Thursday, February 28, 2019
Political Mayhem Thursday: The Cohen Testimony
What a day it was yesterday! Michael Cohen's testimony overshadowed all other news, including his former boss's appearance in Vietnam with Kim Jong Un of North Korea. Here were the highlights (at least the ones that might relate most directly to the ongoing investigations):
1) Cohen said that Donald Trump continued to work actively on the Trump Tower Moscow project well into 2016, just before his election as President. This matters because it creates a motive to work with Russia. Moreover, it shows a willingness to work with Russia in secret, as shown by the fact that Trump lied about it.
2) Trump reimbursed Cohen for the hush money paid to Stormy Daniels. That may be part of a case that could be, even now, under investigation in the Southern District of New York for illegal aid to a campaign.
3) Cohen reported that he was there when Roger Stone called and told Trump (over speakerphone!) that Wikileaks was about to release thousands of emails that would be embarrassing to the Clinton campaign. That matters because it shows a link--before the data dump--between Trump and the Wikileaks operation. If Trump claimed that there was no contact with Stone regarding Wikileaks in his sworn statement to Mueller, that would be perjury.
4) Trump apparently used funds from his charity to buy--through a straw purchaser-- a portrait of himself. (That's gotta be about the most Trump thing that Trump ever did). It's not a big-ticket offense, but it would be improper use of charitable funds.
Of course, there is lots lots more. And in the closed-door sessions there will be much more revealed, I'm sure, and without the showboating and distractions that marked yesterday's circus.
One key question is this: should anyone believe what Cohen says, given that he has already been charged and convicted of lying about these very issues?
It's a good question. And it make corroboration of what Cohen said all the more important. If documents and what others are saying match up with Cohen's account, that will matter. And right now only Mueller's team (and another in SDNY) can see the rest of that puzzle.
Suffice it to say that Cohen's claims will be valuable only insofar as they match what comes in from more credible sources.
My own hunch is that such a match will be found.
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What you're saying lines up pretty closely with my take on the Cohen thing: Republicans, in bad faith, ended up making a good point that Cohen is a serial liar. On a gut level, I'm erring toward believing him on many (if not most) of his accusations, but we really need corroboration and further evidence.
I'm surprised you didn't talk about the most important part of Cohen's testimony, though: the fact that he has absolutely no clue what irony is!
I'm surprised you didn't talk about the most important part of Cohen's testimony, though: the fact that he has absolutely no clue what irony is!
Mark
You have presented a good case that Donald Trump has reason to worry about his future. In addition I think that the most telling fact that came out of the hearing is that not a single Republican defended the President. No one stood up and said the President wasn't a liar and a cheat. They just said that we couldn't trust a liar and a cheat to tell us that he is. They blistered Michael Cohen, sometimes it seemed, for getting caught. Sure, they were trying to discredit his testimony. The problem we have is if we can't trust liars and cheats we probably won't be able to trust the testimony of anyone close to Donald Trump. For the next year and a half there will be a parade of Trump's associates testifying to Congress. If no one stands up for Mr Trump and we only hear attacks on those who he has surrounded himself with. He will be toast when his turn to be heard comes around.
You have presented a good case that Donald Trump has reason to worry about his future. In addition I think that the most telling fact that came out of the hearing is that not a single Republican defended the President. No one stood up and said the President wasn't a liar and a cheat. They just said that we couldn't trust a liar and a cheat to tell us that he is. They blistered Michael Cohen, sometimes it seemed, for getting caught. Sure, they were trying to discredit his testimony. The problem we have is if we can't trust liars and cheats we probably won't be able to trust the testimony of anyone close to Donald Trump. For the next year and a half there will be a parade of Trump's associates testifying to Congress. If no one stands up for Mr Trump and we only hear attacks on those who he has surrounded himself with. He will be toast when his turn to be heard comes around.
Piggybacking on what Micah said: Another lawyer in my office said that it felt like about 80% of what Cohen said was true. That sounds about right to me. Third party corroboration is key, but it's out there.
Cohen talked about how he used to threaten educational institutions to prevent them from releasing Trump's grades. Apparently Fordham confirmed yesterday that they received such a threat.
The truth is out there!
Cohen talked about how he used to threaten educational institutions to prevent them from releasing Trump's grades. Apparently Fordham confirmed yesterday that they received such a threat.
The truth is out there!
In watching Cohen's testimony, I could not help but feel a linkage with the Watergate hearings of 1973. Were we seeing the eventual downfall of a(nother) president? I don't know. But like Andrew notes, I also felt that most of what Cohen was saying is true. And Elijah Cummings' closing remarks (https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/politics/bs-md-cummings-transcript-20190228-story.html) were passionate to the point of being poetic.
While certainly salacious, Cohen didn't add much to what we know. Many of the charges he leveled against Trump have long been public knowledge (which I suppose suggests Cohen was telling the truth). The details about Trump's alleged advance knowledge of Wikileaks activities were pretty thin, and seemingly in conflict with the indictment against Rodger Stone, but perhaps there's something there. Cohen also accused Trump of having advance knowledge of the Don Jr., Kushner, et al meeting with the Russian lawyer. Again, exceedingly thin evidence, but nonetheless might be a risk to the president.
Nothing Cohen said suggests a forthcoming bombshell in the Mueller collusion investigation. We get it--Trump is a dirt-bag who keeps the company of dirt-bags and goes around doing dirt-bag things. He still won the election. So Cohen achieved anything, it was to confirm (as has long been the case, at least in my view) that Trump's greatest legal jeopardy is the SDNY's various campaign finance investigations. And even if those investigations come up sort of an indictment, they will almost certainly drag into the 2020 race and weigh Trump down.
As for Cohen himself, what a poor, twisted, sad, spectacle of a man. If half of what he said about Trump is true, he himself has a great deal for which to repent. Hopefully his time in prison will allow him to course-correct. Although his express interest in future book deals suggests he might not be quite ready to stop profiting from his misdeeds.
Nothing Cohen said suggests a forthcoming bombshell in the Mueller collusion investigation. We get it--Trump is a dirt-bag who keeps the company of dirt-bags and goes around doing dirt-bag things. He still won the election. So Cohen achieved anything, it was to confirm (as has long been the case, at least in my view) that Trump's greatest legal jeopardy is the SDNY's various campaign finance investigations. And even if those investigations come up sort of an indictment, they will almost certainly drag into the 2020 race and weigh Trump down.
As for Cohen himself, what a poor, twisted, sad, spectacle of a man. If half of what he said about Trump is true, he himself has a great deal for which to repent. Hopefully his time in prison will allow him to course-correct. Although his express interest in future book deals suggests he might not be quite ready to stop profiting from his misdeeds.
It was also important, I think, that Cohen said that Trump's never expected to win the presidency and that he viewed his campaign as one big infomercial to enhance his brand and thus make some serious money. It's seeming as though the Trump Tower Moscow deal was his motivation for almost everything.
In general I believed Michael Cohen. Mainly, I found him very sad: The fact that it's ingrained in him to call his employer of ten years "Mr. Trump" makes him seem permanently subservient, like an operator in a crime syndicate. How often as adults do we call our bosses anything other than their first names? (Aside from "your Honor" or "Madame Speaker" or other such public professional settings). He's a liar, yes, but now he's going to jail and seems to have no incentive to lie any more.
In general I believed Michael Cohen. Mainly, I found him very sad: The fact that it's ingrained in him to call his employer of ten years "Mr. Trump" makes him seem permanently subservient, like an operator in a crime syndicate. How often as adults do we call our bosses anything other than their first names? (Aside from "your Honor" or "Madame Speaker" or other such public professional settings). He's a liar, yes, but now he's going to jail and seems to have no incentive to lie any more.
# posted by 
: 4:09 PM
: 4:09 PM
Cohen is a serial liar just as the master he faithfully served. Now that he’s fallen from The Don’s grace and heading to prison, he has no reason to not tell the truth (albeit a little stretched for dramatic effect, I thought). I personally put all my hope for exposing this national embarrassment of a POTUS in the Court for the Southern District of New York.
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