Lynne Patton, who worked for the Trump Organization before the election and is currently a senior official at HUD, is at today’s Michael Cohen hearing:
Scooplet: Longtime Trump aide Lynne Patton (who now serves as a HUD official) is attending hearing as a guest of Rep. Mark Meadows. Sources say Patton will sit behind Meadows during hearing. Patton, who is black, may do press to push back against testimony that Trump is racist
— Yashar Ali ? (@yashar) February 27, 2019
2. Have talked to several members and they've never seen an admin official sit behind a member of congress during a hearing! As @maggieNYT pointed out, Patton was brought into Trump world by Cohen. This is clearly intended as a reminder for Cohen, Meadows is Trump's top ally.
— Yashar Ali ? (@yashar) February 27, 2019
3. Patton is now sitting behind Meadows as was planned. pic.twitter.com/Bqhqv6BxQ6
— Yashar Ali ? (@yashar) February 27, 2019
Patton tweeted this morning that she’s there “in support of @POTUS and in support of the truth, as Michael Cohen (knows that I know) it to be. And the truth is that it doesn’t take you 15 years to call someone a racist. Unless they’re not one”:
I am honored to be the special guest of @RepMarkMeadows today. I am here in support of @POTUS and in support of the truth, as Michael Cohen (knows that I know) it to be. And the truth is that it doesn’t take you 15 years to call someone a racist. Unless they’re not one. pic.twitter.com/jPxeYTbTYT
— ?? Lynne Patton (@LynnePatton) February 27, 2019
And how does she know this? She used to consider Cohen one of her “very best friends” and she credits Cohen with introducing her to Trump and “changing [her] entire life.” Via her Facebook page in January:
3) Many of you may already know that I considered Michael Cohen to be one of my very best friends. Countless people can confirm that we were virtually inseparable during my employment at Trump – and that he is, single-handedly – responsible for introducing me to the Trump family and effectively changing my entire life. I would be lying if I didn’t admit that my heart still breaks for him and for his family, with whom I had grown extremely close.
So Trump the racist hired Lynne Patton?
Thank you & deal! But I would need concrete evidence. Not just Cohen’s word. And for the record, Michael Cohen used to be my best friend. We even spoke today, albeit not necessarily in a jovial way. He took issue w/my FB statement, which I stand by: https://t.co/l8e9JUbgAB pic.twitter.com/mWdfu1tWAn
— ?? Lynne Patton (@LynnePatton) January 19, 2019
Full Facebook post of Patton’s here:
Dear Haters:
Since so many of you are asking, I am only going to say this ONCE, so please pay attention before any of you start breaking out the champagne:
1) I will be the first to concede that IF actual physical evidence exists that the President directly instructed Cohen to lie to Congress then, yes, it would be the ONLY accusation made against POTUS over the past three years that would worry me. Otherwise, it remains the word of one person over another with ZERO evidence. Period. One of whom is going to jail for perjury & fraud.
2) More notably, it should be known that Donald Trump does not use email and never has. Nor (up until his inauguration at least) does he text. Therefore, the likelihood of some “smoking gun” email or text is slim to none. It should also be known that any/all visitors to the West Wing must check their cell phones upon entry in a secure locker before meeting with the President. Omarosa was not a visitor.
3) Many of you may already know that I considered Michael Cohen to be one of my very best friends. Countless people can confirm that we were virtually inseparable during my employment at Trump – and that he is, single-handedly – responsible for introducing me to the Trump family and effectively changing my entire life. I would be lying if I didn’t admit that my heart still breaks for him and for his family, with whom I had grown extremely close.
4) What many of you may not be aware of is the fact that I can personally confirm that the ONLY reason Michael Cohen “turned on” the President of the United States is because Mueller threatened to throw his wife in jail for up to 30 years. Period. She is the co-guarantor of a $20M personal loan that Mueller discovered Michael secured back in 2015 by falsely inflating the value of his taxi medallions – effectively making her part & parcel to the federal charge of “Making False Statements to a Financial Institution,” to which Cohen ultimately plead guilty. This is also the reason why Cohen’s longtime taxi medallion partner, Evgeny “Gene” Freidman, was granted immunity.
5) Michael Cohen also told me (after they raided his apartment) that the reason why he elected to pay Stormy Daniels $130,000 by using his home equity loan – effectively committing bank fraud – instead of easily using the over $5M+ cash he has sitting in various stateside bank accounts is because his wife controls their finances and he simply did not want her to notice the missing money, as many husbands wouldn’t considering to whom it went. Period. Moreover, he confessed to me that he never imagined in a million years that Donald Trump would actually win the Presidency and that the misappropriation of his home equity loan would ever be exposed, since thousands of Americans misuse this type line of credit to pay for colleges, boats, cars and vacations every single day.
6) By Cohen’s own admission, Trump ceased all interest and communication in constructing Trump Tower Moscow in June 2016. Over a month before officially being declared the Republican nominee for President. To that end, it is NOT ILLEGAL for him to explore – nor deny – any “for profit” construction projects during the campaign, as he was still a civilian global real estate mogul.
7) BuzzFeed, themselves, officially admitted on CNN this morning that they have yet to independently confirm or see ANY evidence that corroborates their story.
8.) Most significantly, Mueller refused to recommend any leniency, nor lack of jail time (as he did for Michael Flynn), for Michael Cohen when he was sentenced to 3+ years in federal prison just last month. This would lead most legal experts to reasonably conclude that the Special Counsel deems information gleaned from Michael Cohen of little consequence or contribution.
9) Lastly, given that Michael Cohen is barred from discussing the Russian investigation when he testifies before the House Oversight Committee, it’s safe to conclude that his testimony on February 7th will effectively amount to nothing more than political theater and partisan fodder for late night hosts simply to embarrass a sitting President over past behavior he may or may not have engaged in as a private citizen.
10) In closing, Michael Cohen always wanted to be famous. Sadly, he has gotten his wish. I personally stopped communicating with Michael when it became known in May 2018 that he was defrauding various companies (from a Korean defense firm to a global pharmaceutical company) for millions of dollars by falsely claiming he could leverage his connection with the President to their favor.
To me, that was the moment I knew our character, principles & loyalty to one another had finally diverged.
Much like the moment I ultimately realized that Omarosa Manigault Newman was lying to me about the existence of an “N-word” tape.
Like Cohen, it is no secret that Omarosa was one of my of very best friends. She and I developed the closest relationship out of everyone during the campaign, transition and newfound Administration.
From sharing hotel rooms to texting and speaking up to 80 times per day, I considered her to be like a sister. Michael Cohen was like my family.
While both of them often declared their loyalty to this President and his family in public, I realize now that neither of them FULLY understood the definition.
You don’t give loyalty to get loyalty in return.
You do it simply because it’s the right thing to do.
I am not a rich person. Nor am I poor.
People who have known the Trump family for less than a year are now signing multi-million dollar book deals. I have known them for 10. I know what’s written in their pre-nups & in their wills. I know what they think of certain people, the details of their family lives – good or bad. I know their medical histories & even the passcodes to their emails, credit cards, computers and homes.
NOT ONCE has it EVER crossed my mind to share that information in exchange for monetary gain. Not even in the multiple millions. Nor will it ever.
Feel free to call me either the dumbest loyalist on the face of the earth, or the poorest member of their inner circle.
I, on the other hand, simply choose to call myself a NORMAL FRIEND. ??
***
Related:
BOOMERANG IMMINENT? Matt Walsh says 'Cohen's testimony exonerates Trump' https://t.co/x6CvmMjmIh
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) February 27, 2019
Reporters who shouted questions about Michael Cohen at Trump during Kim Jong Un photo-op barred from dinner https://t.co/klyoTnkAYM
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) February 27, 2019
'I'm sorry': Rep. Matt Gaetz apologizes for now-deleted Michael Cohen tweet https://t.co/zsuhTH0dox
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) February 27, 2019
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