech services,” but, CNBC noted, prosecutors say it “was in fact related to work Cohen had solicited from a technology company during and in connection with the campaign.” Read more here.
Former Trump fixer Michael Cohen has long denied that he went to Prague in 2016 to meet Russian intelligence agents, as the Steele dossier alleged. In April, McClatchy reported that special counsel Robert Mueller’s team had obtained evidence that Cohen had traveled to Prague, via Germany, during the summer of 2016, per two unnamed sources familiar with the matter.
On Wednesday, Cohen lawyer Lanny Davis maintained his denials, emphatically:
Was Michael Cohen in Prague in 2016? Michael Cohen's lawyer: "Never! Never!" pic.twitter.com/mIRs5KIasi
— TPM Livewire (@TPMLiveWire) August 22, 2018
Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-CA) was indicted Tuesday for massive campaign finance violations. In true Trumpian form, he accused “Democrats’ arm of law enforcement” — that is, the Jeff Sessions-led Justice Department — of having “a political agenda.” Watch below, or see a slightly longer version on KGTV:
Rep. Duncan Hunter, an early Trump endorser who was indicted yesterday, tells KGTV, "This is the new Department of Justice. This is the Democrats' arm of law enforcement…It's happening with Trump and it's happening with me." https://t.co/T3kfNjQmev pic.twitter.com/GpdVrL475d
— ABC News (@ABC) August 22, 2018
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders is scheduled to hold a press briefing at 2:15 p.m. ET.
Watch it live below: