The Case Against Trump Has Never Been Stronger After Cohen Testimony

By Barbara McQuade, The Daily Beast

28 February 19

The president’s ex-fixer credibly accuses him of felonies that, pending more evidence, should result in impeachment and indictment.

ne brick does not make a wall, but many bricks do.

When I was a federal prosecutor, a supervisor of mine frequently used this metaphor to remind us that one piece of evidence alone is rarely enough to prove a crime, but enough pieces of evidence are sufficient to prove guilt.

Michael Cohen’s public testimony on Wednesday did not constitute a wall of evidence, but it did provide several new bricks that could be used to build a case against President Donald Trump. Depending on other evidence in the hands of Special Counsel Robert Mueller, these pieces of evidence may be enough to prove Trump guilty of criminal or impeachable offenses.

Trump’s former lawyer testified about several facts that are significant bricks in the figurative wall of evidence.

First, Cohen testified that he was present when Trump spoke to Roger Stone on speakerphone in July 2016, when Stone said that he had talked to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange about an upcoming “massive dump of emails that would damage Hillary Clinton’s campaign.” According to Cohen, this call came just days before the Democratic National Convention. If Cohen is correct on the timing, this event also occurred after the DNC had announced in June that it had been hacked by Russia, and so Russia’s involvement in the release would have been known by Trump. Cohen said that Trump responded by saying words to the effect of “wouldn’t that be great.”

Mueller has already charged 12 Russian intelligence officers with conspiring to defraud the United States by interfering with the fair administration of elections. As alleged, the objective of the conspiracy was to hack, steal, and stage the release of emails. If Mueller can establish that Stone, Trump or others participated in the same conspiracy, such as by suggesting the timing of the release, then they could be properly charged as co-conspirators with the Russian intelligence officers.

Conspiracy requires more than mere knowledge that a crime is being committed. Conspiracy requires an agreement that some member of the group will violate the law, and the commission of at least one overt act in furtherance of the agreement. The agreement may be explicit or implicit. Even encouragement can be an overt act. The call that Cohen says he heard between Trump and Stone alone does not establish that Stone and Trump participated in a conspiracy with the Russian hackers, but it is a piece of evidence, combined with other evidence, that could help establish sufficient evidence of a crime.

For instance, in the Stone indictment, Mueller alleges that sometime after July 22, 2016, “a senior Trump campaign official was directed to contact Stone about any additional releases and what other damaging information” WikiLeaks had about the Clinton Campaign. The indictment goes on to allege that “Stone thereafter told the Trump Campaign about potential future releases of damaging material by WikiLeaks.” Who has the authority to direct a senior campaign official other than an even more senior campaign official, or Trump himself? The call Cohen describes, along with the evidence behind the Stone indictment, may provide evidence of a crime or impeachable offense by Trump.

“Trump’s alleged coaching of Cohen came in the midst of requests by Congress to Cohen and other Trump associates to produce records regarding contacts with Russia.”

Second, Cohen testified that he recalled a time in June 2016 when Donald Trump Jr. entered his father’s office, walked around behind the desk, and told Trump in a low voice that “the meeting is all set.” According to Cohen, Trump replied, “OK good... Let me know.” The timing of this conversation coincided with the Trump Tower meeting between Trump Jr., Paul Manafort, Jared Kushner and Russians to discuss “dirt” on Clinton. Cohen’s testimony about this conversation alone does not establish that Trump knew about the meeting with Russia or conspired with Russians to interfere with the election, but it provides one more piece of evidence that he did. Coupled with additional evidence, this testimony could amount to conspiracy to defraud the United States.

Third, Cohen testified that Trump’s personal lawyers “reviewed and edited” Cohen’s false 2017 testimony before Congress, in which Cohen has now admitted to lying that negotiations with Russia to build a Trump Tower in Moscow ended in January 2016, when, in fact, they continued until June 2016. Cohen further testified that between January and June, Trump asked him about the status of negotiations in Russia “at least a half-dozen times.”

In May 2017, Trump also allegedly said to Cohen that “there’s no business in Russia,” suggesting, perhaps, that Cohen should continue to support that lie. This testimony alone does not establish obstruction of justice against Trump, but it could be some evidence of such a crime. Trump’s alleged coaching of Cohen came in the midst of requests by Congress to Cohen and other Trump associates to produce records regarding contacts with Russia. If additional evidence can show that Trump encouraged Cohen to lie to Congress, with a corrupt intent to interfere with the investigation, then he could be charged with obstruction of justice, if not in an indictment, then in articles of impeachment.

One other topic unrelated to Russia may prove to be the most damning of all. Cohen testified that he paid off adult film star Stormy Daniels in the closing days of the campaign to maintain her silence about an affair with Trump. Cohen further testified that Trump directed Cohen to use his own personal funds to prevent the payment from “being traced back to him that could negatively impact his campaign.” This payment was the basis of a campaign finance violation to which Cohen pleaded guilty in the Southern District of New York. Cohen testified that Trump paid Cohen back with Trump’s own personal funds after Trump became president, and produced the check to support his testimony. For those who have argued that an impeachable offense must occur during the president’s term, the timing of this payment is significant because it means that Trump committed the offense while he was president.

Again, Wednesday’s testimony alone is not enough to convict or impeach Trump, but coupled with other evidence, such as recorded conversations that have been publicly disclosed or any supporting testimony from Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg, it could be a significant piece of evidence of conspiracy to violate campaign finance laws.

Of course, Cohen’s credibility is questionable in light of his prior lies to Congress and other crimes, another reason that Cohen’s testimony alone will not be enough to charge or impeach Trump. But liars can be corroborated. Mueller would want to find other evidence to confirm Cohen’s testimony, such as phone records, bank records, intelligence intercepts or the testimony of others. All of these pieces of evidence mean little when viewed alone, but when considered together, they may add up to a case against the president.

President Trump may get his wall built after all, just not the kind he had envisioned.

Michael Cohen Issues a Gripping, Sobering Warning on Trump's Corruption: But Will It Matter?

By Amanda Marcotte, Salon

28 February 19

Cohen tells Republicans that lying on Donald Trump's behalf landed him in prison. They keep on doing it anyway

rom the first moment that Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., feigned outrage before the House Oversight Committee meeting began on Wednesday morning, demanding that Michael Cohen's testimony be postponed, Republican strategy was clear. They planned to discredit the testimony from Donald Trump's former personal lawyer and fixer by painting Cohen as a liar, a criminal and a cheat, and arguing that therefore no one should believe him.

The problem is that no one denies that Michael Cohen is all these things, including Cohen himself. Indeed, it's obvious that Cohen's willingness to lie and cheat was the main and perhaps only reason that Trump hired him in the first place. Cohen's history is damning evidence of Trump's bottomless need for the services of those who won't hesitate to commit crimes or violate ethical codes on his behalf.

But for some reason, Republicans kept harping during Wednesday's hearing on Cohen's history of misbehavior as if it somehow exonerated Trump, who they spoke of in almost reverent tones — when they bothered to acknowledge Cohen's decade-long close relationship with the president at all. As for Cohen's role as the deputy finance chairman for the Republican National Committee -- that was mentioned only once and in passing (by a Democrat).

“I’m responsible for your silliness because I did the same thing you’re doing now, for 10 years," Cohen responded. "I protected Mr. Trump for 10 years.”

As Rep. Stephen Lynch, D-Mass., pointed out in a memorable sound bite, it's not that Republicans are outraged about Cohen's past lies, it's that "they’re afraid you’re going to tell the truth."

Of course, as Cohen stated clearly and emphatically, he didn't just expect people to take him at his word. As he indicated in his opening remarks, he brought receipts: Copies of checks Trump signed to reimburse him for the illegal hush money paid to Stormy Daniels to cover up their sexual encounter, evidence of Trump's fraudulent use of his nonprofit foundation, and even evidence that Cohen had threatened the schools Trump had attended in order to hide his grades and test scores.

None of this, however, stopped Republicans — one after another, in a drearily repetitious performance — from grandstanding about how terrible of a person Cohen was and how awful it was that he had told lies in the past. Somehow or other, Cohen's tarnished character is supposed to exonerate the man who hired him and deployed him for a decade as a fixer. Various GOP congressmen even tried to paint Trump as the victim, asking Cohen repeatedly about a hypothetical book or movie deal — which do not exist — as if Cohen somehow owes silence to a former boss who turned his back on him after asking him to cover up his corruption for a decade.

Republicans didn't even pretend to be interested in the truth about any of the substantive matters Cohen came to discuss. They simply went all out in running defense for Trump and repeating White House talking points. Even under those circumstances, it was difficult to understand their strategy. If their goal is to convince the American public that Trump is not a criminal, repeatedly reminding people that his right-hand man for a decade is now on his way to prison for the numerous crimes he committed on Trump's behalf seems ill-advised.

But here's the thing: Republicans aren't really trying to convince anyone of anything. The entire pathetic display was calculated toward one goal: Giving Trump supporters an excuse to dismiss Cohen's testimony. For this reason, the defense didn't need to be coherent, much less persuasive. Republicans simply needed to strike a post of moral indignation and toss out some incoherent catchphrases that their voters can cling to.

There was also a side benefit here: Watching one Republican after another advance this self-contradictory, dishonest nonsense was enough to drive any viewer of good faith slightly mad with rage. And Republicans of our era don't mind making fools of themselves, so long as they're successfully trolling the liberals.

Despite the Republican distractions and theatrics, though, Cohen's testimony against Trump was a sobering reminder of how dire the current situation is. Cohen painted a picture of an operation — first the Trump Organization and then the 2016 Trump campaign — that not only was comfortable with criminal deceit and fraud, but frankly abhorred any kind of ethical behavior.

Cohen described how he and Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg casually pondered bribing someone else to pay off Stormy Daniels, before they decided Cohen would do it himself. He spoke about Trump's decades-long history of working with David Pecker of the National Enquirer to bribe all manner of people into staying silent regarding all sorts of Trump stories. He said that "Trump’s desire to win would have him work with anyone."

“Everybody’s job at the Trump Org was to protect Mr. Trump. Every day, most of us knew we were coming in and we were going to lie for him on something," Cohen said. "And that’s exactly what’s happening right now in this country. It’s exactly what’s happening here in government.”

Those words had a certain insight and power, but of course we cannot forget Cohen's past. The gleeful, brazen bully who became a daily fixture on cable news during the 2016 election campaign has been replaced by this sad man who seemed to waver between self-pity and genuine regret for the things he's done.

But if Republicans thought that Cohen, in his currently broken state, would cower before them, they had another think coming. Whenever they came after Cohen, his old belligerent self — the man who, by his own admission, threatened people on a regular basis for Trump — peeked out. He shamed Republicans for their current dishonesty and warned them, repeatedly, of the dangers he knows too well of doing unethical things for a man who has no loyalty to anyone but himself.

Those people who "follow Mr. Trump as I did, blindly, are going to suffer the same consequences that I’m suffering," Cohen warned.

Republicans on the House Oversight Committee did not, however, heed his warning, continuing to fake outrage and spin out incoherent lies and fantasies that serve no other purpose but to cover for a manifestly corrupt president whose extensive history of criminality are beginning to come into focus.

It would be nice if Michael Cohen were right and everyone who lies for Trump gets their just desserts. That's certainly what happened to him. But Republicans are so brazen in their corruption for a simple reason: They know that thanks to gerrymandering and the disproportionate representation of voters in rural areas and red states, most of them hold safe seats in Congress. They can lie and cover up Trump's crimes until the end of time and conservative voters in their districts will continue to support them, doggedly and even enthusiastically, as long as they continue to dish out racist and sexist policies.

That fact lingered like a stale fart throughout the entire Cohen testimony. The accusations that Cohen leveled, many of them backed up with substantial evidence, should be more than enough to oust any president — and that's all with Cohen carefully avoiding any mention of direct collusion with Russian intelligence to interfere with the election. But driving Trump from office before 2021 would require Republicans, both voters and politicians, to accept the evidence before them, that their president is a crook who is only using them for personal gain.

Watching the Republicans spend the hearing attacking Cohen over his known and confessed offenses, instead of listening to what he has to say, makes clear that's not going to happen — certainly not now, and likely not before the next presidential election.

Despite this, Cohen's testimony was still addictive TV. Having him sadly but determinedly lay out what he learned from a decade of working for a man he described as a "racist," a "con man," and a "cheat" was valuable, even if there was no real doubt about any of those things before this.

It's difficult, amid the constant reality-show chaos that Trump constantly rains down on us, to step back and absorb the fact that 62,985,106 Americans were so attached to their bigotry and blindness that they were willing to hand the White House over to a shameless grifter rather than a woman who supports social progress. Cohen's long recounting of so many stories about Trump's corruption was a necessary reminder of the moral rot that led to Trump's nomination and election in the first place, along with the moral rot that protects him today.

Cohen is going to federal prison for his role in all this, something he reminded the committee frequently in his bouts of self-pity. His warning — or was it a curse? — was that everyone else who played a role in empowering Donald Trump will come to regret it as well. The 65,853,625 Americans who voted for Hillary Clinton, who tried to prevent this from happening, can only hope that his prophecy will come true.