#and earlier in the week I got another good hearing decision and represented another client at 2 double header hearings last minute

[melaan]

got out of work at 2:30 today SLAY!!!!

[sueboohscorner]

#Bull - Season 5 Episode 6 "How to Save A Life" - Episode Review

Hello and Welcome Back, Bull Fans and long-time viewers of My Content; I hope that you are well and safe wherever you are located in the world. I was so sorry for no review last week. I believed my opinions of the episode were only small, as the episode based in case-based. There was little to no character development in the episode on the Side of Bull & TAC Team. And also unable to complete the review due to time constraints in my life. But again, I hope that you are safe and well wherever you are in the world. And I look forward to talking to all about the episode in the comment section below.

As I am writing this review, I am only a couple of minutes watching the episode, so It is fresh in my mind. Bull Season 5 Episode 6 was a great addition to the canon story of Bull in terms of character and relationship development of certain characters. From reading some of the opinions on social media, that some believe it becomes the chunk show. I can see that happening, but this character has little to no development in his character. So I think that Bull writers need to develop it. Always leave your opinions and thoughts on the episode at large in the comment section below or on Social Media (@tvfanatiau) on various platforms (#ad).

So without further ado, Let’s dive into Season 5, Episode 6, “How to Save a Life” from the Team at Bull.

"“To Save a Life” Plot: Bull and Chunk represent an emergency room doctor being sued for malpractice after she ignored direct orders to save one near-death patient in favour of helping another who was also critically injured. As voir dire begins, they look to select jurors who can consider the idea that their client made the best decision possible amidst an impossible situation. "  -- (Showbiz Junkies, 2021).

Character Development in Episode 6 of Season 5

This week we saw some essential developments in characters that have been unused in the show. Also, we got to see new combinations of relationships that happened in the episode. In the first section, we are going to talk about the characters that had developed.

1. Chunk

a) Bull Season 5 Episode 6 was a leading part in Chunk’s character development, as, throughout Season 5, we have finally seen more of his evolution into a lawyer. With the changing developments, we can see what he can do in terms of being a lawyer, What he can do as an employee of TAC. And being a valued member of the team. I am also of the opinion that with this episode. It was to give the audience more chance to understand how Chunk operates in a Court Room. We wait to hear how Benny does, As we are going to go through the process in DA recruitment.

2. Benny

We are slowly moving through S5, and we are getting an evolution that is needed to help me understand and become more invested in this character. In previous reviews of the show for s5 of Bull, I have said that Benny has had limited or no development of his career or even his personal life. But on this week’s episode was also was a chance for the Bull writers to move forward in his character arc and give the audience a much-needed update on where Benny is doing in the role for the job that Bull writers have teased since episode One of S5

3. Bull

a) In This week’s episode, we got to see the professional development in terms of how Bull runs TAC and how he is coping with the TAC team's changes. We did not get to see much of his personal life. I believe that Bull writers decide to make an episode storyline for this character further down the line in the season. But back to the point of the episode, we finally got to see how Bull can run his company and make the decisions. The relation to the case ahead and the client.

Relationship Development of Season 5 Episode 6 of Bull

We have talked about the character development that happens in the episode in the above section. Season 5 Episode 6 looks at some of the relationships developed in the s5 of the show. So in this section, we were going to look at the relationships showcased in the episode below.

1. Benny and Chunk

a) This relationship, I believe that this relationship has been unused in the show in the past. So I liked that the Bull writers finally realized that there potential in this relationship as we move forward through the season. I think that writers are to use this relationship as more of a mentor and mentee relationship as Chunk is going to become more experienced in this role that has given.

2. Bull and Benny

a) Now, this relationship in this episode, I think, is strained due to the changes that Benny is going to become the DA of New York, which we have seen this type of strain in the past. With Bull sleeping with Issy and developing that storyline in the show. But never to this degree in the professional world. I think this relationship can survive the change, as we know that Benny is Baby Bull’s uncle. So I hope that bull writers do not create a strain that will create tension between the long-time friends on the show. I also like those Bull writers will not drag it out as Benny is one of the show's leading characters.

I hope in the future, and we get to see more of this relationship. Play out in terms of the professional side of the relationship.

3. Chunk and Bull

a) Now, I have mentioned in the past reviews of Bull Season 5 that Chunk will become more of the go-to guy for some of the cases. But with Bull at the helm with, for some time, Benny as the company's principal attorney. But this episode, we got to see the dynamics of their working relationship and what they can achieve together in court. I hope in future episodes of Season 5 of Bull, and we get to see more of this relationship in terms of them working cases.

4. Bull and Tac Team

a) I mentioned in the above section in the character development, We got to see more of Bull of running the company. We have not seen in a while in Season 5, but I think that we have seen some amounts throughout, but I don’t think it was a major part of a storyline. But we get to see all of the team working together on this case from start to finish. And I hope in the future that we get to see more developments in the team overall. But I hope that we get to see more scenes like that we saw in this week’s episode.

Defense Strategy Of Season 5 Episode 6

At the beginning of the episode, we get to see the strategy laid out for the episode's audience. We got to know that Bull and Chunk are going with the below. “ they look to select jurors who can consider the idea that their client made the best decision possible amidst an impossible situation.”

Throughout the episode, we see how Bull and Chunk are thrown curveballs. How they can work together to disprove the other’s side theory & testimony, I hope we see more of these types of cases in the future.

Best, Emotional, Weird and Wacky, Worst Moments of Season 5 Episode 6 of Bull

Best Moments

1. A shout out to the production crew and the writers of Bull for working during a difficult time.

2. Chris Jackson’s acting was on point for this episode.

3. The Conversation between Benny, Bull, and Chunk in the car

4. The moment when they find the smoking gun for their case.

5. The Pool Bar scene when Benny tells Chunk some advice. About how to look into the case and present it to the jury.

Emotional Moments

There was a limited amount of emotional scenes that made me cried about the episode. I hope that we get to see more in the future parts of season 5.

The weird and wacky moments of the episode

1. some of the storylines that presented the audience and, to me was off

2. The moment Benny went into the courtroom and advised Bull on how Chunk can do better.

3. Benny is finally getting an office. I believe that he should have it earlier in the show.

Overall Thoughts and Opinions of Season 5 Episode 6

Season 5 Episode 6 of Bull was a solid episode to the canon of the story arc. It gives story development and different evolutions of the characters and relationships on the show as a whole. I hope that Bull writers can pull the storylines they propose in the show’s fifth season.

Bull S5 Episode 6 also gives the audience a change in direction that I believe has worked towards since the end of season 4. Some of the audience is thinking that Freddy is leaving the show. He is a major actor on the show at the moment. With the storyline that the Bull writers are creating for him, he can leave as he may have to leave TAC the company. With the restructuring of how Bull Runs TAC, we might see a difference of opinion.

Overall the episode was a good solid episode with a good strong case of the week. The acting was great in the episode, and I look forward to seeing more of how Bull and The TAC Team. Handle the next case.

Overall Rating 7/10

[florrickandassociates]

TGF Thoughts: 4x04-- The Gang is Satirized and Doesn’t Like It

The gang doesn’t like being satirized and I don’t like this episode.

No episode needs to be 57 minutes long. Is it possible that seeing the runtime put me in a bad mood before watching this episode? Absolutely.

Bianca is still trying to get Lucca to take a week off and come play on the beach. This is weird, right?

She’s using a drone to take a selfie which… yikes. Bianca asks what Lucca has in Chicago to match the beach. Lucca takes a look out the window and instead of seeing FakeChicago, she sees a window washer’s ass crack. Lucca protests that she has work in Chicago and can’t leave (are we going to mention her baby?). Before Bianca can ask more questions, David Lee calls Lucca into a meeting.

A former client who says he’s been “bouncing from one [firm] to the other” (which sort of explains why David Lee and Lucca would both have experience with this client who was at RBL a year ago?) is angry because he’s being defamed by a new play. He says his divorce is in the play and wants to sue.

Lucca ChumHums the playwright and recognizes him as a former associate. She brings the case to Adrian’s attention. Before Adrian understands that confidential info made it into the play, he talks about how you shouldn’t give satire oxygen because it will just go away. Easier said than done, huh, Adrian? 

They DID actually fire Alan North for drug use last year. We never saw the actor but his firing was referenced as precedent for firing Maia. Thanks Alan, I guess? 

(Right, I used to spend most of these recaps complaining about Maia! It is very nice not to be doing that anymore.)

Adrian jumps into the case to prevent the client from suing RBL.

We have to see the scene that ended the last episode again. That’s a little clumsy. Maybe trim the stuff we’ve already seen in an episode that’s this long? 

How does Jay POSSIBLY know that one specific dude up at STRL is blocking Diane from searching “What is Memo 618” on Bar-Swarm? I have questions.

Diane immediately heads upstairs to ask this dude about Memo 618. Jay wonders if that’s smart and Diane doesn’t care. As I said to an anon earlier, I feel like now is the time to get a journalist on the case.

Even though Diane storms upstairs uninvited, she’s told “they’re waiting for you.” Creepy.

Diane meets a lot of people, including Bryan Kneef (of internet blocking fame) and a dude who won’t stop hiccuping. 

Oh GOD are we going to have to hear one of these stupid stories from Mr. Firth in every single episode? No fucking wonder this episode is so long. 

Bryan is mad at Diane for poaching his clients. Diane has no idea what he’s talking about. Diane seems to know that her investigator is checking his clients to figure out why he’s blocking her internet. Does Diane actually know Jay is investigating his clients? Or is she just assuming that’s how he found out who was doing the blocking? Because literally as soon as Diane heard Kneef’s name she ran upstairs; there would be no time for her or Jay to begin looking into his clients. 

Mr. Firth asks for Diane not to steal Kneef’s clients and Kneef not to block Diane’s internet access. They agree, but it’s clear neither of them are going to stop doing what they were doing. 

Jay discovers that one of Kneef’s cases disappeared… when he was losing.

Oh, Caleb’s last name is Garlin, not Garland. Noted. Also, I think I mistakenly said STRL was British a few weeks ago. It doesn’t appear to be. 

Marissa bothers Caleb again and asks him to tell her a joke. He does, but she’s unimpressed. 

Caleb has a photographic memory. I like Caleb so far. I feel like he’s kind of what they wanted Finn to be-- a charming good guy. But we’ll see; it’s early yet. 

Caleb gives Diane the number of a legal code the judge needed to review. In a sequence that goes on 30 seconds too long, Diane discovers this code redirects to another code, which redirects right back endlessly. Fun! 

When Diane goes to check a physical book, she discovers all the legal books are fake. Sounds about right. 

Ah, this terrible attorney who hits on young women is back because of reasons related to the other case that disappeared. Marissa is now helping Diane with her 618 quest, maybe because she’s met this creep before?

Diane offers to represent him (he’s being sued for doing a shitty job on disappearing case).

Meanwhile, Adrian and Charlotte go to see “Cocksucker in Chains”, which turns out to be about an African American firm populated by characters who are clearly supposed to be the RBL partners. Julius narrates the play, Adrian likes to be dominated by the Diane character while roleplaying a slave to Diane’s dominatrix (yikes), etc. Adrian is named “Aiden” and Diane is “Dana”. This seems like a good time to remind you all of the original TGW character names from the Pilot outline: Alicia Follick, David Follick (and David Follick Jr.!!!), Dawna Lockhart, and Will Garvin.

The first time through, I was appreciative (and shocked) we got so few scenes from the play. Usually if the Kings have a device like this, we tend to get… more of the device than is necessary. Y’all know how this one turns out. 

This play, from what we see of it, looks kind of terrible. That said, I think it’s SUPER realistic, and interesting, that a low-level black associate would see all the white people coming into the firm as “dominating” a black man who gets off on being submissive. I don’t think that’s an accurate characterization of Adrian’s actions but if you don’t know his reasoning or how things played out, it absolutely could seem like Diane has all the power. And I imagine that young, idealistic lawyers who signed on to work at a firm that was proudly all-black would not have been thrilled by Diane’s sudden appearance and all of the changes that followed. Remember how in season one RBL had things it stood for and then Barbara left and then all it stood for was money?

Relatedly, remember that little throwaway line about how Barbara donated MORE money to HRC than Diane Lockhart did? Heh.

Adrian, as the episode title indicates, DOES NOT LIKE BEING SATIRIZED and tells Lucca they need to shut the play down. That escalated quickly.

Please explain to me how I accidentally memorized the name of the actor playing Kovac but didn’t memorize the character’s name. 

Diane tells Liz and Adrian about her latest Memo 618 adventure and Adrian keeps asking why this matters. “I’m not asking for your permission; I’m just filling you in,” Diane notes. “Maybe you should be asking for our permission,” Adrian counters because he does not want to be dominated by Diane. “Maybe. But I’m not,” she responds.

Liz thinks that Adrian acted weirdly. Adrian explains he doesn’t like how Diane insinuates she can overrule them. Liz has no idea what Adrian is talking about. So he explains the play. Liz still doesn’t think it’s a big deal and asks to take it over.

She then gets Caleb involved-- I guess Lucca is just done working now? Okay? It was nice to have Lucca scenes in this episode while it lasted!!! 

Liz and Caleb go to see the play and now we get to see the scenes where Liz is satirized. Fake Liz sings, because of COURSE they are going to have the FAKE version of her sing. Her song is about how her daddy is a sexual predator. It’s quite upsetting.

Liz and Caleb stay for a Q&A in which the playwright says the client in the play was “based on” (not “inspired by”). (Actually this happens after my second bullet but meh)

Then there’s a white woman who goes on a rant that feels too ridiculous to be true but apparently it’s lifted almost verbatim from an actual incident that happened at a Slave Play Q&A (I am not New York enough to have gotten the reference without the internet’s help). 

Monica is back! Yay Monica! Nikki just needs to show up on Evil next season and she’ll have been on every Kings show. 

Blah blah 618 blah blah. I don’t dislike this arc but I don’t have much to say about it. Like, I get it, corporations are powerful and the law is fake and this is a way of commenting on the insanity of the world while backing away from the politics. But other than saying that and enjoying the twists and turns… I don’t have anything to add.

Man, I miss character based drama. That’s not a criticism of the show, but this recap format is way less interesting (to write, and probably to read) when I don’t have anything to sink my teeth into.

Adrian doesn’t want to settle because now Adrian is mad. The client gets what he wants and Adrian insists they keep going. I mean, if the episode stopped now it would be a reasonable, even short, episode, and we’ve got fifty seven whole minutes to fill..

Liz is also on board to prolong the case. Lucca, who actually has perspective, tells Adrian he’s not acting in the client’s best interest. Adrian denies it. LOL, sure. 

At this exact moment Lucca receives (and looks at) a text from Bianca, who is still pursuing her. Tempting.

Liz asks Marissa if she’s heard of Cocksucker in Chains. She has, and she is getting a “gang” together to go see it, because of course she is.

David Lee enjoys the play. Diane and Kurt, less so. Julius and his wife do not like it at all. Also apparently we HAD seen Julius’s wife before and I somehow FORGOT?????

Play!Julius monologuing about justice makes Real!Julius reevaluate his decisions. 

Then we get into this weird Diane and Kurt sex plot that is kind of about the idea of problematic kinks (like getting off on watching a fake version of your white wife whip a black man) but is mostly just an excuse for fanservice in the form of Christine Baranski in sexy get-ups. She’s got an amazing figure, but does that alone justify this subplot? (I say no.)

(Also I’d be way more invested in a plotline about McHart’s sex life if it didn’t begin and conclude in the back half of a single episode. It’s sparked by the play-- not any ongoing issues-- and concludes in a cute way so to me it is… nothing.)

Marissa goes undercover as a playwright. Everyone in the group dislikes the writer of Cocksucker in Chains… a lot. They hand over the drafts easily.

Liz and Caleb spend a late night reading smut said by fake Liz in an early draft script to each other. Over it already. I was never a fan of boss/employee plots, and in this era, with this character who has SO MUCH potential but never really gets plotlines of her own, I have zero patience for this bullshit. Liz deserves better.

What really confuses me is that somehow Liz/Caleb is supposed to be about… investigating what interracial relationships are like???? If they’re so insistent on showing this can’t they… do something other than this? Random stranger at a bar?

I do not like this thing that is happening to Liz where whenever she gets a plot of her own it’s about fucking someone she shouldn’t be fucking. I haven’t forgotten what the writers did to Geneva Pine in late season seven for LITERALLY NO REASON. 

Liz would not flirt with an employee. Like, just stop. Liz has spent the last year coming to terms with her father being a serial assailant and we are going to deal with that by… having her make eyes at Caleb? That is not interesting or complicated.

And, tbh, it’s especially insulting to Liz when none of this feels motivated in character and ALL of it feels motivated in “we need a sexy forbidden romance so we can explore themes.” Get this plot away from Liz. 

This episode is too long, in case I haven’t already said that enough times.

And now the scene in which Bryan Kneef, the latest Rebel Dude Lawyer, says the word “ass” many times. I repeat: this episode is too long. 

Mr. Firth talks to Diane about pursuing 618. I don’t understand Mr. Firth’s deal. Why does he let Diane continue? Is he just a person who happens to be powerful who is actually trying to do a fair job and be understanding? This show just doesn’t have characters like that so you see why I am skeptical.

Again with the window washers. Of all the symbols of the problems with office life, this one?! (It plays especially poorly right now-- I wish that my biggest problem with my workspace was that there are people cleaning the windows to make my view nicer and not, you know, that my current workspace is my bedroom.) 

Firth goes to see Lucca next. Lucca says she doesn’t like her new standing desk. Wait. They got desks that are standing ONLY without consulting the employees? 

This scene is succeeding in making me miss the standing desk that I’ve only ever used as a standing desk, like, twice. 

No one on this show has a monitor at their desk. I wonder if that’s true to life for law firms. 

Now Bianca has found a way to make it part of Lucca’s JOB to come hang out at the beach and this is making me uncomfortable. Firth tells Lucca to go, even though Lucca shares her concern that Bianca just wants a friend. Firth somehow has a similar story to share and tells Lucca “the rich are not like us.” K. Sure. Maybe we can get away with calling Lucca well-off instead of rich but Firth? Rich. Maybe not ultra wealthy but dude is rich. 

SERIOUSLY what is with the window washers?

Enjoy this scene of Diane the dominatrix, fans. It’s here for you. 

(I don’t mean that snarkily against fans. I mean that snarkily against the show.)

The stock footage clip with the moon over Chicago is one of the more interesting stock footage clips I’ve seen the show use (plus it actually looks like the neighborhood Diane would live in!)

Oh I am just so thrilled that at the 44 minute mark, we are starting to do a series of unnecessary scenes in which the characters converse with their actor counterparts. What a good use of time.

And the sad thing is that I should like this device… but I don’t. None of this is actually building up the characters for me? How invested can I be in Diane and Kurt’s sex life problems when I’ve known about them for less than half of the episode? How interested can I be in deconstructing 

And I don’t need a scene of Julius debating if he should be honest or not, because the scene of him watching the play was enough to make me understand he’s having doubts about complying with 618.

And you know what I REALLY, TRULY, DO NOT NEED? ALL OF THIS ATROCIOUS LIZ/CALEB PLOT. 

Why is Play Liz so horny? What about Real Liz made the playwright write Liz to be like this? And if it’s not accurate, why is it getting under Liz’s skin like this? I get the Diane one because it was a turn-on and it makes Diane wonder about dominating (outside of the bedroom, too). I get the Adrian one because I mean holy shit that’s a big claim to make. And I get the Julius one because Julius loves to be the voice of reason/hear his own voice and feels like a hypocrite. But Liz? What the fuck is this nonsense?

Liz saying “I’m his boss” and talking about HR does not excuse the fact that we are pretending a boss/employee romance is a good plotline in 2020. And I’m so confused about why THIS is the way they are choosing to explore an interracial relationship.

I have watched TV shows before so obviously as soon as I saw Liz get on the elevator, I knew from the fact that we were watching her leave… she wasn’t going to leave. She was going to go and fuck her employee. Great writing guys. 

This also managed to remind me of all my anger at the Red Team Blue Team Willicia kiss (they previewed it as a sneak peak and I was excited that it it didn’t end with them kissing because that’s so cliche… then I watched the episode and I’m still furious about it in season four of the spinoff.) so thanks for that too, writers. 

Why is Fake Liz’s stupid song so goddamn long? 

“Oh God help me,” Liz says as she knowingly goes to make an incredibly stupid decision I have NOT A SINGLE REASON to believe she would make. But this is The Good Fight, and on The Good Fight we care about plot more than characters. 

(Oh. I am in a bad mood.) 

The client wants out of the suit because… I mean, duh? He got what he wanted and this should have stopped at like the 20 minute mark?

If I never had to see another one of these “boss and employee awkwardly talk in the office about how it’s nbd they fucked last night” scenes again I would be OVER THE MOON. I watched all of Willicia and I will rewatch all of Willicia, is that not enough?! 

I do like Caleb so far, but man, that just makes this worse! I like Caleb and I like Liz and maybe I could even like them together but I am so furious they’re doing the boss/employee thing it just makes me sad to see this happen to characters I like. 

Diane is now circling the word “ass” in transcripts of the deposition, but the suit’s been dropped because the suit was settled for 1.8 million. (I am sure that’s a lot to the victim and absolutely nothing to the corporation.) 

Also Kovac brings Diane a bird because WE LOVE WACKINESS ON THE GOOD FIGHT. 

And now for a scene in which a mysterious visitor gives Kurt a warning to stop Diane from pursuing something dangerous. I thought we were done with this. This shit is what I hated about the Book Club arc in season three: the stakes got too high for me to take it seriously. They run the risk of doing the same with Memo 618. Keep it small scale. 

Kurt tells Diane about his visitor, and Kurt and Diane both recognize that this is similar to what happened last year, so at least there’s continuity. 

Diane says this isn’t about politics. I mean. Not overtly. But that’s the point. This whole arc is a thinly veiled way of exploring how the legal system breaks down when there’s no enforcement, and lack of enforcement is tied to politics, so… is this really as apolitical as Diane wants it to seem? Certainly it’s less political than Book Club but I don’t think a radical group should be the benchmark.

Diane promises she’ll drop 618, then gets an idea to spice up her sex life by modifying her dominatrix costume into a sexy cowgirl costume. (Diane is not going to drop 618. This is episode 4.)

Did Diane just grab a gun from the bathroom? Why are there guns in the bathroom? I guess it makes sense if she was planning this.

Oh and that’s the end of the episode!!! I DID IT!!!! I MADE IT THROUGH HIS EPISODE A SECOND TIME!

[hobiheavenly]

Karma’s Cravings

✧ Pairing: Min Yoongi x Reader

✧ Multichapter, Coffee Shop AU, E2L

✧ Word Count: 3.9k 

✧Summary: Your life is going idyllically with your business with the exception of having to work with Min Yoongi who disapproves of your comercial tactics. but when one day a medium tells you he is to be the love of your life you are quick to shut her down but running away from fate can come with cause consequences.  

✧ A.N: Ok so I know I promised a Hobi fic to be my first but I had this idea and I just had to develop it. I edited this from a fic I did years ago but I knew Yoongi would fill this au with ease! hope you enjoy it <3

Part 1

Life was blissful. It was the morning peace that filled your heart with happiness as you prepared a fresh batch of new cookies. You felt proud of yourself for the idyllic peace you had manage to create. not just because you were doing what you loved but also because you were doing it on your own. even when it wasn’t easy to get to where you were you had finally reached that part of life you wanted to be.

At a young age and with the help of your best friend Seokjin, you started your dream of owning your very own coffee shop. Seokjin was the one who cooked and you were the one who made the designs and the names as well. To many, especially your parents, this was just a ridiculous idea. That you would go broke in a matter of weeks. Turns out, that same  business they doubted from the start was rising and booming with clients. And even the name of the shop appealed to them, "Constant Cravings".

When you searched for the best spot, you found a great space located near your home and was located in the best location for people who needed sweets and caffeine in their daily lives. One bad part, your new boss. Well he wasn't your boss, but he was the manager of the space where you had your coffee shop. His name was so bittersweet and the only mention of it made have the chills, Min Yoongi.

But today was not the day to think about the sourman that is your boss. Today you had a big gig to complete. You were offered the chance to make cookies for a big party that the owners of the space had every year for Valentines Day. You were especially excited since you would earn a lot of money that day. Bad news was, Seokjin reported sick that day so there was no one to replace him and you were left with all the work. Luckily enough you knew the recipe by heart and all you needed to do was bake all the batches for the party.

Once you got to the party, you put all the cookies in display and all of the most important people were there. The owner of the space was there, along with his son. There were many new people you hadn't seen before, great NEW customers! There was a woman in a big red tent, outside was a sign that read, "The Grand Madame Karma, she sees it all and knows it all".

"Yeah sure, all I need to know right now is if this thing is going to work or not, I really need the money"  you thought.

The day went on and the party seemed tranquil, and by that I meant boring. "Don't these people know how to party? All they talk about is business and money. Its Valentines Day! A time of love and caring, well if I had a boyfriend it would. Well, who needs a man when you have a successful shop?" you thought. Normally you’d speak your mind and not let any opinion inside you, but seeing that you would risk potential new customers so you kept your mouth shut.

It was almost over everyone was moving on from the event and really nothing interesting really happened. The red tent was still standing tall in front. Maybe it was curiosity or maybe it’s the excitement of the unknown but you were still curious about Madame Karma. To make an excuse to go inside you went to give her one of her famous cookies and a cup of steaming coffee. You might not get a reading but at least a cookie never hurt anybody. Inside there was a woman, black long hair, around her 50s with long red nails to match her the red cape and on the table with the crystal ball right at the center. Typical. You gave a pleasant smile to the woman, offering her the cookie and beverage. Madame Karma smiled tenderly and felt relieved.

“Thanks a million my dear! Today is a cold day and a cookie is just what I need to get my romantic flow going. All I see in these people, or what they ask, is how their business will be. It’s Valentines Day and no one has asked me about romance!”

“Maybe because they are too stuck up to even think beyond their stupid computers. I call them "Informal Clones" they are too serious and superficial” you giggled.

“Now there is a great opinion I've been waiting to hear all day!” said Madame Karma, she looked at you and up and down “you know I used to have legs like yours, when I was your age.”

“Well you are going to love this cookie, it's called “Legs For Days", plus it's the shape of a cute high heel” You felt proud for your cookie naming abilities it was cute and sassy just like your brand was.

“Oh, god this is the most delicious cookie I have eaten, and trust me I have eaten too many cookies in my life” the medium laughed “What’s your name dear?”

“It’s ___, and I’m assuming you’re Madame Karma?”

“The one, the only, knows all, sees all!” she praised herself raising her arms up dramatically and laughed loudly at her over the top performance. “so tell me ___ how much do I owe you?”

“It’s on the house! I was going to bring it to you earlier, but as you can see my business is full.”

“I always give something in return. Tell you what, how about I read you your fortune as payment for such a wonderful cookie”

“Sounds good” you shrugged. As you sat in front of Madame Karma you started to feel rather giddy. You had always been curious to find out about her future, but never had the time to go to an actual medium.

“You have a bright aura, my dear. It has a tight connection” Madame Karma took out a stack of cards and put them on the table “I will employ the card with you, pick out 6 cards with your left hand” You did as told and gave her the cards. After that Madame Karma put them in groups of three and began to read the first group “This represents your past. I see three people, two men and a woman, I'm guessing they are your mother and father and brother, am I right?” You nodded, lucky guess. “Well I see disapproval in them, especially your father. He didn't want you to open your shop.”

You nodded once more. “He felt that I should go to college and I said I wanted to do a project with a friend. That really didn’t sit well with him being that I was supposed to become a lawyer or even an administrator of a huge company. I never cared for math, I even sucked at it in school so it wasn't great. I went on to this business because it was something I enjoyed.”

“Well just as you mention  I saw that decision in here! Now let’s go to your present. I see a great success in your business, although I see a presence of someone that pulls you down, like a big spine on your back.”

Immediately you thought of the pompous arrogant Min Yoongi that always criticized your business place calling it a waste of time and that the names of your creations were too scandalous. What did that jerk know about creativity?

“what will happen to that spine? Will he go away?”

“Patience, my dear” said Madame “wait till I get to the future. Right now we are in your present. Even though your professional life is boosting with great things, I see your personal life is a bit contrary to it. I see loneliness. No masculine company, but…..”

Oh she knew how to peak your interest… “But what?”

“I see someone on the horizon…”

“Please tell me it someone nice”you begged. It has been a while since you had been on a date, and the last one was a total lame waste of time!

“I see, someone who is hooked into your professional life. Now lets see the last row, that represents your instant future” after reading the last row Madame Karma looked at you with a half smile “do you remember when we talked about that spine up your ass? I can see he is a man, close to you although not in a personal way. Maybe a work partner” she looked at you with a gleam in her eye “do you know who Im talking about?”

“I can think of one man that I consider a spine up my ass” you rolled your eyes “He is the one who takes care of the building.”

“Yes I see he is a man of power.”

“Yeah, a powerful idiot!”

“What's his name?”

“Min Yoongi” you answered “Can you tell me if he will leave soon? Tell me he is going to be transferred to Siberia? Antarctica? Africa?”

“No. On the contrary. His connection with you will change completely. He will change from "pain in my ass" to "I can’t live without him".”

You dropped your jaw and began to laugh your guts off “ Oh that’s a good one! You must be talking about another spine up my ass, because I know it’s not him.

“Sweetheart, I assure you that he is. These are the cards, and Karma doesn't lie. Plus, you can’t escape Karma. If you try to escape from it, you will be forever cursed. And trust me, you don't want that to happen” Madame Karma grabbed your hands and looked at you in the eyes “Min Yoongi, even when you think he is the most insufferable man in the world, is the love of your life.”

_____________________________

Min Yoongi  was looking at you from across the garden and as he saw you, he felt his body feeling tense. There was just something about you that didn't feel right, at least not for him. He didn't understand what it was, but you were strange and you always got to his head making him irritated. Surely it was because of your notorious shop with all those extravagant and sensual names plus the way that you decorated the place was not exactly decent. I mean, who ever called a cookie "Chocolate Orgasm" or a coffee called "Hot, wet, and wild"?

The first day the store opened he went inside for a cappuccino so he could go to work, when suddenly you came to the counter with a great smile and asked him if he wanted the specialty of the day, "A Slow Trip To Pleasure". That happened less than a year a go and he still remember the way he had jumped when he saw such an innocent looking girl pronounce those words. But it was more the amazement of the tone in your voice and the spark in your eye that seemed to invite him as he had stood in shock. He had never been so nervous with a woman in all his life than he had been that day in the coffee shop.

If it weren't for the fact that "Constant Cravings" was the shop that produced more profits in the entire space, he would have canceled your contract a long time ago. Having you around caused too much problems. Especially since you were a complete opposite of him. You were outgoing and outspoken, while he was a calm person who minded his business and just prefered the silence. He preferred the calm of having a boss than doing all by yourself. Every time he would tell you that the way you sold things were too extravagant, but you would just laugh and tell him that it was exactly that extravagance, or more likely the sex appeal, is what sold your items the most.

True it as it may be, it was just too much and there were rules in the contract that established that you must control her decorations, but since no one ever complained things stayed as they were. But soon would come the day that you would regret this, since every time you changed your front window decoration you exploited more and more the theme of sexuality.

He looked around and saw you standing outside of the tent of the medium he had assigned for entertainment for the party. He saw your eyes, looking like two big crystals that shine like the sky in a hot spring day after a great storm. He tried to look away but instead he looked at you up and down looking at every centimeter of your body. You were far from looking sexy compared to the other business women in the party. In fact you were in your uniform, a white blouse and black pants. So then why did he feel so strange? It was ridiculous to feel attracted to a woman who he didn't even know on a personal field. But every time he saw you he imagine your lips moving slowly on him offering him a "Slow Trip To Pleasure".

“Are you going to visit the Medium?”

Yoongi shook his head, as if coming out of a trance and looked beside him. There standing was Hoseok, his best friend, with a cookie in his hand and a great smile, since he was always optimistic.

“Excuse me?” asked Yoongi.

“I said, are you going to go see the medium?”

“Naa! I don't believe in that gibberish!”

“Why don't you calm yourself down and have a good time? It’s your party!” Hoseok cheered him. It was true, he had organized everything to impress the owner of the space who wasn't especially fond of having a party, but seeing the opportunity to get new customers and keep happy his investors. He left Yoongi with the job and he put it in himself to make the best party ever.

Hoseok gave a small punch in his ribs and gave a sneaky smile to Yoongi “Seems like ____ is getting her cards read.”

“You know her?” Yoongi asked surprised.

“How can I not know the owner of the coffee shop that is close to my office? She is a very sweet gal.”

“Sweet wouldn't be the right term to describe her” said Yoongi smirking.

“You're right, the correct term would be "Intensely Hot"” Hoseok said with a seductive smile. A certain sense of jealousy began to grow in Yoongi's stomach but he didn't listen to it and looked at you.

“Hot? You think so?”

“Are you kidding? You're the manager of the space and you haven't noticed her?”

“ I've noticed her” Yoongi said deffensively

“And haven't you noticed that ____ is a hotty with a body? I mean she is so hot she could make a pool go on fire!”

“Well that may be true but her products and her technique for selling them left much to be desired.”

“Well its those product of hers that keep me alive! Yesterday I tried this new cookie called "Sugar kiss" and I'm telling you, that woman can make a grown man cry with them! They are extremely delicious! I wished she could make this cookie called "Wild Sex In The Back Seat Of A Car", I would sure try that…..with her.”

Yoongi looked at his best friend with a death glare and  Hoseok smiled innocently “Sorry dude, I forgot I was walking on your turf.”

“What in blazes are you talking about?”

“Dude, you gave me the death glare! That means you are interested in her. Plus you haven't stopped looking at her since she went into the tent. For one thing I'm happy that you finally are into a girl that isn't a total stuck up. Bad thing for me is now don't have a chance. Maybe she has a sister.”

“Ok I am NOT interested in _____! First of all, if I'm looking at her it’s because I'm trying to see what she is going to do next because she always wants to irritate me by doing something out of the ordinary. Second of all, I am not always interested in stuck up girls. And third of all, if you want her you can have her.”

“If you continue to say that I'm going to end up believing that, and just so you know you do date uptight, stuck up women, all the time! Every girl is a copy of the other! Boring to hell too. But ___ is not boring in any way! Good thing you don't like her cause I've been hitting on her all week and she has been sweet but just that, sweet. Could be she has a boyfriend.”

Yoongi got relieved that you didn't pay attention to Hoseok’s advances but suddenly felt frustrated that there was a possibility you could have a formal boyfriend. Wait, why the hell was he worrying? He didn't care for you personal life!

“Come on, lets get your future read! Maybe we can find out if there is a woman that can shake your chubber! I bet it’s ___!”

“Why don't you go and see about yourself” Yoongi said “You need a woman more than me.”

“I already got a date with a girl I met in the supermarket, her name is Momo and she was talking about Broccoli when I met her.”

“But you hate Broccoli.”

“Well for that babe, it was well worth it. You should’ve seen her body to know what I'm talking about. Besides you need a spin around the town, meet a girl that you can have a good time. When is the last time you had sex?”

“I am not telling you” the last thing Yoongi needed was his best friend laughing at his dried up sex life. He would die of laughter if he knew.

“Yoongi, either you tell me, or I'm going directly to _____ and telling her that you want her.”

“God you're like the nosy brother I never wanted! Two months! There! Happy?”

Hoseok’s jaw dropped “ DUDE! Your dick is going to fall off if you don't do something about it!”

“Oh brother! Do you always think about this or is the Valentines Day spirit swelling you mind and apparently your dick too?” Yoongi rolled his eyes “I am going to see if I can get a girl if it will get you off my case!”

“Ok, but let's have fun tonight, go see the medium, she can tell you about your love life! Maybe ____ can get it to be more fun.”

“NOT HER!”

“Ok but at least she can give us a clue to whom” Hoseok patted him on his shoulder and got him close to the tent and they saw you coming out. You looked at Yoongi and then quickly turned to Hoseok, almost avoiding his gaze.

“Hobi, I'm glad to see you” you smiled tenderly “Are you missing my double coffee with no foam?”

“That and your cookies” he smiled back and winked “they are the best things I have ever had in my life!”

You smiled back and Yoongi could have sworn that seemed to be the most seductive thing. Damn! He loved contagious smiles and particularly this woman had the sexiest contagious smile ever! Curse his bad luck!

“Min Yoongi” You said in a serious voice.

“_____” he greeted.

Seeing Hoseok and Yoongi was an odd match considering the fact that they looked like polar opposites, “Are you acquainted?”

“Yes we are very good friends since high school”  the manager said all serious.

“Now that's something you don't see every day” You laughed.

“It seems you are surprised to see that I have friends.”

“Well at least one who is very charming.”

“I can be charming. I am just not that patient with people who live to irritate me daily with their over the top decorations to a shop that leaves very little to the imagination. The mannequins I saw in the morning on the front window of your shop were completely naked!”

“I'm sorry but my mannequins are completely dressed” you began to protest.

“In an evident way like a slap.”

“Is that an invitation?” your eyes sparked with a flame of anger.

“I didn't know you had violent tendencies.”

“Only with people who irritate me and put me nervous”

“Speaking of nervous” he pointed with her index finger “your front window is….”

“Provocative? Interesting?”

“ Excessive!”

“Thanks for the compliment!” You smiled.

“THAT WAS NOT A COMPLIMENT!”

“Coming from you, the fact that you actually noticed the front window is a compliment in itself. Tell me did you really just look at it or were you so wrapped in yourself that when you were looking at your reflection you accidentally saw it?”

“Evidently our last conversation about the decoration was but alas forgotten” he rolled his eyes, his signature move, “Seeing as how you have such a short attention spam”

“Don't you dare insult my intellect! I know what you said! I know what I said! Don't come up to me with those airs of superiority and insult me.”

“Well if you can remember then you must have not heard”.

“I know how to hear and to remember, but I also know this exquisite word called "ignore" if you want I can get a dictionary for you so you can look it up! Oh and FYI you wouldn't know creativity even if it bit you up the ass!”

“You obviously don't know me”

“Oh I know you very well, Mr. Informal Clone!” you looked at him up and down with certain air of despise.

“I have that feeling too, Miss. I dont ever listen to my boss!” he said ironically, “how lucky for both of us.”

“I wouldn't employ that term in this case. But I see we finally agree in something!”

“I think it is the first time” he smirked.

“Maybe you should come by my shop, I just made a new cookie in the shape of a pair of lips” you smiled before adding “It's called, "BITE ME!"

Hoseok tried his hardest not to laugh but obviously it was in vain. Yoongi turned around and glared at his friend. Damn, he had forgotten about his friend and of Madame Karma as well, who was standing behind you. He scoweled at you and went to Madame Karma

“No thanks, I'm not in the mood for coffee. But maybe you can give hobi, seeing how he LOOOVES your coffee and cookies” then he turned to Madame Karma and shook her hand “Madame Karma I am….”

“Min Yoongi” she whispered amazed.

“Yes, well I came to see if you can tell me my future” he said without showing surprise as to how she could know his name.

“Your aura is bright…. exceptionally bright” Madame Karma said as she saw Yoongi's hand then she turned to you and made a movement with her head “____, dear, please leave. Mr. Min and I have a lot to talk about.”

Yoongi couldn't think of anything he had to ask Madame Karma in particulat. He was guessing that she would read some plain old cards say some mumbo jumbo and he would just nod. Then he would thank her and leave. How bad could it be?

Life was blissful. It was the morning peace that filled your heart with happiness as you prepared a fresh batch of new cookies. You felt proud of yourself for the idyllic peace you had manage to create. not just because you were doing what you loved but also because you were doing it on your own. even when it wasn’t easy to get to where you were you had finally reached that part of life you wanted to be.

At a young age and with the help of your best friend Seokjin, you started your dream of owning your very own coffee shop. Seokjin was the one who cooked and you were the one who made the designs and the names as well. To many, especially your parents, this was just a ridiculous idea. That you would go broke in a matter of weeks. Turns out, that same  business they doubted from the start was rising and booming with clients. And even the name of the shop appealed to them, "Constant Cravings".

When you searched for the best spot, you found a great space located near your home and was located in the best location for people who needed sweets and caffeine in their daily lives. One bad part, your new boss. Well he wasn't your boss, but he was the manager of the space where you had your coffee shop. His name was so bittersweet and the only mention of it made have the chills, Min Yoongi.

But today was not the day to think about the sourman that is your boss. Today you had a big gig to complete. You were offered the chance to make cookies for a big party that the owners of the space had every year for Valentines Day. You were especially excited since you would earn a lot of money that day. Bad news was, Seokjin reported sick that day so there was no one to replace him and you were left with all the work. Luckily enough you knew the recipe by heart and all you needed to do was bake all the batches for the party.

Once you got to the party, you put all the cookies in display and all of the most important people were there. The owner of the space was there, along with his son. There were many new people you hadn't seen before, great NEW customers! There was a woman in a big red tent, outside was a sign that read, "The Grand Madame Karma, she sees it all and knows it all".

"Yeah sure, all I need to know right now is if this thing is going to work or not, I really need the money"  you thought.

The day went on and the party seemed tranquil, and by that I meant boring. "Don't these people know how to party? All they talk about is business and money. Its Valentines Day! A time of love and caring, well if I had a boyfriend it would. Well, who needs a man when you have a successful shop?" you thought. Normally you’d speak your mind and not let any opinion inside you, but seeing that you would risk potential new customers so you kept your mouth shut.

It was almost over everyone was moving on from the event and really nothing interesting really happened. The red tent was still standing tall in front. Maybe it was curiosity or maybe it’s the excitement of the unknown but you were still curious about Madame Karma. To make an excuse to go inside you went to give her one of her famous cookies and a cup of steaming coffee. You might not get a reading but at least a cookie never hurt anybody. Inside there was a woman, black long hair, around her 50s with long red nails to match her the red cape and on the table with the crystal ball right at the center. Typical. You gave a pleasant smile to the woman, offering her the cookie and beverage. Madame Karma smiled tenderly and felt relieved.

“Thanks a million my dear! Today is a cold day and a cookie is just what I need to get my romantic flow going. All I see in these people, or what they ask, is how their business will be. It’s Valentines Day and no one has asked me about romance!”

“Maybe because they are too stuck up to even think beyond their stupid computers. I call them "Informal Clones" they are too serious and superficial” you giggled.

“Now there is a great opinion I've been waiting to hear all day!” said Madame Karma, she looked at you and up and down “you know I used to have legs like yours, when I was your age.”

“Well you are going to love this cookie, it's called “Legs For Days", plus it's the shape of a cute high heel” You felt proud for your cookie naming abilities it was cute and sassy just like your brand was.

“Oh, god this is the most delicious cookie I have eaten, and trust me I have eaten too many cookies in my life” the medium laughed “What’s your name dear?”

“It’s ___, and I’m assuming you’re Madame Karma?”

“The one, the only, knows all, sees all!” she praised herself raising her arms up dramatically and laughed loudly at her over the top performance. “so tell me ___ how much do I owe you?”

“It’s on the house! I was going to bring it to you earlier, but as you can see my business is full.”

“I always give something in return. Tell you what, how about I read you your fortune as payment for such a wonderful cookie”

“Sounds good” you shrugged. As you sat in front of Madame Karma you started to feel rather giddy. You had always been curious to find out about her future, but never had the time to go to an actual medium.

“You have a bright aura, my dear. It has a tight connection” Madame Karma took out a stack of cards and put them on the table “I will employ the card with you, pick out 6 cards with your left hand” You did as told and gave her the cards. After that Madame Karma put them in groups of three and began to read the first group “This represents your past. I see three people, two men and a woman, I'm guessing they are your mother and father and brother, am I right?” You nodded, lucky guess. “Well I see disapproval in them, especially your father. He didn't want you to open your shop.”

You nodded once more. “He felt that I should go to college and I said I wanted to do a project with a friend. That really didn’t sit well with him being that I was supposed to become a lawyer or even an administrator of a huge company. I never cared for math, I even sucked at it in school so it wasn't great. I went on to this business because it was something I enjoyed.”

“Well just as you mention  I saw that decision in here! Now let’s go to your present. I see a great success in your business, although I see a presence of someone that pulls you down, like a big spine on your back.”

Immediately you thought of the pompous arrogant Min Yoongi that always criticized your business place calling it a waste of time and that the names of your creations were too scandalous. What did that jerk know about creativity?

“what will happen to that spine? Will he go away?”

“Patience, my dear” said Madame “wait till I get to the future. Right now we are in your present. Even though your professional life is boosting with great things, I see your personal life is a bit contrary to it. I see loneliness. No masculine company, but…..”

Oh she knew how to peak your interest… “But what?”

“I see someone on the horizon…”

“Please tell me it someone nice”you begged. It has been a while since you had been on a date, and the last one was a total lame waste of time!

“I see, someone who is hooked into your professional life. Now lets see the last row, that represents your instant future” after reading the last row Madame Karma looked at you with a half smile “do you remember when we talked about that spine up your ass? I can see he is a man, close to you although not in a personal way. Maybe a work partner” she looked at you with a gleam in her eye “do you know who Im talking about?”

“I can think of one man that I consider a spine up my ass” you rolled your eyes “He is the one who takes care of the building.”

“Yes I see he is a man of power.”

“Yeah, a powerful idiot!”

“What's his name?”

“Min Yoongi” you answered “Can you tell me if he will leave soon? Tell me he is going to be transferred to Siberia? Antarctica? Africa?”

“No. On the contrary. His connection with you will change completely. He will change from "pain in my ass" to "I can’t live without him".”

You dropped your jaw and began to laugh your guts off “ Oh that’s a good one! You must be talking about another spine up my ass, because I know it’s not him.

“Sweetheart, I assure you that he is. These are the cards, and Karma doesn't lie. Plus, you can’t escape Karma. If you try to escape from it, you will be forever cursed. And trust me, you don't want that to happen” Madame Karma grabbed your hands and looked at you in the eyes “Min Yoongi, even when you think he is the most insufferable man in the world, is the love of your life.”

_____________________________

Min Yoongi  was looking at you from across the garden and as he saw you, he felt his body feeling tense. There was just something about you that didn't feel right, at least not for him. He didn't understand what it was, but you were strange and you always got to his head making him irritated. Surely it was because of your notorious shop with all those extravagant and sensual names plus the way that you decorated the place was not exactly decent. I mean, who ever called a cookie "Chocolate Orgasm" or a coffee called "Hot, wet, and wild"?

The first day the store opened he went inside for a cappuccino so he could go to work, when suddenly you came to the counter with a great smile and asked him if he wanted the specialty of the day, "A Slow Trip To Pleasure". That happened less than a year a go and he still remember the way he had jumped when he saw such an innocent looking girl pronounce those words. But it was more the amazement of the tone in your voice and the spark in your eye that seemed to invite him as he had stood in shock. He had never been so nervous with a woman in all his life than he had been that day in the coffee shop.

If it weren't for the fact that "Constant Cravings" was the shop that produced more profits in the entire space, he would have canceled your contract a long time ago. Having you around caused too much problems. Especially since you were a complete opposite of him. You were outgoing and outspoken, while he was a calm person who minded his business and just prefered the silence. He preferred the calm of having a boss than doing all by yourself. Every time he would tell you that the way you sold things were too extravagant, but you would just laugh and tell him that it was exactly that extravagance, or more likely the sex appeal, is what sold your items the most.

True it as it may be, it was just too much and there were rules in the contract that established that you must control her decorations, but since no one ever complained things stayed as they were. But soon would come the day that you would regret this, since every time you changed your front window decoration you exploited more and more the theme of sexuality.

He looked around and saw you standing outside of the tent of the medium he had assigned for entertainment for the party. He saw your eyes, looking like two big crystals that shine like the sky in a hot spring day after a great storm. He tried to look away but instead he looked at you up and down looking at every centimeter of your body. You were far from looking sexy compared to the other business women in the party. In fact you were in your uniform, a white blouse and black pants. So then why did he feel so strange? It was ridiculous to feel attracted to a woman who he didn't even know on a personal field. But every time he saw you he imagine your lips moving slowly on him offering him a "Slow Trip To Pleasure".

“Are you going to visit the Medium?”

Yoongi shook his head, as if coming out of a trance and looked beside him. There standing was Hoseok, his best friend, with a cookie in his hand and a great smile, since he was always optimistic.

“Excuse me?” asked Yoongi.

“I said, are you going to go see the medium?”

“Naa! I don't believe in that gibberish!”

“Why don't you calm yourself down and have a good time? It’s your party!” Hoseok cheered him. It was true, he had organized everything to impress the owner of the space who wasn't especially fond of having a party, but seeing the opportunity to get new customers and keep happy his investors. He left Yoongi with the job and he put it in himself to make the best party ever.

Hoseok gave a small punch in his ribs and gave a sneaky smile to Yoongi “Seems like ____ is getting her cards read.”

“You know her?” Yoongi asked surprised.

“How can I not know the owner of the coffee shop that is close to my office? She is a very sweet gal.”

“Sweet wouldn't be the right term to describe her” said Yoongi smirking.

“You're right, the correct term would be "Intensely Hot"” Hoseok said with a seductive smile. A certain sense of jealousy began to grow in Yoongi's stomach but he didn't listen to it and looked at you.

“Hot? You think so?”

“Are you kidding? You're the manager of the space and you haven't noticed her?”

“ I've noticed her” Yoongi said deffensively

“And haven't you noticed that ____ is a hotty with a body? I mean she is so hot she could make a pool go on fire!”

“Well that may be true but her products and her technique for selling them left much to be desired.”

“Well its those product of hers that keep me alive! Yesterday I tried this new cookie called "Sugar kiss" and I'm telling you, that woman can make a grown man cry with them! They are extremely delicious! I wished she could make this cookie called "Wild Sex In The Back Seat Of A Car", I would sure try that…..with her.”

Yoongi looked at his best friend with a death glare and  Hoseok smiled innocently “Sorry dude, I forgot I was walking on your turf.”

“What in blazes are you talking about?”

“Dude, you gave me the death glare! That means you are interested in her. Plus you haven't stopped looking at her since she went into the tent. For one thing I'm happy that you finally are into a girl that isn't a total stuck up. Bad thing for me is now don't have a chance. Maybe she has a sister.”

“Ok I am NOT interested in _____! First of all, if I'm looking at her it’s because I'm trying to see what she is going to do next because she always wants to irritate me by doing something out of the ordinary. Second of all, I am not always interested in stuck up girls. And third of all, if you want her you can have her.”

“If you continue to say that I'm going to end up believing that, and just so you know you do date uptight, stuck up women, all the time! Every girl is a copy of the other! Boring to hell too. But ___ is not boring in any way! Good thing you don't like her cause I've been hitting on her all week and she has been sweet but just that, sweet. Could be she has a boyfriend.”

Yoongi got relieved that you didn't pay attention to Hoseok’s advances but suddenly felt frustrated that there was a possibility you could have a formal boyfriend. Wait, why the hell was he worrying? He didn't care for you personal life!

“Come on, lets get your future read! Maybe we can find out if there is a woman that can shake your chubber! I bet it’s ___!”

“Why don't you go and see about yourself” Yoongi said “You need a woman more than me.”

“I already got a date with a girl I met in the supermarket, her name is Momo and she was talking about Broccoli when I met her.”

“But you hate Broccoli.”

“Well for that babe, it was well worth it. You should’ve seen her body to know what I'm talking about. Besides you need a spin around the town, meet a girl that you can have a good time. When is the last time you had sex?”

“I am not telling you” the last thing Yoongi needed was his best friend laughing at his dried up sex life. He would die of laughter if he knew.

“Yoongi, either you tell me, or I'm going directly to _____ and telling her that you want her.”

“God you're like the nosy brother I never wanted! Two months! There! Happy?”

Hoseok’s jaw dropped “ DUDE! Your dick is going to fall off if you don't do something about it!”

“Oh brother! Do you always think about this or is the Valentines Day spirit swelling you mind and apparently your dick too?” Yoongi rolled his eyes “I am going to see if I can get a girl if it will get you off my case!”

“Ok, but let's have fun tonight, go see the medium, she can tell you about your love life! Maybe ____ can get it to be more fun.”

“NOT HER!”

“Ok but at least she can give us a clue to whom” Hoseok patted him on his shoulder and got him close to the tent and they saw you coming out. You looked at Yoongi and then quickly turned to Hoseok, almost avoiding his gaze.

“Hobi, I'm glad to see you” you smiled tenderl “Are you missing my double coffee with no foam?”

“That and your cookies” he smiled back and winked “they are the best things I have ever had in my life!”

You smiled back and Yoongi could have sworn that seemed to be the most seductive thing. Damn! He loved contagious smiles and particularly this woman had the sexiest contagious smile ever! Curse his bad luck!

“Min Yoongi” You said in a serious voice.

“_____” he greeted.

Seeing Hoseok and Yoongi was an odd match considering the fact that they looked like polar opposites, “Are you acquainted?”

“Yes we are very good friends since high school”  the manager said all serious.

“Now that's something you don't see every day” You laughed.

“It seems you are surprised to see that I have friends.”

“Well at least one who is very charming.”

“I can be charming. I am just not that patient with people who live to irritate me daily with their over the top decorations to a shop that leaves very little to the imagination. The mannequins I saw in the morning on the front window of your shop were completely naked!”

“I'm sorry but my mannequins are completely dressed” you began to protest.

“In an evident way like a slap.”

“Is that an invitation?” your eyes sparked with a flame of anger.

“I didn't know you had violent tendencies.”

“Only with people who irritate me and put me nervous”

“Speaking of nervous” he pointed with her index finger “your front window is….”

“Provocative? Interesting?”

“ Excessive!”

“Thanks for the compliment!” You smiled.

“THAT WAS NOT A COMPLIMENT!”

“Coming from you, the fact that you actually noticed the front window is a compliment in itself. Tell me did you really just look at it or were you so wrapped in yourself that when you were looking at your reflection you accidentally saw it?”

“Evidently our last conversation about the decoration was but alas forgotten” he rolled his eyes, his signature move, “Seeing as how you have such a short attention spam”

“Don't you dare insult my intellect! I know what you said! I know what I said! Don't come up to me with those airs of superiority and insult me.”

“Well if you can remember then you must have not heard”.

“I know how to hear and to remember, but I also know this exquisite word called "ignore" if you want I can get a dictionary for you so you can look it up! Oh and FYI you wouldn't know creativity even if it bit you up the ass!”

“You obviously don't know me”

“Oh I know you very well, Mr. Informal Clone!” you looked at him up and down with certain air of despise.

“I have that feeling too, Miss. I dont ever listen to my boss!” he said ironically, “how lucky for both of us.”

“I wouldn't employ that term in this case. But I see we finally agree in something!”

“I think it is the first time” he smirked.

“Maybe you should come by my shop, I just made a new cookie in the shape of a pair of lips” you smiled before adding “It's called, "BITE ME!"

Hoseok tried his hardest not to laugh but obviously it was in vain. Yoongi turned around and glared at his friend. Damn, he had forgotten about his friend and of Madame Karma as well, who was standing behind you. He scoweled at you and went to Madame Karma

“No thanks, I'm not in the mood for coffee. But maybe you can give hobi, seeing how he LOOOVES your coffee and cookies” then he turned to Madame Karma and shook her hand “Madame Karma I am….”

“Min Yoongi” she whispered amazed.

“Yes, well I came to see if you can tell me my future” he said without showing surprise as to how she could know his name.

“Your aura is bright…. exceptionally bright” Madame Karma said as she saw Yoongi's hand then she turned to you and made a movement with her head “____, dear, please leave. Mr. Min and I have a lot to talk about.”

Yoongi couldn't think of anything he had to ask Madame Karma in particular. He was guessing that she would read some plain old cards say some mumbo jumbo and he would just nod. Then he would thank her and leave. How bad could it be?

[askfatmaudpie]

NUTTY BODY (2nd anniversary of the blog)

Another day in the rock farm. The sun was rising, Pinkie helped Marble in the Pie sector, Limes, the boss of the 4 daughters of the now deceased Igneous and Cloudzy Rock Pie, was checking the mail stuffs while Maud, which was planning to work at 6 a.m was still sleeping at 11 a.m dreaming of eating rocks...

“bills, bills, affetto mails, tumblr asks, bills...” the blue-grey sister was checking with an unamused face that would terrified a lot of people if they own her something. The mails seemed to be an average mediocre news for starting the day, then something enlighten her morning...

        “M or Ms Pie from the Pie farm domain...

You are cordially invited to this year’s “Grand Galloping Agriculture & Industry Center” to represent the rock industry of your city: Rockville W.Eq.

Your stand will be the number 418 west wing as shown on the map...

the GGAIC will take place on....

YAHOOO!  Limestone instinctivelly yelled out loud not caring of who’s asleep nor who need to hear it! The pink sister ,Pinkie, could hear it from the nearby mine and rushed out to know what was happening, even tho she knew in her mind that it has to be good to makes her older sister yelled her joy.

“Limestone!” She arrived at their house with her young sister almost riding her against her will because pinkie was holding her my the torso. “What is happening! Oh lemme guess! You had a letter that isn’t bill! That isn’t love letter for Maud! That isn’t Tumblr asks like for X asks everybody gained Y pounds! THAT ISN’T TUMBLR ASK AT ALL!” The older sister limes was only noding yes or no with the joyfull smile of a child. “OH LEMME GUESS DEAPER! you had a letter.... from the equestrian ministeries of agriculture and industry... becauuuuuse... WE HAVE A STAND ON THE Grand Galloping Agriculture and Industry Center YOU ALWAYS WANTED TO GO FOR YEARS!!!!!!!” 

“YES!” The older sister threw while dancing on her back legs with her younger sisters Pinkie then Marble which hasn’t even process what’s going on! “This is going to be the BEST DAY EVER!” Limes threw while her and pinkie were doing some dance of the joy on the living room thinking of all the potential income it could bring...

There will be plenty of good time for everypony! Limestone will be having new clients, Pinkie will will be invite of the “end of the day” party they organized for the stands and for the visitor too. Heck! Even Marble will have some good coffee, she even has a friend from Swhaydeen that will be there at the coffee stand... Everypony seemed to be happy until a weird sound came out....

*GUURRrroowwwwwrrblorrrrrup slosh*

“Mmh” A fourth sister cames out rubbing her large belly yelling for breakfast while sloshing at every step she was doing “Congrats everybody! We did it!” she said with her monotone voice while coming for a meal.

Everybody stop dancing when she came out, you could actually see than their 4th sister, Maud, was a bit different when it comes to morning hygiene at the body awakening...You could actually see that despite she was preparing a meal large enough to makes her 3 sisters sated, you could actually see she had a midnight snack, even a 2 and 4 o clock snack in the morning, if not 2...

“Welp guess we should organized ourselves to know, who will do what, might if i helps after my breakfast” The 3 sisters watch out while Maud, the biggest one is eating like 4 with her still neutral looking despite all the sweatness she managed to set on the table...

Limestone was there... not moving with her eyes wide open. What kind of publicity she could makes with a sister like this? Is she the owner of a rock farm and a mine or the owner of a pigsty? Limes couldn’t imagine what would it be if they go there with a sow of a sister! The daydream became a daynightmare...

Pinkie was whispering to her 2 sister limes and marble “maybe we should take her back on hooves? limes nod, Marble was a bit sceptic at first but then after her argument thinking that maybe her shapes would give her a friendly look to the customer, Maud scratches the back of her heads , showing her smelling armpits. At the smell of it Marble was feeling sick and nauseus, as much as her sister Pinkie who had her hairs cartoonically roasted by the perfum and Limes who were coughing having the smell of her throat. “Well not bad when you know she took 5 showers a day...”

Limes has to take a decision “Maud before you go at the center, maybe we should take care of you, you know, not making the customers run away from your bad habits and so on...”

“MY bad habit, what do you mean by bad habit?” replies Maud. At this moment, everyone in the room heard her large belly pressing against the table and shaking it at the ripples of the gurgles. However, this gurgles wasn’t a call for more food but more a warning for upcoming gas up her ass, and not a good smelling one...

At the released of it, Maud was looking to her sister with a sad puppy eyes, temporally spacing out to what she had become... Her softness could be a good thing when it comes to snoozing a hoof on her belly pillow while it was adorably rumbling as it process food for her now enormous appetite but she remember that she wasn’t always like that... In fact what would her parents say to her if she was alive? She then look at herself while processing how much she gained since there death...

“Maybe if we want me to get in good shapes, we need to take very seriously or even take the extremest measure possible.”Maud puts after spoiling and gropping/shaking her wobbly belly. What she was holding was probably enough to choke someone with the navel on it...

Limestone was starring in the emptiness, thinking... What can we do at this state of bulimia? Limes was about to give up the idea to let Maud comes but it would sound sad for Maud to not let in. It’s not everyday you go to this kind of event.

THEN! PINKIE GOT IDEA!

“Maybe if we need an extreme measure, we can talk to it to an extreme expert i know!” pinkie said. “What extreme expert you know? I hope this isn’t one of quacks like i saw earlier selling product for idiots?” limestone said before adding “i saw a pair of twins at the middletown last week, and Celestia i never had such a will to kill somebody!” 

“Yeah but no” Pinkie reply “ it’s not a quack in fact she helped me and even Maud when we got issues with Poison jokes effects” ”Oh her!” Maud add, knowing who pinkie is taliking about! “I remember her, hope she’s not too pissed because of her broken pot from last time...”

________________________________________________________________

The more she though about it, the more she felt unsecure about herself, but she actually feel like it might have a bit of exaggeration about it. Maybe she was a bit too obese. Yes she might be smelly sometimes despites taking showers often but what does it says about her?

Limestone was more convinced, she don’t want this moment of her life to fail! She need Maud to get rid of this fat and now! (or at least for the convention)

Pinkie, as her plan asked for, bring her 3 sisters to a zebra friend’s house that was build in a tree near the everfree, Pinkie obviously knocking as simple as possible...

“ZECORA IT’S PINKIE AGAIN! MIND SOME HELPS HERE! CAN YOU HELP!” she says while knocking the door at 10 hits per seconds

“Mind you stop knocking please? I heard you with ease!” The zebra said while opening the door...

Pinkie explaning very quickly the situation, Zecora is trying to find a way to help the sisters...

“ I think i might have something helpful, but i feel like your sister is a bit doubtful. But fear not! You can take it as shot because if it help you to for your please, the effects are also temporally for your ease, which make it easier to cease...”

At this words , the zebra showed the potion to the fat mare, which at the look at it hesitantly, give a stare to her sisters smiling to her then drinking the entire bottle one shot.

At first , nothing! The blue mare who were watching was actually questionning if it was a hoax. “Are you feeling something right now maud?”

The only thing Maud seem to feel was some burbly rumble in her stomach but before she could answer properly the gurgle just exploade in intensity in front of everyone!

The gurgle actually turn into a violent wobble , throwing violently the belly against the floor. The 3 sisters was shocked, even Maud was loosing her neutral face wondering what is happening at this brief moment. She hasn’t had time to think properly the wobble goes back and forth throught her belly before reaching the butt, the hooves and the face cheeks. Then nothing but her good old blue dress...

“MAUD!“ Limestone, Marble and Pinkie shout in unison thinking a second that they might did a huge mistake... They all look around to see the empty dress closer as they realize it might hide something...

Burried inside of the dress, the shiest sister, Marble, find a small part of the tail exceeding “mh-mmaud?” What they will find shock them...

Inside of the dress was hiding a skinny version of maud completly sounded and, actually looking well built. The now skinny pony was wondering what was going on without remembering her name or the date of the day...

After taking back her mind, Maud was actually in shock how well it works: she like a pony version of George Bizet’s Carmen. She could dress with the same clothes she didn’t wear for ages. Heck they even did not change during all those times, same smell, same feeling at the touch, as if her fat time never happened...

But after hours of rebirth, Zecora had to ring the end of the break, the potion are starting to loose her effects and Maud could feel her belly rumbling warning that her fat are coming back...

________________________________________________________________

The d-day is coming and Maud prepared herself for the day. She just had to take a good chug of Zecora’s potion (enough to hold it for the day) and here we go for the convention...

At the moment she came to her stand, something unpredicted happened. All the stallion that went in her way was staring at her... drooling, wondering what this chick was, even father of 3 childs was just not reacting like such despite having their wife and children next to them...

The only males that went to her stand was clumsy flirt, just wanting to have a bed with her,nor Maud or Limstone wasn’t amused...

Then a certain photographer mare, who were sponsoring the event, cames to visit the stands to see how was it going before seeing something happening at the stand 418 on the west wing...

There was a wonderfull skinny rock mares with her soft bedroom eyes , long eyelashes wearing smooth dark blue dress with a black belt getting a bit of customers but most of all a lot of compliments and a bit of flirt.

Seeing how neutral she was reacting to the public and how cold blooded and magnificient she were, there was only one thing on her mind.

ZIS IS ZE POHNEE I NEED TO HAVE AS A MANNEKIN...

At the second she finish this sentence, she came to the stand, diamond on eyes, thinking of talking to that golden goose of a mare. Unfortunatelly, the older sister , seeing how it was going south decide to take the succession on the stand...

“Iz ze grey mere ztill heer?” say the photographer mare presenting herself as “photo finish” “I wood like to talk to hers rite naow, I wood really be interested to talk to her privatelly!”

The grey mare which was drinking a bit as for a break was interogating herself to why would she want to talk to her in private. “I waz looking at you earlier, and i waz thinking that you might be an amazing model for my galas! Might i prepare you a contract if you vish to follow?

Maud was stunned, in only an afternoon fit, she was from selling rocks to the golden gate of celebrity...

“It seem like a good idea but mind we i talk to my colleagues and sister on my stands” As they talk about it to the 3, none of them could believed it...

After discussing, Limes actually wonder if it could be 1: a new life for Maud and 2: a great add for the farm. Limestone signed up the contract as long as they stay close to each others...

________________________________________________________________

The days following this moment were pure gold. Maud (as she keep drinking Zecora’s potion to stay fit) was showing herself in gala with the best robes and even had photo session but something off started to ruin the party...

Be a mannequin is a tough job and really unfunny also Maud had the really good idea to work for the “miss equestria” competition which isn’t making things easier...

What was a rebirth at first lasted as a death trap, she was to the oint of giving up and stop drinking that zecora’s poison as she tend to say deep in her mind.

But something that seem odds is that the more she regrets her fitness, the more she needed to drink it the potion for making it taking effect. It was like her body (with the tiredness of her new job) was rejecting the product. In fact in the quarter finale, she almost lost because she had a little bit of chub visible, because of that, some of her “fans” believed she was pregnant making the rumors with all the pictures you could watch on the press that she might have a boyfriends in the V.I.P circle. Despite the denial, the rumors are hard to leave...

Then the final of the miss equestria cames....

________________________________________________________________

“Did we has enough potion for tonight?!!!” The grey mare say in an unusual state of stress “I need more of it for tonight!!!” The 3 sisters look at her worried...

Limestone who feel her sister slipping out of control has to catch her in her full hysteria crisis to calm her down. Pinkie who always see life as a neverending party feel like joining on to stuck her on the ground even if the fun here was more an exit than a true solution to the problem. The only sister than seemed helpful was the last one, Marble.

“Mm Maud?” she said with a really relaxing quiet voice... “Mind if i have your attention?” 

The hysteric sister Maud ,who was tired of fighting against her 2 sisters, feel like she had no choice than listen to it... “Did you remember where you became huge enough so i could use your belly as a pillow?” She ask before saying “After you went sick and you were bones and skin and i you started eating a lot, I thought you find a way to deal with what happened to us...Then i saw you were actually having fun with yourself. You even shared it to me and pinkie, and yes i remember correctly, about Limestone.” 

“Limestone was actually a bit tougher to you because, even you felt happy about your chubness, you went a bit lazy and slept a lot according to her because she were a bit scared for you. Scared you let yourself go again and does bad things to yourself... 

We didn’t wanted you to feel bad about yourself, we just wanted you to BE yourself!” Marble let a nod and a smile while Maud is touched to what her sister told her. “Lime! Pinkie! I think you can released me? I think i’m no longer in a stressful state right now” she said with her normal monotone voice... 

Lime and Pinkie released her as she take herself back to a normal state of mind, and finding the courage to prepare herself as it was just a normal day for her. “Maud? Are you feeling ok right now?” Limestone said. As she felt the chub won’t come back yet, Maud reply with just a yes and said that maybe she won’t need a potion after all...

The potion actually last longer than she first though when she was in her hysteria mood as the Ceremony of the final and the verdict fall at the finale of the Miss Equestria...

There was only 2 mares at the end; Maud was one of them.

Maud was actually stressing , her heart was beating at 160 beat per seconds which actually shorten the effect of the last potion. Maud stay monotone outside but she can feel her legs wobbling as they can’t handle it anymore...

________________________________________________________________

She won...

She couldn’t believe it...

Maud was barelly able to stand on her skinny legs while she was receiving the crown and the flower, but while she was thanking everyone for voting on her, something odd happens...

As she was talking she was interrupting by peoples (and hers) realizing than her right hooves have suddenly swelling “?”

Maud try to relativise saying it was something happening to her time to time which is why she took time to take her medicine in her dress while with her left hooves, she was deflating her right hoof and shaking in it then taking her medicine in her dress but as she was holding the bootle, the hands holding it inflate too and broken it...

The following actually shocked the entire public to the point that some of them faint.

As she try to relativise the inflating hands, she try to deflate it which didn’t remove it, it just propulse it to her right face cheeks and disfigure one of her profile.

The more she try to remove it the worst it become, as she trying to deflate one part another if not 2 inflating going to her ass crack, then wobbling through her guts and legs then faces then her backs , ruining her dress in the way. At one point it wasn’t worthing it as all her good old grease was at some place disfiguring her flank some of hooves, her face and her back, making her look like a hunchback monsterous at the complete opposite of what she was supposed to be...

Then after a sigh, seeing everybody assisting at the atrocious circus, she ended up to stop releasing her grease and show herself as what she is: Fat Maud Pie

________________________________________________________________

As her body stop wobbling from the released the room was silent...

“I...I would like to make a statement for what just happened...” Maud says to break the silence....

“First I’m sorry to what you just endure and i hope you won’t have nightmare of me tonight” a quiet giggle get out from somewhere in the crowd

“Second, I actually feel sorry for my competitor, after what you see, I kind of feel like I cheated despite i never really wanting to be a Miss Equestria...”

“When i started taking this potion you saw earlier , it was for being the prettiest mare of the country, i wanted to be acceptable to everybody. I was actually doubfull that all this grease, this fat, sometimes this smell and even (borf) this hygiene i often have because of this tendency to be a big eater (at least for my case) was attractive enough for someone to look at me as a person you would say “hi”... I doubt myself, I managed to make myself entering in a molding. People talked to me, sometimes in an unexpected and dirty manner...”

I made myself suffer...

I made my round self forced to enter a squared world, just because i was ashamed of myself. I though it would be a rebirth to take a magic pills....i mean a magic potion and get rid of my problem, but it cost more, i couldn’t really exit. I was stuck in a downward spiral; to what end? 

This humiliation of a moment...

Now i look like a whale caugh on a torn up net, with all the flab and everything else, guess i won’t need this anymore...

As she removes her torn up dress , she was interrupted by people complimenting her shape in her background. As she heard them the positive words cames more and more noisy until it became a full cheered audience just for her!

She was almost crying, feeling she was pretty fit as fat. As the true beauty for her was being herself.

After though the jury didn’t let her be miss equestria as she cheat, but she won’t let her moment of glory and cheers getting ruined,  but as she was in a full euphoria, her belly suddenly gurgle...

________________________________________________________________

Because of an poorly and abusive use of the potion, it backfired violently and her belly just fall flat on the ground as she had twice the amount of grease in it.Maud at the moment didn’t realize and was stuck in an unusual “uh oh face” on her head, but it was only the beggining...

At a really fast paste, her fatness just grew up incredibly loud, having enormous flab growing on her, causing the crowd to panic through the exit causing some wounded.In less than an half of a minute, she was fulling the entire room with her fat.

NEWS HEADLINE: A DROPPED MISS TALK ABOUT BEING WHAT YOU ARE, THEN TURN INTO A MOUNTAIN...

Later, while Maud was almost holding the entire building, Limestone, Marble and Pinkie were escaladed on her around her face. While Pinkie was playing on her grease as it was a bouncing castle and Marble cheering her as she was hugging, Limes started chatting to her...

“You know Maud, I feel sorry for you... Sorry because, if i weren’t too obsessed about this events weeks ago, maybe we won’t be to what we are...”

“Don’t worry about that Lime” replied Maud “It actually helped me about knowing myself a lil bit better, even through i end up with more that knowledge... (sigh at her own joke) Limes giggle at it as if she was relaxing herself on her sister “By the way, you touched me with your monologue earlier” “Before she throw you trough a wall with her flank” Pinkie cuts as she was laughing...again (if only you saw her face as her favorite fat sister almost crushed her under her rump earlier)

“ I actually don’t know if the backfire i just get will last any longer” Maud say as she felt she must have lost 1 pound since she stop growing...but she felt released of all that weight over her shoulders. 

“Maud!” Lime says “By the way, should we continue your contract with Photo Finish? After what happened, she doesn’t seem like she has the will to live after that incide...”

At this moment, Maud’s now gigantitly large belly released an obnoxious gurgle shaking her flabs and everything in her neighborhood, her belly touch or press against “That was your belly?” Marble asks

“Yeah i’m feeling hungry, anything for my line?” Maud says before the four sister laugh....

NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR: This is probably the toughest story i ever wrote, mainly because i’m not a huge writter as i prefer to draw. I hope there won’t be too much spelling check nor it is unreadable thank’s to my pretty english. Hope you all like it and happy birthday Ask Maud Fat !

[ericfruits]

Wedding Gifts

The Maryland Court of Appeals accepted the consent disbarment of an attorney who was the subject of a December 2017 story in the Washington Poat

A former Prince George’s County liquor board commissioner arrested earlier this year on federal bribery charges pleaded guilty in the case Friday afternoon, the seventh of eight people netted in the wide-ranging scandal to admit wrongdoing.

Anuj Sud, 39, admitted to violating the Travel Act, going between Maryland and Washington, to collect cash kickbacks — that prosecutors said he referred to as “wedding gifts” — in exchange for official favors.

Sud’s plea leaves only former state delegate Michael Vaughn set to go to trial in the federal investigation authorities dubbed “Operation Dry Saloon.”

Earlier this year the former Prince George’s County liquor board director, liquor store owners, lobbyists and lawmakers were arrested in the probe. Federal authorities allege liquor store owners paid former state delegates Vaughn and Will Campos, both Democrats representing Prince George’s, thousands of dollars in exchange for favorable votes on legislation that would help their businesses.

[Former Md. State Del. Will Campos pleads guilty to accepting bribes for official favors]

 Sud was not accused in the larger scheme involving the expansion of liquor sales in exchange for cash, but was arrested in a related bribery investigation.

Sud did not speak at the hearing other than to answer “yes” or “no” questions from the judge. His attorney, William Brennan, declined to comment after the hearing in federal court in Greenbelt, but in a letter to the court said his client “is profoundly remorseful for his conduct.”

Sud, an attorney, was appointed to the Prince George’s liquor board in 2015 and almost immediately began shopping around to sell his votes, according to prosecutors.

“How can I start getting paid?” Sud was accused of asking someone who represented businesses with matters before the liquor board on Sept. 25, 2015.

“Tell your boys you got somebody on the board that can f------ make s--- happen,” the government said Sud told the man who turned out to be a confidential source for the FBI. “I can influence the votes now.”

About two months later, Sud agreed to vote favorably in two hearings involving the confidential source.

On Dec. 2, 2015, Sud voted to reduce the penalty for a business found in violation of a liquor board summons. About two weeks later, Sud voted in favor of granting a liquor license to another one of the informant’s clients.

 Sud was paid $1,000 for each vote, court documents state.

A year later, Sud asked the informant for a “wedding gift,” which the government said was code for a bribe in exchange for help on liquor board matters. When the informant and Sud talked about helping one of the informant’s clients, Sud suggested the informant bring payment for the bribe to an auto repair shop Sud owned as a way to hide the transactions, the government asserts in court filings.

“Actually, you know what I was thinking?” the government states Sud told the informant Nov. 9, 2016, at Sud’s gas station and repair shop in Silver Spring. “Any time you want to drop off a gift, bring your car in. Do the oil change and then when you pay, I can just give you a receipt . . . That way it’s a legitimate transaction.”

Later that month, court files state, the informant gave Sud $1,000 after Sud had voted favorably on a decision affecting one of the informant’s clients and the client was “real happy” the informant said before handing over cash.

“Speaking of good,” the informant told Sud, according to the recounting in court filings. “Look. I got a little, what’s it called, wedding gift for the, uh . . . deal.”

Sud faces up to five years in prison at sentencing scheduled for April 5.

(Mike Frisch)

http://lawprofessors.typepad.com/legal_profession/2018/02/the-maryland-court-of-appeals-accepted-the-consent-disbarment-of-an-attorney-a-former-prince-georges-county-liquor-board.html

http://lawprofessors.typepad.com/legal_profession/2018/02/the-maryland-court-of-appeals-accepted-the-consent-disbarment-of-an-attorney-a-former-prince-georges-county-liquor-board.html

[sportsbored]

After this weird PTF article, is it fair to official say that a Lamar Jackson smear campaign is going on?

TLDR: This is long, but worth the read. I’m not investigative journalist, but found some inconsistencies about Lamar Jackson’s coverage in the media odd so did some digging. I’ve found evidence to suggest that the media narrative, controlled by agents, is setting up a smear campaign to make him seem less of a top pick than the rest of the league. Why? Agents are scared this could be [setting a precedent](https://www.theringer.com/2018/4/3/17191122/lamar-jackson-agent-nfl-draft) and lose them money in the long run. I also think this can create a good discussion about where our draft news comes from and the validity of many assessments of players from “sources, GMs and scouts”. Read below for more!

About a week ago, a [PFT article](http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2018/04/05/lamar-jackson-continues-to-be-a-tough-guy-to-track-down/amp/) was released  detailing the story behind Lamar Jackson’s inability to communicate effectively with front offices interested in him as a prospect. Now, even as a Lamar stan, I can admit that some of the details in this article can be a little bit questionable, if not scary.

> “Per a league source, one team tried *at least seven times* to contact Jackson. The team in question wasn’t able to reach him, and the team as of earlier on Thursday had not heard back from him.”

As a fan, you read that and go, geesh, Lamar, *what is u doing baby???* But as you go on, this article becomes more... questionable...

> “As part of this effort, a good agent can fend off the efforts of other agents to promote their own clients while knocking other players. **(And, yes, that happens all the time.)**”

>”Not surprisingly, ***Richard Sherman (whose decision to represent himself wasn’t an isolated lark but part of a crusade to wipe out agents altogether)*** supports Jackson’s decision, claiming that “in terms of improving his draft stock or the amount of money [Jackson] receives, there isn’t much they can do.” **All due respect, that’s just not accurate*— and it reveals that ***Sherman simply doesn’t understand what good agents do to help their clients get drafted as high as possible and, in turn, get paid as much as possible.***

>“Here’s a quick summary of the things a good agent can do for a rookie, as posted previously in other PFT items regarding rookies choosing to go it alone.”

He goes on to, very extensively, list all of the positives of an agent. Seriously, he goes on and on. He has like 8 different points why this is such an issue. But wait, why IS this such an issue especially for Florio? Not having an agent definitely can effect Lamar, but this  And hold up, let’s go back a paragraph. What’s up with Richard Sherman paragraph too? Florio tone seems a little to suggest some anger towards Sherman’s decision. Unsurprisingly, Florio has another article about Sherman, about what else, but agents?

> Here’s the advice: Hire a good agent. >.... > Players are tempted to negotiate their own deals because of one thing and one thing only: They don’t like writing checks to their agents.... Players are tempted to negotiate their own deals because of one thing and one thing only: They don’t like writing checks to their agents... Sherman made his choice, and **no one expects him to admit that he may have made a rash decision at an emotional time without the best advice possible**. Other players, who may be under the misimpression based on the erroneous initial report that Sherman is getting a firm $13 million per year, need to realize that the commission they separately pay is worth every penny — assuming the money is being paid to a good agent.

> Here’s the part where some of you will bang out comments suggesting that **I’m making these points in order to help out agents. Before you do, you’re absolutely right. I am.**

> I’m also trying to help players. Good agents make money for themselves and more money for players.

Yeah, right. But seems like you care about the agent side a *little* bit more than you seem to care about Lamar Jackson or Richard Sherman. And you can see it in [other works](http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2018/03/12/teams-agents-would-prefer-to-get-on-with-free-agency/) of Florio's as well. [Tons of them](http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2018/03/11/players-need-good-agents-period/). It seems that he takes to heart agents not getting hired by NFL talent.

And, fine, that’s cool, right? Well, not exactly. As a journalist, integrity is supposed to be a standard. Journalistic integrity implies an unbiased approach to writing articles to ensure fair reporting for any individual you’re covering. But this is 2018. We’ve seen how little journalistic integrity is valued. And who could blame Florio? I mean, it wouldn’t take much thought to conclude that the reason Florio is so worked up about this issue is because, as the owner of NFL rumor and gossip site, profootballtalk.com, agents are his sources. It’s very hard to have insider information if you’re biting the hand that feeds you. Don’t believe me? Well, listen to this.

Andrew Brandt from TheMMQB recently went on the Ross Tucker podcast and said [this is a summary, you can click the link to [listen yourself here](http://www.rosstucker.com/podcasts/ross-tucker-football-podcast/) 9:25 marking] :

> “We know where the chatter is coming from. The source of criticism about Lamar Jackson not having an agent is from agents, displayed in media... I think it’s agents pushing a narrative... why? Because their business is being threatened... When a high rate player [decides not to get an agent] it threatens the business.”

Brandt was once an agent himself, so knows how rumors are spread in the industry. We see it being displayed in real time with rumors that Jackson isn’t easy to get a hold of because of his decision to get an agent.

Albert Breer alleged that Lamar’s visit from the [Ravens was the last team he expects to visit before the draft.](https://twitter.com/AlbertBreer/status/982361149793554432) But then, why was Lamar meeting with the Chargers, Patriots and Browns ***in the very same week?***

On his pro day, Mayock broke the news that Lamar was allegedly hard to contact. Breer posts a [tweet stating](https://twitter.com/AlbertBreer/status/979377982174388226):

>“So Louisville QB Lamar Jackson won't record a 40 time, and has been difficult for teams to reach. Seems like he may not be getting the best advice.”

Seems like you might be a little hurt, too, sir. Breer is taking on that same defensive tone that Florio used before. Lecturing Lamar about not having an agent. **The question is, is that even true? Is it really that hard to get a hold of Lamar Jackson?**

How is it, that Lamar has met with the Texans, Browns, Dolphins, Ravens, Browns, Patriots, Chargers etc. (And these are just the teams who’s private workouts we know about. We only knew of the Pats visit because of a snapchat pic of Jackson at Logan Airport in Boston.) Former 2nd round pick, Marcellus Wiley says, there’s no way this could be true. [“When you are someone that is coveted, they will be at your doorstep... they will beat you down.. Be on your voicemail...don’t give me this...” ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7I0hSCSuWU) Former, also coveted draft pick in his respective sport, [Jalen Rose](https://youtu.be/cpVDuCLckPs?t=38s) said similar things. Lamar has higher projections than both of them did in their respective drafts. How could this communication thing be true if former players themselves aren’t buying it?

***Cause it probably isn’t.***

To quote Brandt, again:

> I did talk to a team exe about Lamar Jackson and he said we called the mother and kid and ***they got us within the hour***. So again, I just have to **consider the source of this stuff.**

I posted this not only to talk about the unfair coverage about Lamar Jackson as a prospect, but to bring up some important questions to consider during this draft process. *How much of the narrative are the agents controlling?* Well, obviously, a lot. It’s safe to say the insiders are getting information from agents. How much info tho? 20%, 75%, 90%? If buying the right guy can get you in a good spot with media coverage, another question arises.

*Can you trust the evaluation of most of these top prospects?* We see mock drafts all the time with Darnold as #1 and Allen in the top 5 mix. However, when reviewing their tape, or reading evaluations of these prospects from guys who breakdown film, there are mixed feelings about both. Both Darnold and Allen are given passes from draftnicks for their shaky mechanics, decision making issues, and just subpar play in general in their last year of college play. Why is it you hear more approval for them, but hear frequent stories about Josh Rosen being too smart to be a locker room guy and Lamar being a labeled as a WR [(an article that suggests that was another media smear too)](http://blacksportsonline.com/home/2018/03/how-the-media-created-a-combine-narrative-about-lamar-jackson-working-at-wr-that-never-truly-existed-why-they-did-it-video/ with some of the best stats (on some of the worst teams) of the 5?

*Can we really expect media to be impartial in their evaluations when we know that the guys media get their information from are the same people who have money interests in their guy getting drafted as high as they possibly could?* *Does this explain why so many “top guys” are busts?* ***Will Freeza ever be caught? Find out on the next episode of-!***

Ehm, um, yeah. There can be so many questions that could be abstracted from this investigation. Thought it’d be an interesting discussion.

[magicwebsitesnet]

Business ‘They just kind of avoided each other’: How Trump and McGahn’s partnership collapsed

Business ‘They just kind of avoided each other’: How Trump and McGahn’s partnership collapsed Business ‘They just kind of avoided each other’: How Trump and McGahn’s partnership collapsed http://www.nature-business.com/business-they-just-kind-of-avoided-each-other-how-trump-and-mcgahns-partnership-collapsed/

Business

White House lawyer Don McGahn grabbed headlines earlier this month after it was revealed that he has cooperated extensively with special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia probe. | Andrew Harnik/AP Photo

White House

The president announced the long-expected departure of his White House counsel on Twitter after months of estrangement between the two men.

White House counsel Don McGahn’s office is just one floor up from the Oval, but it might as well be miles away. In recent months, the president has sometimes gone days — or longer — without having substantial conversations with McGahn as their relationship has grown increasingly strained, according to two people familiar with the matter. Story Continued Below

“They just kind of avoided each other for the most part,” one former administration official told POLITICO. Another Republican close to the White House said they discuss nothing but essential work business. People who know both men said their mutual frustrations are often manifested in silence, rather than massive blow-ups. But the two have also had several heated clashes that often stemmed from Trump’s steadfast belief that McGahn hasn’t done enough to minimize the Russia investigation, according to four current and former administration officials and others close to both men. One outside associate of McGahn’s said it always bothered Trump that McGahn was “his own man and wouldn’t kowtow to him.”McGahn’s eventual departure — whether after the midterms or after the anticipated confirmation of Trump’s Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh — has long been seen as a foregone conclusion in the White House. But McGahn and others close to the president were nevertheless surprised when Trump tweeted about it on Wednesday, according to two people close to the White House, ensuring that McGahn would have no choice but to go. “I have worked with Don for a long time and truly appreciate his service,” Trump wrote. He told reporters Wednesday afternoon that McGahn was a “really good guy” for whom he has “a lot of affection.” The White House pushed back on the notion that McGahn and Trump have a deeply strained relationship, with an administration official adding that they speak regularly. McGahn did not respond to a request for comment. “The president doesn’t treat him any worse or any better than anybody else,” said another person close to the White House. “The president is genuinely appreciative of what he’s done on the judges and deregulatory fronts.” The two men have worked alongside each other since the early days of Trump’s presidential campaign and have shared a common goal of stocking the federal courts with conservative judges and slashing government regulations. But their once-strong relationship has deteriorated steadily since the beginning of the administration, when the president was searching for somebody to blame for the appointment of special counsel Robert Mueller, the flawed travel ban and Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ decision to recuse himself from the Russia probe. A recent New York Times story detailing McGahn’s cooperation with the investigation cemented what had long seemed inevitable in the White House: that McGahn would soon follow so many others out the door. Though the White House has not yet named McGahn’s replacement, three people close to the president said White House lawyer Emmet Flood is expected to get the job, though a final decision has not yet been made. Flood, a former George W. Bush White House lawyer who has also represented Bill Clinton and former Vice President Dick Cheney, joined Trump’s White House earlier this year to handle special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation, replacing Ty Cobb. He took the job with the tacit understanding that he would have the opportunity to replace McGahn, the people said.It’s unclear what McGahn will do after he leaves the West Wing, but one person close to him and another close to the White House said he’s expected to return to his former law firm, Jones Day. The firm has close ties to Trump and is representing the campaign in its dealings with Mueller. McGahn could also join the campaign in a more formal capacity as a lawyer, another person said. McGahn, a former chairman of the Federal Election Commission, signed onto Trump’s campaign in 2015, making him one of Trump’s earliest political advisers. But Trump initially wasn’t sold on hiring him, according to one of the Republicans close to the White House, who said the then-candidate raised concerns about the fact that McGahn got his law degree from Widener University, instead of a top-tier law school — though McGahn also received a postgraduate Master of Laws degree at Georgetown University. But the president was persuaded to hire him after aides touted his tenure at the FEC, this person said, and the two men became friendly once McGahn joined the campaign. The formal announcement of McGahn’s pending departure — which had been expected for months — comes as Trump is increasingly isolated amid Mueller’s investigation, as well as parallel investigations in New York that touch on Trump’s businesses. In the past week, Trump’s former campaign manager, Paul Manafort, has been convicted of tax evasion, and former lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen pleaded guilty to tax evasion and campaign finance violations related to payoffs he made shortly before the 2016 election to two women — adult film actress Stormy Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal — to silence their claims of affairs with Trump. McGahn threatened to resign last year after Trump ordered him to explore the possibility of firing Mueller, though the president eventually backed down. Trump was furious when news of his interest in firing Mueller was first reported by The New York Times in January, and he pressured McGahn to publicly dispute the story, according to a person familiar with the issue. The White House denies that Trump has pushed to fire Mueller. The president also tried without success to get his then-staff secretary, Rob Porter, to warn McGahn that he could be fired if he didn’t deny the article, the person said. McGahn generated a fresh round of headlines earlier this month after the Times reported that he had spoken with Mueller’s investigators for more than 30 hours over the past nine months. Trump’s allies have said McGahn did not offer anything damaging about the president, but McGahn still could help fill in some blanks as Mueller probes whether Trump campaign aides colluded with Russians before the election and whether Trump obstructed justice. Trump has since said that he gave McGahn permission to fully cooperate with the investigation, which he has regularly dismissed as a “witch hunt.” But McGahn’s allies were nonetheless worried that the story would infuriate the president. In the White House, McGahn, who is seen as a savvy operator, has increasingly separated himself from dealing with the West Wing response to the Russia probe, leaving that to other administration lawyers. McGahn has focused largely on judicial nominees and ensuring that Trump’s Supreme Court picks are confirmed. Although much of the recent coverage of McGahn has focused on his cooperating role in the Mueller probe and his selection of judicial nominees, including two Supreme Court picks, he’s also played an integral, behind-the-scenes role in Trump’s efforts to roll back regulations, and he’s told allies he hopes that ends up as much a part of his legacy as the reshaping of the court system. “When I hear ‘deregulation,’ all that means is returning the power to decide policy back to those elected by the people, whether it is the House, the Senate, or the president,” McGahn told Time back in March 2017. McGahn’s departure from the White House counsel’s office gives his likely successor, Flood, the chance to put his own stamp on a key part of the White House, which has shed its top lawyers in recent months. Already, several of McGahn’s top deputies and colleagues have left the White House for other jobs throughout the administration or the private sector, including Greg Katsas, now a federal appeals court judge on the D.C. circuit; Uttam Dhillon, acting administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration; Makan Delrahim, assistant attorney general for the Antitrust Division at the Department of Justice; James D. Schultz, chair of the Government and Regulatory Practice Group at the Philadelphia-based law firm Cozen O’Connor; and John Bash, now the U.S. attorney for the Western District of Texas. McGahn’s deputy White House counsel and the ethics czar, Stefan Passantino, is also scheduled to leave the White House after Labor Day — though that move was planned long before McGahn’s plans became public.People who know McGahn praised his tenure as White House counsel. “He really treated the presidency as his client, and he treated it with reverence and respect and always had the office of the president and the protection of that high office as his top priority,” said Mark Corallo, a former spokesman for the president’s legal team. “He did understand that the White House counsel has two jobs. You are the president’s attorney, but you’re also the attorney for the presidency.” McGahn has also built strong relationships with Republicans on Capitol Hill. The news that McGahn would step down drew a sharp reaction from Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley, chairman of the Judiciary Committee. “@realDonaldTrump I hope it’s not true McGahn is leaving WhiteHouse Counsel. U can’t let that happen,” Grassley tweeted. McGahn engaged in a lengthy and productive partnership with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s conference on stocking the federal judiciary with Trump’s nominees. McConnell reached a deal with Democrats on Tuesday to confirm seven more judicial nominees, with 60 total confirmed judges during the Trump administration, after cutting short the chamber’s usual August recess in part to focus on getting those picks approved. “Don is the most impressive White House counsel during my time in Washington, and I’ve known them all. His departure from the White House, whenever that may be, would be a big loss for the Trump Administration and the country,” McConnell said in a statement. Another slew of judicial nominees is on tap for votes in the Senate next week. Grassley’s lament about losing McGahn further underscores the counsel’s solid relationship with top Senate Republicans. “Senator Grassley has appreciated Mr. McGahn’s work over the last two years and has considered him integral to the president’s record-breaking success on filling judicial vacancies,” Grassley spokesman George Hartmann wrote in an email. “From Senator Grassley’s perspective, there’s not been any White House counsel who has worked so well and so efficiently with the chairman’s office and the Senate Judiciary Committee on judges.” McGahn’s most fruitful achievement on the judicial confirmation front has been Kavanaugh, whom McGahn first contacted about joining the nation’s high court mere hours after Justice Anthony Kennedy announced his retirement in June. McGahn’s effectiveness in shepherding Kavanaugh on an increasingly smooth path to confirmation has drawn howls from Democrats, who have objected to the White House counsel’s role in a meeting with Senate Republicans last month that influenced the scope of their request for records on Kavanaugh’s past. If Democrats take control of the House in November, McGahn would likely be hauled up for questioning as part of Democrats’ oversight efforts into the administration. “There’s no question that extensive statements given to the special counsel increases the expectation in Congress that the witness, such as Don McGahn, will be equally forthcoming,” said Jonathan Turley, a constitutional law professor at The George Washington University. Eliana Johnson, Daniel Lippman, Lorraine Woellert and Rebecca Morin contributed to this report.

Missing out on the latest scoops? Sign up for POLITICO Playbook and get the latest news, every morning — in your inbox.

Read More | https://www.politico.com/story/2018/08/29/trump-says-white-house-counsel-don-mcgahn-to-exit-in-the-fall-801587 | https://www.facebook.com/andrew.restuccia, https://www.facebook.com/politico/

Business ‘They just kind of avoided each other’: How Trump and McGahn’s partnership collapsed, in 2018-08-29 22:52:30

[captainblogger100posts]

Business ‘They just kind of avoided each other’: How Trump and McGahn’s partnership collapsed

Business ‘They just kind of avoided each other’: How Trump and McGahn’s partnership collapsed Business ‘They just kind of avoided each other’: How Trump and McGahn’s partnership collapsed http://www.nature-business.com/business-they-just-kind-of-avoided-each-other-how-trump-and-mcgahns-partnership-collapsed/

Business

White House lawyer Don McGahn grabbed headlines earlier this month after it was revealed that he has cooperated extensively with special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia probe. | Andrew Harnik/AP Photo

White House

The president announced the long-expected departure of his White House counsel on Twitter after months of estrangement between the two men.

White House counsel Don McGahn’s office is just one floor up from the Oval, but it might as well be miles away. In recent months, the president has sometimes gone days — or longer — without having substantial conversations with McGahn as their relationship has grown increasingly strained, according to two people familiar with the matter. Story Continued Below

“They just kind of avoided each other for the most part,” one former administration official told POLITICO. Another Republican close to the White House said they discuss nothing but essential work business. People who know both men said their mutual frustrations are often manifested in silence, rather than massive blow-ups. But the two have also had several heated clashes that often stemmed from Trump’s steadfast belief that McGahn hasn’t done enough to minimize the Russia investigation, according to four current and former administration officials and others close to both men. One outside associate of McGahn’s said it always bothered Trump that McGahn was “his own man and wouldn’t kowtow to him.”McGahn’s eventual departure — whether after the midterms or after the anticipated confirmation of Trump’s Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh — has long been seen as a foregone conclusion in the White House. But McGahn and others close to the president were nevertheless surprised when Trump tweeted about it on Wednesday, according to two people close to the White House, ensuring that McGahn would have no choice but to go. “I have worked with Don for a long time and truly appreciate his service,” Trump wrote. He told reporters Wednesday afternoon that McGahn was a “really good guy” for whom he has “a lot of affection.” The White House pushed back on the notion that McGahn and Trump have a deeply strained relationship, with an administration official adding that they speak regularly. McGahn did not respond to a request for comment. “The president doesn’t treat him any worse or any better than anybody else,” said another person close to the White House. “The president is genuinely appreciative of what he’s done on the judges and deregulatory fronts.” The two men have worked alongside each other since the early days of Trump’s presidential campaign and have shared a common goal of stocking the federal courts with conservative judges and slashing government regulations. But their once-strong relationship has deteriorated steadily since the beginning of the administration, when the president was searching for somebody to blame for the appointment of special counsel Robert Mueller, the flawed travel ban and Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ decision to recuse himself from the Russia probe. A recent New York Times story detailing McGahn’s cooperation with the investigation cemented what had long seemed inevitable in the White House: that McGahn would soon follow so many others out the door. Though the White House has not yet named McGahn’s replacement, three people close to the president said White House lawyer Emmet Flood is expected to get the job, though a final decision has not yet been made. Flood, a former George W. Bush White House lawyer who has also represented Bill Clinton and former Vice President Dick Cheney, joined Trump’s White House earlier this year to handle special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation, replacing Ty Cobb. He took the job with the tacit understanding that he would have the opportunity to replace McGahn, the people said.It’s unclear what McGahn will do after he leaves the West Wing, but one person close to him and another close to the White House said he’s expected to return to his former law firm, Jones Day. The firm has close ties to Trump and is representing the campaign in its dealings with Mueller. McGahn could also join the campaign in a more formal capacity as a lawyer, another person said. McGahn, a former chairman of the Federal Election Commission, signed onto Trump’s campaign in 2015, making him one of Trump’s earliest political advisers. But Trump initially wasn’t sold on hiring him, according to one of the Republicans close to the White House, who said the then-candidate raised concerns about the fact that McGahn got his law degree from Widener University, instead of a top-tier law school — though McGahn also received a postgraduate Master of Laws degree at Georgetown University. But the president was persuaded to hire him after aides touted his tenure at the FEC, this person said, and the two men became friendly once McGahn joined the campaign. The formal announcement of McGahn’s pending departure — which had been expected for months — comes as Trump is increasingly isolated amid Mueller’s investigation, as well as parallel investigations in New York that touch on Trump’s businesses. In the past week, Trump’s former campaign manager, Paul Manafort, has been convicted of tax evasion, and former lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen pleaded guilty to tax evasion and campaign finance violations related to payoffs he made shortly before the 2016 election to two women — adult film actress Stormy Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal — to silence their claims of affairs with Trump. McGahn threatened to resign last year after Trump ordered him to explore the possibility of firing Mueller, though the president eventually backed down. Trump was furious when news of his interest in firing Mueller was first reported by The New York Times in January, and he pressured McGahn to publicly dispute the story, according to a person familiar with the issue. The White House denies that Trump has pushed to fire Mueller. The president also tried without success to get his then-staff secretary, Rob Porter, to warn McGahn that he could be fired if he didn’t deny the article, the person said. McGahn generated a fresh round of headlines earlier this month after the Times reported that he had spoken with Mueller’s investigators for more than 30 hours over the past nine months. Trump’s allies have said McGahn did not offer anything damaging about the president, but McGahn still could help fill in some blanks as Mueller probes whether Trump campaign aides colluded with Russians before the election and whether Trump obstructed justice. Trump has since said that he gave McGahn permission to fully cooperate with the investigation, which he has regularly dismissed as a “witch hunt.” But McGahn’s allies were nonetheless worried that the story would infuriate the president. In the White House, McGahn, who is seen as a savvy operator, has increasingly separated himself from dealing with the West Wing response to the Russia probe, leaving that to other administration lawyers. McGahn has focused largely on judicial nominees and ensuring that Trump’s Supreme Court picks are confirmed. Although much of the recent coverage of McGahn has focused on his cooperating role in the Mueller probe and his selection of judicial nominees, including two Supreme Court picks, he’s also played an integral, behind-the-scenes role in Trump’s efforts to roll back regulations, and he’s told allies he hopes that ends up as much a part of his legacy as the reshaping of the court system. “When I hear ‘deregulation,’ all that means is returning the power to decide policy back to those elected by the people, whether it is the House, the Senate, or the president,” McGahn told Time back in March 2017. McGahn’s departure from the White House counsel’s office gives his likely successor, Flood, the chance to put his own stamp on a key part of the White House, which has shed its top lawyers in recent months. Already, several of McGahn’s top deputies and colleagues have left the White House for other jobs throughout the administration or the private sector, including Greg Katsas, now a federal appeals court judge on the D.C. circuit; Uttam Dhillon, acting administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration; Makan Delrahim, assistant attorney general for the Antitrust Division at the Department of Justice; James D. Schultz, chair of the Government and Regulatory Practice Group at the Philadelphia-based law firm Cozen O’Connor; and John Bash, now the U.S. attorney for the Western District of Texas. McGahn’s deputy White House counsel and the ethics czar, Stefan Passantino, is also scheduled to leave the White House after Labor Day — though that move was planned long before McGahn’s plans became public.People who know McGahn praised his tenure as White House counsel. “He really treated the presidency as his client, and he treated it with reverence and respect and always had the office of the president and the protection of that high office as his top priority,” said Mark Corallo, a former spokesman for the president’s legal team. “He did understand that the White House counsel has two jobs. You are the president’s attorney, but you’re also the attorney for the presidency.” McGahn has also built strong relationships with Republicans on Capitol Hill. The news that McGahn would step down drew a sharp reaction from Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley, chairman of the Judiciary Committee. “@realDonaldTrump I hope it’s not true McGahn is leaving WhiteHouse Counsel. U can’t let that happen,” Grassley tweeted. McGahn engaged in a lengthy and productive partnership with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s conference on stocking the federal judiciary with Trump’s nominees. McConnell reached a deal with Democrats on Tuesday to confirm seven more judicial nominees, with 60 total confirmed judges during the Trump administration, after cutting short the chamber’s usual August recess in part to focus on getting those picks approved. “Don is the most impressive White House counsel during my time in Washington, and I’ve known them all. His departure from the White House, whenever that may be, would be a big loss for the Trump Administration and the country,” McConnell said in a statement. Another slew of judicial nominees is on tap for votes in the Senate next week. Grassley’s lament about losing McGahn further underscores the counsel’s solid relationship with top Senate Republicans. “Senator Grassley has appreciated Mr. McGahn’s work over the last two years and has considered him integral to the president’s record-breaking success on filling judicial vacancies,” Grassley spokesman George Hartmann wrote in an email. “From Senator Grassley’s perspective, there’s not been any White House counsel who has worked so well and so efficiently with the chairman’s office and the Senate Judiciary Committee on judges.” McGahn’s most fruitful achievement on the judicial confirmation front has been Kavanaugh, whom McGahn first contacted about joining the nation’s high court mere hours after Justice Anthony Kennedy announced his retirement in June. McGahn’s effectiveness in shepherding Kavanaugh on an increasingly smooth path to confirmation has drawn howls from Democrats, who have objected to the White House counsel’s role in a meeting with Senate Republicans last month that influenced the scope of their request for records on Kavanaugh’s past. If Democrats take control of the House in November, McGahn would likely be hauled up for questioning as part of Democrats’ oversight efforts into the administration. “There’s no question that extensive statements given to the special counsel increases the expectation in Congress that the witness, such as Don McGahn, will be equally forthcoming,” said Jonathan Turley, a constitutional law professor at The George Washington University. Eliana Johnson, Daniel Lippman, Lorraine Woellert and Rebecca Morin contributed to this report.

Missing out on the latest scoops? Sign up for POLITICO Playbook and get the latest news, every morning — in your inbox.

Read More | https://www.politico.com/story/2018/08/29/trump-says-white-house-counsel-don-mcgahn-to-exit-in-the-fall-801587 | https://www.facebook.com/andrew.restuccia, https://www.facebook.com/politico/

Business ‘They just kind of avoided each other’: How Trump and McGahn’s partnership collapsed, in 2018-08-29 22:52:30

[blogwonderwebsites]

Business ‘They just kind of avoided each other’: How Trump and McGahn’s partnership collapsed

Business ‘They just kind of avoided each other’: How Trump and McGahn’s partnership collapsed Business ‘They just kind of avoided each other’: How Trump and McGahn’s partnership collapsed http://www.nature-business.com/business-they-just-kind-of-avoided-each-other-how-trump-and-mcgahns-partnership-collapsed/

Business

White House lawyer Don McGahn grabbed headlines earlier this month after it was revealed that he has cooperated extensively with special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia probe. | Andrew Harnik/AP Photo

White House

The president announced the long-expected departure of his White House counsel on Twitter after months of estrangement between the two men.

White House counsel Don McGahn’s office is just one floor up from the Oval, but it might as well be miles away. In recent months, the president has sometimes gone days — or longer — without having substantial conversations with McGahn as their relationship has grown increasingly strained, according to two people familiar with the matter. Story Continued Below

“They just kind of avoided each other for the most part,” one former administration official told POLITICO. Another Republican close to the White House said they discuss nothing but essential work business. People who know both men said their mutual frustrations are often manifested in silence, rather than massive blow-ups. But the two have also had several heated clashes that often stemmed from Trump’s steadfast belief that McGahn hasn’t done enough to minimize the Russia investigation, according to four current and former administration officials and others close to both men. One outside associate of McGahn’s said it always bothered Trump that McGahn was “his own man and wouldn’t kowtow to him.”McGahn’s eventual departure — whether after the midterms or after the anticipated confirmation of Trump’s Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh — has long been seen as a foregone conclusion in the White House. But McGahn and others close to the president were nevertheless surprised when Trump tweeted about it on Wednesday, according to two people close to the White House, ensuring that McGahn would have no choice but to go. “I have worked with Don for a long time and truly appreciate his service,” Trump wrote. He told reporters Wednesday afternoon that McGahn was a “really good guy” for whom he has “a lot of affection.” The White House pushed back on the notion that McGahn and Trump have a deeply strained relationship, with an administration official adding that they speak regularly. McGahn did not respond to a request for comment. “The president doesn’t treat him any worse or any better than anybody else,” said another person close to the White House. “The president is genuinely appreciative of what he’s done on the judges and deregulatory fronts.” The two men have worked alongside each other since the early days of Trump’s presidential campaign and have shared a common goal of stocking the federal courts with conservative judges and slashing government regulations. But their once-strong relationship has deteriorated steadily since the beginning of the administration, when the president was searching for somebody to blame for the appointment of special counsel Robert Mueller, the flawed travel ban and Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ decision to recuse himself from the Russia probe. A recent New York Times story detailing McGahn’s cooperation with the investigation cemented what had long seemed inevitable in the White House: that McGahn would soon follow so many others out the door. Though the White House has not yet named McGahn’s replacement, three people close to the president said White House lawyer Emmet Flood is expected to get the job, though a final decision has not yet been made. Flood, a former George W. Bush White House lawyer who has also represented Bill Clinton and former Vice President Dick Cheney, joined Trump’s White House earlier this year to handle special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation, replacing Ty Cobb. He took the job with the tacit understanding that he would have the opportunity to replace McGahn, the people said.It’s unclear what McGahn will do after he leaves the West Wing, but one person close to him and another close to the White House said he’s expected to return to his former law firm, Jones Day. The firm has close ties to Trump and is representing the campaign in its dealings with Mueller. McGahn could also join the campaign in a more formal capacity as a lawyer, another person said. McGahn, a former chairman of the Federal Election Commission, signed onto Trump’s campaign in 2015, making him one of Trump’s earliest political advisers. But Trump initially wasn’t sold on hiring him, according to one of the Republicans close to the White House, who said the then-candidate raised concerns about the fact that McGahn got his law degree from Widener University, instead of a top-tier law school — though McGahn also received a postgraduate Master of Laws degree at Georgetown University. But the president was persuaded to hire him after aides touted his tenure at the FEC, this person said, and the two men became friendly once McGahn joined the campaign. The formal announcement of McGahn’s pending departure — which had been expected for months — comes as Trump is increasingly isolated amid Mueller’s investigation, as well as parallel investigations in New York that touch on Trump’s businesses. In the past week, Trump’s former campaign manager, Paul Manafort, has been convicted of tax evasion, and former lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen pleaded guilty to tax evasion and campaign finance violations related to payoffs he made shortly before the 2016 election to two women — adult film actress Stormy Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal — to silence their claims of affairs with Trump. McGahn threatened to resign last year after Trump ordered him to explore the possibility of firing Mueller, though the president eventually backed down. Trump was furious when news of his interest in firing Mueller was first reported by The New York Times in January, and he pressured McGahn to publicly dispute the story, according to a person familiar with the issue. The White House denies that Trump has pushed to fire Mueller. The president also tried without success to get his then-staff secretary, Rob Porter, to warn McGahn that he could be fired if he didn’t deny the article, the person said. McGahn generated a fresh round of headlines earlier this month after the Times reported that he had spoken with Mueller’s investigators for more than 30 hours over the past nine months. Trump’s allies have said McGahn did not offer anything damaging about the president, but McGahn still could help fill in some blanks as Mueller probes whether Trump campaign aides colluded with Russians before the election and whether Trump obstructed justice. Trump has since said that he gave McGahn permission to fully cooperate with the investigation, which he has regularly dismissed as a “witch hunt.” But McGahn’s allies were nonetheless worried that the story would infuriate the president. In the White House, McGahn, who is seen as a savvy operator, has increasingly separated himself from dealing with the West Wing response to the Russia probe, leaving that to other administration lawyers. McGahn has focused largely on judicial nominees and ensuring that Trump’s Supreme Court picks are confirmed. Although much of the recent coverage of McGahn has focused on his cooperating role in the Mueller probe and his selection of judicial nominees, including two Supreme Court picks, he’s also played an integral, behind-the-scenes role in Trump’s efforts to roll back regulations, and he’s told allies he hopes that ends up as much a part of his legacy as the reshaping of the court system. “When I hear ‘deregulation,’ all that means is returning the power to decide policy back to those elected by the people, whether it is the House, the Senate, or the president,” McGahn told Time back in March 2017. McGahn’s departure from the White House counsel’s office gives his likely successor, Flood, the chance to put his own stamp on a key part of the White House, which has shed its top lawyers in recent months. Already, several of McGahn’s top deputies and colleagues have left the White House for other jobs throughout the administration or the private sector, including Greg Katsas, now a federal appeals court judge on the D.C. circuit; Uttam Dhillon, acting administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration; Makan Delrahim, assistant attorney general for the Antitrust Division at the Department of Justice; James D. Schultz, chair of the Government and Regulatory Practice Group at the Philadelphia-based law firm Cozen O’Connor; and John Bash, now the U.S. attorney for the Western District of Texas. McGahn’s deputy White House counsel and the ethics czar, Stefan Passantino, is also scheduled to leave the White House after Labor Day — though that move was planned long before McGahn’s plans became public.People who know McGahn praised his tenure as White House counsel. “He really treated the presidency as his client, and he treated it with reverence and respect and always had the office of the president and the protection of that high office as his top priority,” said Mark Corallo, a former spokesman for the president’s legal team. “He did understand that the White House counsel has two jobs. You are the president’s attorney, but you’re also the attorney for the presidency.” McGahn has also built strong relationships with Republicans on Capitol Hill. The news that McGahn would step down drew a sharp reaction from Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley, chairman of the Judiciary Committee. “@realDonaldTrump I hope it’s not true McGahn is leaving WhiteHouse Counsel. U can’t let that happen,” Grassley tweeted. McGahn engaged in a lengthy and productive partnership with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s conference on stocking the federal judiciary with Trump’s nominees. McConnell reached a deal with Democrats on Tuesday to confirm seven more judicial nominees, with 60 total confirmed judges during the Trump administration, after cutting short the chamber’s usual August recess in part to focus on getting those picks approved. “Don is the most impressive White House counsel during my time in Washington, and I’ve known them all. His departure from the White House, whenever that may be, would be a big loss for the Trump Administration and the country,” McConnell said in a statement. Another slew of judicial nominees is on tap for votes in the Senate next week. Grassley’s lament about losing McGahn further underscores the counsel’s solid relationship with top Senate Republicans. “Senator Grassley has appreciated Mr. McGahn’s work over the last two years and has considered him integral to the president’s record-breaking success on filling judicial vacancies,” Grassley spokesman George Hartmann wrote in an email. “From Senator Grassley’s perspective, there’s not been any White House counsel who has worked so well and so efficiently with the chairman’s office and the Senate Judiciary Committee on judges.” McGahn’s most fruitful achievement on the judicial confirmation front has been Kavanaugh, whom McGahn first contacted about joining the nation’s high court mere hours after Justice Anthony Kennedy announced his retirement in June. McGahn’s effectiveness in shepherding Kavanaugh on an increasingly smooth path to confirmation has drawn howls from Democrats, who have objected to the White House counsel’s role in a meeting with Senate Republicans last month that influenced the scope of their request for records on Kavanaugh’s past. If Democrats take control of the House in November, McGahn would likely be hauled up for questioning as part of Democrats’ oversight efforts into the administration. “There’s no question that extensive statements given to the special counsel increases the expectation in Congress that the witness, such as Don McGahn, will be equally forthcoming,” said Jonathan Turley, a constitutional law professor at The George Washington University. Eliana Johnson, Daniel Lippman, Lorraine Woellert and Rebecca Morin contributed to this report.

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Read More | https://www.politico.com/story/2018/08/29/trump-says-white-house-counsel-don-mcgahn-to-exit-in-the-fall-801587 | https://www.facebook.com/andrew.restuccia, https://www.facebook.com/politico/

Business ‘They just kind of avoided each other’: How Trump and McGahn’s partnership collapsed, in 2018-08-29 22:52:30

[internetbetterforall]

Business ‘They just kind of avoided each other’: How Trump and McGahn’s partnership collapsed

Business ‘They just kind of avoided each other’: How Trump and McGahn’s partnership collapsed Business ‘They just kind of avoided each other’: How Trump and McGahn’s partnership collapsed http://www.nature-business.com/business-they-just-kind-of-avoided-each-other-how-trump-and-mcgahns-partnership-collapsed/

Business

White House lawyer Don McGahn grabbed headlines earlier this month after it was revealed that he has cooperated extensively with special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia probe. | Andrew Harnik/AP Photo

White House

The president announced the long-expected departure of his White House counsel on Twitter after months of estrangement between the two men.

White House counsel Don McGahn’s office is just one floor up from the Oval, but it might as well be miles away. In recent months, the president has sometimes gone days — or longer — without having substantial conversations with McGahn as their relationship has grown increasingly strained, according to two people familiar with the matter. Story Continued Below

“They just kind of avoided each other for the most part,” one former administration official told POLITICO. Another Republican close to the White House said they discuss nothing but essential work business. People who know both men said their mutual frustrations are often manifested in silence, rather than massive blow-ups. But the two have also had several heated clashes that often stemmed from Trump’s steadfast belief that McGahn hasn’t done enough to minimize the Russia investigation, according to four current and former administration officials and others close to both men. One outside associate of McGahn’s said it always bothered Trump that McGahn was “his own man and wouldn’t kowtow to him.”McGahn’s eventual departure — whether after the midterms or after the anticipated confirmation of Trump’s Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh — has long been seen as a foregone conclusion in the White House. But McGahn and others close to the president were nevertheless surprised when Trump tweeted about it on Wednesday, according to two people close to the White House, ensuring that McGahn would have no choice but to go. “I have worked with Don for a long time and truly appreciate his service,” Trump wrote. He told reporters Wednesday afternoon that McGahn was a “really good guy” for whom he has “a lot of affection.” The White House pushed back on the notion that McGahn and Trump have a deeply strained relationship, with an administration official adding that they speak regularly. McGahn did not respond to a request for comment. “The president doesn’t treat him any worse or any better than anybody else,” said another person close to the White House. “The president is genuinely appreciative of what he’s done on the judges and deregulatory fronts.” The two men have worked alongside each other since the early days of Trump’s presidential campaign and have shared a common goal of stocking the federal courts with conservative judges and slashing government regulations. But their once-strong relationship has deteriorated steadily since the beginning of the administration, when the president was searching for somebody to blame for the appointment of special counsel Robert Mueller, the flawed travel ban and Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ decision to recuse himself from the Russia probe. A recent New York Times story detailing McGahn’s cooperation with the investigation cemented what had long seemed inevitable in the White House: that McGahn would soon follow so many others out the door. Though the White House has not yet named McGahn’s replacement, three people close to the president said White House lawyer Emmet Flood is expected to get the job, though a final decision has not yet been made. Flood, a former George W. Bush White House lawyer who has also represented Bill Clinton and former Vice President Dick Cheney, joined Trump’s White House earlier this year to handle special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation, replacing Ty Cobb. He took the job with the tacit understanding that he would have the opportunity to replace McGahn, the people said.It’s unclear what McGahn will do after he leaves the West Wing, but one person close to him and another close to the White House said he’s expected to return to his former law firm, Jones Day. The firm has close ties to Trump and is representing the campaign in its dealings with Mueller. McGahn could also join the campaign in a more formal capacity as a lawyer, another person said. McGahn, a former chairman of the Federal Election Commission, signed onto Trump’s campaign in 2015, making him one of Trump’s earliest political advisers. But Trump initially wasn’t sold on hiring him, according to one of the Republicans close to the White House, who said the then-candidate raised concerns about the fact that McGahn got his law degree from Widener University, instead of a top-tier law school — though McGahn also received a postgraduate Master of Laws degree at Georgetown University. But the president was persuaded to hire him after aides touted his tenure at the FEC, this person said, and the two men became friendly once McGahn joined the campaign. The formal announcement of McGahn’s pending departure — which had been expected for months — comes as Trump is increasingly isolated amid Mueller’s investigation, as well as parallel investigations in New York that touch on Trump’s businesses. In the past week, Trump’s former campaign manager, Paul Manafort, has been convicted of tax evasion, and former lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen pleaded guilty to tax evasion and campaign finance violations related to payoffs he made shortly before the 2016 election to two women — adult film actress Stormy Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal — to silence their claims of affairs with Trump. McGahn threatened to resign last year after Trump ordered him to explore the possibility of firing Mueller, though the president eventually backed down. Trump was furious when news of his interest in firing Mueller was first reported by The New York Times in January, and he pressured McGahn to publicly dispute the story, according to a person familiar with the issue. The White House denies that Trump has pushed to fire Mueller. The president also tried without success to get his then-staff secretary, Rob Porter, to warn McGahn that he could be fired if he didn’t deny the article, the person said. McGahn generated a fresh round of headlines earlier this month after the Times reported that he had spoken with Mueller’s investigators for more than 30 hours over the past nine months. Trump’s allies have said McGahn did not offer anything damaging about the president, but McGahn still could help fill in some blanks as Mueller probes whether Trump campaign aides colluded with Russians before the election and whether Trump obstructed justice. Trump has since said that he gave McGahn permission to fully cooperate with the investigation, which he has regularly dismissed as a “witch hunt.” But McGahn’s allies were nonetheless worried that the story would infuriate the president. In the White House, McGahn, who is seen as a savvy operator, has increasingly separated himself from dealing with the West Wing response to the Russia probe, leaving that to other administration lawyers. McGahn has focused largely on judicial nominees and ensuring that Trump’s Supreme Court picks are confirmed. Although much of the recent coverage of McGahn has focused on his cooperating role in the Mueller probe and his selection of judicial nominees, including two Supreme Court picks, he’s also played an integral, behind-the-scenes role in Trump’s efforts to roll back regulations, and he’s told allies he hopes that ends up as much a part of his legacy as the reshaping of the court system. “When I hear ‘deregulation,’ all that means is returning the power to decide policy back to those elected by the people, whether it is the House, the Senate, or the president,” McGahn told Time back in March 2017. McGahn’s departure from the White House counsel’s office gives his likely successor, Flood, the chance to put his own stamp on a key part of the White House, which has shed its top lawyers in recent months. Already, several of McGahn’s top deputies and colleagues have left the White House for other jobs throughout the administration or the private sector, including Greg Katsas, now a federal appeals court judge on the D.C. circuit; Uttam Dhillon, acting administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration; Makan Delrahim, assistant attorney general for the Antitrust Division at the Department of Justice; James D. Schultz, chair of the Government and Regulatory Practice Group at the Philadelphia-based law firm Cozen O’Connor; and John Bash, now the U.S. attorney for the Western District of Texas. McGahn’s deputy White House counsel and the ethics czar, Stefan Passantino, is also scheduled to leave the White House after Labor Day — though that move was planned long before McGahn’s plans became public.People who know McGahn praised his tenure as White House counsel. “He really treated the presidency as his client, and he treated it with reverence and respect and always had the office of the president and the protection of that high office as his top priority,” said Mark Corallo, a former spokesman for the president’s legal team. “He did understand that the White House counsel has two jobs. You are the president’s attorney, but you’re also the attorney for the presidency.” McGahn has also built strong relationships with Republicans on Capitol Hill. The news that McGahn would step down drew a sharp reaction from Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley, chairman of the Judiciary Committee. “@realDonaldTrump I hope it’s not true McGahn is leaving WhiteHouse Counsel. U can’t let that happen,” Grassley tweeted. McGahn engaged in a lengthy and productive partnership with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s conference on stocking the federal judiciary with Trump’s nominees. McConnell reached a deal with Democrats on Tuesday to confirm seven more judicial nominees, with 60 total confirmed judges during the Trump administration, after cutting short the chamber’s usual August recess in part to focus on getting those picks approved. “Don is the most impressive White House counsel during my time in Washington, and I’ve known them all. His departure from the White House, whenever that may be, would be a big loss for the Trump Administration and the country,” McConnell said in a statement. Another slew of judicial nominees is on tap for votes in the Senate next week. Grassley’s lament about losing McGahn further underscores the counsel’s solid relationship with top Senate Republicans. “Senator Grassley has appreciated Mr. McGahn’s work over the last two years and has considered him integral to the president’s record-breaking success on filling judicial vacancies,” Grassley spokesman George Hartmann wrote in an email. “From Senator Grassley’s perspective, there’s not been any White House counsel who has worked so well and so efficiently with the chairman’s office and the Senate Judiciary Committee on judges.” McGahn’s most fruitful achievement on the judicial confirmation front has been Kavanaugh, whom McGahn first contacted about joining the nation’s high court mere hours after Justice Anthony Kennedy announced his retirement in June. McGahn’s effectiveness in shepherding Kavanaugh on an increasingly smooth path to confirmation has drawn howls from Democrats, who have objected to the White House counsel’s role in a meeting with Senate Republicans last month that influenced the scope of their request for records on Kavanaugh’s past. If Democrats take control of the House in November, McGahn would likely be hauled up for questioning as part of Democrats’ oversight efforts into the administration. “There’s no question that extensive statements given to the special counsel increases the expectation in Congress that the witness, such as Don McGahn, will be equally forthcoming,” said Jonathan Turley, a constitutional law professor at The George Washington University. Eliana Johnson, Daniel Lippman, Lorraine Woellert and Rebecca Morin contributed to this report.

Missing out on the latest scoops? Sign up for POLITICO Playbook and get the latest news, every morning — in your inbox.

Read More | https://www.politico.com/story/2018/08/29/trump-says-white-house-counsel-don-mcgahn-to-exit-in-the-fall-801587 | https://www.facebook.com/andrew.restuccia, https://www.facebook.com/politico/

Business ‘They just kind of avoided each other’: How Trump and McGahn’s partnership collapsed, in 2018-08-29 22:52:30

[algarithmblognumber]

Business ‘They just kind of avoided each other’: How Trump and McGahn’s partnership collapsed

Business ‘They just kind of avoided each other’: How Trump and McGahn’s partnership collapsed Business ‘They just kind of avoided each other’: How Trump and McGahn’s partnership collapsed http://www.nature-business.com/business-they-just-kind-of-avoided-each-other-how-trump-and-mcgahns-partnership-collapsed/

Business

White House lawyer Don McGahn grabbed headlines earlier this month after it was revealed that he has cooperated extensively with special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia probe. | Andrew Harnik/AP Photo

White House

The president announced the long-expected departure of his White House counsel on Twitter after months of estrangement between the two men.

White House counsel Don McGahn’s office is just one floor up from the Oval, but it might as well be miles away. In recent months, the president has sometimes gone days — or longer — without having substantial conversations with McGahn as their relationship has grown increasingly strained, according to two people familiar with the matter. Story Continued Below

“They just kind of avoided each other for the most part,” one former administration official told POLITICO. Another Republican close to the White House said they discuss nothing but essential work business. People who know both men said their mutual frustrations are often manifested in silence, rather than massive blow-ups. But the two have also had several heated clashes that often stemmed from Trump’s steadfast belief that McGahn hasn’t done enough to minimize the Russia investigation, according to four current and former administration officials and others close to both men. One outside associate of McGahn’s said it always bothered Trump that McGahn was “his own man and wouldn’t kowtow to him.”McGahn’s eventual departure — whether after the midterms or after the anticipated confirmation of Trump’s Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh — has long been seen as a foregone conclusion in the White House. But McGahn and others close to the president were nevertheless surprised when Trump tweeted about it on Wednesday, according to two people close to the White House, ensuring that McGahn would have no choice but to go. “I have worked with Don for a long time and truly appreciate his service,” Trump wrote. He told reporters Wednesday afternoon that McGahn was a “really good guy” for whom he has “a lot of affection.” The White House pushed back on the notion that McGahn and Trump have a deeply strained relationship, with an administration official adding that they speak regularly. McGahn did not respond to a request for comment. “The president doesn’t treat him any worse or any better than anybody else,” said another person close to the White House. “The president is genuinely appreciative of what he’s done on the judges and deregulatory fronts.” The two men have worked alongside each other since the early days of Trump’s presidential campaign and have shared a common goal of stocking the federal courts with conservative judges and slashing government regulations. But their once-strong relationship has deteriorated steadily since the beginning of the administration, when the president was searching for somebody to blame for the appointment of special counsel Robert Mueller, the flawed travel ban and Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ decision to recuse himself from the Russia probe. A recent New York Times story detailing McGahn’s cooperation with the investigation cemented what had long seemed inevitable in the White House: that McGahn would soon follow so many others out the door. Though the White House has not yet named McGahn’s replacement, three people close to the president said White House lawyer Emmet Flood is expected to get the job, though a final decision has not yet been made. Flood, a former George W. Bush White House lawyer who has also represented Bill Clinton and former Vice President Dick Cheney, joined Trump’s White House earlier this year to handle special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation, replacing Ty Cobb. He took the job with the tacit understanding that he would have the opportunity to replace McGahn, the people said.It’s unclear what McGahn will do after he leaves the West Wing, but one person close to him and another close to the White House said he’s expected to return to his former law firm, Jones Day. The firm has close ties to Trump and is representing the campaign in its dealings with Mueller. McGahn could also join the campaign in a more formal capacity as a lawyer, another person said. McGahn, a former chairman of the Federal Election Commission, signed onto Trump��s campaign in 2015, making him one of Trump’s earliest political advisers. But Trump initially wasn’t sold on hiring him, according to one of the Republicans close to the White House, who said the then-candidate raised concerns about the fact that McGahn got his law degree from Widener University, instead of a top-tier law school — though McGahn also received a postgraduate Master of Laws degree at Georgetown University. But the president was persuaded to hire him after aides touted his tenure at the FEC, this person said, and the two men became friendly once McGahn joined the campaign. The formal announcement of McGahn’s pending departure — which had been expected for months — comes as Trump is increasingly isolated amid Mueller’s investigation, as well as parallel investigations in New York that touch on Trump’s businesses. In the past week, Trump’s former campaign manager, Paul Manafort, has been convicted of tax evasion, and former lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen pleaded guilty to tax evasion and campaign finance violations related to payoffs he made shortly before the 2016 election to two women — adult film actress Stormy Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal — to silence their claims of affairs with Trump. McGahn threatened to resign last year after Trump ordered him to explore the possibility of firing Mueller, though the president eventually backed down. Trump was furious when news of his interest in firing Mueller was first reported by The New York Times in January, and he pressured McGahn to publicly dispute the story, according to a person familiar with the issue. The White House denies that Trump has pushed to fire Mueller. The president also tried without success to get his then-staff secretary, Rob Porter, to warn McGahn that he could be fired if he didn’t deny the article, the person said. McGahn generated a fresh round of headlines earlier this month after the Times reported that he had spoken with Mueller’s investigators for more than 30 hours over the past nine months. Trump’s allies have said McGahn did not offer anything damaging about the president, but McGahn still could help fill in some blanks as Mueller probes whether Trump campaign aides colluded with Russians before the election and whether Trump obstructed justice. Trump has since said that he gave McGahn permission to fully cooperate with the investigation, which he has regularly dismissed as a “witch hunt.” But McGahn’s allies were nonetheless worried that the story would infuriate the president. In the White House, McGahn, who is seen as a savvy operator, has increasingly separated himself from dealing with the West Wing response to the Russia probe, leaving that to other administration lawyers. McGahn has focused largely on judicial nominees and ensuring that Trump’s Supreme Court picks are confirmed. Although much of the recent coverage of McGahn has focused on his cooperating role in the Mueller probe and his selection of judicial nominees, including two Supreme Court picks, he’s also played an integral, behind-the-scenes role in Trump’s efforts to roll back regulations, and he’s told allies he hopes that ends up as much a part of his legacy as the reshaping of the court system. “When I hear ‘deregulation,’ all that means is returning the power to decide policy back to those elected by the people, whether it is the House, the Senate, or the president,” McGahn told Time back in March 2017. McGahn’s departure from the White House counsel’s office gives his likely successor, Flood, the chance to put his own stamp on a key part of the White House, which has shed its top lawyers in recent months. Already, several of McGahn’s top deputies and colleagues have left the White House for other jobs throughout the administration or the private sector, including Greg Katsas, now a federal appeals court judge on the D.C. circuit; Uttam Dhillon, acting administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration; Makan Delrahim, assistant attorney general for the Antitrust Division at the Department of Justice; James D. Schultz, chair of the Government and Regulatory Practice Group at the Philadelphia-based law firm Cozen O’Connor; and John Bash, now the U.S. attorney for the Western District of Texas. McGahn’s deputy White House counsel and the ethics czar, Stefan Passantino, is also scheduled to leave the White House after Labor Day — though that move was planned long before McGahn’s plans became public.People who know McGahn praised his tenure as White House counsel. “He really treated the presidency as his client, and he treated it with reverence and respect and always had the office of the president and the protection of that high office as his top priority,” said Mark Corallo, a former spokesman for the president’s legal team. “He did understand that the White House counsel has two jobs. You are the president’s attorney, but you’re also the attorney for the presidency.” McGahn has also built strong relationships with Republicans on Capitol Hill. The news that McGahn would step down drew a sharp reaction from Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley, chairman of the Judiciary Committee. “@realDonaldTrump I hope it’s not true McGahn is leaving WhiteHouse Counsel. U can’t let that happen,” Grassley tweeted. McGahn engaged in a lengthy and productive partnership with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s conference on stocking the federal judiciary with Trump’s nominees. McConnell reached a deal with Democrats on Tuesday to confirm seven more judicial nominees, with 60 total confirmed judges during the Trump administration, after cutting short the chamber’s usual August recess in part to focus on getting those picks approved. “Don is the most impressive White House counsel during my time in Washington, and I’ve known them all. His departure from the White House, whenever that may be, would be a big loss for the Trump Administration and the country,” McConnell said in a statement. Another slew of judicial nominees is on tap for votes in the Senate next week. Grassley’s lament about losing McGahn further underscores the counsel’s solid relationship with top Senate Republicans. “Senator Grassley has appreciated Mr. McGahn’s work over the last two years and has considered him integral to the president’s record-breaking success on filling judicial vacancies,” Grassley spokesman George Hartmann wrote in an email. “From Senator Grassley’s perspective, there’s not been any White House counsel who has worked so well and so efficiently with the chairman’s office and the Senate Judiciary Committee on judges.” McGahn’s most fruitful achievement on the judicial confirmation front has been Kavanaugh, whom McGahn first contacted about joining the nation’s high court mere hours after Justice Anthony Kennedy announced his retirement in June. McGahn’s effectiveness in shepherding Kavanaugh on an increasingly smooth path to confirmation has drawn howls from Democrats, who have objected to the White House counsel’s role in a meeting with Senate Republicans last month that influenced the scope of their request for records on Kavanaugh’s past. If Democrats take control of the House in November, McGahn would likely be hauled up for questioning as part of Democrats’ oversight efforts into the administration. “There’s no question that extensive statements given to the special counsel increases the expectation in Congress that the witness, such as Don McGahn, will be equally forthcoming,” said Jonathan Turley, a constitutional law professor at The George Washington University. Eliana Johnson, Daniel Lippman, Lorraine Woellert and Rebecca Morin contributed to this report.

Missing out on the latest scoops? Sign up for POLITICO Playbook and get the latest news, every morning — in your inbox.

Read More | https://www.politico.com/story/2018/08/29/trump-says-white-house-counsel-don-mcgahn-to-exit-in-the-fall-801587 | https://www.facebook.com/andrew.restuccia, https://www.facebook.com/politico/

Business ‘They just kind of avoided each other’: How Trump and McGahn’s partnership collapsed, in 2018-08-29 22:52:30

[occupyhades]

The real threat to Trump is unfolding in a courtroom -- thanks to Stormy Daniels - RawStory.com

The weekend started off with a bang and ended with a whimper. In concert with U.S. allies, President Trump ordered a missile strike against Syria on Friday night, in retaliation for the apparent chemical attack on civilians in Douma earlier in the week. The precision strike was limited to some weapons facilities and so far there are no reports of deaths on the ground, which is likely because the U.S. warned Russia and the Syrians in advance. Trump had tweeted to the world that he was planning to launch missile strikes so it’s not as if anyone was surprised. (This is a good thing, although it certainly calls his “Pearl Harbor doctrine” into question.) This article was originally published at Salon By Saturday night, Trump was tweeting out “Mission Accomplished,” with no apparent sense of irony whatsoever. The White House made sure that it was widely reported that Trump really wanted to teach Russia a lesson and had pushed hard for a major bombing campaign but was talked out of it by his Pentagon chief. Everyone is now supposed to believe that Trump is chomping at the bit to be tougher on Russia than even Jim “Mad Dog” Mattis, but in the end Trump bowed to the defense secretary’s advice because he’s always restrained when he needs to be. (If you believe any of that I’ve got some Trump steaks to sell you.) Despite the Syrian strike, with all its Pentagon-provided, video-game footage of fire and fury, the White House couldn’t black out the news of the forthcoming book by James Comey or the astonishing story unfolding around Trump’s personal lawyer and former Trump Organization executive Michael Cohen. When I say the weekend ended with a whimper, I’m referring to Trump’s petulant, puerile Twitter rant on Sunday: Unbelievably, James Comey states that Polls, where Crooked Hillary was leading, were a factor in the handling (stupidly) of the Clinton Email probe. In other words, he was making decisions based on the fact that he thought she was going to win, and he wanted a job. Slimeball! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 15, 2018 I never asked Comey for Personal Loyalty. I hardly even knew this guy. Just another of his many lies. His “memos” are self serving and FAKE! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 15, 2018 Slippery James Comey, a man who always ends up badly and out of whack (he is not smart!), will go down as the WORST FBI Director in history, by far! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 15, 2018 Trump is obviously sincerely agitated about James Comey’s book, but his unhinged tweets are also part of a coordinated response by the Republican Party and are therefore to be expected. What’s more interesting is the fact that he tweeted about the FBI raid on Cohen’s office, commenting for only the second time since his overwrought TV appearance with the joint chiefs on the day it happened. He was obviously watching his unofficial adviser Alan Dershowitz opine on television when he tweeted this: Attorney Client privilege is now a thing of the past. I have many (too many!) lawyers and they are probably wondering when their offices, and even homes, are going to be raided with everything, including their phones and computers, taken. All lawyers are deflated and concerned! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 15, 2018 I’m going to go out on a limb and guess that only the lawyers who have engaged in criminal conspiracies with him are nervous. While Trump was ordering airstrikes on Syria last Friday it’s fair to assume he had one eye peeled on TV. There were reports from the federal courtroom where Cohen’s lawyers were protesting the searches and to everyone’s surprise, Trump had his own lawyers in the courtroom arguing — you guessed it! — that the warrants served on Cohen by federal prosecutors violated attorney-client privilege. Judge Kimba Wood was reportedly miffed that Cohen was not available in the courtroom to answer questions that his lawyers couldn’t. Where was Cohen, anyway? Well, he was hanging around with his pals on the street, smoking cigars. I’m not kidding. This brilliant satire about Cohen’s day by Josh Marshall of Talking Points Memo says it all: omg this is amazing pic.twitter.com/TOlAIKvPl5 — Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) April 14, 2018 At any rate, Judge Wood has ordered Cohen to appear in court Monday. In one of the three hearings held on Friday, prosecutors revealed that they’ve been investigating Cohen for months. Their filing added that the searches were meant to “seek evidence of crimes, many of which have nothing to do with his work as an attorney, but rather relate to Cohen’s own business dealings.” Those business dealings include suspected money laundering, bank fraud, wire fraud and nefarious criminal partnerships in the New York taxi industry. How all this fits into Trump’s business in the U.S. and overseas or with the Russia probe, if it does at all, remains to be seen. We do know that Cohen was in the middle of all of it. What is becoming clearer every day is that Cohen seems to have made a lot of money, and I do mean a lot, in schemes arranging payoffs to women to keep them quiet. It appears to be a kind of side service he has provides to other clients, not just his patron the president. It was also reported this week that Cohen had arranged for another woman who had an affair with a high-ranking Republican official to be paid more than a million dollars in hush money. The man, a wealthy Trump donor and confidant named Elliott Broidy, paid Cohen another quarter of a million on top of that. (Broidy is also entangled in the Russia probe, having participated in that mysterious meeting in the Seychelles, just before Trump’s inauguration.) Furthermore, the woman involved in the Broidy case was represented by Keith Davidson, the same lawyer who represented Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal, two women who allegedly had affairs with Trump and were paid to keep their mouths shut about it. There is some kind of remarkable racket going on here. On Sunday the Wall Street Journal reported that Cohen also managed to shut down a story in US Magazine in 2013 about Donald Trump Jr.’s rumored affair with singer Aubrey O’Day, who had appeared with Don Jr. on “The Apprentice.” It’s all in the family. If there’s one person in America who prepared the ground for this scandal, that would be Stormy Daniels’ attorney, Michael Avenatti. He is as smart and clever as Michael Cohen is — or rather, as Cohen evidently isn’t. Avenatti’s TV appearances and legal strategy in Daniels’ civil case have been perfectly calibrated for the Trump era of reality TV and gangster series. He tweets, he talks and he doles out information for maximum impact. He was in court on Friday and stood outside giving interviews while Cohen was being filmed hanging with his goombahs on the sidewalk. Trump evidently realizes that taking Avenatti’s bait would do him no good, but you can bet it’s driving him crazy. Monday’s hearing promises to be quite a circus. Trump’s lawyers are demanding to see everything the feds seized before prosecutors can review it, to determine if any of the material violates attorney-client privilege. Cohen will be there, presumably in a more subdued, lawyerly suit than he wore on Friday. Oh, and did I mention that Avenatti is bringing Stormy Daniels to court today?  The only one missing will be Donald Trump himself but you can be sure that he’ll be glued to the screen watching every move, even if he has to put Jim Comey on the DVR. This case goes straight to the heart of the Trump con — and maybe even his marriage.

[ivankahasbeentreatedsounfairly]

WASHINGTON — Before arranging a meeting with a Kremlin-connected Russian lawyer he believed would offer him compromising information about Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump Jr. was informed in an email that the material was part of a Russian government effort to aid his father’s candidacy, according to three people with knowledge of the email.

The email to the younger Mr. Trump was sent by Rob Goldstone, a publicist and former British tabloid reporter who helped broker the June 2016 meeting. In a statement on Sunday, Mr. Trump acknowledged that he was interested in receiving damaging information about Mrs. Clinton, but gave no indication that he thought the lawyer might have been a Kremlin proxy.

Mr. Goldstone’s message, as described to The New York Times by the three people, indicates that the Russian government was the source of the potentially damaging information. It does not elaborate on the wider effort by Moscow to help the Trump campaign.

There is no evidence to suggest that the promised damaging information was related to Russian government computer hacking that led to the release of thousands of Democratic National Committee emails. The meeting took place less than a week before it was widely reported that Russian hackers had infiltrated the committee’s servers.

But the email is likely to be of keen interest to the Justice Department and congressional investigators, who are examining whether any of President Trump’s associates colluded with the Russian government to disrupt last year’s election. American intelligence agencies have determined that the Russian government tried to sway the election in favor of Mr. Trump.

The Times first reported on the existence of the meeting on Saturday, and a fuller picture has emerged in subsequent days.

Alan Futerfas, the lawyer for the younger Mr. Trump, said his client had done nothing wrong but pledged to work with investigators if contacted.

“In my view, this is much ado about nothing. During this busy period, Robert Goldstone contacted Don Jr. in an email and suggested that people had information concerning alleged wrongdoing by Democratic Party front-runner, Hillary Clinton, in her dealings with Russia,” he told The Times in an email on Monday. “Don Jr.’s takeaway from this communication was that someone had information potentially helpful to the campaign and it was coming from someone he knew. Don Jr. had no knowledge as to what specific information, if any, would be discussed.”

It is unclear whether Mr. Goldstone had direct knowledge of the origin of the damaging material. One person who was briefed on the emails said it appeared that he was passing along information that had been passed through several others.

Jared Kushner, Mr. Trump’s son-in-law, and Paul J. Manafort, the campaign chairman at the time, also attended the June 2016 meeting in New York. Representatives for Mr. Kushner referred requests for comments back to an earlier statement, which said he had voluntarily disclosed the meeting to the federal government. He has deferred questions on the content of the meeting to Donald Trump Jr. 

A spokesman for Mr. Manafort declined to comment.

But at the White House, the deputy press secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, was adamant from the briefing room lectern that “the president’s campaign did not collude in any way. Don Jr. did not collude with anybody to influence the election. No one within the Trump campaign colluded in order to influence the election.”

The president, a prolific Twitter user, did not address his son’s controversy on Monday, and instead sought to highlight other issues throughout the morning.

In a series of tweets, the president’s son insisted he had done what anyone connected to a political campaign would have done — hear out potentially damaging information about an opponent. He maintained that his various statements about the meeting were not in conflict.

“Obviously I’m the first person on a campaign to ever take a meeting to hear info about an opponent... went nowhere but had to listen,” he wrote in one tweet. In another, he added, “No inconsistency in statements, meeting ended up being primarily about adoptions. In response to further Q’s I simply provided more details.”

The younger Mr. Trump, who had a reputation during the campaign for having meetings with a wide range of people eager to speak to him, did not join his father’s administration. He runs the family business, the Trump Organization, with his brother Eric.

On Monday, after news reports that he had hired a lawyer, he indicated in a tweet that he would be open to speaking to the Senate Intelligence Committee, one of the congressional panels investigating Russian meddling in the election. “Happy to work with the committee to pass on what I know,” the younger Mr. Trump wrote.

Mr. Goldstone represents the Russian pop star Emin Agalarov, whose father was President Trump’s business partner in bringing the Miss Universe pageant to Moscow in 2013. In an interview Monday, Mr. Goldstone said he was asked by Mr. Agalarov to set up the meeting with Donald Trump Jr. and the Russian lawyer, Natalia Veselnitskaya.

“He said, ‘I’m told she has information about illegal campaign contributions to the D.N.C.,’” Mr. Goldstone recalled, referring to the Democratic National Committee. He said he then emailed Donald Trump Jr., outlining what the lawyer purported to have.

But Mr. Goldstone, who wrote the email over a year ago, denied any knowledge of involvement by the Russian government in the matter, saying that never dawned on him. “Never, never ever,” he said. Later, after the email was described to The Times, efforts to reach him for further comment were unsuccessful.

In the interview, he said it was his understanding that Ms. Veselnitskaya was simply a “private citizen” for whom Mr. Agalarov wanted to do a favor. He also said he did not know whether Mr. Agalarov’s father, Aras Agalarov, a Moscow real estate tycoon known to be close to President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, was involved. The elder Mr. Agalarov and the younger Mr. Trump worked together to bring a Trump Tower to Moscow, but the project never got off the ground.

Mr. Goldstone also said his recollection of the meeting largely tracked with the account given by the president’s son, as outlined in the Sunday statement Mr. Trump issued in response to a Times article on the June 2016 meeting. Mr. Goldstone said the last time he had communicated with the younger Mr. Trump was to send him a congratulatory text after the November election, but he added that he did speak to the Trump Organization over the past weekend, before giving his account to the news media.

Donald Trump Jr., who initially told The Times that Ms. Veselnitskaya wanted to talk about the resumption of adoption of Russian children by American families, acknowledged in the Sunday statement that one subject of the meeting was possibly compromising information about Mrs. Clinton. His decision to move ahead with such a meeting was unusual for a political campaign, but it was consistent with the haphazard approach the Trump operation, and the White House, have taken in vetting people they deal with ahead of time.

But he said that the Russian lawyer produced nothing of consequence, and that the meeting ended after she began talking about the Magnitsky Act — an American law that blacklists Russians suspected of human rights abuses. The 2012 law so enraged Mr. Putin that he halted American adoptions of Russian children.

Mr. Goldstone said Ms. Veselnitskaya offered “just a vague, generic statement about the campaign’s funding and how people, including Russian people, living all over the world donate when they shouldn’t donate” before turning to her anti-Magnitsky Act arguments.

“It was the most inane nonsense I’ve ever heard,” he said. “And I was actually feeling agitated by it. Had I, you know, actually taken up what is a huge amount of their busy time with this nonsense?”

Ms. Veselnitskaya, for her part, denied that the campaign or compromising material about Mrs. Clinton ever came up. She said she had never acted on behalf of the Russian government. A spokesperson for Mr. Putin said on Monday that he did not know Ms. Veselnitskaya, and that he had no knowledge of the June 2016 meeting.

Ms. Sanders said at a news briefing that the American president had learned of the meeting recently, but she declined to discuss details.

The White House press office, however, accused Mrs. Clinton’s team of hypocrisy. The office circulated a January 2017 article published in Politico, detailing how officials from the Ukranian government tried to help the Democratic candidate conduct opposition research on Mr. Trump and some of his aides.

News of the meeting involving the younger Mr. Trump, Mr. Kushner and Mr. Manafort blunted whatever good feeling the president’s team had after his trip to Europe for the Group of 20 economic summit meeting.

The president learned from his aides about the 2016 meeting at the end of the trip, according to a White House official. But some people in the White House had known for several days that it had occurred, because Mr. Kushner had revised his foreign contact disclosure document to include it.

The president was frustrated by the news of the meeting, according to a person close to him — less over the fact that it had happened, and more because it was yet another story about Russia that had swamped the news cycle.