Nohing worse than a scorned attorney, eh, Donnie?
"In either case, Davis’ remarks appear to contradict his client’s testimony last week before the House Oversight Committee — Cohen said that he had “never asked for” a pardon from President Trump."
This is not accurate. Cohen said that he had never personally asked Trump for a pardon. Having his lawyer test the pardon waters on his behalf is a different thing. It’s related, certainly, but still different.
You beat me to it. That’s exactly what he said. Carefully parsed words.
“They had been dangling it for a while, and it was a constant refrain,” Davis told the Washington Post, referencing a potential pardon. “So Michael had his attorney reach out to Rudolph W. Giuliani.”
I’m increasingly delighted at the thought of Giuliani spending the rest of his life in prison too.
This was going to come out one way or the other. A distinction without a difference. Sigh.
There’s a big difference. If Cohen had actually personally asked for the pardon, he would have again lied to Congress and probably increased the length of his sentence.
Sorry. I see it as weasel words.
Lawyers claiming ties to Rudy Giuliani approached Michael Cohen after FBI raids; investigators looking at contacts
The sources tell ABC News that during the multiple conversations between Cohen and the attorneys, there was no explicit discussion or offer of a presidential pardon for Cohen. But the sources said there was an implicit message that if Cohen hired these lawyers, it could preserve or increase his chances of a pardon down the road, the sources said.
Perhaps, but those words will keep him from spending a longer time in jail. For him, that’s all the difference.
But it’s the difference between a weasel and a weasel who gets convicted of perjury. It’s a distinction with a huge difference.
There is a difference. Nobody denies that Cohen did crooked things for Trump and lied on his behalf. The issue here is, did he lie to Congress this time? and the answer to that is: probably not.
The prospect of a pardon has probably been passed back and forth between Trump and everyone who is criminally exposed on hie behalf. What matters is not whether Cohen was ever interested in getting a Pardon in exchange for false testimony but rather, was Trump really offering it?
Indeed. Cohen was very careful about everything he said. It may’ve had something to do with a revealing exchange he had with the committee chairman:
Rep. Cummings: Didn’t I tell you that if you lied to this committee I would nail you to the cross?
Cohen: Yes, sir. Multiple times.
I just suffered a minor Schadenfreude infarction while reading that, but deep breaths are helping.
Every one of the Trumpworld weasels was sniffing around for a pardon. The press was abuzz with pardon talk. Trump even hinted at pardons with the high-profile pardoning of multiple right-wing criminals. It would have been borderline malpractice for an attorney not to pose the question and for an attorney-like creature such as Cohen not to suggest it to his attorney.
Is that more or less dangerous than a Schadenfreudegasm?
Ah yes, I’m sure there is a well established legal proscription on the use of such words.
Welp, this sloppy reporting just handed the WH and Faux News “evidence” that all of Cohen’s testimony was a lie and that he needs to be prosecuted for it.
I’m sorry folks, but while listening to his testimony, I heard him very carefully parsing his words. SO carefully that it was obvious to me that the subject was broached at some level that did not include his personal involvement. If you remember, there were all kinds of hints and innuendoes about trump and his pardons that any responsible lawyer would talk to him about it and recommend that the lawyer talk to the Trump people. Cohen saying OK to this is not “asking” for a pardon.
I believe a Schadenfruedegasam can lead to a Schadenfruede infarction.
I’m not sure it is a distinction without a difference. IIRC, Cohen carefully emphasized the word “personally” when he said that he had not “personally” asked Trump about a pardon. When I heard him say that, the follow up question that immediately came to my mind was, “Did anyone else ask Trump, on your behalf, about a pardon?” I don’t think that question was asked. In any case, you may be right and I’m splitting hairs that really shouldn’t, or perhaps can’t, be split.
All that said, whether Cohen asked for a pardon, or his lawyer asked for a pardon for him, doesn’t matter now. It’s already been determined that Cohen is going to jail for his crimes. Focusing on Cohen is a distraction from the question that still matters - and always did matter most: did Trump or his lawyers dangle a pardon offer/promise to him? We need to keep our eyes on the ball.