monitoring Trump and relevant contemporary events

Have to take your word for it, I haven't been to Europe. .

There is no 20 year cycle in American politics.

Since FDR it has gone 20,8,8,8,4,12,8,8,1 1/2 and questionable how much longer. Not a 20 year cycle in sight.

Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump's former personal attorney, claims that then-candidate Trump knew in advance about the June 2016 meeting in Trump Tower in which Russians were expected to offer his campaign dirt on Hillary Clinton, sources with knowledge tell CNN. Cohen is willing to make that assertion to special counsel Robert Mueller, the sources said.

Cohen's claim would contradict repeated denials by Trump, Donald Trump Jr., their lawyers and other administration officials who have said that the President knew nothing about the Trump Tower meeting until he was approached about it by The New York Times in July 2017.

Cohen alleges that he was present, along with several others, when Trump was informed of the Russians' offer by Trump Jr. By Cohen's account, Trump approved going ahead with the meeting with the Russians, according to sources.

To be clear, these sources said Cohen does not have evidence, such as audio recordings, to corroborate his claim, but he is willing to attest to his account.

Cohen privately testified last year to two Congressional committees investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election. A source familiar with

Cohen's House testimony said he did not testify that Trump had advance knowledge. Cohen's claims weren't mentioned in separate reports issued by
Republicans and Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee.

Contacted by CNN, one of Cohen's attorneys, Lanny Davis, declined to comment.

"He's been lying all week, he's been lying for years," said Rudy Giuliani, the President's attorney, to Chris Cuomo on CNN's "Cuomo Prime Time" on Thursday night.

He added, "I don't see how he's got any credibility."

Giuliani also said Cohen is "the kind of witness that can really destroy your whole case" and called Cohen, who was a top Trump Organization attorney for a decade, a "pathological liar."

If his claim can be verified by "the others" then Cohen might have something to bargain with. If not, well, I doubt Mueller would use his new claim.

Markets expecting 4.4% GPD growth number today. It also is expected to be a peak number going forward.

Davis has positioned himself as a defender of all kinds of reputations — personal, corporate and political.

His client list has included Martha Stewart, who was convicted of insider training, and Dan Snyder, the controversial owner of the Washington Redskins football team.

Most controversially, he worked for Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, dictator of the African nation of Equatorial Guinea.

When criminals gets caught, of course they are going to turn on their partner's in crime.

you really have little idea how our legal system works neh? A defense lawyer is by definition an advocate, not a chaste monk.

Michael Cohen tape leak could complicate his legal troubles

One of Cohen's attorneys, Lanny Davis, had appeared Tuesday night on CNN to claim responsibility for providing the tape..

Cohen's recent remarks about loyalty to his family have sparked speculation that he could seek a deal to cooperate with prosecutors. A friend of Cohen's on Wednesday expressed concern that the release of the recording would backfire on him in that effort. "The feds aren't reaching out to him and (Michael Cohen) needs to make them want him," this person said.

"If you're SDNY and you're watching this play out, you might say to yourself, 'Oh my God, what will we be getting ourselves into if this is our witness? We might need to think long and hard about what sort of offer we might make to him,'" said Michael Zeldin, a former assistant to Robert Mueller and a CNN legal analyst.

"I think it's more confirming the fact that they have a witness who is going to be cross-examined on the question of his credibility."

Trump was stupid not to have protected himself from his fixer long ago.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Cohen_(lawyer)

Cohen volunteered for the 1988 presidential campaign of Michael Dukakis, was an intern for Congressman Joe Moakley, and voted for Barack Obama in 2008. He was a registered Democrat until he officially registered as a Republican on March 9, 2017. His uncle, Dr. Morton W. Levine, is a family practitioner that gave medical aid to members of the Lucchese crime family.

you seem so confidant. How so?

“I did NOT know of the meeting with my son, Don jr. Sounds to me like someone is trying to make up stories in order to get himself out of an unrelated jam (Taxi cabs maybe?). He even retained Bill and Crooked Hillary’s lawyer. Gee, I wonder if they helped him make the choice!” Trump tweeted Friday.

“He’s been lying all week, ” Giuliani told CNN’s “Cuomo Prime Time” on Thursday night. “I don’t see how he’s got any credibility. A person who is found to be an incredible liar, he’s got a tremendous motive to lie now because he’s got nothing to give, says it, all of a sudden, at the 11th hour. I don’t think anybody believes that,” Giuliani told CNN.