Cohen Paid Liberty U CIO to Rig Online Polls in Favor of Trump

[iluvatar5150]

lololol Oh man, this keeps getting better and better. The latest news is that (allegedly at Trump's direction, though that seems to be disputed) Cohen hired John Gauger, who runs a security company and who also happens to be the CIO of Liberty University, to rig online polls to favor Trump before the primaries. The deal was supposed to be for $50,000 but Cohen only paid about 1/3 of that, apparently pocketing the rest of the full $50k he was reimbursed by the Trump Organization.

Michael Cohen says he paid tech firm to rig online polls 'at the direction of' Trump

Cohen Hired IT Firm to Rig Early CNBC, Drudge Polls to Favor Trump

In early 2015, a man who runs a small technology company showed up at Trump Tower to collect $50,000 for having helped Michael Cohen, then Donald Trump’s personal lawyer, try to rig online polls in his boss’s favor before the presidential campaign.

In his Trump Organization office, Mr. Cohen surprised the man, John Gauger, by giving him a blue Walmart bag containing between $12,000 and $13,000 in cash and, randomly, a boxing glove that Mr. Cohen said had been worn by a Brazilian mixed-martial arts fighter, Mr. Gauger said.

Mr. Cohen disputed that he handed over a bag of cash. “All monies paid to Mr. Gauger were by check,” he said, offering no further comment on his ties to the consultant.

Mr. Gauger owns RedFinch Solutions LLC and is chief information officer at Liberty University in Virginia, where Jerry Falwell Jr., an evangelical leader and fervent Trump supporter, is president.

Mr. Gauger said he never got the rest of what he claimed he was owed. But Mr. Cohen in early 2017 still asked for—and received—a $50,000 reimbursement from Mr. Trump and his company for the work by RedFinch, according to a government document and a person familiar with the matter. The reimbursement—made on the sole basis of a handwritten note from Mr. Cohen and paid largely out of Mr. Trump’s personal account—demonstrates the level of trust the lawyer once had within the Trump Organization, whose officials arranged the repayment.

 

[Ringo84]

Whenever Donny accuses someone of something, I always have to assume it's projection. It's really amazing.
Ringo

 

[com7fy8]

And Mr. Cohen is confirmed to be a person who does not lie?

So, has there been independent confirmation of his claim?

 

[iluvatar5150]

And Mr. Cohen is confirmed to be a person who does not lie?

So, has there been independent confirmation of his claim?

If you'd read the WSJ article:

Mr. Gauger’s lawyer, Charles E. James Jr. of the firm Williams Mullen, said federal investigators interviewed Mr. Gauger about his interactions over six years with Mr. Cohen, from their first meeting in 2012 until last April, when the Federal Bureau of Investigation raided Mr. Cohen’s home, office and hotel room.


Mr. Gauger, who recounted those dealings to The Wall Street Journal, said that though Mr. Cohen promised him lucrative work for the presidential campaign, his activities related to Mr. Trump consisted of trying unsuccessfully to manipulate two online polls in Mr. Trump’s favor.

 

[GlabrousDory4]

lololol Oh man, this keeps getting better and better. The latest news is that (allegedly at Trump's direction, though that seems to be disputed) Cohen hired John Gauger, who runs a security company and who also happens to be the CIO of Liberty University, to rig online polls to favor Trump before the primaries. The deal was supposed to be for $50,000 but Cohen only paid about 1/3 of that, apparently pocketing the rest of the full $50k he was reimbursed by the Trump Organization.

Michael Cohen says he paid tech firm to rig online polls 'at the direction of' Trump

Cohen Hired IT Firm to Rig Early CNBC, Drudge Polls to Favor Trump

This is fractally brilliant! I can't figure out what is more interesting: that the President of the United States has a fixer who not only pays out hush money to inappropriate content stars on behalf of the POTUS but also to RIG POLLING DATA for an election...OR that it was being done by the CIO of LIBERTY UNIVERSITY!

LOL. Perhaps at Liberty they only have copies of the Bible that are mysteriously missing Exodus 20:16.

Oh well, at least we know that Christianity is no more real for these people as it is for hardened atheists.

 

[GlabrousDory4]

And Mr. Cohen is confirmed to be a person who does not lie?

Cohen could be lying...but there's not a lot of reason for him to do so. Manafort is going to find out the hard way that once you start cooperating with Mueller you do NOT want to lie.

It's hard to like anyone in these scenarios, whether it's the "fixer" who squawks only because he's caught or the POTUS who obviously lies on a daily basis.

One expects politicians to lie, but there's a point where you feel like you are living on an island where half the people only tell the truth and the other half only tell lies but everyone who tells truth is on vacation.

 

[com7fy8]

If you'd read the WSJ article:

Thank you; I just read it.

It sounds like Mr. Cohen and Mr. Gauger are saying they tried to rig a poll by CNBC. What is the legal status of rigging a political poll?

It seems to me that it is legal to make false statements about candidates. And ones appear to make plenty about their own selves. I have never seen any criminal investigation called when candidates make opposite statements. So, then, is it also legal to rig polls??

 

[Nithavela]

 

[com7fy8]

Oh well, at least we know that Christianity is no more real for these people as it is for hardened atheists.

But I offer there are people who claim to be Christians, and we do care about telling the truth.

half the people only tell the truth and the other half only tell lies but everyone who tells truth is on vacation.

lolololol

 

[Nithavela]

And Mr. Cohen is confirmed to be a person who does not lie?

So, has there been independent confirmation of his claim?

Have you ever considered that things might be legal and still look really bad for the one doing them?

 

[com7fy8]

Have you ever considered that things might be legal and still look really bad for the one doing them?

Thank you for taking the time to deal with my probes.

Of course, rigging polls can look bad to someone. Of course, if someone has been doing rigging, this can show how inferior the person's thing is.

And I don't know how much others have been doing this rigging. It might not come out, but how much could be going on?

So, I think it is wise to be able to tell the difference, without requiring that we know about such things.

Donald is an outsider and new in politics; so he might not have the means in place for secretive activities, which other political operators have.

But I think we have much more really capable politicians who do not "need" to use inferior methods.

And there are ones who have left politics, as they came to believe they could do more good elsewhere.

So, I hope national politics is not, really, only a dumping ground.

 

[GlabrousDory4]

But I offer there are people who claim to be Christians, and we do care about telling the truth.

No doubt, no doubt.

I think it's a special subset of people who crave power and influence and exploit the honestly held faith of others.

 

[iluvatar5150]

This is fractally brilliant! I can't figure out what is more interesting: that the President of the United States has a fixer who not only pays out hush money to inappropriate content stars on behalf of the POTUS but also to RIG POLLING DATA for an election...OR that it was being done by the CIO of LIBERTY UNIVERSITY!

LOL. Perhaps at Liberty they only have copies of the Bible that are mysteriously missing Exodus 20:16.

Oh well, at least we know that Christianity is no more real for these people as it is for hardened atheists.

Oh, I'm WAY more interested in the Liberty U angle. The notion that Trump would pay Cohen to rig a couple of online polls is so unremarkable that, if that were the extent of it, I probably wouldn't have even bothered posting it. It seems like a pretty clear violation of campaign finance and reporting rules, but it's not clear to me how much of that falls on Cohen and how much falls on Trump (I believe it would depend on how much Trump knew about the "tech services" that were rendered).

It strikes me that deceptive actions taken on behalf of a political candidate would certainly risk running afoul of a Christian university's standard of ethics. Here's there employee handbook:
https://www.liberty.edu/media/1312/handbooks/Employee_Handbook_(2015).pdf

Selected passages:

The University is committed to maintaining the highest standards of quality, honesty and integrity in its business dealings. All employees are required to use their best efforts to ensure that no false, misleading, or deceptive information is disseminated.

As a general guideline to the professional and business ethics, an employee should ask the following questions:
 Is the action legal, does it meet full disclosure standards of the University’s mission?
 Does the action enhance the University’s reputation with the public, academic community, students/ customers, vendors or other employees?
 Does the action comply with University policies and procedures?
 Does the action compromise personal ethics?
 How would the action look in the newspaper or on television?

Now, this guy's activity was done in the context of outside employment, but
1.) He's a C-level executive,
2.) The outside work is largely related to his university work
3.) The whole matter is now very public.

I would have assumed that Gauger would have informed Falwell and the board about this when Mueller's team came to interview him after they raided Cohen's house. So, did he not tell the board? Or did the board et al not care?

I wonder how this will play out. You know if he'd done this for Hillary, Jerry Jr would've sacked him already.

 

[iluvatar5150]

Thank you; I just read it.

It sounds like Mr. Cohen and Mr. Gauger are saying they tried to rig a poll by CNBC. What is the legal status of rigging a political poll?

It seems to me that it is legal to make false statements about candidates. And ones appear to make plenty about their own selves. I have never seen any criminal investigation called when candidates make opposite statements. So, then, is it also legal to rig polls??

I don't really care about the legality of rigging online polls. Unless this guy unleashed a bot swarm to do it, he's probably fine. I'm more interested in the legality of it as it relates to an electoral campaign and in the ethics of it as it relates to both a presidential candidate and the CIO of a Christian University.

 

[com7fy8]

I think it's a special subset of people who crave power and influence and exploit the honestly held faith of others.

I think I have read that a narcissist will try to piggy-back on the credibility of ones and things which are already trusted and valued by people.

Therefore there can be a big military parade, to boost the popularity of a politician with ones who have an ego thing about military power and its supposed assurance of security and superiority.

Of course, this can't work with ones who trust that military is not a reliable means to power and security. And if ones are not about superiority but about being humble, the parade trick can't work

And we in Jesus are advised, possibly, not to trust someone only because of the person's say-so that the person is Christian. And do not assume reporting has to be accurate just because a TV ministry says it is.

"Test all things; hold fast what is good." (1 Thessalonians 5:21)

So, of course, then, if someone is a narcissist who is willing to depend on trickery instead of being a genuinely loving and caring person . . . all the person can do is use people who can be fooled. And the person can not get what genuine love can get, if he or she is able to only fool and force and use people.

 

[camille70]

Rachel Maddow had me lol about this earlier. She lost it talking about the glove and money in the walmart bag. She mentioned the guy was currently the chief information officer at Liberty U... lol..."because who among us had not asked whose online poll Jesus would rig in exchange for a walmart bag with a glove in it"...lol...

 

[camille70]

Thank you; I just read it.

It sounds like Mr. Cohen and Mr. Gauger are saying they tried to rig a poll by CNBC. What is the legal status of rigging a political poll?

It seems to me that it is legal to make false statements about candidates. And ones appear to make plenty about their own selves. I have never seen any criminal investigation called when candidates make opposite statements. So, then, is it also legal to rig polls??

It's more to do with the payments he received and how they were reported that causes the legal jeopardy.

 

[jacks]

Whoever rigged the polls for Trump should be Fired. All the polls showed Hillary winning.

 

[hedrick]

Yikes! I already knew Trump was a liar, surrounded by liars. The big news is that Liberty University would be involved in it.

 

[cow451]

Guys, I don’t appreciate putting money in a Wal-Mart bag. I want my money in something a bit more upscale. A Trader Joe’s bag would work. My money should be prewashed, too.