Score One For Melania - Immigration Lawyer on Lawrence Tonight

[stopbush]

Lawrence O had Melania's immigration lawyer on tonight. He gave a very compelling explanation of her immigration history.

First off, Lawrence prefaced the interview by reporting that the photographer who claimed that he took those risque pix of Melania in 1995 has changed his story and said they were taken in 1996. That pretty much pulls the lynch pin out of the argument that she was working here illegally.

The lawyer then made his appearance. He started off by saying he was a staunch Dem who would be voting for Hillary. As to Melania's immigration history, he has seen all of the paperwork, and based on that, he said that Melania first entered the USA in August 1996 on a visitor visa. The Slovenian government was involved in Melania being issued a work visa in October, 1996. So, if the risque pix were taken after the work visa was issued, she did nothing illegal.

As far as the press conference that never happened, the lawyer rightly pointed out that it was Donald - not Melania - who said there would be a press conference to discuss her immigration history.

I missed the back half of the interview, but from what I heard, this isn't an issue. Kudos to Team Hillary for not making it an issue and having egg on their faces. And kudos to LO for doing this reporting. I much prefer that to the RW journos who will flog a false story long after it has been proven to be false.

[elleng]

1. Right, he concluded there's no legal/illegal issue there.

[C_U_L8R]

2. The photographer suddenly changed his story

Ummmmkay. Don't spend it all in one place pal.

[DURHAM D]

8. Exactly

[stopbush]

10. Who said suddenly?

You. That's who.

Childish.

[C_U_L8R]

15. James West at Mother Jones among others

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2016/09/melania-trump-immigration-letter-photographer-new-york-post

[pnwmom]

21. I also wonder. It wouldn't be the first time Trump had offered a bribe,

according to an investigative reporter, Wayne Barrett, who says that Trump offered him an apartment while Barrett was working on an story.

Wayne Barrett was for 37 years a reporter with the Village Voice, has written for Newsweek, and is an adjunct faculty at the Columbia School of Journalism.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/wayne-barrett-donald-trump-bribe_us_560eaabae4b0dd85030bb2d5

[napi21]

12. I heard that too! You don't think he could possibly have been bribed or coerced, do ya?

Sounds like another case like Bondi the AG in Fl. situation. Money makes lots of accusations go away!

[NanceGreggs]

3. In view of Trump's abject stupidity ...

... his lack of knowledge about foreign and domestic affairs, his penchant for lying, his blatant bigotry, his shady business dealings, his ponzi schemes meant to bilk money out of those who can least afford it, his claims of donations to charities that never happened, and his fraudulent IRS claims, Melania's immigration status was always a non-issue by comparison.

I, too, applaud the HRC campaign for NOT being distracted by the small shit, when there is so much BIG SHIT to be exposed.

[radius777]

5. It matters because Trump has staked his campaign

on a hard right nativist stance on immigration.

If his own wife didn't follow the strict standards he applies to (mainly non-white) immigrants, then it would reveal hypocrisy of epic proportions.

[radius777]

4. But Melania stated she had to

keep going back home to get her hand stamped. Only a visitor's visa has that requirement.

I also don't believe the photographer's sudden shift in his story.

If she was here working in 1995, I'm sure there is other evidence out there of it.

There are also questions about when she got married to Trump, and if she married someone else first to get her green card.

[bettyellen]

17. Also it is being said the visa program that she used to ...

Used to get in the country was not in effect at the time she claimed she used it.

This was a link someone on Twitter shared with the law.

http://www.americanlaw.com/vwpp.html

[radius777]

19. Check this out

"Melania Trump claims she entered the United States in 1996. But the evidence says she actually came to New York in 1995 to do modeling work ... Moreover, her home country of Slovenia wasn’t added to the U.S. visa waiver list until 1997, meaning she would have indeed needed a visa whether she first began working in the United States in 1995 or 1996."

Donald Trump says he’ll deport immigrants who abuse visas. Melania would have to be the first to go. - DailyNewsBin

Here is another good article on this topic:
Is Melania Lying and Crooked over Her Immigration - TheHill

[bettyellen]

20. Ive no doubt that they both lie all the time.

[alcibiades_mystery]

6. Oh my God who gives a fuck about this

As long as people like Lawrence are talking about this nonsense and not specific policy differences, they are getting took by the Trump sideshow. Good God, this is what we're talking about? Are we all fucking stupid?

[Backwoodsrider]

9. eactly what the heck are we doing with this useless info?

But we aren't stupid we just think Trumps wife is sexy! sarcasm off/>

[napi21]

13. The Con supporters would care if the main reason they support him is his stand on illegals.

Look, my son was a Con supporter until he mistreated the Gold Star family. My son is a Navy Vet and it instantly said "That's it! I'm done!"

If many of The Con man's supporters would feel the same way if he's hiding his wife work9ing illegally in the US, then I'm all for uncovering the truth!

[Backwoodsrider]

7. waste of time

Even if Melania sold some adult pictures before she had official work Visa and it was found out does anybody think that would hurt Trump? If anything it might get some horny lonely fence sitters who had not decided yet to tie in with Trump cause his wife went out and did it her way. Oh and she has nice cha cha's.

[CajunBlazer]

14. Yes, I believe that if true it would hurt Trump

After everything Trump has put out there about illegal immigrants, if his wife was found to be an illegal immigrant it would destroy the original basis for his campaign.

You need to understand that if Melania were found to be working while she held only a tourist visa (the kind that you have to go back to your home country every three months to renew), she would be guilty of lying to government officials about her reason for visiting the US when she applied for that via, which would mean that she was in the country illegally. Immigration experts say that violation would invalidate her tourist visa her, invalidate her subsequent work visa and even invalidate her naturalization as an American citizenship.

Imagine what it would do to Trump's campaign after all he has said about illegal immigrants if his wife were to be stripped of her American citizenship and deported to Slovenia.

As Joe Biden would say, "It would be a big fucking deal".

[bettyellen]

16. I read somewhere that the visa program she supposedly

Used to get in the country was not in effect at the time she claimed she used it.

This was a link someone on Twitter shared with the law.

http://www.americanlaw.com/vwpp.html

[Dem2]

11. I guess it's one less thing to waste time on.

Why is it so difficult to pick the most effective line of attack and go with that? And why does the media say "Trump" 100's of times each hour? Something is seriously wrong here.

[Egnever]

18. A somewhat interesting aspect of this story.

Apparently if you go back to 97 all of a sudden a lot of history disappears.

I wonder at what year it became mostly trivial to find back issues of most things on the net. My guess is around 2002 we started to have more publications archived digitally than not.

The internet is changing our world in many insidious ways. I find it fascinating.

[Sorceress]

22. So basically

So basically, Trump paid off the photographer as he did with Bondi and countless others.