
Former Trump attorney Michael Cohen
Before the 2016 US presidential campaign, former Trump attorney Michael Cohen agreed to pay small IT firm to rig online polls in his boss's favor, according to the
Wall Street Journal.
And instead of the $50,000 he was promised, Cohen gave the man, John Gauger, a blue Walmart bag with between $12,000 and $13,000 in cash and a
boxing glove that Cohen said had been worn by a Brazilian mixed-martial arts fighter.
Cohen has disputed the account - but not the relationship with Gauger's firm, RedFinch - saying "All monies paid to Mr. Gauger were by check."
In January 2014, Mr. Cohen asked Mr. Gauger to help Mr. Trump score well in a CNBC online poll to identify the country's top business leaders by writing a computer script to repeatedly vote for him. Mr. Gauger was unable to get Mr. Trump into the top 100 candidates. In February 2015, as Mr. Trump prepared to enter the presidential race, Mr. Cohen asked him to do the same for a Drudge Report poll of potential Republican candidates, Mr. Gauger said. Mr. Trump ranked fifth, with about 24,000 votes, or 5% of the total.
After making the cash payment at Trump Tower, Mr. Cohen kept saying he would pay the balance of the $50,000 but never did, Mr. Gauger said. Mr. Cohen also promised to get RedFinch work for Mr. Trump's campaign. He set up two phone calls for Mr. Gauger with campaign officials, who didn't hire him, he said. -WSJ
In addition to owning RedFinch, Gauger is chief information officer at Liberty University in Virginia, where evangelical leader Jerry Falwell Jr. - an ardent Trump supporter, is president. Cohen met Gauger in 2012 when Falwell invited Trump to give a speech. Gauger helped Cohen set up an Instagram account and gave him his cellphone number.
Comment: The US always talks a good talk, but the systemic corruption that plagues the organizations responsible for armaments means it is lagging way behind Russia and China - which is really who it considers a threat, not Iran and North Korea:
- "Irritating": Pentagon fails first ever audit, "accuracy" problems in $2.7 trillion organization
- US missile defense systems needed in Europe to counter Iran claims US Official
- Russian submarines equipped with supercavitating torpedo nukes - Invented during the USSR, and haven't been surpassed since
- Putin Delivers Landmark 'State of The Union' Speech: Puts The Smack Down on US, Shows Off Latest Russian Nuclear Weapons
And check out SOTT radio's: Behind the Headlines: Putin The World To Rights: Russia's New Nuclear Weapons And The End of 'Unipolarity'