Whoa. Rachel just reported Lanny Davis said Trump's people leaked the Cohen story breaking tonight

[highplainsdem]

Emily Jane Fox talking to Rachel now, suggesting this is being done to make it more difficult for Cohen to cut a deal with Mueller, since Cohen would not want this leaked to the press now.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

1. But why would they do that?

Are they trying to defang Cohen in advance of his flipping to prosecutors so he'll have less value to them and therefore not get a good plea deal?

[highplainsdem]

4. Just edited the OP to add the explanation suggested on Rachel's show. Trump's trying to

hurt Cohen's ability to make a deal with Mueller, and to testify about this. Cohen has less to offer Mueller for a deal if so much of this is leaked and in the public domain first.

[coti]

7. Buuuuut....Mueller doesn't need a deal when the info is already leaked.

Doesn't make sense.

[marylandblue]

12. He needs the information directly from Cohen, otherwise it's hearsay.

[coti]

17. Theennnn, they can still make a deal.

Still doesn't make sense.

[D_Master81]

13. My thought is...

they keep leaking this stuff that may look bad in the court of public opinion, but they pretty much know this wont change the minds of their base. They are trying to keep Trump out of legal jeopardy at this point and Cohen clearly knows things that can ruin not only DT's presidency, but his life if this is true and Trump's lawyers are leaking the info that has been coming out this week.

[brush]

18. That makes no sense. Are trump's people that dumb to admit to obvious collusion?

That's like the old adage of cutting off their nose to spite their faces.

"We'll show that Cohen, we'll leak it before he can that trump knew in advance about the collusion meeting."

That's way past cray-cray. But they're not the sharpest knives in the drawer.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

20. I know. That's why this is so puzzling.

Unless, maybe, Cohen has got even worse dirt.

[Blaukraut]

2. Then Cohen probably never made that claim

And the Trump camp is trying to discredit him.

[Roland99]

3. Doesn't make sense. Practical nail in the coffin for trump

[coti]

5. If Trump's side is leaking this, it's idiotic.

It's like shooting a cannon into your own ship to prevent the enemy from doing it. Pointless. Unless they just want Cohen to ALSO get in trouble.

[Doodley]

10. Agreed. Makes no sense.

[uponit7771]

11. Rachel just proffered it's to tank Cohens worth to prosecutors

[coti]

16. Right, what I'm saying is "tanking his worth" doesn't make sense, unless all you're trying to do is

get him to go to jail longer.

The information is what's valuable, what they're trying to get out of him. How does it help Trump for Trump to give them the information? Ok, so they can't do a deal with Cohen (for THAT information, though there could always be and there likely is lots more), but the information is out anyway.

Another possibility is they're trying to get ahead of a much, much worse story.

[uponit7771]

19. I didn't think about a worse story, looks like the 100 tapes thing

... gotten the Kremlin Clan all spurred up right now

[Trust Buster]

6. Bingo.

[Dawson Leery]

8. ...and his new "justice" will protect him.

[C_U_L8R]

9. This is the part where the Trump team

puts their head in the noose.

[chowder66]

14. The only thing that makes sense is that they believe they can defend Trump knowing about it.

[Whiskeytide]

15. Something is up. ...

... Cohen makes a deal to say ABC on the stand. He takes the stand and denies ABC, and says XYZ instead. Prosecutors revoke his deal and prosecute him for everything they can - including lying to them about what he’d say. Then Trump pardons him because “it was a fake charge because Cohen wouldn’t lie for the deep state”. Base eats it up.

These people - including Cohen - are snakes. Don’t forget that.

[2naSalit]

21. Interesting

and possible.

[Whiskeytide]

23. I'm speculating wildly, but...

... we sometimes act like these people are all complete idiots. And some might be. But some are actually pretty smart and shifty con artists. They have a game plan buried somewhere in all the chaos.

[coti]

24. I think it's just desperation

The wild flailings of a drowning President

[Whiskeytide]

28. Perhaps. It certainly looks that way, but...

... Flynn and Gates are really smart guys. Assholes, sure, but they’re intelligent, and they have had competent lawyers. It’s possible that Meuller as them so tightly by the balls that they are genuinely singing. But I’ve been a little suspicious of all this from the beginning. A “key” witness changing his story? That’s the kind of chaos that they like to sow, and it’s much more palatable to pardon that. You just say “they wanted me to lie. At first I said I would, but then I decided to tell the truth and they’d just have to prosecute me”. Trump will pardon that shit in a New York minute, and be loved for it - by the base and RW media.

[2naSalit]

26. Indeed. There's something

brewing... I say as I watch a severe (really) thunderstorm pass between me and a nearby mountain range.

[Kablooie]

35. Now this makes sense,

and sounds more like their style.

So Cohen's playing the part of turning on Trump because of Trump ignoring him but it's only ploy.

That always felt odd to me. Why would Trump ignore a guy who has so much dirt on him?

I can see the whole thing is to make a fool out of Mueller and the justice system and damage the investigation.
Without Cohen's first hand validation of the info it couldn't be used in a trial.

Mueller and his team must be aware of this possibility and would take precautions against it.

[joshcryer]

43. Cohen can't take that risk.

Trump is extremely vindictive and if he wanted to he could let Cohen rot in jail. Cohen knows this. His only way out is to stay far far away from Trump. Cohen knows first hand how Trump deals with people. He wouldn't risk being a loyalist to him to the bitter end. Because Trump isn't loyal and can't be trusted. The only reason Trump dealt with Cohen is he was a nasty fixer who dealt with all of his problems.

[blogslut]

22. It's a risky strategy for the Twittolini team.

If they're trying to devalue Cohen's bargaining chips with Mueller then that forces Cohen to offer up even worse evidence against his former client. For example, Cohen likely knows quite a bit about what the accountant, Weisselberg, did towards cooking the books and whatnot. He can possibly direct Mueller's people on exactly what to ask Mr. Weisselberg.

[RockRaven]

25. That's bad logic on Trump's lawyers' part -- leaking these tapes FORCES Cohen to flip/make a deal

Any wire fraud / bank fraud / tax evasion and conspiracy of the same are both federal and state crimes. And NY will not be giving Cohen a pardon even if Trump does/tries to. So waiving privilege on these tapes and/or leaking them is profoundly dumb. It pushed Cohen further towards the position where he can't count on loyalty to Trump helping him avoid spending the rest of his life in prison. It leaves him with no option but to flip on a bigger fish... and who might that be?

If this is true, it is a massive miscalculation.

[triron]

27. No Lanny did not say that. This is misleading!

[blogslut]

29. It's pretty obvious that's what Mr. Davis implied

Here's Davis' exact statement:

“I cannot comment. And I have to wonder why the Trump people would put that out. It was not from us.”

Link to tweet

[triron]

30. Disagree. Still does not mean it was leaked from Trump's people.

Chuck Rosenberg on Rachel's show just said it would not help to make Cohen less valuable.

[blogslut]

36. As was also said on Rachel's show by Tim O'Brien

The people on team Trump are not very bright.

[blogslut]

39. Look, I agree. Anything is possible.

Someone else could have leaked it. I will concede your point.

However, the orange man leaks like a sieve. It is known.

[bettyellen]

31. Right? They said it wasn't them and everyone's speculating it's Trump but it could be

the Russians? IDK who could speculate what Cohen is planning to do if it’s bit Cohems people?

[triron]

32. OK is it possible this was leaked by Avenatti??

Remember he has had at least one conversation with Cohen.

[Xolodno]

33. Could be a warning shot against Cohen...

...flip and they'll reveal things on their side on their terms. Muddies up the waters in court.

Another question, why hasn't Mueller approached Cohen for a deal? We'll for one, he's not the one looking to prosecute him....he had that subcontracted out. But then, its obvious Cohen's group wants a deal, what they leaked proved it. So why isn't something in progress?

Could be, they don't need him...and that will cause Cohen to shit bricks. But then, that should cause Dump's team to shit bricks, cause they are gambling that the other side doesn't have everything.

[bunny planet]

34. Even if Cohen is willing to

Give evidence against trump to Mueller for lenience or reduced exposure in the case against him (Cohen)- trump cannot pardon him because Cohen is charged in state of NY Court for different crimes than Mueller is investigating. That's why Mueller turned Cohens case over to the Southern District of NY - retaining the ability to use whatever is revealed there in his own investigation of Russiagate.

[Corvo Bianco]

37. This is some bad blood. Cohen Trump warfare here on out.

[Amaryllis]

38. Trying to figure this out makes my brain hurt. And I am not a stupid person...

[herding cats]

40. IF this is true, there's no way this is all Cohen has on Trump.

If he actually does know this much, it would imply he knows much, much more than this. It reads like this was something he thought he could use for leverage with Mueller, but that doesn't mean this was all the leverage he has.

I suppose it's possible it's false information being planted by Trump to later discredit Cohen and by extension Mueller. That is Trump's style after all. But, if this is true it's always possible this was leaked by people close to Cohen he's confided in about the matter after Trump turned on him. Cohen isn't known for picking the most ethical people to pal around with after all, and he doesn't come across as a deep, methodical thinker.

This is an interesting bit of food for thought, no matter what. I hadn't considered them being so stupid as to talk about Trump being in the know with various other extended players. Who could be that F'ing stupid, right? Looks like we may be about to find out the answer to that in the future.

[triron]

41. Bet you are very right.

[BannonsLiver]

42. Even if true it smells of desperation

They’re hoping Cohen is the whole ball game for Mueller but based on what we’ve learned over the last year that doesn’t seem plausible. I’ll make the case that they did leak it but the effort feels like flailing. Desperate. Like they’re scared.

[central scrutinizer]

44. Brilliant strategy

Keep revealing more and more scandals so Mueller will never be able to follow all the leads and run out the clock