Susan Wright on the Right
But we knew this to be the case, didn’t we?
I brought you the news of Michael Cohen’s plans to plead guilty to charges of wire fraud, bank fraud, tax fraud, and campaign finance law violation, earlier today.
I did it. I’m guilty. I did it all, and Donald Trump told me to do it.
That’s basically how it went down.
While there is no news of a possible deal struck with authorities overseeing the case, the deed is done. Donald Trump’s former attorney and “fixer” has rolled on the man he once said he’d take a bullet for.
The stunning revelation implicates the President in committing campaign finance violations by paying porn star Stormy Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal in exchange for their silence about the alleged trysts.
Cohen, wearing a dark suit and a gold tie, winked at reporters and signed papers before informing Judge William Pauley of his guilty plea on eight counts related to campaign finance violations, bank fraud and tax evasion.
Cohen shook his head as the judge informed him he could face a maximum penalty of 65 years behind bars.
The whispers among legal experts before Cohen’s court appearance were that concerns for his wife and children were enough to spur him towards a deal. What that deal may be, however, remains to be seen.
Would he willingly risk the full 65 years to spare Trump, who basically threw him under the bus at the beginning of this entire ordeal?
In more recent weeks, the president sent out his current attorney, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, to attack Cohen’s credibility.
Was the very public distancing on purpose?
Cohen has always expressed fierce loyalty to Donald Trump.
Cohen later said his loyalty was to his family and country, leading to speculation that he may cooperate with investigators.
Trump, meanwhile, said Cohen had only done “a tiny, tiny little fraction” of his legal work.
Records indicate that Cohen has done quite a bit more than a “tiny little fraction” of Donald Trump’s legal work, through the years.
Still, calling this the sound of the iron bars closing behind Trump may be a bit premature.
Sources told CNN Cohen’s plea deal does not include a cooperation component — a revelation experts say indicate Cohen either has nothing of interest to offer or remains loyal to Trump.
The taxi medallions are a big part of the case against Cohen. Authorities have discovered over $20 million in loans connected to Cohen’s ownership of those medallions.
Of course, the payoff to former Trump mistress, porn star Stormy Daniels was also a big on investigators’ list of things to go over.
Cohen also faced scrutiny for reportedly billing himself as an informal White House lobbyist to companies seeking “insight” into Trump.
One company, pharmaceutical giant Novartis, acknowledged it paid Cohen, who has zero background in health care, $1.2 million over a year’s time, despite only meeting with him once.
Corporations, including telecom behemoth AT&T and others with major regulatory matters before the administration, acknowledged payments totaling hundreds of thousands of dollars. The payments could represent a violation of disclosure laws surrounding lobbyists.
Interestingly enough, that smackdown was brought by the attorney for Stormy Daniels, Michael Avenatti.
And for those who think this is part of special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia probe, it is not. It is, however, a move that received a referral from Mueller.
Today he stood up and testified under oath that Donald Trump directed him to commit a crime by making payments to two women for the principal purpose of influencing an election. If those payments were a crime for Michael Cohen, then why wouldn't they be a crime for Donald Trump?
— Lanny Davis (@LannyDavis) August 21, 2018
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