Anyone want to talk about Cohen taking the 5th instead of dragging down

[Ferrets are Cool]

Joy?
What does this mean to the case? Guesses?

[marylandblue]

1. He's guilty, he's careless and he's caught

[rzemanfl]

2. Well put. Describes nearly every criminal defendant. n/t

[marylandblue]

7. They don't all get involved in civil suits where they have to plead the 5th

That would seem to raise a lot of unnecessary red flags.

[rzemanfl]

9. I am confident he will be a criminal defendant soon enough.

For the reasons you so concisely set forth.

[sarcasmo]

3. Will Mr. Mueller take this to a Grand Jury?

[marylandblue]

8. Not Mueller's case, it's all the US Attorney for Southern NY

I am sure we will see charges there as soon as they can review all the evidence. Some may get passed to Mueller, like any evidence of the mysterious trip to Prague.

[triron]

4. Trying to suppress discovery clearly. Question is WHY?

[marylandblue]

10. Doesn't want to admit where the $130,000 came from.

If it's his own pocket, it's an illegal campaign contribution. If from the campaign, it's illegal campaign spending. So he is trouble either way.

[Ferrets are Cool]

5. How does this affect the predicted "FLIP"?

[thbobby]

6. Agreed

I don't get all this furor about Joy. I have not read any of the posts about this, and am not interested. The real issue we should care about his trump and the GOP mafia. Admittedly, I like Joy. I have never seen signs of bigotry in her actions.

Our country is being severely damaged by the GOP and trump. This is what I care about and the only thing I will address in my posts.

[jberryhill]

11. I doubt anyone wants to...

...since the actual posture of the Daniels case is not what one would think on the basis of media coverage or Avenatti's tweets.

Civil procedure is an odd thing. The picture of Perry Masons and Clarence Darrows duking it out over substance in court is highly exaggerated. What really matters most is procedure.

There are currently four pending motions before the court:

1. Daniels' motion to expedite;

2. Cohen's motion to force arbitration;

3. Cohen's motion to strike the defamation claim pursuant to SLAPP procedures; and

4. Cohen's motion to stay the case pending disposition of the criminal matter.

The declaration filed today is an exhibit to motion #4. The motion was originally filed with an affidavit of Cohen's attorney saying that Cohen would take the fifth, but Judge Otero last Friday ordered that if they want the motion to consider the personal rights of Cohen, then Cohen would have to file an affidavit to the effect that he *would* take the fifth if this case were not stayed.

In other words, Cohen has not "pleaded the fifth". The point of the motion is to seek to delay the civil case pending the disposition of the criminal matter (or at least until Cohen is actually indicted for something). What Cohen is saying is that IF the case is not sent to arbitration and IF it requires his examination to resolve, then he would take the fifth until such time as any criminal issue is resolved first.

The thing is, the court can decide, in one of several alternatives here, to force the entire contract issue to arbitration, and may further decide that the issue of whether the NDA is or is not a valid contract can (a) be decided in the arbitration itself, or (b) be decided within the four corners of the document itself, and not require any testimony by Cohen. In that event, Cohen's motion to stay, and hence this declaration, become irrelevant.

The tweets are much more dramatic and interesting, but only bear a loose connection to anything going on in the actual case itself.

[Achilleaze]

12. Deceitful republican lawyers cannot cover up republican treason

forever

[NCTraveler]

13. I think any truthful statements he could make...

As answers to pointed questions, would implicate him not just in the scope of the questions, but other areas as well.

[Ferrets are Cool]

14. Thanks to all that answered. nt