The fate of the man who said he would “take a bullet” for the president should serve as a warning to not only Trump associates, but members of Congress, world leaders, his ex and current wives, children, etc.
Aug. 21, Michael Cohen pleaded guilty to eight felonies for crimes he carried out on Trump’s behalf, such as campaign finance violations that arose out of hush money used to silence two women with whom Trump allegedly had affairs, and yet the president is still using the White House for personal gain and seemingly as yet unscathed personally by the Russia probe, even as his close circle falls victim to Mueller’s investigative prowess.
“He has told friends that he is mystified that he is taking the fall for actions he carried out on behalf of Mr. Trump, who remains unscathed,” Benjamin Weiser reported in the New York Times.
Trump’s former personal lawyer and Mr Fix It has taken a most inglorious fall from grace, pleading guilty to crimes he committed for Trump without getting a plea deal in advance.
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The dirty dealings go so deep that according to a court filing, Cohen informed Trump about a conversation he had with the Kremlin seeking help to build a skyscraper in Moscow in 2016 during the 2016 campaign. And yet, Trump is still in the White House and Cohen’s life is ruined.
“Mr. Cohen has concluded that his life has been utterly destroyed by his relationship with Mr. Trump and his own actions, and to begin anew he needed to speed up the legal process by quickly confessing his crimes and serving any sentence he receives, according to his friends and associates, and analysis of documents in the case.”
Cohen’s lawyer said in a Manhattan federal court filing Friday that Cohen “remained in close and regular contact with White House-based staff and legal counsel” to Trump as he was preparing the false statements he would make to Congress about his contacts with Russia.
Cohen will be sentenced on Dec. 12.
Paul Manafort thought he could play both ends and Trump would protect him with a pardon, and perhaps he will – but because he lied to investigators, his wife might not be able to keep the Palm Beach home Manafort protected for her as part of his deal with Mueller. “The worst thing you can do is to double-cross them,†John Tierney, Palm Beach Garden criminal defense attorney who specializes in federal court cases, told the Palm Beach Post about plea deals that hinge on cooperating with prosecutors. “You not only don’t get the reduction, you can get charged with obstruction and you get an enhancement.â€
Trump has one skill in life, and it’s a skill he has come near to perfecting. He is teflon con Don. He uses other people to carry out his illegal and/or unethical schemes and if they get busted, he points his finger at them and demands the worst sentence.
On Monday, for example, Trump called for a “full and complete” sentence for Cohen while accusing him of lying about Trump’s business dealings with Russia during the 2016 presidential campaign to get reduced jail time — and yet, Cohen has arranged no deal. Cohen is hanging out there having lost everything, and the president is using his Twitter account/biggest bully pulpit in the world, literally, to beat Cohen when he’s down.
Trump doesn’t have an ounce of loyalty in him, and those who think he does will learn the hard way that no one is safe when it comes to protecting Trump, now apparently going by the name Tariff Man — not even his children.
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Sarah has been credentialed to cover President Barack Obama, then VP Joe Biden, 2016 Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, and exclusively interviewed Speaker Nancy Pelosi multiple times and exclusively covered her first home appearance after the first impeachment of then President Donald Trump.
Sarah is two-time Telly award winning video producer and a member of the Society of Professional Journalists.
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