Lawrence O'Donnell picked up a TELLING comment from the Giuliani interview...

[brooklynite]

Rudy said that Trump paid Cohen back "OVER SEVERAL MONTHS". That could indicate "structuring": making withdrawals in amounts of under $10,000 so the transactions don't get reported (this is the tactic that got Eliot Spitzer in trouble).

[montanacowboy]

1. Also got old Denny Hastert in trouble

making deposits under the 10K amount

these people just aren't smart folks

[grantcart]

3. Technically it was lying about the payments that got him to prison.

[tammywammy]

2. I thought their narrative was that Trump didn't know about the deal.

Last edited Wed May 2, 2018, 11:16 PM - Edit history (1)

So now he did know and reimbursed Cohen the $130k?

[brooklynite]

4. "Narrative" isn't the right word...

"Outright statement on a plane in front of the press" is more appropriate.

[FakeNoose]

5. I'm sure Mr. Mueller can answer that question

[Laura PourMeADrink]

6. Hmmm.. remember someone coming up with two donations to trump

campaign that totaled $130 k like the next day. Giuliani is fucking the story up for sure. Is there an outside chance he's getting a fuck u on trump?

[Adrahil]

7. I think their argument will be...

That Cohen's retainer fees constitute reimbursement.

Retainers do not usually work that way, from what I've seen, but ya play the cards ya got.

The interesting bit, IMO, is the bill for $129,999.27 (or whatever) from the Trump O to the Trump Campaign.

[brooklynite]

8. As Michael Avanatti on MORNING JOE said this morning...

...a retainer is a payment in anticipation of services. It's not usually blind, and there's a expectation of documented billing.