Michael Cohen as you know was once one of Trump’s staunch protectors. Now of course, what he learned in those years of service to Trump has made him into a huge liability to not just Donald Trump but others in Trump World. That includes the evil spawn from Trump’s marriage to trophy wife #1, aka Ivana Trump.
Salon reports that during an interview with MSNBC that Trump was taking a risk by having his sons testify in the NY civil trial. If you’ve been following the case all three of Trump’s kids from his first marriage were, along with Trump himself called to the stand by the prosecution. It didn’t go well for any of them. With prosecutors having rested their case it’s now Trump’s turn and it seems Trump decided his lawyers should put Fredo 1 & Fredo 2 (Don Jr. and Eric) back on the witness stand. Let’s just say legal pundits in general are perplexed. Cohen however, with characteristic bluntness has as the title indicates said this is a stupid strategy and that Trump’s marching his kids into a perjury trap. If Cohen hasn’t always correctly assessed things more often than not he’s gotten it right when it comes to Trump’s legal problems. And, in his years with the Trump Org. Cohen not only got to know Trump, but Don Jr., Eric and wannabe princess Ivanka well.
In his interview Cohen says the strategy makes no sense because the issue of liability has already been decided and the case is now about what in legal terms is called “disgorgement.” That means how much will Trump and the Trump Org. have to pay? Cohen believes Trump’s sons have already flirted with perjury when the NY AG’s team had them on the stand and was pointedly critical of Ivanka (author’s note – she’s supposed to be “the smart one”) for her memory lapses. Cohen made a point about her repeatedly saying she couldn’t recall/did not remember and fed her testimony into the shredder saying “They keep talking about Joe Biden’s cognition, she’s the only one who seems to have forgotten things 30 times.”
Cohen continued saying Trump has to know it’s a stupid strategy and that it only benefits him, adding:
“Which is interesting because, as a parent, you would think that his goal would be to protect his children,” he added. “Instead, what he is doing is he is putting them in the line of fire. They’re all perjury traps. None of them, including Ivanka, who has no idea what’s going on anywhere.”
Well, tons of people including me believe and have said Trump will throw anyone, anyone under the bus to save his own fat orange butt. That includes his kids, who I figure in his warped mind are only “half Donald Trump.” I don’t know how his “very fine brain” works (malfunctions is more accurate I think) than the next person but I suspect he’s always considered his oldest children, the ones who spent their “careers” working for him in the family business to be “infected with Ivanka cooties.” If Ivanka was “special” to him it’s only because of his sick, twisted obsession with boinking her.
As already noted Trump/the Trump Org. have already been found guilty of fraud. From what I’m hearing legal analysts say, particularly after Don Jr.’s second stint on the witness stand doing what is being called an infomercial on the “greatness” of the company is that the prosecution intends to just let Team Trump blather away. It doesn’t matter if, as I saw legal pundit Lisa Rubin say some of the properties are actually quite nice. She, like others points out this case isn’t about whether some items in the Trump Org. portfolio are nice, well maintained places or have “great views.”
Nope. It’s about whether Trump and his evil spawn committed fraud in applying for loans. (and eventually it will be about taxes too but that’s a different legal matter and jurisdiction) The evidence is the evidence and the New York AG has Trump dead-to-rights on that score. The legal consensus seems to be that the prosecution will let the defense witnesses blather away on the stand with little challenge since they (prosecutors) have already proven their case. By doing so an appellate court will be hard pressed to overturn things based on Trump claiming “I/we didn’t get to present OUR ‘evidence.'”
I’m not a lawyer (nor do I play one on TV!) but from where I sit it’s easy to agree with Cohen that Team Trump is employing a stupid strategy. Due to overwhelming evidence they lost on the main point of whether there was fraud. There was. It’s now about what the penalty will be and Trump is with his strategy pissing away probably the best argument (I’m not saying it’s a good one but the best he’d have) he might raise in an appeal – that he wasn’t allowed to tell HIS side!
We know what the days ahead will bring but it’s still worth paying attention. Because again as Cohen points out the more Trump and his kids talk during the defense portion of the case the greater the chances any (or all) of them wind up facing a perjury charge.
I love Cohen’s naivete when he thinks trump’s “goal” would be to protect his children. WTF?!? Hasn’t he been paying attention? trump’s only and forever goal is to protect himself at all costs against anything that might take something away. I do believe he’d even put princess up on the sacrificial altar in order to save himself. It’s damned certain he’d put his other kids on it.
I think you misread or misunderstood what Cohen wrote.
He wrote that “as a parent, you would think that his goal would be to protect his children.” He did NOT write that Trump planned to protect them. In other words, any other parent’s first instinct is to protect their kids, no matter what kind of criminal or sociopathic or psychopathic action the kid did. (Most parents will eventually accept reality, usually by pleading with the kid to accept responsibility and accept a plea bargain–if offered or available–but, still, their first thought/action is to do what they can to protect the kid from the worst possible outcome.)
I’m sure Cohen knows Trump’s first instinct/reaction is self-preservation, no matter who gets thrown under the bus or buried on the golf course (choose your analogy) but he was probably just hoping–like all those GOPers back in 2016 and 2017 who thought they could control Trump–that, for once, Trump would think of someone other than himself but, most likely, knows that will never happen.
Trump’s ability to look after himself knows no bounds, and that, as you’ve alluded to, includes using his own children, regardless of the legal consequences, can also take one back to a 2020 comment by Omarosa “… You know, I really feel bad for those who are left…” … “Because the reality is, is Donald’s going to turn to anyone and blame everyone for his loss except for himself…” and “… this is the first time Trump “has not been able to buy his way out of a situation, lie his way out of a situation, manipulate himself out of the situation.” as per a Dec 2020 MSNBC piece: Trump Having ‘Psychotic Episode’ … ‘Reverting’ to Reality TV Host’
the Trump boys are named defendants in the case. it isn’t just about their dad. All three of them are taking this stupid track, on autopilot it seems, even lying about size and value of the properties ON THE STAND.