# A Thread for the Mueller Investigation Results and Outcomes (Part 1) **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 28, 2017, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093 "2017-10-28T20:14:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 260
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2018, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/5182 "2018-06-20T19:35:53Z")
Sounds like a pretty solid indication Cohen is flipping or already flipped. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2018, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/5183 "2018-06-20T20:06:45Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > Michael Cohen has just resigned as deputy finance chair of the Republican National Committee’s Finance Committee. _Just now_? > [Michael Cohen resigns from RNC committee post, sources say - ABC News](https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/michael-cohen-resigns-rnc-committee-post/story?id=56033406) If criminality were the criterion for dismissal from RNC employment they’d have to hire temps in the winter to go in every couple of weeks to make sure the heat’s still on so the pipes don’t freeze. ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2018, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/5184 "2018-06-20T20:24:34Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > If criminality were the criterion for dismissal from RNC employment they’d have to hire temps in the winter to go in every couple of weeks to make sure the heat’s still on so the pipes don’t freeze. Does it get that cold in hell? ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2018, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/5185 "2018-06-20T20:33:17Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > Michael Cohen has just resigned as deputy finance chair of the Republican National Committee’s Finance Committee. _Just now_? > [Michael Cohen resigns from RNC committee post, sources say - ABC News](https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/michael-cohen-resigns-rnc-committee-post/story?id=56033406) One wonders: why the hell was the president’s bag man/fixer/consigliere, with absolutely zero experience in politics, holding a position with the RNC at all? It’s a rhetorical question, of course (with the same answer the famous bank robber gave as to why he robbed banks.) ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2018, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/5186 "2018-06-20T20:48:27Z")
The RNC’s OTHER deputy financial chair, Broidy, was also caught up in that whole thing. This was after the chief financial chair, Steve Wynn, was dismissed for sexual misconduct allegations. ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2018, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/5187 "2018-06-20T21:09:24Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > Cohen takes swipe at Trump’s immigration policy: > > [x.com](https://twitter.com/JTSantucci/status/1009492050612555777?s=19) I never would have guessed that Cohen had a shred of humanity. I guess some things are too horrible even for him. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2018, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/5188 "2018-06-20T21:13:14Z")
He has Holocaust victims and survivors in his family, which he referenced. Don’t know if he is truly outraged, or using this to obliquely announce his split with the Dotard, but I don’t think it matters as much as the signaling he is doing matters. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2018, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/5189 "2018-06-20T21:19:35Z")
> [@Sunny\_Daze](#): > > Does it get that cold in hell? I’ve heard rumors of it freezing over ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2018, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/5190 "2018-06-21T02:16:13Z")
In Minnesota, in the woods, when its twenty below zero, it gets so quiet you can almost hear Nature whisper: _Die!_ - Garrison Keillor (para.) ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2018, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/5191 "2018-06-21T14:39:56Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > The RNC’s OTHER deputy financial chair, Broidy, was also caught up in that whole thing. This was after the chief financial chair, Steve Wynn, was dismissed for sexual misconduct allegations. Let’s not forget: Cohen did the NDA for the payoff between Broidy and his mistress. Interestingly, [he used the same pseudonyms](http://www.businessinsider.com/michael-cohen-used-same-pseudonyms-for-trump-and-top-rnc-fundraiser-2018-4), “David Dennison” and “Peggy Peterson”. Makes you wonder: is he just lazy and didn’t retype his NDA form, or is this an indication, along with [some other odd goings-on](http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/will_bunch/shera-bechard-donald-trump-playboy-model-elliott-broidy-20180522.html), that Broidy took the blame for Trump’s affair to secure foreign business deals worth hundreds of millions? ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2018, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/5192 "2018-06-21T15:01:49Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > If criminality were the criterion for dismissal from RNC employment they’d have to hire temps in the winter to go in every couple of weeks to make sure the heat’s still on so the pipes don’t freeze. > [@Sunny\_Daze](#): > > Does it get that cold in hell? Well, according to Dante traitors go to the Ninth Circle to be frozen in a lake of ice. That said, their spineless suckuppery to the Dotard may send them instead to join the flatterers in the Second Bolgia of the Eighth Circle to be immersed in a river of their own shit. ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2018, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/5193 "2018-06-22T16:09:36Z")
Because this circus needs yet another side show… Tom Arnold is producing a show for Vice called “The Hunt for the Trump Tapes,” where he will be drawing on his contacts in the entertainment industry to try to find video incriminating Trump. Yesterday Arnold tweeted a picture of him and Michael Cohen with their arms around each other. Reached for comment, Arnold said, “This dude has all the tapes — this dude has everything. I say to Michael, ‘Guess what? We’re taking Trump down together’, and he’s so tired he’s like, ‘OK,’ and his wife is like, ‘OK, f\*\*\* Trump.’” > **[Why is Trump lawyer Michael Cohen hanging with Trump basher Tom Arnold?](https://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/ncna885611?__twitter_impression=true)** > > Arnold is hunting for 'incriminating' tapes of Trump as part of a show for Viceland. Sure, why not? If Trump gets taken down by either an aging adult film star or a middling comedian, that may be the most fitting end for this fucking circus. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2018, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/5194 "2018-06-22T17:39:35Z")
Cohen’s wife’s reaction is interesting. Happy wife, happy life, right? ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2018, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/5195 "2018-06-22T19:08:08Z")
Tom Arnold has been making…odd claims about having the goods on Trump for years. So far he hasn’t actually produced anything. I have no idea what he talked Vice into, but I don’t think he’s entirely credible. ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2018, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/5196 "2018-06-22T20:54:20Z")
The noose tightens. [Judge Amy Berman Jackson Denies Manafort’s Motion to Dismiss Money Laundering Charge](https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-russia-manafort/judge-refuses-to-dismiss-ex-trump-campaign-chiefs-money-laundering-charge-idUSKBN1JI26G) > [@](#): > > The money laundering charge is among the most serious Manafort faces, as it carries stiffer penalties and subjects him to asset forfeiture. Money laundering charges brought against a defendant must be pegged to an underlying criminal offense, such as bribery or defrauding a bank. > > In this case, prosecutors said Manafort laundered illegal proceeds he generated by lobbying for Ukraine without registering as a foreign agent with the U.S. government as required by law. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2018, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/5197 "2018-06-22T22:16:56Z")
> [@Aspenglow](#): > > The noose tightens. > > [Judge Amy Berman Jackson Denies Manafort’s Motion to Dismiss Money Laundering Charge](https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-russia-manafort/judge-refuses-to-dismiss-ex-trump-campaign-chiefs-money-laundering-charge-idUSKBN1JI26G) On what possible grounds would he even ask for such a dismissal? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2018, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/5198 "2018-06-22T22:18:31Z")
> [@friedo](#): > > Tom Arnold has been making…odd claims about having the goods on Trump for years. So far he hasn’t actually produced anything. I have no idea what he talked Vice into, but I don’t think he’s entirely credible. I’m pretty sure that Tom is referring to Cohen’s tapes… ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2018, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/5199 "2018-06-22T22:22:52Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > On what possible grounds would he even ask for such a dismissal? 😕 I paraphrase Jim Carrey’s character in _Liar, Liar_: because it’s devastating to his case. ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2018, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/5200 "2018-06-22T23:12:20Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > On what possible grounds would he even ask for such a dismissal? 😕 Likely none. It’s pretty much a pro forma motion, so the outcome was foreseeable. Still, nice to see the process wending through the courts in a predictable way, since so little is predictable in our current political environment. I did especially appreciate that Judge Jackson also ruled that Manafort’s assets were not exempt from forfeiture for the money laundering charge. That’ll leave a mark. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2018, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/5201 "2018-06-22T23:37:17Z")
> [@Aspenglow](#): > > Likely none. It’s pretty much a pro forma motion, so the outcome was foreseeable. … Okay. It’s kind of like pleading not guilty even though there are 50 videos up on YouTube of you doing the deed. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093.md?page=259) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093.md?page=261)