Trump's former lawyer, who Trump used to repeatedly describe as "a good man," testified before Congress yesterday, and painted a bleak picture of the man, both before his rise to the presidency, and since he officially took office.
According to Cohen, there is an extensive pattern in history of Donald Trump lying and conducting himself in a criminal manner. Some people are going so far as to suggest that Cohen description of Trump's behavior is reminiscent of the Mob!
Members of Trump's Republican party took to the microphones and blasted Cohen, attacking his credibility, and suggesting that Cohen himself has a history of lying. Cohen did not refute these charges, but seemed to use the weight of these accusations against the credibility of the President.
So, Cohen brought some proof for some of the most damning evidence he gave against Trump. That includes a copy of the check, signed by then President Trump, to pay Cohen back for the $130,000 that Cohen paid to keep Stormy Daniels silent during the campaign.
Cohen condemned Trump's behavior since his former boss took over the Oval Office. But, he said that he is done protecting Trump:
“He is a racist. He is a con man. And he is a cheat.”
“I am not protecting Mr. Trump anymore.”
Indeed, Cohen apologized for being such an enthusiastic backer of Trump, and for defending him. According to Cohen, Trump is "Fundamentally disloyal." However, he at least claimed that he is trying to make amends.
“Sitting here today, it seems unbelievable that I was so mesmerized by Donald Trump that I was willing to do things for him that I knew were absolutely wrong.”
“Being around Mr. Trump was intoxicating.”
Cohen stated that, despite Trump's promise to "Make America Great Again," he was more interested in trying to make capitalize on great opportunities to add to his already considerable wealth. According to Cohen, Trump was much more interested "to make his brand great, not to make our country great."
Some of Cohen's hardest punches towards Trump came during his closing statement:
"I'd like to say directly to the president: We honor our veterans — even in the rain. We tell the truth even when it doesn't aggrandize you. You respect the law and our incredible law enforcement agents. You don't villainize them.
"You don't disparage generals, Gold Star families, prisoners of war and other heroes who had the courage to fight for this country. You don't attack the media and those who question what you don't like or what you don't want them to say and you take responsibility for your own dirty deeds.
"You don't use your power of your bully pulpit to destroy the credibility of those who speak out against you. You don’t separate families from one another or demonize those looking to America for a better life. You don't vilify people based on the god they pray to and you don’t cuddle up to our adversaries at the expense of our allies. And finally you don’t shut down the government before Christmas and New Year's just to simply appease your base.
"This behavior is churlish, it denigrates the office of the president and it's un-American and it's not you."
Cohen also confirmed the worst fears that some people, myself included, have of Trump, which is that he will not peacefully give up the office of the president should he lose the next election. Here is what Cohen said:
"I fear that if he loses the election in 2020, that there will never be a peaceful transition of power. And this is why I agreed to appear before you today."
Scary thought.
These are the numerous articles that I employed in writing this particular blog entry about Cohen's testimony regarding Donald Trump yesterday:
Michael Cohen Accuses Trump of Expansive Pattern of Lies and Criminality by Peter Baker and Nicholas Fandos, The New York Times, Feb. 27, 2019:
Michael Cohen: Trump wanted 'to make his brand great, not to make our country great' In his first public testimony, Donald Trump's former lawyer Michael Cohen told lawmakers the president is "fundamentally disloyal." USA TODAY 4:14 p.m. EST Feb. 27, 2019
Michael Cohen: 'I fear' Trump won't peacefully give up the White House if he loses the 2020 election by Kevin Breuninger and Dan Mangan, February 27, 2019:
Michael Cohen speaks directly to Trump in scathing closing statement by NBC News, February 27, 2019:
No comments:
Post a Comment