There's a big splash today with the "news" that Michael Cohen is supposedly going to testify that he used cash to hire people to fix the various online polls about the GOP presidential candidates in 2015 right before Donald Trump entered the GOP contests. The story is a yawn, but you would think it is the biggest thing ever heard from the media coverage of it. Here are the main facts as far as can be determined.
1. Prior to Trump entering the GOP contests, there were a few polls taken on line which asked respondents to identify the candidate that they favored.
2. These were non-scientific polls. That means that anyone could respond to the polls. There was no attempt made to keep them accurate. A candidate who could organize his followers to vote in the polls had a big advantage over those who were unorganized. That organization was used to generate more votes and the appearance of support.
3. These polls were the equivalent of the Iowa straw poll taken at the Iowa state fair in the summer of 2015. Voters in that poll had to be present at the state fair. Customarily, candidates who compete in the straw poll bussed in as many supporters as possible to vote. In the past it has been alleged that some candidates, like Hillary Clinton, paid people to come to the fair and vote.
4. Supposedly, Cohen hired a computer firm to write a program that would create voter IDs for the people supporting Trump. That would let Trump roll up more votes.
5. Using this sort of operation to win these polls is perfectly legal.
6. It turns out, however, that Cohen set up an operation which only used about 40% of the amount that Cohen then billed to Trump. That means that Cohen overbilled Trump by claiming that he had spent more than he actually spent. In short, the attempt to fix the poll was legal, but Cohen defrauded Trump in order to get more cash for his work.
1. Prior to Trump entering the GOP contests, there were a few polls taken on line which asked respondents to identify the candidate that they favored.
2. These were non-scientific polls. That means that anyone could respond to the polls. There was no attempt made to keep them accurate. A candidate who could organize his followers to vote in the polls had a big advantage over those who were unorganized. That organization was used to generate more votes and the appearance of support.
3. These polls were the equivalent of the Iowa straw poll taken at the Iowa state fair in the summer of 2015. Voters in that poll had to be present at the state fair. Customarily, candidates who compete in the straw poll bussed in as many supporters as possible to vote. In the past it has been alleged that some candidates, like Hillary Clinton, paid people to come to the fair and vote.
4. Supposedly, Cohen hired a computer firm to write a program that would create voter IDs for the people supporting Trump. That would let Trump roll up more votes.
5. Using this sort of operation to win these polls is perfectly legal.
6. It turns out, however, that Cohen set up an operation which only used about 40% of the amount that Cohen then billed to Trump. That means that Cohen overbilled Trump by claiming that he had spent more than he actually spent. In short, the attempt to fix the poll was legal, but Cohen defrauded Trump in order to get more cash for his work.
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