Important to note that this raid was approved by Trump appointees so can not be a witch hunt. The probable cause apparently was found by Mueller's team who then consulted with Trump appointed senior members at the DOJ who agreed it should be passed onto the FBI in New York. FBI NY would confer with the highly respected Southern District of NY (SDNY) DA office. The Trump appointed SDNY DA must have signed off on an application to a judge. The judge must have concluded that there was probable cause a crime had been committed. The fact that it is a lawyer's office raises the standard even further. Cohen's office is in Trump Tower and his only client is Trump so this likely relates to Trump. Solicitor-client privilege does not apply to communications in furtherance of a crime-fraud. My understanding is that one of the investigations relates to bank fraud. I am going to guess that he did not obtain his line of credit by telling the Bank he wanted to use the money to pay off a porn star. Another investigation relates to a election finance violation so my guess would be an illegal contribution by the payment. Any communications with Trump about these issues may fit within the crime-fraud exception and may possibly be used to indict/impeach Trump. But who knows. This guy is slippery as fuck for some reason. I doubt his base cares and the GOP may not either. p. s. > Mr. Cohen began his career as a personal injury lawyer and taxi fleet manager. lol
Chris Hayes Cohen is one of 2 Vice Chairs of Finance for the GOP. The other is Elliott Broidy.Today the National Deputy Finance Chair of the GOP was raided by the FBI.
Yo, the weirdest thing from the first link in this post: The (ex-)Vice Chair of Finance for the GOP, ladies and gentlemen! God, I could do this all day. We really are living in some fucked up version of Wonderland.One source with close ties to the campaign said Cohen “wanted a bigger and more formal role [in the campaign], but there were a lot of long knives out for him within the campaign and the larger GOP infrastructure in part because he was a Democrat and treated people horribly.”
Geoffrey Berman, Trump’s SDNY appointment was recused from this investigation. Can’t wait to find out why.
A++ comment. Summarizes very nicely things I've gleaned from reputable comments on sites that aren't Breitbart. The constant onslaught of Trump-related scandals has desensitized all of us, which is quite unfortunate, because this one's a doozy. Makes me wonder if this came up: Wikipedia sez "money laundering" is covered under the broader classification of "bank fraud". Did you see the video of Trump reading a statement during a sit-down meeting, flanked by Bolton (his first day on the job, LOL!), Pence and other national security officials? They had (presumably) nothing to do with Cohen and any of Trump's actions prior to and/or during the campaign. How could you not resent POTUS using your presence in what is absolutely an attempt to lend legitimacy to his very off-putting comments, branding the FBI's raid, which undoubtedly used the proper legal channels, as "an attack on this country"? WTF, dude?
Front page of Fox News has had no mention of these events so far as of 12pm eastern time (but Jerry Brown apparently likes illegal immigrants). I have difficulty imagining that Cohen’s raid will somehow be the straw that broke the camel’s back for his base. But this is great analysis/synopsis. Where are you learning of what the investigation concerns. i.e. bank fraud?
I follow lots of lawyers on twitter. eg. Preet Bharara (former SDNY DA), LawfareBlog, PopeHat....