GOP, criminal enterprise

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

The pay for pardon scheme

A federal judge in Washington unsealed heavily redacted court documents on Tuesday that disclosed the existence of the investigation into possible unregistered lobbying and bribery. [Two people familiar with the inquiry] said it concerned efforts by the lawyer for Mr. Kushner, Abbe Lowell, and the fund-raiser, Elliott Broidy, who pleaded guilty in October to a charge related to a different scheme to lobby the Trump administration.

  NYT

Elliott Broidy's "scheme" involved lobbying for a foreign government, and is the guy who paid for a Playboy model's abortion, with some people suggesting it was actually Trump's baby that got aborted, as well as copped a guilty plea in a pension fund bribery case.

A billionaire real estate developer from the San Francisco area, Sanford Diller, enlisted their help in securing clemency for a Berkeley psychologist, Hugh L. Baras, who had received a 30-month prison sentence on a conviction of tax evasion and improperly claiming Social Security benefits, according to the filing and the people familiar with the case. Under the suspected scheme, Mr. Diller would make “a substantial political contribution” to an unspecified recipient in exchange for the pardon. He died in February 2018, and there is no evidence that the effort continued after his death.

As part of the effort, someone approached the White House Counsel’s Office to “ensure” that the “clemency petition reached the targeted officials,” according to the court documents. They did not say who made the contact or how the White House responded.

Mr. Baras [who went to prison in June 2017 and was released in August 2019] did not receive clemency.

[...]

No government officials are “currently a subject or target of the investigation disclosed in this filing,” a Justice Department official said.

[...]

A lawyer for Mr. Broidy said that his client had played only a small role in the matter and said that his client did nothing wrong.

And as we've seen, Mr. Broidy would NEVER do anything wrong.

“Mr. Broidy was asked by Mr. Diller to refer him to a D.C. lawyer who could assist on a clemency petition,” said the lawyer, William A. Burck. “Mr. Broidy sent him to Abbe Lowell."

[...]

“This is much ado about precious little,” Mr. Weingarten said. “They investigated and concluded that nothing was amiss. In addition, prosecutors did not have the slightest issue with Abbe.”

Mr. Weingarten said that Mr. Lowell had never asked Mr. Kushner to help with Mr. Baras’s case or any other matter related to clemency, and added that Mr. Lowell’s work for Mr. Baras ended before he started representing Mr. Kushner.

[...]

[T]he case relates to the conviction of Mr. Baras, 77, who was sentenced in 2014 and ordered to pay restitution of about $594,000 for tax evasion and illegally claiming disability insurance benefits to which he was not entitled from the Social Security Administration.

Mr. Baras fought the conviction for years, suing to vacate, set aside or reduce his sentence. His lawyer sought to appeal up to the Supreme Court, arguing Mr. Baras was deprived of a fair trial partly because the court declined to allow him to present evidence that he made an effort to pay his back taxes and to pay back the improperly received disability benefits. The Supreme Court declined to take the case and Mr. Baras reported to prison in June 2017.

[...]

Presidents have unchecked authority over clemency, and there is a history of donors or their family members getting pardons. No law bars people from lobbying for pardons, nor is it necessarily illegal to give a donation to a president after receiving a pardon. But bribery laws could prohibit explicitly predicating donations or other gifts of value to the granting of a pardon.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

The Trump criminal circle is ever-widening

Christ, they're all in bed together

Questions about the intersection between Broidy’s foreign work on behalf of his company and political dealings on behalf of Trump have opened Broidy up to public scrutiny. The Wall Street Journal reported in June that federal prosecutors were intensifying their investigation of Broidy.

  Oregon Live

We also know Broidy as the guy who paid for a Playboy model's abortion, with some people suggesting it was actually Trump's baby that got aborted, as well as copped a guilty plea in a pension fund bribery case.

But, the above clip is from a very interesting article abot Sondland online at an Oregon Live.  I think you should read it before Wednesday when he's on the hot seat in the House Intel Committee.

Trump officially nominated Sondland in May 2018. While Sondland had pushed for years for such a post, accepting the nomination came at a cost.

To comply with federal ethics laws, Sondland agreed to step down from controlling positions in his companies and sold off his stocks, including investments in Amazon, Facebook and Google in a massive fell-swoop in August 2018.

Also that month, he sold 200,000 shares in Threat Deterrence Capital for at least $100,000, according to financial disclosure statements. He had already transferred his stake in the company to his children after a request from the State Department to divest, Willamette Week reported this week.

I'm guessing he's regretting it.

The hunt for a conspiracy

Federal authorities raided the office of Republican fundraiser Elliott Broidy last summer, seeking records related to his dealings with foreign officials and Trump administration associates, according to a sealed search warrant obtained by ProPublica.

  Propublica

Yes, the third client of Michael Cohen (after Trump and Sean Hannity) who supposedly paid hush money connected to an abortion which "some people" think may actually have been Trump's potential progeny.

Agents were authorized to use the megadonor’s hands and face to unlock any phones that required fingerprint or facial scans.

[...]

The sealed warrant offers new details of federal authorities’ investigation of allegations that Broidy had attempted to cash in on his Trump White House connections in dealings with foreign officials. It also shows that the government took a more aggressive approach with the Trump ally than was previously known, entering his office and removing records — just as it did with Trump’s personal lawyer Michael Cohen.

Broidy served as a major Trump campaign fundraiser and was the national deputy finance chair of the Republican National Committee until he resigned in April 2018, when it was revealed he had agreed to secretly pay off a former Playboy model in exchange for her silence about their affair.

The search warrant cites three potential crimes that authorities are investigating: conspiracy, money laundering and violations of the law barring covert lobbying on behalf of foreign officials.

[...]

The scope of what authorities were seeking was broad. They planned to seize any evidence related to a list of dozens of people, countries and corporate entities, according to the warrant. Among the names on the list [is] Rick Gates, the former Trump campaign official who has pleaded guilty in the Mueller probe.

[...]

Federal authorities were also seeking records in Broidy’s office related to the United Arab Emirates, UAE adviser George Nader, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and any travel to the Middle East.

[...]

Documents reviewed by the Times showed that Nader tempted Broidy with the prospect of more than $1 billion in contracts for Broidy’s private security company. Hacked communications showed Nader praised Broidy for “how well you handle Chairman” — a reference to Trump.

Chairman? As in Chairman Mao?

According to the warrant, federal authorities also sought to seize any records related to China and Guo Wengui, a Chinese businessman and dissident who fled to New York, where he publicly accused the Chinese government of corruption.

The Times reported that Broidy explored plans to use his influence with the White House to force Guo out of the United States, apparently as part of an effort to curry favor with the Chinese and other foreign officials, and ultimately earn a payoff.

Jesus, he had his hands in everything, didn't he?

The search warrant for Broidy’s office also lists a name and corporation not previously linked to Broidy: “Joel Rouseau” and “Intelligent Resources.” [...] The search warrant does not describe Rousseau or Intelligent Resources’ role in the case.

Rousseau’s Instagram account shows him bouncing from Rio to Paris to Ibiza, frequently surrounded by models. “If you want to be successful, you need the beautiful people,” he told Crain’s New York in 2007, which described him as a specialist “in bringing agency models to clubs.” In another series of pictures, he is at an oil site in Haiti with workers he describes as his drilling crew. Rousseau made a foray into politics in 2012 when he donated tens of thousands of dollars to several Democratic Party groups.

Filings in a court case over unpaid taxes describe Rousseau as an “entrepreneur” with income swinging from under $1,000 for 2009 to over $2 million in 2013.

Nothing suspicious about that guy.

Broidy, an investor based in Los Angeles, pleaded guilty in 2009 to charges connected to his role in a major New York state public corruption and bribery case. But after backing Trump for president, he saw his star rise again. After the inauguration, he played a central role in filling administration vacancies, according to reports by ProPublica and others.

It is absolutely impossible to believe Trump is innocent of anything he's accused of when you realize that pretty much every person involved in his presidential aspirations has been himself or associated with a convicted criminal.

However, he once again quickly became mired in controversy, amid allegations of influence peddling and his dealings with the former Playboy model. The search warrant shows that federal authorities are interested in Broidy’s alleged work for the Malaysian financier Jho Low, who is at the center of a sprawling international scandal known as 1MDB. In November, the Justice Department unveiled a bribery and money laundering case against Low.

[...]

Broidy is not identified by name in the filings, but he is widely reported to be the person referred to as “Individual No. 1.” Broidy has not been charged with a crime, and it’s unclear what the status of the investigation is.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Elliott Broidy in the news again

Recall that GOP megadonor Elliott Broidy is the man known as one of Michael Cohen's three clients (the other two being Trump and Sean Hannity), who, for a while, was finance chairman of the RNC.  Also recall that he supposedly paid $1.6 million to a woman said to have had an abortion from a pregnancy by Broidy, which some people speculate was actually on behalf of Trump.

Broidy is also under indictment for money laundering.

[I]n a scheme to launder millions of dollars into the country to help a flamboyant Malaysian financier [...] Elliott Broidy, a Los Angeles-based businessman who was a finance vice chairman of Mr. Trump’s 2016 campaign and inauguration committees, was paid to lobby the Trump administration to try to end an investigation related to the embezzlement of billions of dollars from a Malaysian state-owned fund, according to court filings made public on Friday.

[...]

The filings were released in connection with a guilty plea entered by George Higginbotham, a former Justice Department employee. Mr. Higginbotham admitted to conspiring to lie to banks about the source of tens of millions of dollars he funneled into the United States from the Malaysian financier Jho Low, who federal authorities say masterminded a scheme to loot the 1 Malaysia Development Berhad fund, also known as 1MDB.

[...]

In his guilty plea, Mr. Higginbotham admitted that he and the entertainer and businessman Pras Michel, a former member of the Fugees, a defunct hip-hop group, arranged for millions of dollars of Mr. Low’s money to be transferred to a law firm owned by Mr. Broidy’s wife to pay them to try to end the 1MDB investigation.

[...]

The filings identify Mr. Broidy as “Person 1” or “Individual 1.”

[...]

In a brief interview on Friday, Mr. Broidy did not deny that the filings refer to him. But he referred specific questions to his lawyer, who did not respond to a request for comment.

[...]

Mr. Broidy, who pleaded guilty in 2009 in an unrelated pension fund bribery case, is one of several Trump associates whose business with foreign governments and figures has attracted scrutiny, including from investigators for the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III.

A veteran Republican fund-raiser who also owns a defense contracting firm, Mr. Broidy had seemed positioned to become a highly influential figure in a political hierarchy that was upended by Mr. Trump’s victory. Mr. Broidy had started raising money for Mr. Trump’s 2016 campaign at a time when most elite Republican donors were staying away. After Mr. Trump’s election, Mr. Broidy marketed his connection to the new administration to politicians, businessmen and governments around the world, including some with unsavory records, and won big contracts for his defense firm.

[...]

[Federal prosecutors] extract[ed] a guilty plea from a former Goldman Sachs banker who was involved in bribes and kickbacks related to 1MDB bond work. Mr. Broidy’s involvement, which predates Mr. Low’s indictment, underscores both Mr. Low’s efforts to navigate the United States judicial system, and the far-flung nature of Mr. Broidy’s business pursuits in the early days of the Trump administration.

In March 2017, Mr. Low’s associates were looking to retain “someone with political influence,” according to a Friday filing. Their goal was to help him deflect efforts by American authorities to seize assets bought with money he was accused of siphoning from 1MDB, and to end the Justice Department investigation into his activities, according to the filings. They indicate that, after Mr. Low expressed interest in hiring Mr. Broidy and Ms. Rosenzweig’s law firm, Mr. Michel met with Mr. Broidy and an associate “and explained Jho Low’s situation in the 1MDB matters.”

Mr. Broidy “indicated to Michel that although he was willing to assist Jho Low, he would not take any compensation directly from Jho Low in exchange for his services,” according to the filings. They indicate that Mr. Broidy “wanted $15 million in compensation, but Michel negotiated the price down to approximately $8 million.”

At least $6 million was transferred to Ms. Rosenzweig’s law firm through various accounts set up to “disguise the true source, origin and purpose of the funds, and, specifically, to conceal from U.S. financial institutions Jho Low’s ownership, control and affiliation with these funds and transactions,” according to the filings.

[...]

Mr. Michel indicated that Mr. Broidy “agreed to try to influence a potential nominee for a federal position that would have authority over the 1MDB forfeiture matters,” according to the filings, which note that the potential office holder was not nominated.

  NYT

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

That "smile"

Elliott Briody has the same "smile" (and the same rubber face) as Donald Trump.  It's actually not a smile at all. It's an attempt to simulate a smile.

I don't believe Trump ever has any emotions that would cause a person to smile an authentic smile.

Every time I see it, it reminds me of this:

Broidy, Nader, and the Arabs

An investigation by The Associated Press found that fundraiser Elliott Broidy and George Nader, an adviser to the crown prince of Abu Dhabi, pushed the interests of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates at the highest levels of the U.S. government.

  Seattle Times

You'll recognise those names: Eliott Broidy was finance chairman of the RNC from 2005 to 2008 and is the guy who supposedly paid $1.6 million to Trump attorney Michael Cohen to hush up a prostitute's pregnancy - ostensibly by him, but there's lots of speculation that he was covering for Trump. And Nader is the guy who arranged the Seychelles meeting for Erik Prince to establish back channels with Russia and who is now cooperating with Mueller.

Broidy and [...] Nader, pitched themselves to the crown princes as a backchannel to the White House, passing the princes’ praise — and messaging — straight to the president’s ears.

No collusion. Oh, wait. That was with Russia. Maybe that's why so much of the time Trump squealed "NO COLLUSION" it was "NO COLLUSION WITH RUSSIA." He's now going to have to add "OR SAUDI ARABIA" to his protestations.

In return for pushing anti-Qatar policies at the highest levels of America’s government, Broidy and Nader expected huge consulting contracts from Saudi Arabia and the UAE, according to an Associated Press investigation based on interviews with more than two dozen people and hundreds of pages of leaked emails between the two men.

[...]

Both of their careers were marked by high-rolling success and spectacular falls from grace — and criminal convictions. The onset of the Trump administration presented an opportunity: a return to glory.

Broidy, who made a fortune in investments, was finance chairman of the Republican National Committee from 2006 to 2008. But when a New York state pension fund decided to invest $250 million with him, investigators found that he had plied state officials with nearly $1 million in illegal gifts while collecting $18 million in management fees.

In 2009, Broidy pleaded guilty to a felony charge of rewarding official misconduct.

[...]

Three years later, Broidy’s conviction was knocked down to a misdemeanor after he agreed to cooperate with prosecutors and pay back the $18 million to the state.

Nader’s problem was pedophilia.

[...]

[I]n May 2003, Nader was convicted in the Czech Republic of 10 counts of sexually abusing minors and sentenced to a one-year prison term, the AP revealed in March.

He served his time in Prague, according to Czech authorities, then was expelled from the country.

Yeah, that's not seen as a problem for men in high places.

Nader has been living in the UAE, working as an adviser to Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the Abu Dhabi crown prince known as MBZ.

It was Nader’s connection to MBZ and Erik Prince that eventually caught the attention of U.S. investigators in the Russia probe.

[...]

The AP has previously reported that Broidy and Nader sought to get an anti-Qatar bill through Congress while obscuring the source of the money behind their influence campaign. A new cache of emails obtained by the AP reveals an ambitious, secretive lobbying effort to isolate Qatar and undermine the Pentagon’s longstanding relationship with the Gulf country.

[...]

The cache also reveals a previously unreported meeting with the president and provides the most detailed account yet of the work of two Washington insiders who have been entangled in the turmoil surrounding the two criminal investigations closest to Trump.

[...]

A senior Saudi official confirmed that the government had discussions with Nader but said it had signed no contracts with either Nader or Broidy.

[...]

Lobbying in pursuit of personal gain is nothing new in Washington.

[...]

Broidy’s campaign to alter U.S. policy in the Middle East and reap a fortune for himself shows that one of the president’s top money men found the swamp as navigable as ever with Trump in office.

[...]

Neither Broidy nor Nader registered with the U.S. government under the Foreign Agents Registration Act, a law intended to make lobbyists working for foreign governments disclose their ties and certain political activities. The law requires people to register even if they are not paid but merely directed by foreign interests with political tasks in mind.

Violating the federal law carries a maximum $10,000 fine or up to five years in prison.

No doubt one of the reasons Nader is cooperating with Mueller.

Broidy has maintained he was not required to register because his anti-Qatar campaign was not directed by a foreign client and came entirely at his own initiative. But documents show the lobbying was intertwined with the pursuit of contracts from the very start, and involved specific political tasks carried out for the crown princes — whose countries are listed as the “clients ” for the lobbying campaign in a spreadsheet from Broidy’s company, Circinus LLC.

Measure Broidy for an orange jumpsuit.

Summaries written by Broidy of two meetings he had with Trump — one of which has not been disclosed before — report that he was passing messages to the president from the two princes and that he told Trump he was seeking business with them.

And expecting to share with Trump, I have no doubt.

Saudi Arabia was finding a new ascendancy following Trump’s election. Broidy sought to claim credit for it, emails show, and was keen to collect the first installment of $36 million for an intelligence-gathering contract with the UAE.

It all might have proceeded smoothly save for one factor: the appointment of Robert Mueller as special counsel to look into allegations of Russian interference in the 2016 election.

And Trump is still trying to put a stop to that.

Broidy and Nader proposed multiple plans to the princes for more than $1 billion of work. One pitch was to help create an all-Muslim fighting force of 5,000 troops. A second was aimed at helping the UAE gather intelligence. A third would strengthen Saudi maritime and border security. Still another was related to setting up counterterrorism centers in Saudi Arabia.

And we're supposed to believe that was "entirely at his own initiative" - personal business and not political in consort with the US president? I can be dense sometimes, but that's a bit too far.

In a note to Broidy, Nader said the princes were very happy with the proposed contracts, particularly the crown prince of Abu Dhabi.

But first, emails show, they had to focus on the lobbying campaign. They proposed a budget upward of $12 million to “expose and penalize” Qatar and get the U.S. to pressure it to “aid in coercive action against Iran,” according to a March 2017 document.

[...]

Ideally, Broidy and Nader would work to persuade the U.S. government to sanction Qatar and move a key military base from Qatar to another location in the Gulf. Broidy said he had a direct line to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.

“Mnuchin is a close friend of mine (my wife and I are attending Sec. Mnuchin’s wedding in Washington D.C. on June 24th),” Broidy wrote to Nader. “I can help in educating Mnuchin on the importance of the Treasury Department putting many Qatari individuals and organizations on the applicable sanctions lists.”

[...]

Despite the challenges of Saudi Arabia’s human rights record, the partners’ timing was good. Trump and many other Republicans in Washington viewed Saudi Arabia as a counterweight against Iran.

Broidy reported he was making progress, and Nader kept the “principals” briefed on their adventures, emails show. Broidy boasted that he had got the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, California Republican Rep. Ed Royce, to back an anti-Qatar bill.

“This is extremely positive,” Broidy wrote. He claimed he had “shifted” Royce from being critical of Saudi Arabia to “being critical of Qatar.” The AP reported in March that Broidy gave nearly $600,000 to GOP candidates and causes since the beginning of 2017. Royce got the maximum allowed.

Yeah, personal.

At the end of March, Nader wrote that he’d had “a terrific, magnificent meeting” with the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman. Prospects for the billion-dollar contracts were good.

[...]

At Nader’s request, $2.5 million was channeled in two installments from his company in the UAE through a Canadian company called Xiemen Investments Limited, which someone familiar with the transaction said was run by one of Broidy’s friends. The money was then routed to a Broidy account in Los Angeles.

When money is being "channeled" it's a key signal that something is either illegal or unflattering.  Who in the world doesn't know that?

The transaction had the effect of obfuscating that the money for the political work in Washington had come from Nader in the UAE. Some of the recipients of Broidy’s spending in Washington said they had no idea that Nader was involved. Broidy previously told the AP that he did not think to question why the money was routed through a foreign entity.

What he meant was, he didn't need to question - he knew.

In late September, Broidy arranged for the most coveted meeting for any lobbyist in Washington: an audience for himself with the president in the Oval Office.

In advance of the meeting, Nader wrote Broidy a script, an email shows . There were several objectives: to sell the idea for a Muslim fighting force, to keep the president from intervening on Qatar and to arrange a discreet meeting between Trump and the crown prince of Abu Dhabi.

The princes “are counting on you to relate it blunt and straight,” Nader wrote.

Nader told Broidy the meeting was potentially historic and to “take advantage of this priceless asset.”

And there was one more thing. Nader asked Broidy to tell the president about his connections with the crown princes, using code names for all three.

What?! LOL.

“Appreciate how you would make sure to bring up my role to Chairman,” Nader emailed. “How I work closely with Two Big Friends.”

OL OL.

After the Oct. 6 meeting, Broidy reported back to Nader that he had passed along the messages and had urged the president to stay out of the dispute with Qatar. He also said he explained Circinus’ plan to build a Muslim fighting force.

“President Trump was extremely enthusiastic,” he wrote. Broidy said Trump asked what the next step would be and that he told the president he should meet with the crown prince from the UAE, adding, “President Trump agreed that a meeting with MBZ was a good idea.”

[...]

Despite that successful readout, Nader wanted more: He wanted a photo of himself with the president — a big request for a convicted pedophile.

I don't see why. Porn stars and Russian mobsters get their pictures taken with him.

Broidy drafted an email to Trump’s chief of staff, John Kelly, asking him to intervene on behalf of his friend, whom he oddly called “George Vader” — a misnomer that appears elsewhere in the emails.

“One of my companies does deep vetting for the US government,” he wrote. “We ran all data bases including FBI and Interpol and found no issues with regard to Mr. Vader.”

Personal, not political.

There was another issue. RNC officials had decreed there would be no photos with the president without payment. Broidy suggested that Nader meet the suggested threshold with a donation between $100,000 and $250,000.

It’s unclear exactly how the two issues were resolved.

Well, is there a picture?

[O]n Nov. 30, Broidy gave $189,000 to the RNC — more than he had given to the RNC in over two decades of Republican fundraising.

The result: a picture of Nader and Trump grinning in front of the American flag.

[...]

Broidy met Trump once again on Dec. 2. He reported back to Nader that he’d told Trump the crown princes were “most favorably impressed by his leadership.” He offered the crown princes’ help in the Middle East peace plan being developed by Jared Kushner. He did not tell Trump that his partner had complete contempt for the plan — and for the president’s son-in-law.

“You have to hear in private my Brother what Principals think of ‘Clown prince’s’ efforts and his plan!” Nader wrote. “Nobody would even waste cup of coffee on him if it wasn’t for who he is married to.”

That's gonna cost him. But, I want to hear what the Saudis think of Kushner. Sounds like it's about what many of us think.

Days after Broidy’s meeting with Trump, the UAE awarded Broidy the intelligence contract the partners had been seeking for up to $600 million over 5 years, according to a leaked email.

The Muslim fighting force contract would be even larger, potentially bringing their entire Gulf enterprise to more than $1 billion.

In January, Broidy was preparing for a third meeting with Trump, at Mar-a-Lago, during celebrations of the president’s first year in office. Nader was supposed to join them, but the initial payment for the intelligence contract was late. He delayed his trip to the U.S. for a day to make sure it was wired.

On Jan. 17, Broidy reported that he had received the first installment — $36 million.

[...]

Hours after that money transfer, Nader and Broidy discovered that, despite all their precautions, they had not escaped notice.

When Nader landed at Dulles Airport outside Washington, D.C., a team of FBI agents working for Mueller was there to meet him.

Game over.

In February, the AP, The New York Times and other news organizations began receiving anonymously leaked batches of Broidy’s emails and documents that had apparently been hacked. News stories linked him to plans to leverage his White House access for clients in Africa, Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Asia.

Broidy fought back. He sued Qatar and its lobbyists, alleging in a lawsuit filed in March that the hack was a smear campaign.

[...]

Then, on April 9, another blow.

The FBI raided the premises of Trump’s personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, seeking information on hush money paid to porn actress Stormy Daniels, who said she’d had an affair with the president.

Broidy, it turned out, was also a Cohen client. He’d had an affair with Playboy Playmate Shera Bechard, who got pregnant and later had an abortion. Broidy agreed to pay her $1.6 million to help her out, so long as she never spoke about it.

[...]

There is no indication Broidy is under investigation by Mueller’s team.

Maybe not, but it's a safe bet he is.

Last week, Saudi Arabia distanced itself from Nader and Broidy. A senior official said Crown Prince bin Salman ordered an end to “engagement with these people.”

But Broidy’s huge contract with the UAE?

It’s good to go.

Jesus.  What an incredible hot mess of almost unbelievable proportions this administration has going.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

UPDATE:

UPDATE 6/4/19:

The plot sickens

“So, Mika, you are familiar with the fact that a week ago, Judge (Kimba) Wood ordered Michael Cohen’s attorneys to disclose all of his clients for the last three years,” Avenatti said, “and there were three clients listed — three clients listed. Do you recall which three?”

Brzezinski listed Trump, Fox News host Sean Hannity and Republican donor Elliott Broidy — but Avenatti said she was making the same mistake everyone else had.

“No, no, no,” he said. “Mr. Trump, the Trump organization and Sean Hannity. Mr. Broidy was not disclosed in open court as one of Michael Cohen’s clients.”

Co-host Joe Scarborough asked the attorney what that meant.

“I think at some point we are going to find out, if in fact, the client in connection with the ($1.6 million) settlement was, in fact, Mr. Broidy. I’m going to leave it at that.”

Avenatti wouldn’t say it, but the implication seems clear.

  Raw Story

“I think at some point we are going to find out, if in fact, the client in connection with the settlement was, in fact, Mr. Broidy. I’m going to leave it at that.”

— Attorney Michael Avenatti, interviewed on Morning Joe, suggesting that the $1.6 million hush money payment to a Playboy model who became pregnant during an affair and then had an abortion was not for GOP donor Elliot Broidy since he “was not disclosed in open court as one of Michael Cohen’s clients.”

  Political Wire

I must say, $1.6 million did seem like an awful lot of money to be paid out on behalf of a mere RNC official.

Is this what got Trump so exercised he called in to rant on Fox News this morning?  Or did his call come first and the Avenatti tease followed?  It does seem like Avenatti has been playing the idiot like a fiddle.

Yes, that also seemed odd.

Also, Trump's fixer may simply have had a  "form" document that he used for every such case.











I wonder if anything has developed on that sketch of the man who threatened Daniels and her child.  I think that is the more dangerous facet for Trump.  His base could care less if he's been paying off women to silence them.  There's no legal problem for him there if he just owns up to it.  But having someone threaten someone's life, that's a different story.

Oh my

His sleaze-O client and fellow RNC deputy finance chair, Elliott Broidy resigned.  And he wasn't under criminal investigation. 

When did these guys get on that committee?  April 3, 2017.  How interesting.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Come to think of it...

This does indeed sound extra shady.  Three separate women who are paid to be quiet (two by Trump, one by Trump donor Elliott Broidy) have the same attorney (Keith Davidson), and Michael Cohen is there for all three.

Check out the second paragraph of Broidy's statement:

UPDATE 4/15:

The Smoking Gun has an article on Davidson worth your read time. Davidson is a right sleazy guy. What a surprise, eh?

Davidson’s professional success--and the related entanglements he has found himself in--are a product of his position as the attorney to hire if you are seeking to monetize a celebrity sex tape or compromising information about public figures like Trump, Charlie Sheen, Tiger Woods, and Kanye West. Davidson specializes in extracting payments in exchange for the quashing of incriminating videos and/or details about sexual indiscretions, STDs, and all manner of regrettable behavior.

[...]

On multiple occasions, Davidson signed up clients thanks to a symbiotic relationship he developed with Mike Walters, one of the most influential figures in celebrity journalism.

  The Smoking Gun

The article drops this little gem:

While Cohen had no role in Davidson’s hiring by McDougal or Clifford, Trump’s attorney last year did steer a client to the California lawyer (long after the two hush money agreements were sealed). Cohen, who has hailed Davidson as an ethical and “tireless advocate for his clients,” referred Chuck LaBella, a television producer who worked closely with Trump on “The Apprentice,” Miss USA and Miss Universe telecasts, and the Comedy Central roast of the mogul, to Davidson. LaBella hired Davidson in the face of tweets by comedian Tom Arnold charging that LaBella knew damaging information about Trump’s activities in Russia. In an October 2017 e-mail to Arnold’s lawyer, Davidson wrote that Arnold had falsely “implicated Chuck as a witness to sordid events regarding Donald Trump.”

Not sure what the "sordid events" are, but Tom Arnold has been claiming there's a tape of Trump hitting Melania in an elevator. This tweet response today suggests the "sordid events" include Trump "having sex with 15 yr old Russian models in Florida."

Speaking of "lowlifes"

A major donor with close ties to the White House resigned on Friday as deputy finance chairman of the Republican National Committee after the revelation that he had agreed to pay $1.6 million to a former Playboy model who became pregnant during an affair.

[...]

Under the terms of the deal, the Republican donor, Elliott Broidy, would pay the woman in installments over the course of two years, and in return, she would agree to stay silent about their relationship.

[...]

The deal was arranged by President Trump’s personal lawyer and fixer, Michael D. Cohen.

  NYT

Well, small world.

In his statement, Mr. Broidy apologized to his wife and family while acknowledging that he had had an affair with the woman. He said that “she alone decided that she did not want to continue with the pregnancy and I offered to help her financially during this difficult period.”

Some pretty hefty help.

He lamented that the issue had become a national news story, which he attributed to the publicity surrounding the federal investigations of Mr. Cohen.

[...]

Mr. Broidy was a major fund-raiser for George W. Bush, but he is particularly connected in Mr. Trump’s orbit.

[...]

He was a vice chairman of Mr. Trump’s inaugural committee, has met frequently with top White House officials and had an Oval Office meeting with the president in October, according to documents obtained by The Times.

[...]

The documents show that Mr. Broidy has worked closely with George Nader, an adviser to the U.A.E. and a witness in the special counsel’s investigation.

Who is a convicted pedophile and is being investigated in the Russia-Trump affair.

In 2009, Mr. Broidy pleaded guilty to charges that he made nearly $1 million worth of illegal gifts to New York State officials in order to win an investment of $250 million from the state’s public pension fund. Among the gifts were trips to Israel and Italy, payouts to officials’ relatives and girlfriends and an investment in one relative’s production of a low-budget movie called “Chooch.”

"Den of thieves and lowlifes."

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

UPDATE 5/21: More adventures of Broidy and Nader.

The swamp is constantly restocked

Check out Charlie Pierce's post on Elliott Broidy, wherein Charlie puzzles why Old Lard Ass "can't find himself a good lawyer." 

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Wherever it leads

[ George] Nader [an adviser to the de facto ruler of the United Arab Emirates] is now a focus of the investigation by Robert S. Mueller III, the special counsel. In recent weeks, Mr. Mueller’s investigators have questioned Mr. Nader and have pressed witnesses for information about any possible attempts by the Emiratis to buy political influence by directing money to support Mr. Trump during the presidential campaign, according to people with knowledge of the discussions.

The investigators have also asked about Mr. Nader’s role in White House policymaking, those people said, suggesting that the special counsel investigation has broadened beyond Russian election meddling to include Emirati influence on the Trump administration. The focus on Mr. Nader could also prompt an examination of how money from multiple countries has flowed through and influenced Washington during the Trump era.

  NYT

White House for sale.

In one example of Mr. Nader’s influential connections, which has not been previously reported, last fall he received a detailed report from a top Trump fund-raiser, Elliott Broidy, about a private meeting with the president in the Oval Office.

Mr. Broidy owns a private security company with hundreds of millions of dollars in contracts with the United Arab Emirates, and he extolled to Mr. Trump a paramilitary force that his company was developing for the country.

[...]

Mr. Trump has closely allied himself with the Emiratis, endorsing their strong support for the new heir to the throne in Saudi Arabia, as well as their confrontational approaches toward Iran and their neighbor Qatar. In the case of Qatar, which is the host to a major United States military base, Mr. Trump’s endorsement of an Emirati- and Saudi-led blockade against that country has put him openly at odds with his secretary of state — as well as with years of American policy.

But, as we've recently been made aware, put him squarely in the favor of lining Jared Kushner's pockets.

 ...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

UPDATE 3/6:

Nader is now said to be cooperating with the special counsel.