Or is it? Isn't "Citizen's United" very thinly veiled Pay to Play?
I think the facts the FBI found in the Cohen investigation is more troublesome than most want to admit. Michael Cohen did more than providing Hush Money to Ms. Clifford. He was promoting Trump as a New York attorney and making statements, at the time, that was completely out of step with the reality of the American election system. I think he knew a great deal about his boss's dealings and the influence Russians were conducting.
What were these companies expecting? ATT sure didn't get the preference to their hopes for their company, it went to the Kochs who paid to play in enormous amounts of money. The Kochs were the higher bidder. What was Trump trying to tell Wall Street when that happened?
The Robert's Court made money a citizen and turned it loose in Citizen's United except for one decision on April 30, 2015 (click here). That is a strong indication that while the Robert's Court believes money somehow has a voice it was naive to the reality of their own decisions. When a court remotely regrets an unprecedented decision it never expected it a corrupting agent of Americans' freedoms. The Robert's Court took the freedom of speech and removed the right of every American to have an equal playing field with everyone else during elections. The Robert's Court put their thumb on the scale and they wanted to, then went "oops." The Citizen's United decision eroded the USA Constitution and Bill of Rights.
Money is power, not freedom.
May 12, 2018
By Brian Fung and Tony Romm
AT&T’s chief executive (click here) said Friday his company made a “serious misjudgment” to seek advice from President Donald Trump’s personal attorney Michael Cohen, and announced that its top lobbying executive in Washington would be leaving the firm.
“Our company has been in the headlines for all the wrong reasons these last few days and our reputation has been damaged,” AT&T chief executive Randall Stephenson wrote in a companywide internal email. “There is no other way to say it – AT&T hiring Michael Cohen as a political consultant was a big mistake.”
The email comes at a critical time for AT&T. A judge is deciding whether its controversial $85 billion merger with Time Warner violates antitrust law. Internal AT&T documents obtained by The Washington Post show how AT&T agreed to pay $600,000 to Cohen last year in exchange for guidance on policy matters, including issues it is facing at the Federal Communications Commission and its proposed deal with Time Warner....
There were those that rejected the offer of Cohen's influence. Ford, one of the oldest and well respected voice of the automotive industry in the USA which is family lead, has stated recently they were trimming their operations. That was a shock to me.
Ford, previous to the 2008 economic collapse, had legally borrowed monies with zero interest rate and never needed help when the stock market disintegrated and all by J.P Morgan went belly up. Now, years later, with Trump's attorney selling influence masked as advice, Ford rejects the attempt by Trump's lawyer and has to scale back it's operations. Like, what?
The Mueller investigation is doing vital work to understand the damages to even the American economy by obvious corruption by at least one Trump affiliation. Michael Cohen was working hard for his boss during his campaign with really curious statements about a widely competent and industry agreed election polling. He is a very suspicious figure. He needs to be a supporter of democracy and not a traitor.
I think the bombastic and elitist language of Donald Trump that demands flamboyant exaggeration of facts; acts to disorient people into a propaganda that boils down to very desirous wishful thinking. Michael Cohen was an addict of that language and the Kool-Aide he was provided.
May 12, 2018
By Daniel Politi
Ford apparently (click here) had no problem saying no to Michael Cohen. An executive with the auto giant rejected an eyebrow-raising offer of consulting services from Cohen, President Donald Trump’s longtime personal attorney, in January 2017. Special Counsel Robert Mueller found out about the offer and now wants more details, reports the Wall Street Journal. Mueller has requested numerous documents from Ford, including emails, that detail what exactly Cohen’s offer entailed.
Mueller has already interviewed Ford’s head of government affairs, Ziad Ojakli, who didn’t give many details beyond saying that he declined Cohen’s offer. The Detroit Free Press confirmed that Cohen offered Ford his consulting services. Michael Avenatti, attorney for Stormy Daniels, also confirmed the news.
“I can confirm that Mr. Cohen solicited Ford Motor Company,” Avenatti said. “It was in late 2016 into ’17. On multiple occasions. There was no policy. He was trying to sell access to the president. My understanding is that it was by phone and electronic communication.”...
