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Cont: The Trump Presidency VI

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More money, through Cohen:

Now, though, Avenatti says he’s learned more about this and other accounts controlled by Cohen. His major claims include:

1) The Viktor Vekselberg money: Avenatti says that, between January and August 2017, Cohen was sent a total of about $500,000 over eight payments from Columbus Nova LLC, which is the US investment arm of Vekselberg’s company the Renova Group.

2) Novartis money: Avenatti says that, between October 2017 and January 2018, Novartis sent $399,920 over four payments to the Essential Consultants account.

3) AT&T money: Avenatti says that AT&T sent Essential Consultants $200,000 over four payments, again between October 2017 and January 2018. (AT&T has confirmed making the payments.)

4) Korea Aerospace Industries money: Avenatti says this company sent Cohen $150,000 in November 2017.

5) Elliott Broidy’s money: Broidy, a former RNC fundraiser close to the White House, sent at least $187,500 to Cohen’s accounts, according to Avenatti. Reports quoting anonymous sources have previously suggested that Cohen was making sex scandal hush money payments on Broidy’s behalf.

Some of these claims are unconfirmed. But it does appear that Avenatti’s information about the Vekselberg money is accurate, and AT&T has confirmed the claim about its own payments — which raises questions about whether these other companies paid Cohen too, and what they might have hoped to get in return.
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https://www.vox.com/2018/5/8/17333246/michael-cohen-russia-vekselberg-mueller-avenatti

Vekselberg has been interviewed by Mueller. Trump had dinner with Novartis incoming CEO. AT&T was looking for approval for a merger.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...-cash-to-trump-lawyer-s-account-avenatti-says
 
dudalb said:
Probably a total mystery to people in the Pentagon also.
A quick strike a la Iraq in 1981 is out of the question;the Iranian nuke program is too well dispersed and protected for that.
I have a theory the real aim is "regime change" in Iran..which would lead to a bloodbath that would make Iraq look like a walk in the park.
I have no love whatsoever for the Iranian regiem,and if would vanish off the face of the earth tomorrow the world would be a lot better off but the idea we can overthrow it is silly.
I think that Bolton and his ilk really want revenge for the Iran Hostage Crisis the handling of which they see as the start of all America's problem with radical Islam.
Never forget, Bolton is an apologetic suppoters of the 2003 war with Iraq.
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Oh, I didn't. Bolton's another fantastically stupid person in terms of planning and temperament.

My question, however, is how they're planning on the manpower needed to invade/occupy a country like Iran in the first place. We certainly couldn't rely on any ally to jump in on such a matter, simply decapitating the regime would turn into a massive mess, and last I heard we were absurdly overextended to begin with.

At best, of course, Iran will continue to honor their agreement with the other signing countries, and the US will be increasingly isolated.
 
Mumbles said:
Oh, I didn't. Bolton's another fantastically stupid person in terms of planning and temperament.

My question, however, is how they're planning on the manpower needed to invade/occupy a country like Iran in the first place. We certainly couldn't rely on any ally to jump in on such a matter, simply decapitating the regime would turn into a massive mess, and last I heard we were absurdly overextended to begin with.

At best, of course, Iran will continue to honor their agreement with the other signing countries, and the US will be increasingly isolated.
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Trumpists online are already saying 'mercs'. Specifically, Arab hired mercs.

Because giving locals extensive training and armament when you've been killing them has never backfired.
 
tyr_13 said:
Trumpists online are already saying 'mercs'. Specifically, Arab hired mercs.

Because giving locals extensive training and armament when you've been killing them has never backfired.
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That's literally part of how we got in this mess to begin with. If the GOP could come to terms with their support for the Iraq invasion being the biggest blunder of the 21st century, the world would be a lot better off.
 
tyr_13 said:
Trumpists online are already saying 'mercs'. Specifically, Arab hired mercs.

Because giving locals extensive training and armament when you've been killing them has never backfired.
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That had occured to me as well, and not just due to numbskulls on Twitter or Fox News. It's plainly a horrible idea in anything but the shortest possible term that is guaranteed to blow up in our faces.

Possibly neighbors such as Saudi Arabia, but again, I wouldn't. Not that we haven't helped them with what amounts to a crime against humanity in Yemen, of course...
 
tyr_13 said:
Trumpists online are already saying 'mercs'. Specifically, Arab hired mercs.

Because giving locals extensive training and armament when you've been killing them has never backfired.
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The entire Persian/Shiite diaspora will stand up and take notice. I can scarce think of a better way to guarantee an Iranian bomb.

This is where the tapatalk signature that annoys people used to be
 
dudalb said:
And that is just for starters.
I am convinced that military action against Iran is going to happen within the next year.
From the Wonderful People who brought you Iraq....
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Not really. The Neocons were evil (I almost mistyped that as "weevil", which fits) but not insane. They wanted war for political reasons. The Trumpettes want it for racist and religionist reasons. They're worse.

Mumbles said:
Sounds like what they're aiming for to me. How they plan to pull off a major war with Iran at this point, however, is a total mystery.
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Jesus is on their side. I wish I was being sarcastic about that, but that's what they think. Other than Trump, for whom it's all about Obama making fun of him at a dinner.
 
Fast Eddie B said:
Michael Avenatti’s “Executive Summary”:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/pskgpwr15r48tx5/Executive Summary.pdf?dl=0

A pdf in Dropbox. Well worth the time to read and digest.
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To be fair, a lot of smoke but no fire. The route to investigate is the Novartis payments. They are accountable and would need to answer. The timing of the four payments lends me to believe that they're campaign contributions. The first two are dated appropriately, and the latter two could well be responses to fund-raising efforts by Cohen or the Trump campaign. I'd dearly love to find that Novartis had a drug up for approval at the FDA at that time, but I can't find anything (although my Google Fu is legendarily bad). OTOH, they are also very fond of acquisitions. Any buyouts subject to government approval out there?

Many old European companies still go by the good old days and insist that bribery is just part of doing business. Novartis is currently being investigated for doing so in Greece. http://www.dw.com/en/novartis-under-investigation-for-bribery-in-greece/a-37230558
 
Foolmewunz said:
To be fair, a lot of smoke but no fire.
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Such a generous position you've taken there. :p


Foolmewunz said:
The route to investigate is the Novartis payments. They are accountable and would need to answer. The timing of the four payments lends me to believe that they're campaign contributions. The first two are dated appropriately, and the latter two could well be responses to fund-raising efforts by Cohen or the Trump campaign. I'd dearly love to find that Novartis had a drug up for approval at the FDA at that time, but I can't find anything (although my Google Fu is legendarily bad). OTOH, they are also very fond of acquisitions. Any buyouts subject to government approval out there?

Many old European companies still go by the good old days and insist that bribery is just part of doing business. Novartis is currently being investigated for doing so in Greece. http://www.dw.com/en/novartis-under-investigation-for-bribery-in-greece/a-37230558
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No doubt bribery is the cost of doing business in much of the world. US companies get caught at it all the the time despite US laws making paying bribes illegal.

The real question here is, just how sloppy and cocky the Trump camp has been with the money sloshing around in this LLC and other coffers?

Cohen, could be he's been skating rather than clever. Trump no doubt imagines himself clever but the evidence for that is slim. Chances are good neither of these guys has called this kind of attention to themselves and their shady deals. Mueller has a team combing for details.

:popcorn1
 
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Fudbucker said:
Judging all Iranians based on some people chanting "Death to America" is like judging all conservatives based on some people chanting "Jews will not replace us."
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How about fighting a proxy war to kill Israelis? How about being the largest sponsor of terror around the world? How about subjugating women and children with their backward oppressive religion? How about hanging people publicly from cranes?

Why does this even need to be explained? Because the left has a soft spot for regimes like Iran, NK, Venezuela, Cuba, Russia and a few others.
 
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