07-21-2018, 12:17 PM
(05-23-2018, 10:25 AM)Donovan Wrote: I expect we will see more "cooperating" witnesses as Trump tries to shift blame onto others and throw people to the wolves. I think Cohen's family might be threatened which is why he is taking so much of the fall. He made some cryptic comments weeks ago. And witnesses in Russian mob cases or associated with Putin and Trump seem to suffer unreasonably high rates of accidentally killing themselves with falls from tall buildings or running into blunt objects with their skulls.
I think you're right about more witnesses cooperating as the investigations progress. New potential witnesses are coming to light and Michael Cohen sure seems to be ready to tell the truth and cooperate if he gets charged.
Yesterday, one of the seized Cohen tapes was leaked. It was among the minority pieces of evidence deemed as "privileged" by the special reviewer. So, the only people who would have had access to it are Cohen's attorneys and Trump's attorneys (not investigators). There's debate over whether the Cohen team released it as a warning shot, or the Trump team released it to control the narrative + pull the rug out from Cohen's ability to use it in negotiating a deal with prosecutors + distract from the Helsinki clusterfuck.
The tape is a recording of an in-person conversation between Trump and Cohen regarding paying off Karen McDougal. McDougal is the playboy model who Trump said he knew nothing about after her story leaked two weeks before the election. Her story was leaked despite Trump's friends at the National Enquirer paying her for her story and then not publishing it and subjecting her to NDA.
Yesterday Cohen met with Al Sharpton, with whom he's been friendly for 20 yearss. He wanted Sharpton to let everyone know that he will not cover for Trump and will put his family and country first if it comes down to it. He also wanted Sharpton to voice his disappointment in Trump for lying in his disparagement of the media.
Cohen is not a good guy, not by a long shot, in my opinion. But I think he knows he's gonna be held accountable for all his shady dealings and is sincere about no longer being willing to take a bullet or play the villain to cover for Trump's shady shit.
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