When all is said and done Trump will be left with saying “Yeah, you have me dead to rights. I lied, I colluded, I obstructed, I made hush payments, I did all sorts of stuff. What of it? Whatcha gonna do about it? Huh, huh?! You think you’re gonna impeach me? Ha! Fat chance. Go ahead, get your 67 Senators to cast their votes to eject me from office. I say you don’t have them, and never will. Now leave me alone, I have a tee time to meet.”
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He has young children and is facing 4-5 years in jail on previous charges.
On the other hand, he’s Michael Cohen.
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Mueller and his team have had to work incredibly hard to determine which liar is still lying about which event/person. Talk about having to be a detective. After 70 hours with Cohen I imagine the lies and counter lies were hard to keep track of.
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Agian that’s where white boards, colored string and colored post-it notes come into play. It’s a visual representation that I don’t think a computer can match.
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"Every word she writes is false, including ‘and’ and ‘but,’” said Mary McCarthy about Lillian Hellman.
That’s where prosecutors start with people like Trump and Manafort and Stone.
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Cohen has gone full Iago on his former boss.
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But on the other other hand, he burned the pardon bridge a while back, whereas Manafort, Stone and others still think they could win that game.
Personally, i think Mikey’s pretty much run out of any other options to cooperation. And he probably has figured out that lying to Mueller is like lying to Mom — you’re gonna get caught anyway, but the punishment will be a whole lot worse than if you didn’t lie…
(Of course, he may go In the vindictive direction and exaggerate stuff to implicate the Don…)
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However, do not discount the fact that some of Trump’s greatest failures were the result of Trump overplaying his hand - he may magically walk across a lake covered with thin ice - but he is also capable of being so full of crap that he decides to then jump up and down … and crack … crack …
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I believe in his epiphany. He has one shot to ingratiate himself with prosecutors in several jurisdictions, along with Mueller. Get it all out, admit to everything, be cooperative and candid as hell, hand them as many feet of rope as possible for use elsewhere. Put all charges to bed with one sentence everyone agrees upon and start fresh in a few years.
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I should note that while Cohen is, indeed, facing years in jail on those other charges, his on-going conversations with SCO, SDNY, and Barbara Underwood are all taking place voluntarily, without a formal cooperation agreement or any specified reduction in sentence.
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My impression of Cohen is that he has a healthy sense of self-preservation. He is the least likely to try to double-cross Mueller.
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After years of getting his hands dirty for tRump while also being his personal ashtray in public and private. I get the feeling that Cohen may very well be the one who is all “Fuck that guy - this is what we did.”
I am probably wrong, I hope not.
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An extra large supply of Depends was loaded on AF1 prior to its departure for Buenos Aires.
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Individual 1 reappears in Cohen’s plea!
He says DJT’s pursuit of Trump Tower Moscow continued into 2017.
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- and it would seem that - unlike those hoping and praying for a pardon - Cohen does not have any “Lifelines” to utilize
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I think you are right. Not to mention that any person would have to be a total fool to expect Trump to stand behind them if they take the bullet for him. He would turn against you faster than a scalded cat.
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Gadzooks, y’all.
@eorden
“I made these statements to be consistent with Individual-1’s political messaging and to be loyal to Individual-1,” Cohen said in court.
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True, but I have to believe his attorneys have some sort of tacit agreement with all the parties involved his cooperation will be accorded the credit due and everyone will settle on one jail, one sentence, one shot at him and it’s all done. I think the only way he screws this up is more lies or crimes and money he hides that are discovered post-sentencing.
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He’s not smart enough to try that and he knows it.
Alternatively: He’s too smart to try it.
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Even without a formal agreement, wouldn’t his (voluntary) cooperation play a role in any sentencing down the road?
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