Rachel Maddow laid out all the ways Michael Cohen poses an imminent threat to the Trump presidency, explaining how Tuesday’s news about a Cohen business partner flipping is about as “harrowing” as it gets for the White House.
In a nutshell, the development makes it much more likely that Cohen will spill the goods on the president as his own legal troubles mount.
“Tonight Michael Cohen started to dangle over the edge of that proverbial cliff,” the MSNBC host said, adding that investigators are holding him there until he flips on Trump.
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#Maddow explains how Michael Cohen is a looming disaster for Donald Trump #ctl #p2 #Cohen #Trump pic.twitter.com/c24NFcNz6S
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What Rachel Maddow said is important:
Michael Cohen is known to have pursued hush money deals for the president for multiple women who have claimed to have had affairs with him. Michael Cohen is known to have spearheaded the secret pursuit of a major Russian real estate deal for the Trump organization during the presidential campaign. … Michael Cohen is known to have been a conduit for years for money from the former Soviet Union into Trump real estate projects, both in New York and around the world. Of all the people in Trump world, Michael Cohen flipping to cooperate with prosecutors in an investigation into Donald Trump and his campaign’s ties to Russia – that would likely be a very harrowing prospect for the White House, maybe even more harrowing than the prospect of Paul Manafort flipping. … He hasn’t even himself thus far been charged with any crimes. That’s important because that’s the leverage prosecutors have to get a reluctant witness to cooperate with the prosecution. The way they get you to flip is by getting the gs on you, upping the amount of legal jeopardy you yourself are in. Then they hoist you up on a proverbial cliff, they dangle you over the edge, they show you the immense legal threat you are facing personally. Then they tell you, but you know we can basically make that threat go away if you’ll just agree to talk. Tonight, Michael Cohen started to dangle over the edge of that proverbial cliff.
Michael Cohen has all of Trump’s skeletons
As Rachel Maddow pointed out on Tuesday, Michael Cohen has all of Donald Trump’s skeletons – from his extramarital affair payoffs to his shady Russian business deals.
The news that one of Cohen’s partners is working with investigators will, by design, put even more pressure on him to fold, too. With the legal noose tightening around the president’s lawyer, it’s only a matter of time before he cracks and turns on Trump.
When that happens, it’s likely that the house of cards on which Donald Trump built his career – and his presidency – will come crashing down.
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.
