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Michael Cohen Says He Tried To Rig Online Polls 'at the Direction' of Donald Trump (cnbc.com)
Dan Mangan, writing for CNBC: President Donald Trump's former personal lawyer and longtime fixer Michael Cohen on Thursday said he tried to rig online polls -- including one conducted by CNBC -- "at the direction and for the sole benefit of" Trump when he was thinking about making a run for the White House. "I truly regret my blind loyalty to a man who doesn't deserve it," Cohen said in a tweet copping to the electronic chicanery to have Trump's name rank higher in online polls than it otherwise would have.
Cohen's admission came shortly after The Wall Street Journal published a story detailing how he retained an information technology company to manipulate a 2014 CNBC online poll identifying the nation's top 100 business leaders to bolster Trump's chances of making that list. That effort failed. And Trump himself fumed in 2014 on Twitter about his absence from CNBC's poll results.
Cohen's admission came shortly after The Wall Street Journal published a story detailing how he retained an information technology company to manipulate a 2014 CNBC online poll identifying the nation's top 100 business leaders to bolster Trump's chances of making that list. That effort failed. And Trump himself fumed in 2014 on Twitter about his absence from CNBC's poll results.
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You are an idiot if you think on-line polls are accurate. Most on-line polls simply record the actions of spam bots.
I'm struggling to find the technical aspect of this. Because the polls he was trying to rig are online? Or is this nothing more than orange-tinged clickbait?
The technical aspects of this are basically what you think. Asking for some IT guy to create a way to click though online polls to skew them in the way that you want.
What escapes me is the importance of this revelation. Online polls are about as unscientific and irrelevant as you can get in the polling world. They basically are like the junk science of perpetual motion or energy from nothing of the polling world. Nobody but political punditry pay attention to their results and then only when they support their political ideas, otherwise nobody looks at the results or takes them seriously.
"File to fit, pound to insert, paint to match" - Aircraft Maintenance 101
I can't ever remember another story quite like this one.
You're joking right? There's an anti-Trump article posted almost every day it seems like to me. At some point, it just becomes a dull buzz when it's so frequent...
there has been evidence emerging that the supposed Trump populist movement in the USA and the right-wing populist in Europe are actually just extremely loud and aggressive minorities and that the real reason Trump won was not that there is some "silent majority" but that republicans will just vote for whatever republican is running, that Brexit only passed because so many didn't understand what it was actually about and that's why the other "populist" movements elsewhere aren't doing as well as their British and American counterparts
The usual leftist mindset... "you either think like us in the path to Righteousness, or you're just a dumbfuck..." pathetic.
Paying for it with campaign donations is what constitutes the felony.
Those polls that are completely and utterly useless in pretty much every respect? Wake me up when something newsworthy happens.
Find solace in the fact that after these guys faked the polls for them Trump/Cohen cheated them out of their payment which is standard Trump Organisation practice. The lesson here is, never do business with anybody whose business practices you haven't thoroughly researched.
Finally, they find an admission that could technically become the subject for an article of impeachment...
Someone said that someone else told them to give fake data to an online poll ... you seriously think that rises to the level of a "high crime" that justifies impeachment? Cohen's lied before and you think NOW he's telling the gospel truth?
Wow.
At some point, it just becomes a dull buzz when it's so frequent...
That's no joke. We know that the FBI opened an investigation into a sitting US president to determine if he is acting as an agent of a major foreign adversary, and I haven't even discussed that with anyone. Literally. People say they're worried about Trump normalizing hate speech, what's even more concerning is normalizing egregious behavior to the point that people hardly even discuss it.
What's going to happen when Trump is gone? Things are going to seem so boring.
"Our two-party system is like a bowl of shit looking at itself in a mirror." - Lewis Black
What escapes me is the importance of this revelation.
Really the humor of it. We've got someone with very high name recognition, who tries to create an image as a savvy businessman, literally hiring a company for a sole purpose of getting him a place on the top 100 business leaders, and he failed. That's pretty funny.
"Our two-party system is like a bowl of shit looking at itself in a mirror." - Lewis Black
No, there just aren't enough idiots in US to elect Trump, so significant number of non-idiots voted for him. You need to understand why non-idiots voted for him instead of just calling them idiots or this will happen again.
It is pretty simple. They were (and are) idiots. Make no excuses for them. If they couldn't see that he was a sociopathic, lying, xenophobic, pussy-grabbing demagogue - well they were idiots.
FTFA:
"Cohen's admission came shortly after The Wall Street Journal published a story detailing how he retained an information technology company to manipulate a 2014 CNBC online poll identifying the nation's top 100 business leaders to bolster Trump's chances of making that list.
That effort failed. And Trump himself fumed in 2014 on Twitter about his absence from CNBC's poll results."
And then;
"A second similar effort related to rig a Drudge Report poll of potential Republican candidates worked, according to the Journal. Trump placed fifth in that poll, conducted in February 2015, before he announced his candidacy for the White House."
Oh, it got him placed fifth. Wow, big impact. I remember that time. He was higher than fifth in my estimation, but only because there were only two other candidates I was considering as viable and worth my consideration at the time. And one of those got weeded out pretty early. The rest were so milquetoast as to draw my scorn and humor.
And do we doubt every single candidate was also trying this tactic, to scam the polls any way possible, preferably without getting caught? Really? You think that?
I hope not. the only possible exception, AFAIAC, didn't need to, because they fixed their nomination. Done deal.
I'm not sure this is momentous, but it's another reason for those who loathe our President to expand on that. Mind you, his former lawyer, Cohen, is in the vise of a prosecutorial death march, and is paying for that.
deleting the extra space after periods so i can stay relevant, yeah.
Voting for someone is a value judgment. It is very likely that most Trump voters could see all the things you listed yet chose to vote for him despite that. This means some other value was a higher priority. If you can understand what that other value is, you can understand why Trump was elected. Outright dismissing that there could be such value would just lead to a second term.
Petty attack on a physical trait... and they you come and whine about fat shaming, you dumbfuck...
There's two takes on that.
The first is the spin that the Times put on it in the first few paragraphs of their article. Competent investigators found evidence then started an investigation.
The second is the reality pointed out in about the ninth or so paragraph of their article. The FBI wanted to correct what they felt was a mistake by the American people, and began to work on a soft coupe, by launching an investigation of a duly elected President on the most flimsy and spurious of evidence combined with already debunked and provably false data.
But, don't let the truth get in your way. BTW, Elizabeth Warren proved her case Native ancestry with that DNA test. I'm old enough to remember when they tried putting that spin on it.
Aah, change is good. -- Rafiki
Yeah, but it ain't easy. -- Simba
Yea, but you KNOW why this was even a story right? It's not for humor on "The Onion" or something.
This was reported, not because it is funny, but because it feeds the whole narrative being pushed about Trump by the punditry, because it serves to inflame the unthinking and keep the outrage alive in some about all the many ways he "cheated" is way into the Oval Office.
So I see why you find it funny, but I also see why it had enough traction to find it's way into Slashdot where "funny" isn't the point...
"File to fit, pound to insert, paint to match" - Aircraft Maintenance 101
>The FBI wanted to correct what they felt was a mistake by the American people, and began to work on a soft coupe
That's not a take, that's Trumpist propaganda. That's the kind of thing that liars like Hannity feed to the rubes. It may even be projection about a coup enabled by foreign actors, installing a failed businessman as President.
Cohen's lied before and you think NOW he's telling the gospel truth?
I agree, we shouldn't just trust Michael Cohen at his word. We should look at the evidence and base it on that. The evidence says he hired the firm he is claiming he hired. In fact the firm is saying he didn't pay them the full amount, which means they admit they did the work as well. Of course to know that you would have to go beyond the headline and care enough to reads the story.
"Information wants to be expensive" - Stewart Brand, the same guy who said "Information wants to be free"
What I find both astonishing and scary is all the GOPers chirping "So, what LAWS were broken?".... Really, your bar for the leader of the "civilized" world is that low? Don't we deserve better?
This is how I know that people of your ilk are in a state of mass delusion. I have seen left-wingers call minority conservatives every derivation of "race traitor" (which is what calling a black person a "minstrel show" is), and then, when caught in their racism, double down on some imagined "evilness" of anyone who should disagree with their behavior, as if their "progressiveness" makes them morally superior - no matter how abhorrent their actual behavior is.
"You are an idiot if you think on-line polls are accurate. Most on-line polls simply record the actions of spam bots."
Not even limited to online polls.
If CNN goes out and takes a " random " poll anything Trump related, can you predict what the overwhelming outcome of that poll will be ?
If Fox goes out and takes a " random " poll anything Trump related, can you predict what the overwhelming outcome of that poll will be ?
Not only can you guess the predictable outcomes in both cases, but they will be in stark opposition to one another.
The bottom line is, you can't trust a poll of any kind because someone, somewhere with an agenda is manipulating the outcome in some way.
It seems you missed the critical points in your rush to condemn. You do realize that "impeach Cohen" is not the goal, it's "impeach Trump". This requires Trump to have actually done this (which you have only Cohen's claim for) AND that it actually is something illegal to begin with, much less a "high crime" as required as a grounds for impeachment.
The problem is, he hasn't weakened the country.
Except by alienating our allies, randomly engaging in mindless economic and military stratagem, and destroying a lot of moral credibility.
We have a stronger economy, we are checking NoKo, China, and Iran.
Except for the need to bailout agriculture, fake numbers and how neither North Korea or Iran were actual threats and how China is blowing us off.
Oh, and illegals, he is struggling to fend them off, but no one disagrees that they drain our entitlement coffers. Every administration since Reagan has said so.
Actually for the Social Security coffers, they have contributed a surplus and the most expensive drain is on wasteful bailouts for corporations.
They'll make up anything to do that.
Well then it's a good thing we follow the rule of law and have things like trials. But, go on, tell me again how the entire FBI functions as a single entity with one hive-mind.
get the Russians to leak it to the press.
Why would the Russians want to damage their guy? Do you understand how little the Russians like the Clintons? You understand that they were actively working against Hillary, right? But, they're going to do something to damage Trump? And you believe that? Is that the current state of cognitive dissonance in the Trump camp regarding the investigations? Is the current line that Russia was now working AGAINST Trump instead of for him? Do you guys do any actual training for those kinds of mental gymnastics or do you just kind of wing it?
They took down Nixon, and apparently think they can get rid of any democratically elected president they don't like.
Holy shit, I think this is the first time I've seen the "Nixon was innocent" argument. If nothing else, you guys are at least amusing.
I've heard of revisionist history, but holy fuck. Russia was working against Trump? Nixon was innocent? Look at how far you have to go to get to a place where all of these pieces of evidence that you don't like start to line up with your chosen narrative. This is absurd. You're jumping through more hoops than Giuliani trying to explain the campaign's involvement with Russia.
There was NO CONTACT!
OK, there was contact, but it wasn't planned!
OK, it was planned, but not about the campaign!
OK, it was about the campaign, but it wasn't meaningful! And there was another meeting.
Collusion isn't even a crime!
You can't collude with someone you don't personally know!
OK, maybe SOMEONE colluded, but it wasn't Trump!
Oh, but yeah, sure, the ENTIRE FBI is corrupt. OK, yeah, sure buddy. It's not your guy who is an amazingly incompetent dickhead, no it's the entire federal law enforcement agency which is breaking the law and being unconstitutional. You know, literally the two things that they're there to specifically not do.
Time to defund the FBI and bar all members from any future government job.
With all due respect, it's time for you to stop talking like you've got the pulse of "real Americans." The FBI does a fine job. The FBI is staffed with many, many people who love and care about the country and have made it their life's work to help the country. I believe that anyone who goes out of their way to make it seem like the majority of government workers have some hidden, secret agenda is probably full to the tipping point with bullshit. Sorry pal, that argument doesn't pass the smell test. You may believe the turds that fall out of the president's mouth, but let me assure you that you are in a very small majority with regard to that. The majority of the country still believes that the people working in the government - REGARDLESS OF THEIR POLITICAL BELIEFS - are there because they love the country and want to help it, not damage it. Trying to act like the literal federal law enforcement agency would go against the Constitution and break the law is laughably absurd, and it says very bad things about your though process and where you get your information from.
You know what? Don't take my word for it. How strong are your convictions? Are you just a big talker or do you back it up? Because I would encourage you, whole-heartedly, to find the bars around your local FBI office and go in and start telling everyone how all FBI agents are corrupt and hate the country. Go ahead, let me know how that works out for you.
"Our two-party system is like a bowl of shit looking at itself in a mirror." - Lewis Black
The "other value" was "pwning the libs" over stupid-ass culture war bullshit. Which is why all Trump voters are idiots or evil. Or perhaps evil idiots.
There was no good or reasonably intelligent reason to vote for Trump. If you voted for Romney or McCain then I can still have respect for you and we can agree to disagree. Even if you voted for Bush Jr, or even one of the racebaiter presidents who impoverished Gen. Y, Bush Sr. or Reagan, I can give you the benefit of the doubt. But if you voted for that dimwitted clearly-racist pussygrabbing shitstain Trump, you are by definition at least as stupid and/or awful as he is, and you are worthy of nothing but scorn.
"When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
Let me see if I've got this straight. Being a retard, it sometimes takes me a little longer than most of my peers to achieve a working understanding of such matters. You voted to elect the Joker to the office of President of the United States, but I'm the "retard."
Is that basically the size of it?
Huh... I thought the goal was to detect and stop foreign interference in our elections. The fact that you seem to think that "impeach Trump" is the goal probably explains why you cheered for a 4+ year investigation into the Benghazi attack which produced no proof of any wrongdoing, but whine like a president when the Mueller investigation (and offshoots) convict multiple people.
Patriots cheer for the country, partisans cheer for their team. Good to see which you are.
So the libs/progs start a stupid culture war with the majority of the population and anyone who votes for someone to stop that divisive bullshit is the "idiot" or "evil one"?
You might want to look in the mirror sometime when accusing someone of being evil or stupid.
Obviously, someone can't handle a difference of opinion and has to mark this comment as Troll. Sadly you see this a lot more from my party than you do from the right. People need to stop calling others racists, trolls, whatever simple because you don't like the opinion. You don't have to like someone's view but you shouldn't shutdown the ability to speak it.
Aaaand that's why he's so seriously considered invading Iran, North Korea, and fucking Venezuela that he's had the military put together plans for him?
I've said it before and I'll say it again, Trump would stumble into more wars than Hillary would enter on purpose, and I think it's been only luck and less-hot heads surrounding him that have prevented it. Now the less-hot heads are gone, and who knows when the luck will run out...
"When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
That's a lot of eloquent words to try to make that stupid-ass culture war bullshit sound less idiotic (and bigoted, again they weren't called racists, sexists etc without good reason). But to continue your analogy, the works they threw that molotov cocktail into was the utility room of the apartment building all Americans share. That's a form of protest only someone who's an idiot, evil, or an evil idiot would use.
"When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
None of what you said provides any explanation for why Bill Clinton received half a million dollars from Russia for "giving a speech" or why Russia donated $2.35 million dollars to the Clinton Foundation.
Nice hand waving though (these are not the droids you are looking for).
The reason was to vote against Hillary and you are the idiot who can't find a reason why someone would be against her. "pwning the libs" is not a value, and your caricature of emotional people who vote without reason is very much visible on the side Hillary was representing.
Seriously, get out of the hole.
I call BS on your post and your attitude. You're demonstrating exactly why people refuse to associate with Democrats even if it means siding with Trump.
No reasonably intelligent reason eh? This is because you refuse to look and/or understand. Try reading an intelligent author for a change and not WaPo or CNN clickbait: America's resurgence is reshaping the world.. As a Canadian, I've seen our competitiveness erode massively since Trump and Trudeau came into office around the same time. Foreign investment has plunged, mostly due to Trump's support of business and ease of regulation, and Trudeau doing the opposite. The result isn't going to be a destroyed environment (you won't notice the difference from old policy in either country), it's simply going to be a more wealthy America. He's (rightfully) using his leverage to unilaterally renegotiate agreements, and if my leader had that power, I'd damn well expect him to use it. And for all those foaming mouth Americans who fawn over having a TRUE dumbass like Trudeau running the ship, you'll be interested to know his approval rating is far below Trump's.