The ridiculous plethora of lies of the so-called President and his cohorts
Today in The Los Angeles Times;In response to:
Mueller’s targets seem to share a problem: They tell whoppers
By Chris Megerian Dec 01, 2018
After lying to the Internal Revenue Service to avoid paying taxes and lying to banks to obtain fraudulent mortgages, Paul Manafort was convicted last August — and then pledged to tell the truth as part of a plea deal to avert a second trial.
But prosecutors say Manafort, President Trump’s former campaign chairman, lied about that too — and they told a federal judge Friday they may file new charges against him. A day earlier, Trump’s longtime lawyer, Michael Cohen, pleaded guilty to lying to Congress about seeking a Moscow real estate deal.
The back-to-back court hearings highlighted how, one after another, Trump’s closest former aides and associates have told brazen, audacious and criminal whoppers in the wide-ranging investigation led by special counsel Robert S. Mueller III.
“It’s like an organized crime consortium where everyone is lying and obfuscating, except it’s an investigation of the president of the United States and his campaign,” said Harry Litman, a University of California law professor and former federal prosecutor. “It’s such a hall of mirrors.”
At the center of the drama is Trump, who has exhausted independent fact checkers with a blizzard of falsehoods. The Washington Post says he has made more than 6,400 false or misleading statements publicly since taking office and averaged 30 a day in the weeks before last month’s midterm election.
Moreover, Trump has cheered witnesses who resist cooperating with the special counsel’s office, and he accused prosecutors on Mueller’s team of encouraging Manafort and other suspects to lie.
“If you told the truth, you go to jail,” the president complained to the New York Post on Wednesday.
Deception is a challenge for any prosecutor. Nick Akerman, who worked with the Watergate special prosecutor, said witnesses "baldly lied" to the grand jury investigating the break-in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters in 1972 and the subsequent cover-up by the Nixon White House.
“If I had to charge everybody with perjury and convict all of them, I’d still be there,” Akerman said.
Still, the Mueller investigation — which has led to charges against 33 people so far, including Manafort and Cohen — has swamped prosecutors with a flood of falsehoods.
George Papadopoulos, a former Trump campaign foreign policy advisor, was the first to go down. He pleaded guilty in October 2017 to lying to FBI agents about his conversations with a Maltese professor who told him that Russians had “dirt” on Hillary Clinton that included “thousands of emails.” Papadopoulos entered prison Monday to serve a two-week term.
In December 2017, Michael Flynn, Trump’s former national security advisor, pleaded guilty to falsely denying that he’d discussed sanctions with the Russian ambassador during the presidential transition. He agreed to cooperate with Mueller’s team, and his sentencing is scheduled for Dec. 18.
Richard Gates, Trump’s deputy campaign chairman, pleaded guilty in February 2018 to lying about a meeting he attended while working for Ukraine’s pro-Russian government. As part of his plea deal, he testified against Manafort and is awaiting sentencing.
Alex van der Zwaan, a formerly London-based Dutch lawyer who worked with Gates and Manafort, also pleaded guilty that month to lying about his communications with a suspected Russian agent. He served 30 days in federal prison and was deported.
“This many liars is unusual,” said Barbara McQuade, a former U.S. attorney in Michigan. "This group seems particularly persistent."
Mueller’s targets seem to share a problem: They tell whoppers
By Chris Megerian Dec 01, 2018
After lying to the Internal Revenue Service to avoid paying taxes and lying to banks to obtain fraudulent mortgages, Paul Manafort was convicted last August — and then pledged to tell the truth as part of a plea deal to avert a second trial.
But prosecutors say Manafort, President Trump’s former campaign chairman, lied about that too — and they told a federal judge Friday they may file new charges against him. A day earlier, Trump’s longtime lawyer, Michael Cohen, pleaded guilty to lying to Congress about seeking a Moscow real estate deal.
The back-to-back court hearings highlighted how, one after another, Trump’s closest former aides and associates have told brazen, audacious and criminal whoppers in the wide-ranging investigation led by special counsel Robert S. Mueller III.
“It’s like an organized crime consortium where everyone is lying and obfuscating, except it’s an investigation of the president of the United States and his campaign,” said Harry Litman, a University of California law professor and former federal prosecutor. “It’s such a hall of mirrors.”
At the center of the drama is Trump, who has exhausted independent fact checkers with a blizzard of falsehoods. The Washington Post says he has made more than 6,400 false or misleading statements publicly since taking office and averaged 30 a day in the weeks before last month’s midterm election.
Moreover, Trump has cheered witnesses who resist cooperating with the special counsel’s office, and he accused prosecutors on Mueller’s team of encouraging Manafort and other suspects to lie.
“If you told the truth, you go to jail,” the president complained to the New York Post on Wednesday.
Deception is a challenge for any prosecutor. Nick Akerman, who worked with the Watergate special prosecutor, said witnesses "baldly lied" to the grand jury investigating the break-in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters in 1972 and the subsequent cover-up by the Nixon White House.
“If I had to charge everybody with perjury and convict all of them, I’d still be there,” Akerman said.
Still, the Mueller investigation — which has led to charges against 33 people so far, including Manafort and Cohen — has swamped prosecutors with a flood of falsehoods.
George Papadopoulos, a former Trump campaign foreign policy advisor, was the first to go down. He pleaded guilty in October 2017 to lying to FBI agents about his conversations with a Maltese professor who told him that Russians had “dirt” on Hillary Clinton that included “thousands of emails.” Papadopoulos entered prison Monday to serve a two-week term.
In December 2017, Michael Flynn, Trump’s former national security advisor, pleaded guilty to falsely denying that he’d discussed sanctions with the Russian ambassador during the presidential transition. He agreed to cooperate with Mueller’s team, and his sentencing is scheduled for Dec. 18.
Richard Gates, Trump’s deputy campaign chairman, pleaded guilty in February 2018 to lying about a meeting he attended while working for Ukraine’s pro-Russian government. As part of his plea deal, he testified against Manafort and is awaiting sentencing.
Alex van der Zwaan, a formerly London-based Dutch lawyer who worked with Gates and Manafort, also pleaded guilty that month to lying about his communications with a suspected Russian agent. He served 30 days in federal prison and was deported.
“This many liars is unusual,” said Barbara McQuade, a former U.S. attorney in Michigan. "This group seems particularly persistent."
Persistent and vile. Next up Don Jr & Ivanka ? Or is Mueller not yet done with Corsi and Stone.
Plus, there are the transcripts from the Congressional interviews for Mueller to go over.
So many crimes, so many will do time.
Comments (10)
The room started shaking and the Gypsy woman whispered Jared... Jared, keep your eyes on Jared.
By the way who are you going to date next??????
You need to argue using actual, ahem, arguments... Mike drop..
that Trump and his cohorts are FAR worse than Nixon and his henchmen.
Unlike Nixon, Trump has led a life of crime. The crimes are much more varied and plentiful.
Many are more severe. It would not surprise me, if Trump finally gets jail time.
He's more the PT Barnum type. Nixon was more for the shadows. Trump will rip people off in the daylight
and boast about it later.
One or 2 of them probably kept him busy talking about himself,
as the 3rd placed electronic bugs all over the place.
Jan 29, 2016
Today is the birthday (1880) of William Claude Dukenfield, better known as W. C. Fields, a U.S. comedian, actor, juggler and writer. Fields’ comic persona was a misanthropic and hard-drinking egotist, who remained a sympathetic character despite his snarling contempt for dogs and children. His career in show business began in vaudeville, where he attained international success as a silent juggler. He gradually incorporated comedy into his act, and was a featured comedian in the Ziegfeld Follies for several years. He became a star in the Broadway musical comedy Poppy (1923), in which he played a colorful small-time con man. His subsequent stage and film roles were often similar scoundrels.
Well, Trump likes them in cages kept from their parents.