“Rope A Dope” – A boxing/fighting technique in which one opponent leans against the ropes of the boxing ring and draws non-injurious punches, letting the opponent tire himself out.
Is it possible Michael Cohen not only has Trump exactly where he wants him, but has set Trump up for a fall? By baiting him? I’m serious. Cohen might finally be at the end of a long, years long in fact set-up to take Trump down with a criminal conviction. There might have been times when it seemed we’d never get here, but here we are.
Later this morning former Trump “fixer” Michael Cohen will be back on the witness stand in Trump’s Manhattan criminal trial. By most accounts Cohen did quite well on direct examination and scored significant points against his former boss. This report from Reuters provides a short account that illustrates the main points made during Cohen’s time on the stand so far. Then cross examination by lead Trump attorney Todd Blanche began. The reviews are more mixed. As is often the case with Trump how a given matter is seen seems like a Rorschach test. My own opinion is that Blanche raised some bruises but didn’t land major blows that would do major, or even significant damage to the testimony he provided on direct.
I’ve not been up to par this week so it’s fair to question my mental fitness to offer this opinion but I started thinking yesterday evening that perhaps Michael Cohen set Trump and his lawyers up. Perhaps even the prosecution. That solidified when I learned Trump lawyer Todd’ Blanche’s planned strategy for today. Maybe, just maybe this is playing out exactly how Cohen hoped it would. Allow me to explain what the hell I’m talking about.
Cohen has known that if the time ever came where he’d be on a witness stand testifying against Trump he’d face withering cross-examination. He knows Trump well, and the fact is he spent his time working for Trump mostly as an attack dog himself. He knows all about Trump’s reverence for the late, not-at-all-great (but sometimes effective) Roy Cohn’s legal tactics. Cohen didn’t do the same in court on Trump’s behalf but he sure as hell did so in business and/or PR. So again, Cohen has known ever since the scales fell from his eyes and he turned on Trump he’d be on the receiving end of what he once dished out on Trump’s behalf.
Cohen hasn’t simply testified (in front of Congress and in legal proceedings) against Trump and for years now, he’s regularly criticized him whenever he gets the chance. (Which has been often) He’s repeatedly outright trolled Trump! Much to the dismay of lawyers going up against Trump in the civil trials, and also this current criminal trial. In the civil trials regarding E. Jean Carroll Cohen got smacked around but good on the witness stand and pundits said he didn’t do himself or the case against Trump much good with his attitude.
That’s why prior to Cohen’s taking the stand in this criminal trial a LOT of hand-wringing was being done by journalists and legal pundits. Worries were expressed even about how well he’d do on direct examination with prosecutors trying to present him in the best possible light. Well, at the end of the first day it was clear those concerns were overblown. Cohen was almost universally praised for his testimony, with comments about him staying on point, keeping his answers short, being humble etc. Almost none of the defiant “smart-ass” stuff that he displayed as a civil trial witness.
I couldn’t help but think back to Cohen’s Congressional testimony. GOPers, and not just “Gym” Jordan went after him like a school of sharks yet he did a decent job of maintaining his composure. So, in my mind I felt like he had the ability, at least if he could summon the self-discipline to provide clear, compelling testimony without all that defiant smart-ass we know him for. Anyway, the question became what would happen when it was the defense’s turn and he had to endure cross examination? Would he then turn into the surely, sarcastic and even nasty Michael Cohen we’re so familiar with? Apparently not, or not very much.
Like I said, Cohen has been hoping and even preparing for this moment for years. Criminal court is where he wanted to square off against Trump.
Keep in mind that during the years he’s waited for this Cohen has had “dress rehearsals.” Chances to literally try out different ways to challenge Trump in formal proceedings. Also keep in mind that from the time he “flipped” he’s been calculating. He’s been looking out for himself and his family. Part of the reason he did time in prison was with federal prosecutors he was quite willing to provide evidence of criminal wrongdoing on behalf of Trump but refused to go into any other matters where he played fast and loose with, and even broke laws like tax law.
The general perception is that Cohen has always been on the edge of out of control and often crossed the line. I’m not at all sure of that. I’ve sometimes thought (as I said) he was usually cold and calculating about what he thought he could get away with. He might have misjudged sometimes but blind loyalty to Trump didn’t always mean blind stupidity in how he carried out his duties. I’m thinking if not all the time then most of it his antics were calculated.
That has been the case all these years with news show appearances, books, social media etc. criticism of Trump. And the trolling. Even in the leadup to this trial when the pundit class, the prosecutors and even the judge needed fainting couches over the fact Cohen was out there tweaking Trump. Does anyone think for one second Trump hasn’t since long before the trial started DEMANDED his lawyers rip Cohen to shreds when the time came? That Trump want a vintage Roy Cohn attack, going for the throat while spilling Cohen’s guts all over the courtroom? Of course that’s what Trump would insist on!
Just like with Stormy Daniels. Don’t think for one second that even though such details weren’t allowed to be talked about in this trial Trump wasn’t aware of Daniels having described his “junk” as being a little shorter than normal. And mushroom headed to the point of weird. Or that it was only a (mercifully for her) few minutes before he got his rocks off. For years he’d boasted to himself about how awesome he was. How he’d “laid the pipe to her” like a male porn star. BETTER than that even. Only to have Daniels make fun of him. Susan Necheles is by all accounts an excellent lawyer and in fact the most experienced trial lawyer on Trump’s team. She had to know her cross of Daniels that Trump insisted on wouldn’t do him any favors with the jury. But he was the one paying her fee so she did it, and simultaneously bolstered Daniels and made Trump look bad with the jury.
Cohen had to have taken all that in and been delighted. If I’m right this was just what he was hoping for because he could count on Team Trump taking the same approach with him. He’s not as witty as Daniels so he might have misjudged his ability on that score but even on cross examination he’s at worst getting bruised a bit. He’s known all along what was coming. He also knew that he’d be facing a lesser attorney than Daniels did.
Todd Blanche is also a helluva lawyer. But he earned that reputation as a prosecutor. He’s been a defense lawyer for a while but hardly a smashing success. And prior to this had only had one actual trial as a defense lawyer. It gets worse for Blanche. Federal prosecutors don’t do all that many trials to begin with. When they do, they don’t tend to get much experience cross-examining witnesses because defendants seldom have all that many to put on the stand. So Blanche is simply not experienced for the task at hand. His training and instincts are the opposite of what’s needed now, and what his client wants him to do. Blanche’s experience is to protect prosecution witnesses. Intellectually he of course knows he’s on the other side now, but old habits die hard.
Add in the fact Trump has been bombarding him for weeks with Make SURE you hit/nail Cohen with THIS, and THIS, and THIS and on and on. You get the point. Probably passing notes and yelling at Blanche during the breaks too! Is it any wonder that pundits, even those who say Blanche has scored a little here and there say his cross has been disjointed? Well, in a while we are likely to see more of the same. Yes, there will have been time for Team Trump to look back on the initial cross. However, Trump has no doubt been furious at the lack of them having blown gaping holes in Cohen like they were shooting him up with a machine gun loaded with anti-tank missiles.
The other problem is that Cohen will have had a chance to sit with HIS lawyer, and talk about times where instead of just taking his lumps Cohen tried to deflect or push back more than he should have. For Cohen, keeping his cool which more often than not he did during cross on Tuesday is all he needs to to. Like Necheles with Daniels, the more Blanche pushes and repeats himself with stuff that the jury’s already heard the more the jury is likely to say to themselves We’ve already HEARD all this! Move on for chrissakes and that’s not at all what Trump needs jurors to be thinking.
However, whether he wants to or not Blanche is going to do what Trump wants and spend hours trying to savage Cohen. All Cohen has to do is be willing to absorb the blows and suffer some bruises and he will win. The defense will be worn out from throwing so many punches that didn’t do any real damage, and come closing arguments time Cohen can sit back and enjoy the spectacle of the prosecution throwing devastating punches and ultimately a combination that knocks Trump out. Because Cohen baited Trump into a losing strategy.
Rope A Dope.
(Tonight I hope people will look at this again. Or if they don’t read it this morning others will suggest they do so. I might be wrong and have to eat a lot of crow, but I don’t think so)
Good analogy, but I think the dope is trump. He has trouble attracting good lawyers, and when he does manage it, he turns them into bad lawyers. Everything he touches …
You got the point. The prosecution/Cohen is Ali who leaned back on the ropes with gloves covering the face and forearms taking the blows and the ropes absorbing part of the force of Foreman’s incredibly powerful punches. (When he won the title Foreman hit Frazier with one uppercut that literally lifted him a few inches into the air) Foreman furiously whaled away thinking he was “getting” Ali but only wearing HIMSELF down. Once Ali was convinced Foreman’s punches had weakened considerably he went on the counter-attack and quickly dispatched Forman. Instead of doing what legal analyst Chuck Rosenberg kept saying would be the most effective approach (make the point Cohen has lied, committed perjury and been convicted, and felt left behind once Trump won Blanche went all over the place throwing a lot of uneseccary punches even though the prosecution gets to re-direct and focus the jury on the most critical parts of Cohen’s testimony. And “clean up” any extraneous stuff. As he put it everyone knows Cohen’s considerable flaws. In a matter of ten or fifteen minutes Blanche could have made the points he needed to make to call Cohen’s credibility into question and been done.
What Blanche did was take an entire day of the jury’s time. Unless the defense calls witnesses closing arguments could have taken place Monday and the jury would have had the case for deliberation Tues. or early Wed. Now? Who the hell knows? The jury might be swayed by Blanche’s (Trump’s) tactics to doubt Cohen. Or they might, given all the supporting evidence think Team Trump wasted a LOT of their time. And decide yes Cohen was a bad guy but a reformed one who is credible in his attempt to atone and set the record straight.
Looks like Roger misinterpreted the analogy Denis made, but came to the right conclusion. The “dope” in rope-a-dope is the combatant throwing the ineffective “punches”. George Foreman was a slugger – no footwork, no strategy, just move in and land the knockout punch in short order. IIRC, he didn’t win many bouts when that tactic failed to end them early on. Ali was a LOT smarter than people gave him credit for – it’s not for nothing he’s called “The Greatest”.
Like Foreman in the ring, Trump in his business methods uses only the Roy Cohn playbook. That it didn’t work on cross-examination of Stormy Daniel’s, and is similarly ineffective against Michael Cohen.
Barring the unforeseen, like Foreman in the ring, Trump will greet defeat in the courtroom.
Correction: It should read, “Like Foreman in the ring, Trump in his business methods uses only the Roy Cohn playbook. That it didn’t work on cross-examination of Stormy Daniel’s, and is similarly ineffective against Michael Cohen isn’t registering, but Trump not only can’t grasp that fact, he has no alternate strategy, and is no doubt overruling any suggestion by his legal team to go in a better direction.”