Mar
3
Cohen: A Pattern of Deception
“Cohen’s consciousness of wrongdoing is fleeting… his remorse is minimal, and… his instinct to blame others is strong.” — acting U.S. Attorney Robert Khuzami of the Southern District of New York
Cohen & Trump
For twelve years, Michael Cohen served as Donald Trump’s personal attorney, complete with attorney-client privilege and a loyalty such that he would “take a bullet” for Trump. Now, Cohen’s relationship with the truth has been discovered to be quite tenuous, and he has turned on his former client, now-President Trump.
Following “over 70 hours talking with federal prosecutors in New York City and from the office of special counsel Robert Mueller about his own crimes and making allegations of wrongdoing by Trump,” Cohen was set to testify before Congress. Democrats and never-Trumpers awaited in gleeful anticipation. On Feb. 27, he appeared before the House Oversight and Reform Committee. But, this wasn’t his first time. Last time, he lied to Congress, and that — along with other felonies, like “long-series of self-serving lies” to financial institutions and lying to the IRS about taxes owed (which he tried to blame on his accountant) — is why he was convicted and is about to begin a 3-year prison sentence.
Cohen’s testimony last Wednesday included mostly-unsubstantiated allegations against Trump of racism, infidelity, domestic abuse, an inflated ego (well, duh!), manipulation, paying hush money (via Cohen), and other possible crimes. Only the possible crimes were actually relevant to the purpose he was there for; the rest was pure character assassination. But, with his history of deception “motivated by personal greed and ambition,” one has to wonder how much we can trust his latest testimony.
One might assume that Cohen would go all out, including corroboration of the charge of Russian collusion. Yet, while claiming that Trump was directly involved with Trump Moscow negotiations and even agreeing that the entire Trump family may have been “compromised with a foreign adversary in the months before the election”, he hesitated when asked if Trump himself was capable of “cooperat[ing] or collud[ing] with a foreign power to win the presidency”.
Michael Cohen
“Mr. Trump is all about winning. He will do what is necessary to win. I wouldn’t use the word ‘colluding.’
Was there something odd about the back-and-forth praise with [Russian President Vladimir] Putin? Yes, but I’m not really sure that I can answer that question in terms of collusion. I was not part of the campaign. I don’t know the conversations Mr. Trump had with other individuals.”
Cohen also asserted several times that Trump “never expected to win the election.” As Matt Walsh points out,
“If Trump did not expect to win and was not planning to win, then he cannot be accused of trying to leverage the presidency for financial gain…. Importantly, Trump’s lack of intention to win the election could also mitigate his liability under campaign finance laws.”
Cohen also admits, “Mr. Trump did not directly tell me to lie to Congress. That’s not how he operates.” Rather, he says Trump used facial expressions and body language to communicate this. He may be right, but (as Walsh says) “nobody has ever been brought up on obstruction for facial expressions.”
What, then, do we make of the allegations Cohen does make?
At one point, Cohen stated,
“I have lied, but I am not a liar. I have done bad things, but I am not a bad man. I have ‘fixed’ things, but I am no longer your ‘fixer,’ Mr. Trump.”
On the other hand, Khuzami’s investigation determined that Cohen’s conduct was “marked by a pattern of deception that permeated his professional life” and his activity included “extensive, deliberate, and serious criminal conduct”.
Federal prosecutors (among others) believe much of Cohen’s current motivation is born out of bitterness over not getting a prominent position in the Trump administration — a charge which Cohen denies. It is also noted that, with the Democrats now the majority in the House, he may be trying to curry favor with them by smearing the President.
Again, can we trust Cohen’s Feb. 27, 2019, testimony?
There may indeed be a few truthful nuggets. I hope so. But, the “pattern of deception” has already been established. I think Congress and the public need to be very cautious in what we believe. If anything, Cohen has proven that he will do and say whatever is in his own best interests.
P.S. For more details written both before and after Cohen’s 2/27 testimony, check out “Cohen’s History of Falsehoods Makes His Upcoming Congressional Testimony Worthless” (Hans von Spakovsky), “WALSH: The Three Times When Michael Cohen’s Testimony Accidentally Exonerated President Trump” (Matt Walsh), and “6 Takeaways From Cohen’s Hill Testimony About Trump” (Fred Lucas).
