posted 04-20-2018 08:08 AM                  

Deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein has informed President Trump he is not a target in the investigation into his longtime personal attorney Michael Cohen, two sources familiar with the investigation told CBS News chief White House correspondent Major Garrett. Rosenstein conveyed the message to top White House officials, among them White House counsel Don McGahn, Garrett reports.

Cohen has been under investigation for months over his private business dealings. Federal prosecutors have not revealed what laws they believe Cohen has broken, but said last week that the "crimes being investigated involve acts of concealment" and suspected fraud.

Earlier this month, federal agents raided Cohen's home, office, hotel room, and safety deposit box. The investigation was referred to prosecutors in New York by special counsel Robert Mueller, but is being handled independently. Mr. Trump had already been informed that he is not a target in Mueller's investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election.

Stephanie Clifford, an adult film actress who also goes by Stormy Daniels, is also suing Cohen. In the days before the 2016 election, Cohen paid Clifford $130,000 in exchange for her silence regarding a sexual encounter she allegedly had with Mr. Trump. Daniels and her lawyer, Michael Avenatti, argue that the agreement was invalid because Mr. Trump had never signed it.

In an interview with CBS News' Andres Triay, Jay Goldberg, who worked as an attorney for Mr. Trump through much of the 1990s and 2000s, said that he has told the president he should have concerns about Cohen.

"There is virtually no chance that Cohen, would not try to win the affection and cooperation of the U.S. Attorney and thus, he would like all other persons, accused of crime, where the penalty is substantial, he would give support for the government's version of the facts,". said Goldberg.

He added, "To avoid jail, Michael could do what so many witnesses do – he could add to the facts, he could change to the facts, he could implicate the President when the President has done nothing… So it's a two-fold problem – it's cooperation in quotes, and saying what he thinks the government wants to hear, so that he can win the cooperation of the government to get himself a minimum sentence."

Sources close to Cohen have also told CBS News' Jeff Pegues they are concerned Cohen could turn against the president to cooperate with investigators. Cohen, who has been Mr. Trump's personal attorney for years, likely has been privy to some of the most sensitive dealings of Mr. Trump's presidency and time as a businessman.

This turn of events comes amid changes for Mr. Trump's legal team. Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani joined Mr. Trump's legal team on Thursday, telling The Washington Post he hopes to negotiate an "end" to the special counsel's investigation into Russian election meddling and ties to Trump associates.
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/rod-rosenstein-tells-trump-hes-not-a-target -in-michael-cohen-investigation/

Other sources Fox, CNN, ABC , Bloomberg, USA Today

posted 04-22-2018 07:23 PM                  

The Atlantic - By Adam Serwer

Does It Matter If Trump Is a 'Target' or a 'Subject' of Mueller's Probe?

The president’s attorneys may be relieved, but experts caution there’s little reason for the president to take comfort.

“It's not comforting to be a ‘subject’ of an investigation. Most white-collar criminal defendants started out as subjects of a grand jury investigation,” said Bruce Green, a former federal prosecutor and a law professor at Fordham. “Calling President Trump a ‘subject’ rather than a mere ‘witness’ generally means that his conduct is still being investigated, he is still suspected of having acted criminally, but no conclusion has yet been reached that he is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.”

A subject of an investigation is usually not named a target until charges are imminent. The fact that Trump remains the subject of a criminal investigation, months after witnesses have been interviewed, documents turned over, and charges filed, could mean that Mueller thinks he’s guilty, even if he cannot yet prove it.

"It isn't news that the president is a subject, but it is news that the president is still a subject, that the president is still under criminal investigation," said John Barrett, a former associate special counsel in the Iran-Contra affair and a law professor at St. John’s. "It's a fair guess that this is a live question, and some kind of direct examination is required to move him up, move him down, move him sideways, and continue to assess."
http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/04/trump-target-subject/557243/

LA Times - By Harry Litman

For most observers, there is plenty of evidence that could make Trump not just the subject but a target of an obstruction of justice investigation. It includes the contemporaneous notes of former FBI Director James B. Comey and Deputy Director Andrew McCabe about Oval Office pressure to ease up on Russia-related investigations; Trump's apparent understanding that former national security advisor Michael Flynn had improper contacts with Russia; his shifting accounts of the reasons for his actions until he told NBC's Lester Holt it was about "this Russia thing"; his fury at Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions' recusal from the matter; his many tweets raging at the probe.

The news that Mueller does not consider Trump a criminal target probably best translates as follows: I have built a very strong case against you, including strong evidence that you acted corruptly, to safeguard your personal interests. But it's conceivable that something else was in play, and you should be given a full opportunity to spell this out for me. Until you do, or until you turn down that opportunity, I am keeping an open mind and you are not a target, merely a subject of the investigation.

Trump is quite likely just a hair's breadth from target status. Moreover, it's hard to imagine given the available evidence what cogent exculpatory account of his intent the president could actually provide. Mueller's guidance that Trump is not a criminal target adds up to a glimmer of hope, but little cause for crowing in the Trump camp.
http://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-litman-is-trump-a-subject-or-target-20180404-story.html

Other sources;
USA Today
Newsweek
NY Times
Independent-UK

posted 04-23-2018 09:19 PM                  

quote:

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Originally posted by Tomcal:

StingRay was her IT guy.

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posted 04-23-2018 10:36 PM                  

quote:

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Originally posted by Tomcal:

StingRay was her IT guy.

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