He’s taking it well.

Kevin Corke, @FoxNews “Don’t forget, Michael Cohen has already been convicted of perjury and fraud, and as recently as this week, the Wall Street Journal has suggested that he may have stolen tens of thousands of dollars….” Lying to reduce his jail time! Watch father-in-law!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 18, 2019

As a former prosecutor, I can tell you that how a target responds to allegations is something we watch closely.

Does @realDonaldTrump deny the Buzzfeed story alleging he told Cohen to lie to Congress (a felony)? No.

Instead, he threatens Cohen (which could also be a felony). https://t.co/9ndYCjs8d8

— Ted Lieu (@tedlieu) January 18, 2019

This is witness intimidation. https://t.co/agqZ39hPwu

— Sam Stein

That’s something to look forward to:

Trump has ranted about why no one around him is doing anything to stop any of it and vented about the lack of support he believes he has in Congress and within his own White House, the sources tell NBC News.

In addition to the much-anticipated report from Mueller on the Russia investigation, Democrats could ask prosecutors in the SDNY to similarly share details of their probe into Cohen that are related to the president.

Ohhh, could they indeed.

Trump has in recent days been made aware of this possibility from people close to him, opening up a new vulnerability for the president.

Good. Good good good.… Read the rest

Oh look, what’s this.

This is quite important. One by one, the career DOJ prosecutors are removing possible Trump defenses. Now it isn’t just Cohen, but also AMI, saying these hush money payments were made to influence the 2016 Presidential election, and knock out the so-called “Edwards defense” https://t.co/FzH7pRYAPP

— Neal Katyal (@neal_katyal) December 12, 2018

Press release today from the SDNY:

Michael Cohen Sentenced To 3 Years In Prison

U.S. Attorney’s Office Also Announces Non-Prosecution Agreement with American Media, Inc., Related to Its Payment of $150,000 to a Woman to Influence 2016 Presidential Election

Robert Khuzami, Attorney for the United States, Acting Under Authority Conferred by 28 U.S.C. § 515, announced that MICHAEL COHEN was sentenced today to

Interesting. Republicans are said to be chatting about dropping Donnie Two-scoops. Impressive that it only took them three years.

Donald Trump is facing “looming problem” as Republicans contemplate abandoning the president as more evidence of wrongdoing comes to light, Los Angeles Times White House reporter Eli Stokols explained on MSNBC’s “Deadline: White House” on Monday.

Host Nicolle Wallace played a clip of Trump supporter and former U.S. Attorney Chris Christie wondering what additional evidence special counsel Robert Mueller and federal prosecutors in Manhattan have obtained.

Oh don’t worry about it, just let this criminal sack of shit go on destroying the country and the world for another couple of years. What could go wrong?

“Republican lawmakers who are —

Laurence Tribe thinks it’s serious for Trump.

https://twitter.com/tribelaw/status/1071163362468421632

https://twitter.com/tribelaw/status/1071186356171354115

https://twitter.com/tribelaw/status/1071214465046188034

“nailing Trump as a felon who directed a criminal conspiracy to steal the 2016 election” – that’s not a parking ticket.

https://twitter.com/tribelaw/status/1071225860978589698

https://twitter.com/tribelaw/status/1071239548775075840

https://twitter.com/tribelaw/status/1071388474551558144… Read the rest

Paul Waldman at the Post says Trump is cooked.

One of the remarkable things about the discussion we’ve been having lately is that the president still seems to think that he can be saved from whatever this investigation uncovers. He just announced that William Barr will be his next attorney general, and the New York Times reported that in private, “Mr. Trump has also repeatedly asked whether the next pick would recuse himself from overseeing the special counsel investigation into whether his campaign conspired with Russia in its interference in the 2016 election.” It’s as though he thinks this investigation is in its early stages and can be quashed by a properly loyal underling.

But at this point it

Ken White (aka Popehat) at the Atlantic walks us through yesterday’s prosecutorial briefs.

In the first one, the Special Counsel’s Office explains how Manafort blew his cooperation agreement by lying, and it does so with great confidence; it’s clear that they have the receipts.

In the second, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York responds to Cohen’s lawyers’ brief last week requesting no prison time.

The prosecutors’ rebuttal of Cohen’s sentencing brief is one of the more livid denunciations I’ve seen in more than two decades of federal criminal practice. The Southern District concedes that Cohen provided some information to it, to the Special Counsel, and to the New York Attorney General. But Cohen refused

The Post collects more lawyers who point out that Trump is witness tampering in plain sight.

In another tweet Monday, Trump praised another longtime associate, Roger Stone, who also has drawn Mueller’s scrutiny, for having said he would never testify against Trump.

“This statement was recently made by Roger Stone, essentially stating that he will not be forced by a rogue and out of control prosecutor to make up lies and stories about ‘President Trump,’ ” Trump wrote. “Nice to know that some people still have ‘guts!’ ”

The tweet about Stone drew immediate criticism from several lawyers, who said it amounted to witness tampering.

Among those who chided Trump was George Conway, the husband of White House counselor Kellyanne

Trump is losing it again.

“Michael Cohen asks judge for no Prison Time.” You mean he can do all of the TERRIBLE, unrelated to Trump, things having to do with fraud, big loans, Taxis, etc., and not serve a long prison term? He makes up stories to get a GREAT & ALREADY reduced deal for himself, and get…..

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 3, 2018

….his wife and father-in-law (who has the money?) off Scott Free. He lied for this outcome and should, in my opinion, serve a full and complete sentence.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 3, 2018

Twitter is of course overflowing with jokes about this new person, Scott Free.

“I will never testify against Trump.”

Trump is in fact engaged in witness tampering, on Twitter.

It’s this one:

Ask Sally Yates, under oath, if she knows how classified information got into the newspapers soon after she explained it to W.H. Counsel.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 8, 2017

I was shocked by how inappropriate that is from a president talking about a Senate hearing, but it took a lawyer friend to point out that it’s witness tampering.

Some observers are reporting it that way.

Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA) is asking whether Donald Trump committed a federal crime by engaging in witness intimidation with a tweet about Sally Yates. If Trump was convicted of witness intimidation, he could be sentenced to up to 20