Posted on 04/10/2018 10:01:10 AM PDT by DeathBeforeDishonor1
The FBI sought documents pertaining to Michael Cohen's ownership of taxi medallions when it raided his home and offices on Monday, according to CNN.
The request for information on the medallions came in a search warrant authorized by a U.S. District Attorney in New York.
Cohen, who has worked as an lawyer for Trump since the president's days as a New York real estate developer, reportedly owns a number of the medallions required for operation of the city's iconic yellow taxis, two sources told CNN.
The Monday raid, approved by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, allowed investigators to gather bank records, laptops and documents, some of them related to the hush payment Cohen made to an adult film star who says she had an affair with Trump over a decade ago.
The warrant approved by a judge reportedly included a long list of requests for information on the $130,000 payment in question, disbursed just days before the 2016 election, that legal experts say could have violated campaign finance laws.
One person familiar with the warrant told CNN the warrant likely inquired into some smaller investments outside the attorney's dealings with the porn star known as Stormy Daniels.
According to the Washington Post, Cohen is also being investigated for possible bank and tax fraud.
(Excerpt) Read more at thehill.com ...
So, the FBI has found something this sleasy lawyer was involved in, as it means to get hold of all of the attorneys records?
Taxi medallions was a flimsy pretext to get all private communications between Trump and Cohen.
This is the reality of our tax laws:
“Did you really think that we want those laws to be observed?” said Dr. Ferris. “We want them broken. You’d better get it straight that it’s not a bunch of boy scouts you’re up against - then you’ll know that this is not the age for beautiful gestures. We’re after power and we mean it. You fellows were pikers, but we know the real trick, and you’d better get wise to it. There’s no way to rule innocent men. The only power any government has is the power to crack down on criminals. Well, when there aren’t enough criminals, one makes them. One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible for men to live without breaking laws. Who wants a nation of law-abiding citizens? What’s there in that for anyone? But just pass the kind of laws that can neither be observed nor enforced nor objectively interpreted - and you create a nation of law-breakers - and then you cash in on guilt. Now, that’s the system, Mr. Rearden, that’s the game, and once you understand it, you’ll be much easier to deal with.”-Atlas Shrugged
They can get just about anybody if they take the time to comb through every detail of their finances.
Uber pushes NYC’s largest cab medallion owner into bankruptcy
July 22, 2015. Faced with intense competition from the ride-sharing app, Gene Friedman, the largest yellow cab medallion owner in the city, has filed for bankruptcy for part of his taxi empire, bankruptcy papers show.The self proclaimed “King of Taxis” owns more than 900 medallions, and is seeking Chapter 11 protection for 22 companies that control a total of 46 medallions.
Citibank has sued Friedman for failing to pay back loans that he took out for some of his medallions. The cab czar claims that the Uber incursion has gutted their value that was once placed at $1.1 million in 2013.
Sessions needs to rein in the out-of-control idiots who are ostensibly working for him.
The warrant approved by a judge reportedly included a long list of requests for information on the $130,000 payment in question, disbursed just days before the 2016 election, that legal experts say could have violated campaign finance laws. (My emphasis.) (
There's a big problem with that theory, one I've not heard any of the talking heads comment on: Federal campaign finance laws prohibit candidates from using campaign funds for personal purposes. Indeed one former IL governor, the late Bill Scott, went to prison just because of that. Thus, it would have been illegal for the Trump campaign to pay off Daniels' blackmail because that would have been an illegal expenditure for the personal benefit of the candidate. Cohen seems to have known this in that the payment was not structured in any way as a campaign contribution, was never given to the campaign, and was neither reported as a contribution nor accounted for as one. Now Mueller is grasping at straws by trying to convert the payment into an "in kind campaign contribution" that would have been illegal from the get go because of its purpose, i.e., to discharge a purely personal debt of the candidate.
Will any other FReepers who are more familiar with campaign finance law please comment on this posting and the theory I've presented.
NYC taxi medallions, which is really a license to operate a taxi, sold for about $1 million each until the last couple years. Plenty of room for bribes, kickbacks, failed tax reporting, etc, in their acquisition and use.
I saw a youtube video that the judge that approved the raid on Cohen is a Trump appointee.
This is about taking down any associate, friend or relative of Trump. To isolate him.
Berman and Comey worked together as attorneys for the Southern District of NY in 1990-1994.
Long time ago...no matter...Attorneys have this buddy system....AND it doesn't exclude judges either.
Disagree. It will result in indictments and reveal widespread corruption in DOJ and FBI. That said, the IG is not independent and will protect the institution as much as possible. Strzok, Page, and Ohr are singing like canaries, which is why they are still on the payroll.
Huber will announce the indictments and Sessions will appoint a second special counsel based on the IG report.
I didn’t think you had to tell them what the loan was for, either.
Maybe there’s an interest rate differential if you tell them its for improvements on the home, which would have the effect of increasing the home’s value, and their cushion on the loan. If that were so, lying would be a problem.
But there are home equity lines of credit... where you just write yourself a check against the line of credit, and the lender neither knows nor cares.
These tactics are to prevent any future real leader, not part of the swamp, from even considering running for high office or even working for PDJT. It is sickening.
I’ve heard that Cohen may be some big muckety muck in the RNC...anyone know about that?
Sure sounds like collusion with Russia! /s
Campaign money? Doesn't mean a damn thing. You're allowed.
Campaign money? Doesn't mean a damn thing. You're allowed.
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