The media and legal commentators seem to have collective amnesia about the history of Michael Cohen. Observing the daily disdain for Cohen as a “serial liar” and the predictions of how bad a witness he would be, uninformed news consumers are probably wondering why Cohen is a unique person who carries a very heavy baggage. will believe that he is a bad witness. In fact, his “luggage” is well within the standard size and weight limits for “carry-on” luggage for cooperating witnesses.
Media coverage has become so used to casually disparaging Cohen as a “convicted liar” that most of the public could be forgiven for not even knowing what he was convicted of lying about. . Mr. Cohen, former President Donald Trump's lawyer and “fixer,” made false statements to banks to obtain a $500,000 home equity loan, hid $4 million from the IRS, and was involved in a Russian business project. He was found guilty of lying to Congress that it had not happened. After Trump became the Republican nominee in 2016, he violated campaign finance laws by arranging a $130,000 payment to Stormy Daniels to keep her quiet in order to support Trump's 2016 campaign. is being pursued as
Consistently missing from media coverage is reminding viewers that all but two of Cohen's convictions were allegedly on behalf of and at his direction. It is.
Aside from the fact that two convictions for bank fraud and tax fraud are very similar to President Trump's actions to inflate and devalue real estate values, the former president and the Trump Organization are facing a civil fraud charge of $453 million. He was fined the equivalent of $10,000. Trump's zero-tax boast stems from an investigation that came after Trump was scrutinized by Robert Mueller.
Trump trial today: Star witness finally takes the stand
For those who have forgotten this old history, Mr. Mueller was the special counsel appointed to investigate President Trump's 2016 campaign's ties to Russia. During that investigation, Mr. Mueller's team referred the case to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York, which along with the FBI executed a search warrant on Mr. Cohen's law firm on behalf of the Justice Department. This is important. That's because it is standard operating procedure for prosecutors to apply special surveillance to people they believe could be used to assist in criminal investigations against senior officials. That was Michael Cohen. At the top of the list was Donald J. Trump.
Perhaps if it weren't for the crisis faced by the Obama Justice Department in 2016, Mr. Cohen would never have faced criminal investigation. Today, after two failed impeachments and dozens of felonies, it's hard to remember the tremendous vigilance and pressure on the Justice Department and the Justice Department. The FBI considered the unimaginable risk to national security posed by members of the Trump campaign potentially being compromised by their ties to Russia. That they learned this just 100 days before the 2016 election exacerbated the crisis and sparked an extremely intense investigation codenamed “Crossfire Hurricane.” That investigation led to Special Counsel Mueller's investigation and ultimately the indictment against Cohen.
Like many Trump supporters, Cohen initially remained loyal to Trump and, in Cohen's words, gave false testimony to Congress “to align with the views of Individual-1.” [Trump’s] Out of political message and loyalty to individual-1 [Trump]”
But as the pressure mounted, he succumbed. Nothing better illustrates that pressure than the fact that his investigation included a search warrant executed against his law firm. Such investigations are considered highly sensitive and must be approved through a series of steps by the Justice Department. The highest-level charges were brought by not one but two of his federal prosecutors working together. The false charges against Congress were brought by Mueller's team, and the tax, banking, and campaign finance charges were brought by the Department of Justice through the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York.
At sentencing, Mueller's team praised Cohen's cooperation and said he “told the truth” to the judge. The Justice Department, then under the direction of the Trump administration, objected, calling Cohen's efforts “uncooperative” and calling for a “substantive prison sentence.” Cohen was sentenced to three years in prison, serving 13 1/2 months in federal prison and 1 1/2 years on home confinement.
Recovering this history of Cohen's actual “baggage” is important in assessing what kind of witness he would be and evaluating his testimony as it unfolds. Prosecutors are aware of this and will seek out Cohen's past history through direct testimony.
It is standard for prosecutors to present cooperating witnesses, disclosing past convictions and lies, in order to preempt similar standard attacks by the defense on cross-examination. Here, the Manhattan District Attorney's Office (an office that presents cooperating witnesses weekly, if not daily) is an integral part of its history, not just as a shield against cross-examination from Trump's defense team. Therefore, Cohen's criminal history will be revealed. From Cohen's testimony.
Michael Cohen gets emotional over committee chairman Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.)'s final statement at the end of Cohen's testimony at the House Oversight and Reform Committee hearing at the Capitol in Washington. I reacted.
Jonathan Ernst/Reuters
The fact that two of his four convictions were the result of trying to help Trump, and the other two would never have come to light without an investigation into Trump, may have led jurors to believe that former President Cohen It will give a chronology and history of cooperation with and allow evaluation. He is a true insider with valuable knowledge. For those who are more inclined to dismiss Cohen's testimony as false, it is important to note that the Mueller team not only found Cohen's testimony to be true, but also questioned him about the very same allegations regarding money paid to Daniels. It's worth remembering that impeachment investigators also found it to be true.
Norm Eisen, an adviser to the House Judiciary Committee overseeing Trump's initial impeachment and trial, wrote: [being interviewed for the impeachment] The key details he provided me about the campaign plan and its cover-up are also central to his testimony in Trump's Manhattan criminal trial. ”
Cooperative witnesses are often viewed negatively as “snitches” and self-serving, rather than being given the more exalted title of “whistleblower.” However, whistleblowers are almost always responsible for the misconduct they report, ranging from minor to major. If Mr. Cohen's testimony is successful and helps convict Mr. Trump, history will judge him kindly, making him one of the first American whistleblowers dating back to the Revolutionary War, when a naval officer alerted the Continental Congress to the mistreatment of British prisoners of war. You'll be joining the ranks.
The title of Cohen's book about how Trump weaponized the Justice Department is “Revenge.” But his true revenge may end up being a nobler place in history than he ever imagined as he toiled away at Trump's dirty work a decade ago.
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