The Feds Tapped Michael Cohen's Phone and Intercepted at Least One White House Call

People are saying Rudy is crazy for coming out and essentially admitting that Trump knew about the $130,000 hush money payment.   Its not crazy, however, if the defense team now knows that the Special Prosecutor already has evidence from the Michael Cohen raid proving that point.   So instead of just repeating Trump's transparent lies in the face of damning evidence to the contrary, Trump's team is instead now spinning the evidence to suggest that even if Trump knew the payment was made, it wasn't using campaign funds.  Therefore, under this theory, while the facts might be sordid and icky, they do not rise to level of any violation of campaign finance laws, which is what the Special Prosecutor appears to be going after on the whole hush money issue. 

Wow the President calling his lawyer, how subversive

News:  Trump's DOJ asked (& received) a court for a wiretap on the President's lawyer's phone.

Gotta think there must have been considerable evidence of something seriously subversive (like criminal activity??) for a court to order a wiretap of the President's lawyer's phone.

Donald must be real happy with the Keebler elf.

I would imagine that would depend on what the call was about, Hillman.

https://twitter.com/PreetBharara/status/992104168776241153

I hope they had to make a damn solid showing because I am not super comfortable with this.  On the other hand, I am also not convinced that anything Cohen does involves actually practicing law.

I saw that on the Sopranos. 

heard on the news on the drive home only metadata was intercepted. don't know, don't really care, but if that's the case only length of call & the numbers involved. that's if clapper wasn't wasn't lying about that too, not wittingly.

^Same here on the lack of tapping.

Yeah, NBC is full of idiots, as is the NYTimes*.

*The "Mueller questions" came from the white house...the NYTimes is awful.

But Clapper?

Clapper?

Trump vs Clapper, and Hillman goes with Trump.

Hillman, ya gotta turn off the Fox, man...pick the US or Russia.

OK.

Here's Clapper's bio: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Clapper

After a brief enlistment in the United States Marine Corps Reserve, where Clapper served as a rifleman and attended the junior course of Platoon Leader Training he transferred to the U.S. Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps program.[11][14][15] In 1963, he graduated as a distinguished military graduate from the University of Maryland and was commissioned as an Air Force second lieutenant. He served two tours of duty in Southeast Asia where he commanded a signals intelligence detachment based at a listening post in Thailand’s Udon Thani Province, and flew 73 combat support missions in EC-47s, including some over Laos and Cambodia.[16] Later, he commanded a signals intelligence (SIGINT) wing at Fort George G. Meade, Maryland, and the Air Force Technical Applications Center, Patrick Air Force Base, Florida.[17] During the Persian Gulf War, Clapper served as Chief of Air Force Intelligence.[18]

Clapper became Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency in November 1991 under George H. W. Bush. While serving as DIA director, he oversaw the transformation of the National Military Intelligence Center into the National Military Joint Intelligence Center.[19] He also launched an initiative to reorganize intelligence analysis by specialists in enemy weapons rather than specialists in countries and regions.[20] The initiative failed because it created functional stovepipes which "reduced the coherence of the analytic effort," whereupon Clapper decided to restore the original organizational structure using strong regional elements.[20] Clapper retired from active duty as a lieutenant general after thirty-two years of service in September 1995.[21] In 1996, alongside General Wayne Downing, he was a member of the investigatory inquiry into the Khobar Towers bombing, which killed 20 people, including 19 American servicemen.[22]

He then spent six years in private industry, including two years as president of the Security Affairs Support Association, an organization of intelligence contractors.[23] In August 2001, he was named as the director of the National Imagery and Mapping Agency (later renamed National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency) where he served until June 2006.[24]

Private sector career[edit]

From 2006 to 2007, Clapper worked for GeoEye (satellite company) and was an executive on the boards of three government contractors, two of which were doing business with the NGA while he served as director. In October 2006, he began working as chief operating officer for the British military intelligence company Detica, now DFI and U.S.–based subsidiary of BAE Systems. He also worked for SRA International and Booz Allen Hamilton.[25]

Clapper defended the private sector's role in intelligence-gathering in his 2010 confirmation hearings telling the committee, "I worked as a contractor for six years myself, so I think I have a good understanding of the contribution that they have made and will continue to make."[26]

Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence, 2007-2010[edit]

For the 2006–2007 academic year, Clapper held the position of Georgetown University’s Intelligence and National Security Alliance Distinguished Professor in the Practice of Intelligence.[27]

While teaching at Georgetown, he was officially nominated by President George W. Bush to be Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence (USD(I)) on January 29, 2007, and confirmed by the United States Senate on April 11, 2007.[28] He was the second person ever to hold this position, which oversees the Defense Intelligence Agency, the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, the National Security Agency (NSA), and the National Reconnaissance Office. He also worked closely with DNI John Michael McConnell.[29]

Director of National Intelligence, 2010–17[edit]

Clapper and Barack Obama presented the NIDSM to James L. Jones, October 20, 2010

Nomination, 2010[edit]

Defense Secretary Robert Gates suggested to President Obama that he nominate Clapper to replace Dennis C. Blair as Director of National Intelligence, but both Chairman Dianne Feinstein and Vice-Chairman Kit Bond of the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee offered reservations regarding his appointment due to his military background and emphasis on defense-related issues.[30] In an official statement in the White House Rose Garden on June 5, 2010, Obama announced his nomination of Clapper, saying he “possesses a quality that I value in all my advisers: a willingness to tell leaders what we need to know even if it's not what we want to hear.

...

& here is Clapper today:

https://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2018/05/03/james-clapper-north-korea...

What Ken said above makes sense. I find it hard to believe a lawyer like Rudy mistakenly blows his client's case in front of the nation like that. There's a strategy. Crazy like a fox, right? Shit, did I say fox? But I have to admit to some confusion as to how his ramblings will help his client.

You can't be impeached for lying to a reporter on a plane. You just lose some credibility, and where there's no credibility to start with, and your base doesn't care, what's it matter?

We already know he's a liar, and delusional.      

At this point, the Stormy D situation is a smoke screen the FBI is deploying.  Under the protection of search warrants, they are going discover (confirm) shit about this criminal that will make the 130,000$ stormy payment look like a donation to Mother Theresa’s charity bake sale...

>>> You can't be impeached for lying to a reporter on a plane.

Correct.

But ask any Republifuck...

They'll tell you this President can't be impeached.

But, if you prove "Corrupt Intent"....

and won't be hard with this dipshit.

say goodbye to Drumph.

Meanwhile, chase the shiny object.

>>>>say goodbye to Drumph

what year? The legal process is slow and soft on this guy. 

It'll happen Slack.

You might even get another chance to vote for a 3rd party candidate.

It takes time...

Tricky stuff when dealing with a President.

" 'cause ain't no such things as halfway crooks "

“He’ll get his facts straight..”

"Virtually everything that's been said has been said incorrectly."

say goodbye to Drumph<<<

What makes you think the same members of Congress who've been complicit in allowing Trump to proceed won't just not impeach him no matter what?   They've come this far, why not go all the way?

Spy agency NSA triples collection of U.S. phone records: official report

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-cyber-surveillance/spy-agency-nsa...

not wittingly

https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2018/01/19/james-clappers-perjury...

not fucking fox news ^^^^^^

MICHAEL COHEN:  I am, without a doubt, the worst lawyer in the country.

RUDY GIULIANI:  Hold my beer.

~Frangela~

Rudy G is corrupt. Why didn't he demand a more thorough investigation of 9/11? He was the mayor and should have represented the victims better. 

Giuliani is "like those hot-air dryers in the bathroom ... y'know ... they're supposed to clean up, but they just end up spewing hot feces everywhere."

~Faith Salie~