Rachel Maddow slammed the growing number of companies that gave large sums of money to Michael Cohen’s shell company, Essential Consultants LLC, in order to curry favor with Donald Trump.
On Wednesday night, the MSNBC host asked the companies how they expect the American people to believe that they paid Cohen for anything other than access to the president.
Video:
Rachel Maddow shreds the companies who gave money to Michael Cohen #Maddow #Cohen #Trump pic.twitter.com/RYnN2Pujbq
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— PoliticusUSA (@politicususa) May 10, 2018
Maddow went off on the companies:
In what universe would a company in that situation seek out Michael Cohen and specifically his little company, Essential Consultants LLC, which was recently formed as a Delaware shell company just days before it was used to pay off a porn star who said she had an affair with the president? In what universe would a company in that situation funnel money to Michael Cohen and Essential Consultants? What’s actually the most amazing part of this initial statement from Korea Aerospace Industries is the part where they say they had no idea when they sent that check that the company they were paying had any connection whatsoever to President Trump. Oh, really? We’re just supposed to believe that in all the world, Michael Cohen is the guy who you would hire to review and improve your internal accounting practices at your Korean aerospace firm? Out of all the lawyers in the world.
This was a Trump ‘slush fund’ – plain and simple
Michael Cohen and these companies are desperate to explain away the money they injected into Cohen’s fake LLC, but no one is buying the claims that they were paying him for actual work.
As New York Magazine noted on Wednesday, “In truth, ‘Essential Consultants’ was a slush fund, in which major corporations deposited bribes to Trump’s attorney, and from which he withdrew funds to buy the silence of an adult-film star with whom the president allegedly fornicated (we know all of this now thanks, in part, to that porn star’s attorney).”
The magazine added: “If that all sounds possibly illegal — and definitely crooked — that’s because it is.”
While this story continues to escalate at breakneck speed, one thing is becoming increasingly clear: The corruption in Trumpland is far deeper than we thought – and most of us knew it was already pretty deep.
With this week’s bombshell developments, a money trail is presenting itself, and it looks like it could lead all the way to the President of the United States.Â
Sean Colarossi currently resides in Cleveland, Ohio. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and was an organizing fellow for both of President Obama’s presidential campaigns. He also worked with Planned Parenthood as an Affordable Care Act Outreach Organizer in 2014, helping northeast Ohio residents obtain health insurance coverage.
