Any star athlete, if they're honest, will tell you that they are only as good as their teammates. Just as any theater or movie star will tell you that they are only as good as their supporting cast. Even Tiger Woods needed one heo givlluva good caddy te him sage advice, and Meryl Streep would have looked like she was homeless without a top flight make up artist and costume designer.
But. But. But. Donald Trump only hires the "best people!" And considering the fact that Michael Cohen has been with Donald Trump for longer than any of his wives, one can only assume that he's the best. But after the last couple of days, it's becoming apparent, to me at least, that Michael Cohen couldn't win a personal injury case if there was video footage of the bus jumping the curb and hitting his client on the sidewalk.
NBC News reported exclusively today that Michael Cohen used his Trump company e-mail to communicate with the bank in Manhattan, indicating approval that funds had been deposited in an account that would eventually wind their way to Stormy Daniels attorney. The same bank that flagged the eventual transaction to the Treasury department as suspicious. This immediately begs a question. If Michael Cohen was paying off Stormy Daniels with his own money, why was he awaiting the deposit of money into the account? If he had transferred it from another account of his, a glance at that account would have confirmed the transfer.
Michael Cohen is now officially hosed sideways any way you look at it, sans lubricant. The presence of "aka Dennison" on the agreement indicates a third party, or "client" to the transaction. If Cohen is executing the agreement without the clients consent, then he is afoul of NY state bar rules requiring client approval of a settlement. And if the client was aware of the settlement, and approved it, why didn't he sign the agreement? And why is Cohen using his own funds, instead of the client making the payment? And why was he complaining to associates about not having been reimbursed if he personally weas making the settlement payment?
Donald Trump is also going to be walking funny for quite a while, with a funny new tail. Sarah Flackabee Slanders confirmed publicly that Mr Dennison puts on the same BVD's every morning as her boss. If Trump was unaware of the settlement, then he's an idiot, and should be suing Michael Cohen for unauthorized representation. And if he was aware of the settlement, why didn't he sign it? And why is he going to these lengths to mask the payment? And, oh yeah, wazzup with all of this video, and still images, and paternity stuff?
Here's the real problem. Donald J Trump is not a "legitimate" businessman, and nobody assisting him in that effort is legitimate either. It is becoming apparent as more reporting comes in that dealing in "luxury" real estate is, by design, a dirty business. The opaque way in which high priced real estate can be purchased by concealment is a magnet to dubious purchasers, and questionable funds. If "real" is it's first name, and "estate" is it's last name, then "plausible deniability" is it's middle name. The system is set up that way by design. It's not a bug, it's a feature. And if you're going to swim in a scuzzy pond, you're going to need scuzzy water wings.
Trump's paranoia, and his distrust of outsiders is killing him. Trump is a shady businessman, using shady representation in a straight world. Trump's business dealings require a dark coffin to lie in, but like any vampire, when exposed to direct sunlight, they crumble to dust and blow away.
Forty years of unbridled personal success in real estate has brought about an arrogant confidence that the same loopholes in real estate law exist in all branches of law. This is apparent in the buffoonish, haphazard way that Trump has been attempting to cover up his actions. In his frame of reference, these feeble, two bit excuses are fine, for the simple reason that nobody is actually going to look any deeper. Hell, why would they, they never have before? And even if they do, a judicious "contribution" slid into the correct hands will make it all go away. Just business as usual.
To my mind, the die is cast for Trump. Firing Robert Mueller will no longer stop the 5:12 bearing down on his custom limo stalled on the tracks. Several former federal prosecutors who know Robert Mueller are saying that Mueller, knowing his precarious position, already has a life insurance policy. A couple of them have called it a "prosecutorial parachute." They feel sure that, knowing how resistant the GOP was to his investigation, starting on day one Mueller began composing his final report to congress. As the investigation has advanced, Mueller has woven the new information into the report on a regular basis, making a tight, cogent case. At the first sign of imminent dismissal, Mueller will forward that report to both the House and Senate judiciary and intelligence committees, and more importantly, to the news media. When the full extent of Trump's culpability is. shown to the public, even the Republicans will not be able to shield him and survive. We Americans have grown used to a little corruption in our politicians, it's the "11 secret herbs and spices" in the chicken (which can be nicely duplicated by a packet of powdered ranch dressing mix in the flour). But we still tend to draw the line at election tampering and treason.
Robert Mueller has come too far, he knows too much, and he has too many pictures to prove it. If Trump thinks that Michael Cohen is going to silence Mueller with another $130,000 non disclosure agreement, he's going to find the same success he will with Stormy Daniels. Hell, even Michael Jordan found out the hard way that being his generation's best basketball player didn't mean that he could play center field worth diddly squat. Trump should have stuck with what he was good at. Personally, this is one idol whose downfall I am looking forward to witnessing.
It’s here! The moment you’ve been dreading looking forward to. My new e-book President Evil. A common man looks at Trump and the 2016 primaries. You can get it now on Amazon. And please feel free to leave a review at either Amazon or goodreads, every review helps, positive or negative.
Cross posted on The Trump Impeachment.