Tuesday Open Thread | Michael Cohen: Jay Sekulow urged false testimony

Posted on May 21, 2019 by SouthernGirl2

President Trump’s former fixer and personal attorney Michael Cohen told lawmakers during closed-door testimony earlier this year that Mr. Trump’s lawyer Jay Sekulow instructed him to lie to Congress about the timing of negotiations to build a “Trump Tower” in Moscow while the 2016 presidential campaign was underway.

The Democratic-led House Intelligence Committee voted along party lines Monday to publicly release testimony and exhibits provided by Cohen in February and March. The transcripts show Mr. Trump’s former lawyer told Congress that Sekulow suggested he tell lawmakers that negotiations to build a skyscraper in the Russian capital came to a halt in January 2016 — before the first Republican primary ballots were cast in the Iowa caucus.

Cohen reported to federal prison earlier this month to begin serving a three-year sentence for several crimes, including tax evasion, campaign finance violations and lying to Congress about the Trump Tower project.

According to the transcripts, Cohen told lawmakers on the committee that Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump’s attorney, Abbe Lowell, also reviewed his prepared testimony before Congress and was aware of the “false” statements it contained. Cohen said Lowell, through an intermediary, instructed him to edit his testimony to distance Ivanka from the “Trump Tower” negotiations.

After his initial testimony before Congress, Cohen said he discussed the possibility of a presidential pardon with Sekulow and an intermediary for Rudy Giuliani, Robert Costello. “Sleep well tonight, you have friend in high places,” Costello wrote in an email to Cohen, according to transcripts released by the committee.

Sekulow’s attorneys, Jane Serene Raskin and Patrick Strawbridge, quickly dismissed Cohen’s statements.

“Michael Cohen’s alleged statements are more of the same from him and confirm the observations of prosecutors in the Southern District of New York that Cohen’s ‘instinct to blame others is strong,'” they wrote in a statement. “That this or any Committee would rely on the word of Michael Cohen for any purpose — much less to try and pierce the attorney-client privilege and discover confidential communications of four respected lawyers — defies logic, well-established law and common sense.”

The committee has been probing whether attorneys for the president and his family obstructed its Russia investigation by shaping testimony from key witnesses, including Cohen.

About SouthernGirl2

A Native Texan who adores baby kittens, loves horses, rodeos, pomegranates, & collect Eagles. Enjoys politics, games shows, & dancing to all types of music. Loves discussing and learning about different cultures. A Phi Theta Kappa lifetime member with a passion for Social & Civil Justice.
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92 Responses to Tuesday Open Thread | Michael Cohen: Jay Sekulow urged false testimony

  9. rikyrah says:
    May 21, 2019 at 3:00 pm

    From the trailer, it looks like Indecent Proposal, made into a short Netflix series, with the sexes reversed.

    Is Renee Zellweger’s Netflix thriller the best trash TV show of 2019?
    In the absurd yet absurdly compulsive drama What/If, the Oscar winner makes an unlikely comeback as a devious, scenery-chewing billionaire

    It’s tricky to explain Renee Zellweger’s new Netflix show What/If to somebody who hasn’t seen it, because it’s an exercise in diametrically opposed contradictions. It’s a sexy thriller, even though it’s about as sexy as slow-transit constipation. Its unique selling point is that it follows the consequences of actions, even though that also describes every single story ever told by anyone in the entire history of humankind. It’s a television series, even though its title is punctuated like a sub-tier early noughties boyband.

    And most importantly, I can’t stop watching it, even though I hate it.

    Reply
  10. rikyrah says:
    May 21, 2019 at 2:47 pm

    The New Secession
    Residents of the majority-white southeast corner of Baton Rouge want to make their own city, complete with its own schools, breaking away from the majority-black parts of town.

    ADAM HARRIS
    MAY 20, 2019

    The fight began with little subtlety. White, wealthy parents in the southeastern corner of East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana, an area known as St. George, wanted their own school district. They argued that the schools in East Baton Rouge were routinely named as among the lowest performing in the state, and were unlikely to improve any time soon. So, in 2012, some of those parents went to the state legislature with a proposal: Create what would be called the Southeast Community School District.

    The legislature shot it down. The parents needed a two-thirds majority for the creation of a school district, and they couldn’t marshal the votes. A similar push in 2013 was rebuffed as well.

    The organizers were discouraged, but undeterred. They needed a new strategy—and they didn’t have to look far. In 2005, a nearby community, Central, was unable to gather support for a school district from the legislature, so it incorporated as a new city. That helped it gain legislative approval to create its own school district, Central Community Schools, which opened its doors in 2007. The St. George supporters launched a petition drive and, in August 2013, registered a new website: StGeorgeLouisiana.com. They would try to create their own city.

    A pattern has emerged over the past two decades: White, wealthy communities have been separating from their city’s school districts to form their own. According to a recent report from EdBuild, a nonprofit focused on public-school funding, 73 communities have split to form their own school districts since 2000, and the rate of places doing so has rapidly accelerated in the past two years. St. George, which activists seek to incorporate as a city, is a textbook example.

    Oftentimes, in these instances, predominantly white parents are trying to break away from a majority-minority school district, which in turn isolates their property-tax dollars in a new district. (Many public schools rely heavily on property taxes.) The argument, then, is that the parents can better dictate how their money is being spent.

    St. George is no different. The proposed area is more than 70 percent white and fewer than 15 percent black, while East Baton Rouge Parish is roughly 46.5 percent black. St. George supporters decry the violence and poor conditions of the public schools in Baton Rouge. Their tax dollars, they have argued, aren’t being put to good use. (Representatives for the St. George campaign’s organizers did not respond to multiple requests for comment for this article, including several emails, phone calls, and Facebook and LinkedIn messages.)

    Reply
  20. SouthernGirl2 says:
    May 21, 2019 at 12:41 pm

    Oh got dammit! The country is in a Constitutional Crisis. He did the investigation for crying out loud. Testify before House Judiciary! Stop this madness! WTF is wrong with Robert Mueller?
    https://twitter.com/mkraju/status/1130867182445977605

    Reply
  32. rikyrah says:
    May 21, 2019 at 10:02 am

    Ciara celebrates her admission into Harvard University: ‘Words cannot describe my excitement!’
    By ADAM S. LEVY FOR DAILYMAIL.COM

    PUBLISHED: 02:52 EDT, 21 May 2019 | UPDATED: 09:15 EDT, 21 May 2019

    …………………….

    The Austin, Texas-born beauty, who is married to NFL superstar Russell Wilson, thanked Professor Anita Elberse of the university for the ‘a once in in a lifetime opportunity’ to enroll into the university’s Business of Entertainment, Media and Sports program.

    The Level Up artist, who released her latest album Beauty Marks earlier this month, was admitted under the program which the school says is a ‘selective process based on [one’s] professional achievement and organizational responsibilities.’

    Reply
  33. rikyrah says:
    May 21, 2019 at 9:34 am

    Do we really believe this?

    Three handwritten wills found in Aretha Franklin’s home are filed nine months after her death despite lawyers believing she left NO instructions on dividing her $80 million estate

    Franklin was 76 when she died last August of pancreatic cancer
    Lawyers and family members said at the time that she had no will, but three handwritten versions were discovered earlier this month
    The latest one from March 2014 was in a notebook under cushions and appears to give the singer’s assets to family members, Franklin’s attorney says
    Some writing is extremely hard to decipher, however, and the four pages have words scratched out and phrases in the margins
    Two other wills from 2010 were found in a locked cabinet after a key was located
    Franklin’s lawyer for more than 40 years filed the wills on Monday
    By ASSOCIATED PRESS and CHAUNCEY ALCORN FOR DAILYMAIL.COM

    PUBLISHED: 17:57 EDT, 20 May 2019 | UPDATED: 01:42 EDT, 21 May 2019

    Reply
  34. SouthernGirl2 says:
    May 21, 2019 at 9:32 am

    The Border Patrol agent is the disgusting subhuman shyt.
    https://twitter.com/Ksurana6/status/1130515722378125319

    Reply
  36. rikyrah says:
    May 21, 2019 at 9:23 am

    Crazy!

    Johnny Depp accuses Amber Heard of severing his finger by hurling a bottle of vodka at him when ‘asked to sign a post-nuptial agreement in attack that resulted in actor contracting MRSA three times and nearly losing his life’

    Johnny Depp claims in a declaration filed in his $50 million defamation lawsuit against Amber Heard that the actress is responsible for severing his finger
    Depp claims that Heard began throwing bottles at him in 2015 just one month after they were married when asked to sign a post-nuptial agreement
    The bottle exploded and tore off his finger claims Depp, who said he had to undergo multiple surgeries and almost died after contracting MRSA three times
    Depp had to fly home to the US from Australia after the attack, forcing the set of Pirates of the Caribbean to shut down and costing Disney millions
    By CHRIS SPARGO FOR DAILYMAIL.COM

    PUBLISHED: 10:03 EDT, 21 May 2019 | UPDATED: 10:03 EDT, 21 May 2019

    Reply
    • eliihass says:
      May 21, 2019 at 9:40 am

      That’s what happens when your midlife crises tomfoolery has you discarding the mother of your children for the hollow ‘shiny’ object that karmically then becomes your undoing..

      Next up for similar karmic flogging, Ewan McGregor..

      Reply
  39. rikyrah says:
    May 21, 2019 at 9:18 am

    Extreme anti-abortion laws spark reproductive rights protests
    Dr. Leana Wen, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood, talks with Rachel Maddow about how American women are responding to extreme anti-abortion laws in Republican-run states with new energy and activism in support of reproductive rights.
    May 20, 2019

    Reply
  41. rikyrah says:
    May 21, 2019 at 9:17 am

    Cohen transcript puts spotlight on Trump Tower Moscow deception
    Rep. Adam Schiff talks with Rachel Maddow about themes in the transcript of Michael Cohen’s testimony that warrant further investigation by Congress, from the cover-up of Trump Tower Moscow business to the role of Trump lawyers in shaping false congressional testimony.

    Reply
    • eliihass says:
      May 21, 2019 at 9:28 am

      Pfffft..

      Did Giuliani send them..

      Peter Daou and his wife need to go sit their flimflamering opprtunistic b*tts down someplace..

      Flitting from Hillary and now to Bernie .. and looking to distract from the real enemies as Daou and his invisible benefactors trigger in-fighting and unnecessarily ignite divisions within the Democrat party …and end up handing previously safe seats in New York to the treasonous buffoon and his enablers …who are looking to make in-roads in New York to hijack and torpedo the process and thwart important efforts to hold the criminal treasonous buffoon and his criminal spawn accountable for their criminality..

      Reply
    • eliihass says:
      May 21, 2019 at 9:46 am

      Pfffft..

      Did Giuliani send them..

      Peter Daou and his wife need to go sit their flimflamering opprtunistic b*tts down someplace..

      Flitting from Hillary and now to Bernie .. and looking to distract from the real enemies as Daou and his invisible benefactors trigger in-fighting and unnecessarily ignite divisions within the Democratic party …and end up handing previously safe Dem seats in New York to the treasonous buffoon, his dubious enablers and the GOP …who are looking to make in-roads in New York to hijack and torpedo the ongoing process and thwart important efforts to hold the criminal treasonous buffoon and his criminal spawn accountable for their criminality..

      Reply
  49. rikyrah says:
    May 21, 2019 at 8:59 am

    Trump tactics to conceal his finances begin to fall apart
    Rachel Maddow highlights reporting in the New York Times about suspicious activity reports prepared by Deutsche Bank staff about Donald Trump and Jared Kushner, and reports on Trump’s continued efforts to obstruct oversight by Congress even as he suffers a major loss in court.

    Reply
    • eliihass says:
      May 21, 2019 at 8:26 am

      Puhleeze..

      Steven Mnuchin, anyone..?

      Mnuchin would not be anywhere near the Treasury department …or brazenly raiding America today if he’d been deservedly prosecuted in the State of California as recommended by the attorneys who dedicatedly built the case against Mnuchin and his OneWest scam..

      Reply
    • eliihass says:
      May 21, 2019 at 8:35 am

      Those who have the power to stop him …and who would’ve long ago shut this sh*t down and made such a grand ‘patriotic’ show of taking down the historic President, have all but weaseled out …with some actively complicit and hard at work enabling a wretched treasonous buffoon in the destruction of this once great democracy..

      Reply
    • eliihass says:
      May 21, 2019 at 8:40 am

      That’s your media for you..

      They suck up to the blithering traitorous idiot that’s holding our republic hostage, but ‘boldly’ take on a 17 year old with the presence of mind to become politically involved and actively engaged in our democracy …

      Reply
  77. rikyrah says:
    May 21, 2019 at 6:40 am

    For all the talk of going back to Africa.
    We are Americans.

    https://twitter.com/OARichardEngel/status/1130610423072514048

    Reply
  78. rikyrah says:
    May 21, 2019 at 4:08 am

    Good Morning, Everyone 😄😄😄

    Reply

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