Kate Bolduan gives a fresh take on todays top stories. Reporting violations where they failed to report some things inadvertently. I think in the obama case it was what are called 48hour report, failure to report contributions. In none of those cases that im aware of has the actual candidate or the president been implicated in ordering it be done. It wasnt that obama said lets not report these contributions. Those are kind of the more the regular violations that you see in president ial campaigns. Here we have an allegation that the president directly ordered cohen to pay money to prevent people from talking about alleged affairs. Thats a potential violation on several counts. One, people talk about the reporting violation. These were contributions that werent reported. Thats true. But, they were paid by the trump organization. That makes it a corporate contribution. It is illegal to make a corporate contribution. It is also illegal for an officer of a corporation to authorize a corporate contribution which sounds like what trump may have done. Trump is also the candidate. It is illegal for the candidate
to accept is the corporate contribution. There were also excessive contributions from cohen. Same thing applies. It was illegal to accept those contributions by the candidate. So this is very unusual in that we have the candidate being implicated in directly coordinating and directing the actual violations of law. Thats not what weve seen before. So you dont agree obviously with the president because you laid out that very well. When it comes to Michael Cohen though, page, how credible is Michael Cohen at this point . Well, erica, i think obviously thats the strongest argument that the white house has is, look, this guys clearly not been truthful with the american people. Hes committed Felony Crimes that hes now pled guilty to so how can you believe what he is saying about me. Thats especially true when we hear his lawyer saying, look, hes ready to talk more, he feels somehow betrayed by the president. So i think it is certainly from the president s standpoint the right move to attack his credibility. I agree with larry that whats
been alleged here are certainly criminal acts but they dont have to be. I mean these particular statutes also allow for civil punishment fines and things of that nature which you dont see in say a Bank Fraud Statute or Something Like that. So there is discretion where a prosecutor can decide not to pursue this as a criminal indictment or criminal information and leave it as a civil fine. Larry, its also important to point out here that this could ultimately handled very differently if the president were not the president today. Right. If the president were not the president today, then there would not be this question about whether he could be indicted. Its clear that if he had not won he would have been indicted for these things. I think it is also true these can be prosecuted by the fec as a civil violation. Difference is when they become a knowing and willful violation and core violation of the law, then they can be prosecuted as a criminal violation. Thats whats going to be alleged here. One other point i agree thatMichael Cohen has credibility issues. But it is somewhat ironic that the president , who is known to regularly lie about things, has serious credibility issues, and in fact lied about this very thing. First said he had no knowledge of the Stormy Daniels payments, then had to admit, yes, he did know about the Stormy Daniels payments is attacking the credibility of Michael Cohen, i think there are credibility issues on all sides. There are questions about what else can be said here. Lanny davis said directly this morning Michael Cohen may have more things he wants to talk to the Special Counsel about. That does not include cooperation in this plea deal. When you hear those words from lanny davis is it in some ways a public push on his part to come up with a separate deal perhaps with the Special Counsel . Thats certainly possible, erica. But it is a strange legal strategy. If he really has good, solid information that the Special Counsels going to be interested in, then set up a proffer meeting. Set up a time for Michael Cohen to sit down with the investigators, with the prosecutors, from bob muellers office and tell him, this is what i have. Or even the lawyer can do that. Lanny can sit down with those folks and say, let me give you an attorney proffer. Im going to tell you what my client would say. Instead of doing it in the news media. Because as weve seen, the Special Counsels office is really not inclined to use the media as part of their investigation. So from a legal strategy, i think you would be doing that Behind Closed Doors and not in front of the camera. Its fascinating, too, larry. I know that you said this plea deal itself could form the basis for impeachment proceedings. Not as many people are jumping on that impeachment bandwagon. But you think it is okay to go there. Well, look. I think it has to be discussed. If there is serious evidence the president committed a felony, then i think impeachment is one of the things thats on the table. As a practical matter, is it going to happen in this congress . Very doubtful. But i think it is something that has to be talked about. We talked about whether or not a sitting president can be indicted. There is the office of legal counsels opinion that he cant be. Thats not settled law. But if you arent going to be able to indict a sitting president , and if youre not going to talk about impeachment, that means hes Above The Law and thats just something thats hard to accept in a democracy, that the president is Above The Law, that he can do what he wants. None of us can ignore the fact that in has all become so political. As one of you just pointed out, We Arent Hearing Anything from the mueller camp on this. But it is what we are hearing from other folks who are either directly or indirectly involved who are really trying to paint this investigation in whichever way is most favorable to them. Looking at it from that political standpoint, no matter whats in that report, in some ways are we kind of past the Point Of No Return . I think so, erica. That really to me is the most troubling part of all this. Im on the front lines in federal criminal courts in red states all the time. And im defending people who are
charged with federal crimes. Whenever i see bombs thrown by the president , by the white house, at their own department of justice, at the Special Counsels office, i see the longterm effects thats going to have on the ability of the government to prosecute cases in courts across this country. These credibility issues he may be talking about Michael Cohen one day and challenging his credibility, but hes also talking about the rule of law. Im concerned that the consequences of those actions will last far beyond his presidency. Page pate, larry nobles, appreciate it. Thank you. Coming up, why is the president defending Paul Manafort in the wake of his convictions . Could this be a signal, a possible pardon, perhaps, for his former Campaign Chairman . Plus, Republican Leaders in Congress Largely silent after Michael Cohen implicates the president in a crime. How long can they dodge the issue . You wouldnt accept an incomplete job from any one else. Why accept it from an allergy pill . Flonase relieves sneezing, itchy, watery eyes
and a runny nose, plus nasal congestion, which most pills dont. Its more complete allergy relief. Flonase. Diarrhea is common, may be severe, and may cause dehydration or infection. Before taking verzenio, tell your doctor if you have fever, chills, or other signs of infection. Verzenio may cause low white blood cell counts, which may cause serious infection that can lead to death. Serious Liver Problems can occur. Symptoms may include tiredness, loss of appetite, stomach pain, and bleeding or bruising more easily than normal. Blood clots that can lead to death have also occurred. Talk to your doctor right away if you notice pain or swelling in your arms or legs, shortness of breath, chest pain or rapid breathing or heart rate. Tell your doctor if you are pregnant, breastfeeding, or plan to become pregnant. Common side effects include nausea, infections, low red and white blood cells and platelets, decreased appetite, headache, abdominal pain, tiredness, vomiting, and Hair Thinning or loss. Im relentless. And my doctor and i choose to treat my mbc with verzenio. Be relentless. Ask your doctor about everyday verzenio. Years in prison, plus there is a Second Criminal Trial on additional charges next month. The president s open sympathy for manafort begging questions about a possible pardon unless manafort decides to work with the Special Counsel in hopes of reducing his sentence. Cnn legal analyst paul cowan. Yesterday the jury sent the note saying we cant decide on one count. It led the Impression Everything was set on the other 17. Eight guilty eight counts they found manafort guilty. The other ten a mistrial. Is 8 out of 18 a win . It is a win because the Jail Sentence that can be attached to those eight counts is probably as great as if he was convicted on all the counts. I say that because you always hear about these cases. They say hes facing 90 years in prison. Thats not really true because when you apply federal guidelines, it will come down to a much shorter sentence that a judge is likely to impose. Probably around 10 years. Even if he had been convicted on all the counts, the sentence might be the same. So it really is a victory for the prosecution even though they lost ten counts. Even though they lost ten. We know that narratives already out there. You didnt even get a conviction on half of these, so you know what . What is this sort of sham of an investigation and Everything Else we are seeing come out of that. Is that a fair point . I dont think it necessarily is a fair point. I think the fair point is that watch out for juries and watch out also when you have a president of the United States send is messages to deliberating jurors. Now remember, the president was out making speeches about what a great guy Paul Manafort is, how this investigation is a witch hunt or as he now calls it a rigged witch hunt, that word gets around in a jury pool and you have to wonder, are people thinking this is a political prosecution and therefore theyre more skeptical than a normal jury would be . Whats fascinating, we know this jury was not sequestered. When they came back they were
asked if they saw or read anything about the case. They said no. But sometimes it is hard to ignore it. The president s been speaking out. We saw the tweet this morning about Paul Manafort calling him a brave man. Looking at all this, he has this other trial coming up. His tweets, his comments, do you see those at as a message to Paul Manafort . Oh, yes. I think manafort is telegraphing that a pardon is coming down the road, sit down, be loyal, dont cooperate with anybody. Thats how i read those tweets with the president so actively supporting him, especially if you just look at the eight counts. I mean there are really legitimate Income Tax Evasion Counts here and other serious counts that were proven by prosecutors. For the president to continue supporting manafort is really hard to believe. Anything to as we look at what happened in this first trial, next trial comes up in september in washington. Anything that we can glean in terms of where you think that
may go . They have three times as much evidence that they say said they are bringing. The big thing is the pool included counties that are as much as 60 for trump. If you get hard core Trump Supporters on a Jury Thinking that this is a political prosecution, he had a better shot in Northern Virginia of getting a hung jury on various counts. Washington, d. C. , its like 90 of the vote went for hillary clinton. So hes not going to get a friendly jury pool in washington, d. C. Thats why mueller is bringing those charges there. So i think hes got a rough road ahead. Paul callan, thank you. Coming up, Republican Leaders largely silent on the major news about Michael Cohen and Paul Manafort. Something though democrats dont want to talk about either connected to all of these latest connected to all of these latest developments. E cup of lemonade. Thanks . Time to pack up. Lets go kids. Thank you nfl sunday ticket. Get every live game, every sunday at no extra charge when you switch to directv. More for your thing. Thats our thing. Call 1. 800. Directv. Oh oh ozempic® vo people with Type 2 Diabetes are excited about the potential of
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information. We should point out as we try to track down lawmakers and get some response from them, either on capitol hill or even on their vacations because it is kinds of important we did just get some sound from senator orren hatch weighing in. Well, these are serious charges and they cant be ignored. Do you tink this opehink thp the president to tk indicted while sitting in office . No, because i dont think he can be indicted while sitting in office. Well have to see where this all works out. Rachel, can Republican Leadership really continue to ignore this . They cant continue to ignore it, no. Theyre going to have to answer for it of course when they are on capitol hill and reporters are pressing them. Theyre going to be dodgy on this. Republicans agree, when President Donald Trump was elected in 2016 that they were going to plug their noses and basically ignore anything he might say that they find unsavory or sings that things t
that they do not like. There is no reason to think that in just less than three months from a critical Midterm Election theyre going to dessert the president when they think they actually need him to keep their house and senate majorities. This really puts them in a pickle because they have a lot of republicans in swing states, i