Octopus Overlords

Former President Bill Clinton defended himself Monday from recent criticism of his affair with Monica Lewinsky in light of the #MeToo movement, telling NBC's "Today" he never reached out to the former White House intern following the scandal.

Asked if he owed Lewinsky an apology, Clinton told NBC's Craig Melvin, "No, I do not -- I have never talked to her. But I did say publicly on more than one occasion that I was sorry. That's very different. The apology was public."

Holman wrote: ↑Mon Jun 04, 2018 10:18 am Incidentally, veteran journalist Seymour Hersh (who, for example, exposed the My Lai coverup) has written a memoir.

One unexpected detail is Richard Nixon, shortly after his resignation, hit his wife so hard that she had to go to the emergency room.

Maggie Haberman wrote:Yikes. I asked @FLOTUS spokeswoman @StephGrisham45 about Giuliani saying that she believes her husband re Stormy Daniels. Response: “I don't believe Mrs. Trump has ever discussed her thoughts on anything with Mr. Giuliani.”

Holman wrote: ↑Thu Jun 07, 2018 6:59 pm Oh, my... Is this the first public hint of displeasure we've had from Melania?

Giuliani said yesterday that Melania believes Trump's denials of the Stormy affair and that she thinks the accusations are untrue.

Today:

Maggie Haberman wrote:Yikes. I asked @FLOTUS spokeswoman @StephGrisham45 about Giuliani saying that she believes her husband re Stormy Daniels. Response: “I don't believe Mrs. Trump has ever discussed her thoughts on anything with Mr. Giuliani.”

LordMortis wrote: ↑Thu Jun 07, 2018 7:09 pm unimpeachable truth.

Daniels was arrested early Thursday morning after her performance at Sirens, a local strip club. An Ohio law prohibits nude or semi-nude dancers at clubs in the state from touching customers, and Daniels reportedly groped undercover police officers during her performance, including touching the breasts and butt of a female cop.

She was promptly arrested, even though the law states that the prohibition against touching is for dancers who “regularly” perform at a club in Ohio. The statute clearly defines “regularly” as “consistently or repeatedly.” Prosecutors acknowledged that there was no evidence that this description fit Daniels, who was a guest performer at Sirens on the night in questions, and they moved to dismiss the case.

Chief Kim Jacobs told the gossip site that the she agrees Daniels’ arrest never should have happened, and is going to look into why officers took her in.

“While the presence of Vice officers at this establishment is reasonable, the motivations behind the officers’ actions will be reviewed internally,” Chief Jacobs said.

Daniels was supposed to perform at the club again the following night, but canceled. Her lawyer, Michael Avenatti, said he thinks the officers who arrested his client “knew exactly what they were doing,” and that he is going to investigate the matter. He said legal action against the police may be a possibility.

Chaz wrote: ↑Fri Jul 13, 2018 10:13 am Which is good, but a perfect example of using the law to harass. The charges were dropped, but only after she was put through the process of arrest, intake, and pleading her case. Yes, there may not be any long-term consequences for her, but there's absolutely a cost. In addition, the Fox News' of the world get to run a story about how that slut Stormy Daniels was arrested for slutting it up, which further reinforces the picture Trump and the right are trying to paint of her. Those same outlets will certainly neglect to run the "all charges dropped" bit of the story with nearly as much fanfare.

Chaz wrote: ↑Fri Jul 13, 2018 9:21 am I'm nervous that this kind of thing is going to get more common. This being using minor infractions to inconvenience, harass, and intimidate people who oppose those on the right.

President Trump’s longtime lawyer, Michael D. Cohen, secretly recorded a conversation with Mr. Trump two months before the presidential election in which they discussed payments to a former Playboy model who said she had an affair with Mr. Trump, according to lawyers and others familiar with the recording.

The F.B.I. seized the recording this year during a raid on Mr. Cohen’s office. The Justice Department is investigating Mr. Cohen’s involvement in paying women to tamp down embarrassing news stories about Mr. Trump ahead of the 2016 election. Prosecutors want to know whether that violated federal campaign finance laws, and any conversation with Mr. Trump about those payments would be of keen interest to them.

The recording’s existence further draws Mr. Trump into questions about tactics he and his associates used to keep aspects of his personal and business life a secret. And it highlights the potential legal and political danger that Mr. Cohen represents to Mr. Trump. Once the keeper of many of Mr. Trump’s secrets, Mr. Cohen is now seen as increasingly willing to consider cooperating with prosecutors.

Jolor wrote: ↑Fri Jul 20, 2018 1:11 pm Great way for him to get leverage on people: invite them to a party with underage girls, get them intoxicated, and secretly record the events of the evening.

Jolor wrote: ↑Fri Jul 20, 2018 1:11 pm Great way for him to get leverage on people: invite them to a party with underage girls, get them intoxicated, and secretly record the events of the evening.

Jolor wrote: ↑Fri Jul 20, 2018 1:11 pm Great way for him to get leverage on people: invite them to a party with underage girls, get them intoxicated, and secretly record the events of the evening.

LawBeefaroni wrote: ↑Fri Jul 20, 2018 2:55 pm Nowdays, maybe? But I think it still has to be kids or corpses to get any kind of real leverage.

Captain Caveman wrote: ↑Fri Jul 20, 2018 1:20 pm

Jolor wrote: ↑Fri Jul 20, 2018 1:11 pm Great way for him to get leverage on people: invite them to a party with underage girls, get them intoxicated, and secretly record the events of the evening.

You might even say that it's a golden opportunity.

Defiant wrote: I thought for sure the number of accusers would end at 12, I mean 14, I mean, well 16 at the most, but I guess I was wrong.

El Guapo wrote: ↑Thu Jul 26, 2018 10:05 am Some indications that police may have pre-planned to target and arrest Stormy Daniels. As opposed to her coincidentally getting caught up in a sting.