7/2/18: That engine you hear revving up is the bus getting ready to run over Trump. The man at the wheel is Michael Cohen, Trump’s former self-described “fixer” and “pit bull” lawyer. Cohen once claimed he’d “take a bullet” for the president. Now he says he’d rather duck.
____________________
Not even
willing to take a shot from a Nerf gun.
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In a 45-minute interview Saturday with George Stephanopoulos, Cohen was asked if he was ready to cooperate with investigators if indicted, not that we are saying he will be. I mean, what kind of crimes could he have committed to keep Donald J. Trump out of legal jeopardy?
You know what the president says. There’s “NO COLLUSION.” This is a “WITCH HUNT.”
So, what can Cohen have to offer prosecutors? Unless you’re
an obsessed blogger you may not be paying attention to what’s been happening
with the Mueller investigation. No one in Mueller’s office ever leaks. We get
the briefest glimpses of what might be going on behind the scenes.
On June 28 we got a quick look behind the curtain. Andrew Miller, an aide to Roger Stone, Trump’s longtime confidant, the latter being a man known to have dressed up as a witch and talked to Russians, was served with a subpoena to provide documents and testify before a grand jury.
We know (because court records are usually public) that Miller is fighting the subpoena. Miller worked for Stone throughout the 2016 campaign and may know about the meeting Stone had with the Russian guy offering dirt on Hillary. (See: 6/17/18.)
Interestingly, while the president keeps hinting that he can pardon himself, and all his cronies, and fireplugs, if necessary, General Flynn, first member of Team Trump to plead guilty says nothing publicly. Signs indicate that trouble for Trump may be brewing. The Mueller team has delayed sentencing on Flynn, who faces one felony charge, but could face several should he decline to cooperate.
Trump apologists will swear that Flynn told only one little white lie. Why is Mueller picking on the guy? If you study the matter, you find Flynn told several whoppers, each whopper = a felony.
Politico recently explained why he hasn’t been charged:
The delay suggests that Flynn is
still actively cooperating with Mueller’s office, that prosecutors believe his
testimony could be useful at some future trial, or that the sentencing process
might disclose some aspect of the investigation that Mueller still wishes to
keep secret.
…At a hearing last December
before another federal judge, Rudolph Contreras, Flynn admitted under oath that
he’d lied to the FBI about his contacts with the Russian ambassador to the
U.S., about his lobbying during the presidential transition on a United Nations
resolution critical of Israel and about his lobbying work favorable to the
Turkish government.
That would be three felonies if you’re keeping score.
Each could carry a sentence of five years in jail and a fine of $250,000.
As for Cohen – whose felonies could easily reach double digits – he’s not ready to go to jail yet. Recently, he hired a new lawyer, Guy Petrillo, “a highly regarded former federal prosecutor who once led the criminal division of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Manhattan – the very same office currently conducting the criminal investigation of Cohen.” Once Petrillo takes charge, Cohen is expected to withdraw from a joint defense agreement with President Trump. That agreement allows witches to share information and documents with each other.
From that point forward, the bus is warmed up and ready to roll. In his interview with Stephanopoulos, Cohen made it clear he’s no longer willing to take a bullet for the president. He’s not even going to take a point-blank shot from a Nerf gun. “My wife, my daughter and my son have my first loyalty and always will,” Cohen explained. “I put family and country first [emphasis added, here and below].”
If that’s true, Trump is in peril.
On several key points, Cohen made it clear he was distancing
himself from the president. For example, Stephanopoulos asked, did Trump know
about the $130,000 payment to Stephanie Clifford, a.k.a. Stormy Daniels, less
than two weeks before Election Day in 2016?
Trump has sworn he did not.
Cohen originally said he made the payment on his own. Stephanopoulos wanted to know if that was true.
“I want to answer. One day I will answer,” Cohen replied. “But for now, I can’t comment further on advice of my counsel.”
What about the idea that the F.B.I. raid on Cohen’s New York offices and properties was a break-in, an “attack on our country, in a true sense,” as the president angrily claimed? Was it really “an attack on what we all stand for?”
“I don’t agree with those who demonize or vilify the F.B.I.,” Cohen responded.
What about the Mueller investigation, Stephanopoulos asked: Was it legit?
“I don’t like the term witch hunt,” Cohen said. Cohen
condemned Russia for interfering in the 2016 election. “As an American, I
repudiate Russia’s or any other foreign government’s attempt to interfere or
meddle in our democratic process, and I would call on all Americans to do
the same.”
How about all the Trump campaign clowns who did participate in that infamous Trump Tower meeting in June of 2016 with several Russians after being promised dirt on Hillary Clinton?
Did Trump know about the meeting before it happened? Trump has said a thousand times that he did not, and that’s not counting all the times that people who attended said no meeting occurred.
“I can’t comment under advice of my counsel due to the ongoing investigation by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of New York,” Cohen said.
With that, he revved the engine again.
The bus was ready to roll.
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