The admission of guilt by President Trump’s
former fixer and his implication of the President in the same criminal activity
represent an astounding turnaround for the man who less than a year ago said he
would take a bullet for Mr. Trump.
Cohen admitted last week in open court that he
violated campaign finance laws “in coordination with and at the direction of a
candidate for federal office,”
Hmmm…. who could that be?
To understand how we got here, you have to
understand the role that Michael Cohen played for Mr. Trump, his personal
issues, and most importantly, you have to understand what the President really
thought of him.
Cohen began his career as an attorney pursuing
one of the least respected segments of the American legal world, personal
injury law. Yes, he hails from that
group of low level bottom feeders who actually make other lawyers look good. Here he honed the skills which would set him
on a most unusual career trajectory.
In 2006 Cohen landed a job working for Trump
back, impressing him with the fact that he had read “The Art of
Deal”....twice. Don’t laugh, he knew
the best way in with Trump was to flatter him, besides, anyone who could get
through that literary jewel once, deserves a medal. Over time, Cohen convinced family and friends
to buy condominiums in the Trump World Tower which helped Trump gain control of
the condominium board, and he soon became Mr. Trump’s BFF, or so it seemed to
Michael anyway.
This newly minted pit bull had found his
purpose in life.
Cohen told ABC News in 2011 that "If
somebody does something Mr. Trump doesn't like, I do everything in my power to
resolve it to Mr. Trump's benefit. If you do something wrong, I'm going to come at you, grab you by the neck
and I'm not going to let you go until I'm finished."
Grab you by the neck…..Nice. Remember my earlier point about making other
lawyers look good? I rest my case.
Between 2011 and 2016 Cohen worked behind the
scenes working to gloss over the scandal regarding the alleged rape by Trump of
his first wife, and the affairs with Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougle and may
or may not have met with Russian officials in Prague in 2016 with the objective
of paying those who had hacked the DNC and to "cover up all traces of the
hacking operation. The Fixer was
proving his value and earning his pay.
But with Trump’s surprise election victory,
The Fixer was presented with a new opportunity, to be part of something bigger,
to be part of that luxury cruise that was sailing south to DC and included all
the beautiful people who had made it possible for Trump to get there, including:
Jared, Ivanka, Hope Hicks, Kellyanne, Steve Bannon, Michael Flynn and even
Trump’s old bodyguard, but a funny thing happened on the way to the big dance,
the President’s fixer was left behind.
Early on his name had been in the mix for the coveted Chief of Staff
position, but in the end the man who helped make it possible for Trump to
succeed, was all of a sudden, the odd man out.
His fix-it skills would not be welcome in the pristine halls of the
White House.
With the President now ensconced in the Oval
Office and looking to distance himself from the unsavory activities of his
fixer, Cohen had to morph, and he quickly seized on a bigger and better
opportunity, peddling access to the big guy and providing insider knowledge to
anyone with a big wallet.
In the months following Trump’s election in
November 2016, Cohen negotiated payments totaling $600K from AT&T for “his
opinion on the new President and his administration”, which it’s CEO would
later describe as…. “a big mistake”,
Novartis, a Switzerland–based pharmaceutical
giant, paid Cohen $1.2M to help the company understand the "health care
policy" of the new administration. Novartis subsequently admitted to the
public, and thus to its shareholders, that it did not actually receive any
benefit for its investment. The fact
that Trump had no health care policy was apparently lost on the Novartis executives.
Excuse me sirs, I have some ideas on a health
care, and you can have them for $10. Call me.
But the next one is best described by the old
PT Barnum ascribed statement “There’s a sucker born every minute”. Korea Aerospace
Industries paid Cohen for advice on “Cost Accounting Standards,” those highly
technical bookkeeping rules that would apply to the company’s bid for U.S.
defense work. If Cohen actually spoke the words “Cost Accounting Standards” once in
his lifetime, it would be a shock.
In a matter of months, Cohen had pulled in $2
million, for doing….nothing, which begs the obvious question: Why can’t I get a
gig like that?
Soon, all of his clients realized that they had
been sold a bill of goods, that The Fixer was just another one of Trump’s snake
oil salesmen, and they weren’t going to get any bang for their buck. And that’s because The Fixer had no real
insight from the President to offer, because, because, wait for it, wait for it
it….the President simply didn’t need him anymore. His usefulness had expired. Loyalty was a
one-way street for this president
And so now, the disrespect was out there, out
in the open, for all to see.
But, this wasn’t really anything new, and deep
down Cohen knew it. Of all the stories
printed about the President’s relationship with his former fixer, the most
compelling one was the President’s reported humiliation of Cohen at his own
son's bar mitzvah in 2012. One attendee
told the Wall Street Journal that Trump was so late to the event that Cohen
delayed the blessings. Trump then spoke and said that he hadn't actually
planned on attending but came after Cohen begged him to come by repeatedly
calling him, his secretary, and his children.
On one of the most important days of Cohen’s life, the President took
center stage and then used it to belittle his loyal servant. It’s unlikely that Trump’s performance that
day was a surprise to anyone who knew him, but the fact that Cohen accepted
this embarrassment and didn’t immediately bail on his boss was.
Fast forward to April 2018. Already suffering financial difficulties from
the devaluation of NY City taxi medallions which he owned (thank you Uber),
federal prosecutors raided Cohen’s home and office for anything they could lay
their hands on. Trump’s own instinct for self-preservation immediately
kicked in, contending that federal prosecutors were looking more at Cohen's
business dealings than the legal work he'd done on Trump's behalf. "Michael is a businessman, he's got a
business. He also practices law," Trump said back then "And they're
looking at something having to do with his business. I have nothing to do with
his business”.
So much for loyalty. So much for honor among thieves.
And then in June, almost out the blue, with
absolutely no correlation with his legal and financial troubles, Cohen signaled
he was having a change of heart and blasted the president’s “zero tolerance”
policy under which children have been separated from their parents after
illegal border crossings.
“As the son of a Polish holocaust survivor, the images and sounds of this family separation policy is heart wrenching,” Cohen wrote, marking the first time he had publicly distanced himself from Trump.
“While I strongly support measures that will secure our porous borders, children should never be used as bargaining chips,” he added.
“He’s turned his life around from what he did for Donald Trump, much of which he now regrets,” Davis said on the Today Show. “That’s the kind of thing that caused Michael Cohen to change his mind, and decide to dedicate himself to telling the truth to the American people.”
Whoa! Where did all this come from? The Fixer
has a conscious? Who knew? But there was still more to come
Cohen’s new attorney, Lanny Davis, recently upped
the ante in this chess game, stating his client now believes Trump is
“unsuitable to hold the office”, citing Trump’s refusal to accept the
conclusion of US intelligence agencies that the Russians were responsible for
the election disruption, while standing next to Vladimir Putin.
In the midst of all his legal troubles,
pleading guilty, cooperating with the Feds WITHOUT some type of formal leniency
deal, Cohen and his attorney were speaking out on the President’s abhorrent
policy on the separation of children from their refugee families and on the
President’s performance at the Helsinki Summit.
Good-bye Presidential pardon.
The Wall Street Journal later reported that
Cohen’s turning point may have been influenced by his elderly father, Maurice,
a Holocaust survivor, who reportedly told his son that he did not survive the
Nazi genocide to have his name dragged through the mud by Trump. Maurice had no doubt seen Trump ‘perform’ at
his grandson’s bar mitzvah and that was likely all he would ever need to see. He likely filed this event away and would pull
it out if the time every came when he needed it. No
doubt Trump’ pull back from his formerly loyal fixer and his disparaging
comments, was that time, and Maurice likely reminded his son of that event to convince
him that Trump would never have his back. Never.
There’s no way of knowing where the Michael
Cohen story will end. Has the former
fixer and would-be influence peddler had a legitimate change of heart? How much information does he have on Trump’s
shady dealings? Will he spill it all to
the Feds? Can it be corroborated? And will it even make a difference?
It’s still too early to answer any of those
questions, but maybe this Prodigal Son has in fact returned home to right
things with his father, and just maybe The Fixer had decided that it was time to
fix things, once and for all.
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