#&039;unlawful tax&039;

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Wausau Finance Committee to decide on two ‘unlawful tax’ recovery claims

Two local organizations say they were wrongly charged property tax. Now, they want their money back.

Damakant Jayshi On Tuesday, the Wausau Finance Committee will talk about requests from two entities claiming they were wrongly charged property tax and want their money back. The meeting of the committee, slated to begin at 5 p.m. at the City Hall, will discuss requests from the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum for the recovery of nearly $17,500 and another claim from the Vistas at Greenwood…

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Politics: Michael Cohen's lawyer says his client has information about Trump 'that should be of interest' to Mueller

"Mr. Cohen has knowledge on certain subjects that should be of interest to the special counsel," Lanny Davis, Michael Cohen's attorney, said during an MSNBC interview.

Lanny Davis, Michael Cohen's attorney, says his client has information "that should be of interest" to special counsel Robert Mueller, following his plea deal with federal prosecutors.

"Mr. Cohen has knowledge on certain subjects that should be of interest to the special counsel, and is more than happy to tell the special counsel all that he knows," Davis said during an interview on MSNBC.

In a later interview on CNN, Davis suggested Cohen's tenure under Trump's wing entitled him to details that have yet to be revealed to Mueller and his broader Russia probe.

Lanny Davis, Michael Cohen's attorney, says his client has information "that should be of interest" to special counsel Robert Mueller, following his plea deal with federal prosecutors on Tuesday.

Cohen pleaded guilty to five counts of tax evasion, one count of bank fraud, one count of making an unlawful corporate contribution, and one count of making an illegal campaign finance contribution.

Cohen claimed that his campaign finance violations, related to a $130,000 payment made to the porn star Stormy Daniels in exchange for her silence — were made "at the direction of the candidate" with "the purpose of influencing the election." Davis confirmed that candidate was Trump.

"Mr. Cohen has knowledge on certain subjects that should be of interest to the special counsel, and is more than happy to tell the special counsel all that he knows," Davis said during an interview with MSNBC's Rachel Maddow.

In a later interview on CNN, Davis suggested Cohen's tenure in Trump's inner circle made him privy to details that have yet to be revealed to Mueller and the broader Russia probe.

"Michael Cohen, being a lawyer for Donald Trump for many, many years, knows almost everything about Mr. Trump," Davis said.

Cohen's plea deal with prosecutors does not so far include a cooperation agreement.

Legal experts say that could be for one of two reasons: either Cohen chose not to cooperate, or prosecutors do not feel that he has enough information to offer them in exchange for a further reduction in sentence.

The longtime former federal prosecutor Jeffrey Cramer said Tuesday that if Cohen chose not to cooperate, it may be because he is still holding out for a pardon from Trump.

"If Cohen flips on Trump, that pardon flies out the window," Cramer said.

But Davis's comments to Maddow suggest his client may still be angling for a better plea deal by making it clear he has information of value to Mueller.

Cohen is currently a subject of interest in several threads of the Russia investigation, including the Trump Organization's push to build a Trump Tower in Moscow, the creation of a Russia-friendly "peace plan" during the early days of Trump's presidency, and his potential involvement in an unconfirmed trip to Prague during the summer of 2016 to meet with Kremlin-linked officials.

Last month, it also emerged that Cohen said Trump knew in advance about a Russian lawyer's offer to the Trump campaign of dirt on then Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton during the 2016 election.

CNN, citing sources with knowledge of the matter, reported that Cohen claims he was one of several people who were present when Donald Trump Jr. informed Trump of the offer. Cohen reportedly says that Trump greenlit the meeting after hearing about it from his son.

If Cohen gives Mueller information of value, the special counsel could then push for a reduction in his sentence.

Cohen was released on a $500,000 bond and is scheduled for sentencing on December 12.

source http://www.newssplashy.com/2018/08/politics-michael-cohens-lawyer-says-his.html

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Wausau Finance Committee rejects alleged ‘unlawful tax’ recovery requests

Both groups have the right to ask a local court to help them get the tax money back within 90 days after the city has made its final decision.

Damakant Jayshi The Finance Committee on Tuesday accepted the recommendation from the city assessor to disallow requests for recovery of alleged “unlawful tax” from two organizations which had petitioned the committee, claiming they were wrongly charged and want their money back. The committee voted unanimously to reject the claim of “unlawful tax” from the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum for…

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Politics: Michael Cohen pleads guilty and says he broke campaign finance law at Trump's direction

Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump's longtime lawyer, has reached a plea deal with prosecutors. He entered guilty pleas to five counts of tax evasion, one count of bank fraud, one count of making an unlawful corporate contribution, and one count of making an illegal campaign finance contribution.

Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump's longtime lawyer, has reached a plea deal with prosecutors.

He entered guilty pleas to five counts of tax evasion, one count of bank fraud, one count of making an unlawful corporate contribution, and one count of making an illegal campaign finance contribution.

Cohen is the focus of a criminal investigation in the Southern District of New York into whether he violated campaign-finance laws, committed bank fraud or wire fraud, engaged in illegal lobbying, or participated in other crimes.

President Donald Trump's former longtime lawyer and fixer, Michael Cohen, struck a deal on Tuesday with prosecutors to plead guilty to eight federal crimes.

He entered guilty pleas to five counts of tax evasion, one count of bank fraud, one count of making an unlawful corporate contribution, and one count of making an illegal campaign finance contribution on October 27, 2016 — the day a $130,000 payment to adult-film star Stormy Daniels was finalized.

During his plea entry, Cohen said he had made the illegal campaign and corporate contributions "at the direction of the candidate" and with the "purpose of influencing the election."

He did not identify said candidate by name, but it is widely understood to be President Donald Trump.

After entering his guilty plea, Cohen was released on a $500,000 bond. He is set to be sentenced December 12.

Cohen is the focus of a criminal investigation in the Southern District of New York into whether he violated campaign-finance laws, committed bank fraud or wire fraud, engaged in illegal lobbying, or participated in other crimes.

Rudy Giuliani, Trump's personal attorney, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

"These are very serious charges that reflect a pattern of lies and dishonesty," said Deputy US Attorney Robert Khuzami in a press conference after Cohen's hearing. "They are significant in their own right. They are particularly significant when done by a lawyer."

How we got here

The FBI raided Cohen's home, hotel room, and office in April, seizing more than 4 million documents from Trump's longtime lawyer.

Those documents then underwent an extensive, months-long review for claims of attorney-client privilege, a process that recently concluded. Only a fraction of the documents were protected by privilege, while the rest were handed over to the government for use in a potential prosecution of Cohen.

At the center of the investigation is the $130,000 payment that Cohen facilitated to the porn star known as Stormy Daniels just before the 2016 presidential election to keep her quiet about her allegation of having a 2006 affair with Trump — an allegation Trump has denied. The FBI was looking for documents related to that payment and similar arrangements with other women.

Investigators have also taken interest in some of Cohen's business dealings, particularly as they related to his once sprawling taxi business, The New York Times reported Sunday.

The Times reported that the Cohen investigation reached "the final stage," with prosecutors weighing whether to file charges before the end of August.

How this could affect Trump

Mitchell Epner, an attorney at Rottenberg Lipman Rich who had previously served as a federal prosecutor in the US Attorney's Office for the District of New Jersey, told Business Insider in a Tuesday email that if Cohen reached a plea deal, "the most important question is whether it is a 'cooperating' plea deal."

Epner later added that even if cooperation is not a part of this plea deal, it doesn't rule out the possibility of him acting as a cooperating witness in the future.

"If Michael Cohen is not cooperating now, he likely will continue to try to get a cooperating plea agreement by providing substantial assistance to any prosecutor who will take it, SDNY or Special Counsel," Epner told Business Insider in a subsequent email after news broke of the plea deal later on Tuesday.

Roland Riopelle, a partner at Sercarz & Riopelle who was formerly a federal prosecutor with the US Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York, told Business Insider in an email Monday that the brief five-month delay between the FBI's raids and potential charges signaled to him that "this may be a cooperation plea agreement."

"If the matter was contested, the delay could be longer before charges were returned," he said, adding that the recent "silence from Cohen and his lawyers is also something that weighs in favor of a cooperation deal."

Senate intel committee says Cohen cooperated with their investigation

The Senate Intelligence Committee's Chairman Sen. Richard Burr and Vice Chairman Sen. Mark Warner put out a rare public statement on Tuesday after the announcement of the deal, disclosing that Cohen had cooperated with the committee's investigation.

"We recently reengaged with Mr. Cohen and his team following press reports that suggested he had advance knowledge of the June 2016 meeting between campaign officials and Russian lawyers at Trump Tower," they said.

They continued that Cohen testified before the committee that he didn't know about the meeting before The New York Times reported it last summer. Cohen's legal team told the committee his client stood by that testimony.

"We hope that today's developments and Mr. Cohen's plea agreement will not preclude his appearance before our Committee as needed for our ongoing investigation," they wrote.

Michael Avenatti, Daniels' attorney, tweeted Tuesday afternoon that the day's developments "will permit us to have the stay lifted in the civil case & should also permit us to proceed with an expedited deposition of Trump under oath about what he knew, when he knew it, and what he did about it."

"We will disclose it all to the public," he tweeted.

source http://www.newssplashy.com/2018/08/politics-michael-cohen-pleads-guilty.html

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Politics: Paul Manafort moves to suppress potentially explosive evidence against him in the Russia investigation

Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort's motion is unlikely to succeed, but experts said it may be worth a shot, given what's at stake.

Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort filed a motion Friday to suppress key evidence the special counsel Robert Mueller obtained against him last May.

Manafort's lawyers argue that the evidence was obtained unlawfully and its seizure violated Manafort's constitutional rights.

One legal expert said it is highly unlikely Manafort's motion will succeed, given an important exception, called "inevitable discovery," to the rules governing searches and seizures.

Friday's motion comes after Mueller's office threw a wrench last week into the two main pillars of Manafort's defense strategy.

Late Friday, attorneys representing Paul Manafort, the former chairman of President Donald Trump's campaign, filed a motion to suppress potentially critical evidence against him in the Russia investigation.

FBI agents working for the special counsel Robert Mueller obtained the evidence last May from a storage locker in Alexandria, Virginia that belongs to Manafort's consulting firm, Davis Manafort Partners, Inc.

Manafort's attorneys argued Friday that any evidence investigators found from the locker should not be admissible in court because the FBI violated the defendant's constitutional rights by executing an illegal search and seizure of the property.

According to the court filing, an FBI agent first searched the storage locker on May 26, 2017 after obtaining permission to do so from a "low-level" DMP employee responsible for carrying out administrative functions.

The FBI agent then "observed a number of boxes and a filing cabinet" and "some writing on the sides of some boxes," the document says. The agent returned on May 27 with a search warrant relying on information he had surmised when he visited the storage locker the day before and subsequently seized documents and binders from the property.

Manafort's attorneys argue the evidence in question should not be used in court because the initial search was conducted without a warrant. They have also argued that the warrant itself was too broad and amounted to a carte blanche in violation of Manafort's Fourth Amendment right against unreasonable search and seizure.

Manafort is currently the subject of two indictments against him. One, which was brought in Washington, DC, accuses him of money laundering, failure to register as a foreign agent, and making false statements to investigators. The other, which was brought in Virginia, charges him with tax fraud, bank fraud, and failing to report foreign bank accounts. Most of the charges against Manafort relate to his lobbying work for the Ukrainian government and pro-Russia interests.

Politico reported that the warrant the federal judge, Theresa Buchanan, issued authorizing the search and seizure of the locker's contents on May 27 permitted investigators to seize any records related to Manafort or his longtime associate, Rick Gates.

They were also allowed to take records related to former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych; the pro-Russia Party of Regions that Yanukovych led; the lobbying firm called the Podesta Group, which shut down earlier this year after facing scrutiny in the Russia probe; a think tank known for pushing Russia-friendly positions called the European Center for a Modern Ukraine; and several offshore companies Manafort is linked to.

Manafort's attorneys argued in their motion that the warrant "functioned as a general warrant that improperly authorized an unfettered search and the wholesale seizure of virtually every document contained within the storage unit."

Worth a shot?

Whether Manafort's motion will be successful is up for debate.

Legal experts said, however, that it wasn't a bad move on Manafort's part and may be worth the effort and money, given the potentially damning sentence he faces if convicted in the Russia probe.

Investigators almost always need a warrant when conducting a search of a property or records. However, one exception is if someone who appears to have authority over the premise consents to the search, former federal prosecutor Renato Mariotti wrote on Twitter.

In Manafort's case, the person who consented to the search was listed on the property's lease, which could pose a setback for the former Trump campaign chairman.

"What matters is not whether he actually had authority to consent to the search," Mariotti said. "The legal test is whether it was reasonable for the FBI to believe he had authority to consent to the search. That’s a problem for Manafort because, on its face, he seems like he had authority."

Another potential problem for Manafort is an exception, called "inevitable discovery," to the rule surrounding search warrants, Mariotti said.

Inevitable discovery is a legal doctrine that allows evidence of a defendant's guilt that may otherwise be considered inadmissible to be used against them in court.

Mariotti highlighted a few reasons why that that exception may apply in Manafort's case.

For one, he said, the FBI was aware of the storage locker's existence before the agent conducted the initial search on May 26. Second, the DMP employee who consented to the search told the investigator what was inside the unit, meaning that the initial search simply confirmed what the agent had been told by the DMP staffer.

"If Mueller can show (by a 51 percent standard, not 'beyond a reasonable doubt') that he would have obtained the warrant without that quick look by the FBI agent, Manafort loses his motion," Mariotti said.

"The burden for the defendant is very high" if they seek to suppress evidence by arguing that a search or seizure was unlawful, he added. "Usually there needs to be a false statement or omission that would have caused the judge not to sign" the warrant.

Mueller throws cold water on Manafort's defense strategy

Manafort has pleaded not guilty to all the charges against him, and Friday's motion comes as he continues mounting an aggressive defense in the Russia investigation.

In particular, Manafort's lawyers have argued that the charges against him, which center around his Ukraine lobbying work, should be dropped for two reasons:

They do not relate to the focal point of the Russia probe — whether the Trump campaign colluded with Russia.

Mueller's mandate itself is too broad.

But Mueller's office filed new documents last week that threw a wrench into both pillars of Manafort's defense strategy.

The filing included a private memo deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein sent to Mueller last year, which said the special counsel is authorized to investigate at least two threads as it relates to Manafort: allegations of criminal activity arising from his work in Ukraine, and allegations that he colluded with Russian officials as Russia was trying to meddle in the 2016 US election.

With respect to Manafort's assertion that Mueller's mandate was too broad, the special counsel said in the filing that Manafort's claim was "unsound."

It added that the Justice Department's regulations for the appointment of a special counsel gave Mueller "limited flexibility" while authorizing Rosenstein to amend the scope of Mueller's mandate where necessary "in order to fully investigate and resolve the matters assigned."

Mueller's office questioned Manafort's right to argue the validity of the special counsel's mandate at all, saying Manafort had "no basis" to use that reasoning to call for the dismissal of his case.

Specifically, Mueller's office said the DOJ regulations governing the appointment of a special counsel were meant to provide a framework for the department's internal structure. It said the regulations "unequivocally state" that they are not meant to "create any [enforceable] rights" in a criminal proceeding.

Earlier this week, it also emerged that Mueller obtained a new search warrant against Manafort as recently as last month. According to court documents, the warrant related to "ongoing investigations that are not the subject of the current prosecutions involving Manafort."

The revelation indicates that Mueller's focus on Manafort is shifting from examining his Ukraine lobbying work to scrutinizing whether he colluded with Russian officials while serving as campaign chairman. It could also indicate Mueller's focus is broadening to Manafort's relationship with other high-level campaign officials.

source https://www.newssplashy.com/2018/04/politics-paul-manafort-moves-to.html