Liar, Liar Michael Cohen’s Pants are on Fire - Top 3 Takeaways – May 17th, 2024
- Pants on fire. The Trump trial is what it is at this point as we’re about five weeks in. A mess. And not just any kind of mess...the type that’s derived by a monkey-feces fight. Effectively we’re in a place in this trial, as its nearing conclusion following Michael Cohen’s third day of testimony, where the question may be coming down to who has been besmirched with the least poo. Thursday’s testimony for Michael Cohen proved to be especially messy for him. On Tuesday following Cohen’s first day of testimony, I said this: What became clear is that Cohen, not Trump, directed how the NDA deals were and would be handled. The entire case hinges on the prosecution proving that Trump was attempting to falsify documents (payments for the NDAs) for the purpose of committing another crime – which still at this late stage in the trial has yet to be defined. In other words, objectively... Cohen’s testimony appeared to have at least at times made him look worse than Trump and Trump as a guy who simply trusted his attorney and who took his advice. Right on cue on Wednesday former Manhattan prosecutor Robert Costello testified to the House Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government. Costello stated that in 2018 Michael Cohen was offered a literal “get out of jail free” card. Costello testified that he told Cohen that if he had the dirt on Donald Trump his personal legal issues would go away. Quoting Costello: (We were seeking) “truthful information that would implicate Donald Trump” to “get [Cohen] out his legal trouble by the end of the week — if he cooperated against Donald Trump. What did Michael Cohen have to say according to Costello’s account? I swear to God, Bob, I don’t have anything on Donald Trump. Costello testified that he asked Cohen ten different ways to simply spill the beans on Trump and his cooperation would result in the charges against him being dropped.
- But still nothing from Cohen. Now aside from how critically important that account is in the context of Cohen’s current testimony, it was on Wednesday morning, prior to Costello having provided that testimony that I said this: The most remarkable aspect of Cohen’s two days' worth of testimony is this. Even if you took at face value everything Cohen said as true there’s still one not-so-insignificant detail. Where’s the crime? The prosecution nor Michael Cohen have laid out an actual crime committed by Donald Trump. There are 34 felony charges that have been brought against the former and perhaps future President of the United States in this case and with the star witness on the stand they’ve yet to present the case for even one. That’s not an opinion. There has not actually been anything presented during the case that’s a crime. It’s not a crime to pay for NDAs. It’s not a crime to have your attorney arrange for the payments and the details. It’s not a crime to take your attorney’s advice on how to do it. It’s not a crime to pay your attorney back for having done this. It’s not a crime for a bookkeeper, who isn’t you, to label those payments as “legal expenses”. Isn’t that interesting? And wouldn’t that be because, as he told Costello in 2018...
- I swear to God, Bob, I don’t have anything on Donald Trump. The irony is that those two accounts – Cohen's testimony through the first two days and Costello’s testimony, also under oath, before the House of Representatives... are effectively consistent with one another. But on Thursday, Cohen’s testimony took a turn and here’s when it happened. On cross examination Trump attorney Todd Blanche asked about those conversations with Costello when he was said to have been offered a deal if he had any dirt on Trump. Blanche asked if Cohen told Costello that he "had nothing on President Trump and could not cooperate." Cohen’s answer back to Blanche... No. Blanche then asked a clarifying question – btw, kudos to him for being an especially astute attorney for doing this...Blanche asked Cohen if he meant he didn't say it or if he didn't recall saying it and Cohen said: I do not recall. He doesn’t recall. He’d just been raided by the FBI. He was in serious legal jeopardy that resulted in criminal convictions and jail time, and he doesn’t recall if he was offered a deal that would have the charges against him dropped? He doesn’t remember if he told the prosecutor he didn’t have anything on Trump? Please. Many listeners are familiar with what I call the Sliding Scale of Morality. For those who might not be familiar he’s the concept: We all have a sliding scale of morality. None of us are perfect, hopefully none of us are pure evil. So, on a scale of 1-10 with 1 being evil and 10 being perfect, we're all somewhere in between. But we're also not static numbers on that scale either. On the scale five represents neutral. Someone who's neither inherently good nor bad. Someone who wouldn’t go out of their way to help others but also wouldn’t intentionally harm anyone. We're all somewhere on the scale but some start higher, and some seem to slide further than others. That certainly applies to matters of integrity. I have buckets for analyzing one’s integrity. People who are honest and trustworthy. Those who are mostly honest and trustworthy. Those who are of questionable integrity. Those who are often dishonest. Those who aren’t to be trusted...and then one for the real whoopers. People and statements who go into a bucket I refer to as not even being believable as people on this planet. Michael Cohen, the convicted liar and perjurer lives in this bucket. On the one hand we have an under-oath testimony before Congress by a former Manhattan prosecutor providing very specific details as to his line of questioning to Cohen, after Cohen was in legal jeopardy and also while the Manhattan Office was investigating then-President Donald Trump for alleged criminal activity that is crystal clear. A deal repeatedly offered to Cohen for dirt on Trump. On the other hand, you have Michael Cohen testifying that “I do not recall” that having taken place? Liar, liar pants on fire. That answer to that question squarely places Cohen, who still never testified to a crime that Trump ever committed, in the not even believable as a person on this planet bucket. And that’s effectively all you or anyone else needs to know about this case.