Trying to code talk their way to a tacit pardon bargain, but with a bit of a problem given that the state charges could put him in prison for decades. Also made more complicated by the fact that both of them are morons.
I’d laugh myself to death if they said “Nah, too late”.
But Trump also seemed to go out of his way to praise his one-time fixer. “I always liked Michael and he’s a good person,” the president added.
“…but the idea that he would cooperate is exactly the reason we aren’t paying his attorneys as we agreed to do.”
Hey Mikey, the truth will (may?) set you free.
According to CNN, Cohen would do so both to relieve pressure on himself
and because he’s wounded that President Trump and his allies have
minimized Cohen’s relationship with Trump in dismissive public comments.
I admit that the following is rampant speculation. But the “relieve pressure” thing suggests to me that he’s going to try and pull a Gates (which worked so well for Gates). He’s going to offer some kind of very limited cooperation in return for complete skating, and in doing so he’s going to lie to the feds (again) and likely lose whatever legal team he has assembled at that point. He probably still thinks he’s smarter than everyone else and can bully them.
It won’t turn out well.
Cohen is, I think, in a situation very much like Manafort’s. He’s committed so many different crimes and gotten in bed with so many unpleasant people that he’s (initially) going to want way more than the feds or the state will be willing to offer.
… shortly after pulling financial support from Cohen’s legal team.
Primarily the former, but it’s very close. They really both are towering dolts. I’m fairly sure the new york state double jeopardy statue won’t apply for crimes pardoned before trial, but even if that does happen, Cohen has been a douche nozzle coast to coast. I’m pretty sure California has any number of laws that he’s dented in his clean up duties for Trump.
Why doesn’t Michael Cohen the sleazy traitor, scumbag and brown-nosed shit-stained douchebag not want to take a bullet as he promised to? I am sure that Russian-owned NRA would be happy to provide a nice bullet to him representing freedom and liberty and the biblically grounded Second Amendment of Two Corinthians. What made the traitor and Trump-family pimp lose his loyalty and turn into a a spineless coward? This would be win-win for everyone. Michael would have his wish come true, the Trump family would get the gift of loyalty and non-disclosure they crave and the America would be rid of a filthy traitor.
“I always liked Michael and he was a good person,” said Trump in his eulogy, “His accidental exposure to novichok is truly a tragedy. Nobody could have seen that coming.”
Don’t you think they’ve got so much more on Cohen that he’s in a weaker position to pull a Gates?
Depends what he’s got. Mueller let Sammy the Bull walk on nineteen murders to get Gotti. Nineteen murders.
If Cohen really did go to Prague with a bag of cash to pay off hackers and meet with Russian intelligence agents, I suspect there’s a deal he can take awaiting. And there was at least one report that Mueller has evidence that that happened. If Trump thinks he can pardon his way out of the problem, he has to do it before Cohen makes that proffer to Mueller.
This is just the beginning of the process. It’s a negotiation now, and Cohen has to prove he’s got something worth dealing for, which we all assume he does but he’s got to make the proffer before they’ll offer him anything.
because he’s wounded that President Trump and his allies have minimized Cohen’s relationship with Trump in dismissive public comments.
This makes sense but isn’t it a little hard to believe that someone would make such world-changing decisions based on whether someone hurt their widdle feelings?
Factually speaking, absolutely. But Cohen is the poster child for Dunning-Krueger effect right after trump. So I think he’s going to try and fail miserably. But I could be wrong.
@ncsteve: So much depends on what’s in the documents. Sure, it would be good to have cohen on the stand testifying to the details, but he would be painted as unreliable in a way that his files aren’t. So his value might not be that great. I think the deal that would be offered would have to be about protecting him from all the other people he’s been in bed with. Maybe not having to roll over on them?
Yes, and he’s in a very different position than Gates. Gates was out for himself and thought he could play Mueller’s team. He quickly learned otherwise.
Cohen has a wife and kids, and he’s feeling abandoned by Trump and the gang. Loyalty got him nothing and now he’s a lover scorned. He also knows that, if things are as we assume, he has plenty to offer but he’s seen what happens when people try to screw with Mueller’s team. There’s no incentive for him to lie.
Pardon me, Cohen bleats.
Given that it was a dodgy russian/ukrainian that likely threw Cohen under the bus as part of his plea deal, who does that leave Cohen to flip on?
Trump is a paper tiger who doesn’t have the connections/cred to put a hit on Mikey, whereas Mikey knows that the mafia types he could out definitely do…
Putin could solve Trumps problem, but it could be that the Donald has been milked of all his use already and is fast becoming a liability…