“veritable smorgasbord” of crimes
Welcome to the Trump “All-You-Can-Cheat” buffet.
Franchises available in every red state.
So why did Cohen try to cover it up? There’s gotta be more dirt here… He’s already convicted, going to prison, why was this worth potentially getting in more trouble over?
I’m guessing a record number of prison sentences for most people affiliated with Trump.
ETTD’s.
Yes, why would he have to say this? Maybe he didn’t ask for a pardon but his attorneys were involved with this?
He asked through his attorney’s, that’s the clear story now. The question is why he didn’t just say that in the hearing. Rather than obfuscate and say he never “personally” asked for one.
This may be getting to be the linguistic equivalent of saying how many angels can dance on the head of a pin. When people speak, they tend not to be absolutely precise.
It could be something as simple as absolving himself of begging. True, his attorney’s may bave worked on it, but Cohen personally didn’t beg Trump. IIRC, Cohen supposedly begged Trump to come to his son’s Bar Mitzvah. Perhaps Michael has regained his sense of dignity. Stranger things …
Then doubly foolish. That’s not begging, that’s negotiating.
So it it perjury if he never asked but his attorneys inquired with Trump’s attorneys?
I think the simplest answer may be that Michael Cohen (and his tv lawyer Lanny Davis, for that matter) don’t always express themselves clearly or carefully - especially in real time. But making a point in your testimony to emphasize that you didn’t ask for a pardon when you know a lawyer did it for you is pretty dang clumsy.
Not yet, unless they find something in those e-mails.
But just not good optics
extremely.
Red hats welcome.
The question becomes if the hair-splitting and bad faith outrage over Cohen’s “perjury” drowns out the content of the emails, which are very much worse optics for Trump and his legal team. I’m sure the emails we’ve seen so far are selective, but there’s very openly discussion here of obstruction of justice and witness tampering with the grace note of a post script to implicate Trump’s personal involvement.
So, based on the MSM’s handling of everything else, I think there’s a good chance that this gets the “both sides” treatment.
understatement…
I hear Manhattan has the best witch hunters. Pity nobody knows how to fire them. And if, on top of that, they have Mueller’s phone number, then it’s clearly UNFAIR. No collusion!
Giuliani … couldn’t recall if he dangled the prospect of a future pardon during his conversation with Costello.
Does he dangle so many presidential pardons that Cohen’s was so unremarkable to slip his memory?
Cohen didn’t stop being a sleazy fuckup just because he turned on Trump. I think it’s entirely possible he remembers a throwaway comment that somebody else interpreted as a serious suggestion, or something similar.
But, they will be lenient, given all of these people’s previously blameless lives.
He might be a little stupid.