Michael Cohen's House testimony

[jshore]

@chizzuk

I’m a resident of Jamie Raskin’s district. Quite pleased with my congressional representation today.

Well, while not a resident there…and haven’t been for a few decades, at least I can say that I am a native of that district. Go, Raskin!

[dasmoocher]

@Fair_Rarity

My favorite part was probably when whichever lady (I was listening on NPR at the time), either AOC or Pressley, suggested subpoenaing the tax returns. I know it wasn’t a sincere question, a “golly gee, you reckon we should get 'em?” But was it laying the groundwork for when it inevitably happens or was it a MUCH better subtle threat than Gaetz made? “Resign or we’re coming for the taxes, orange man.”

Probably AOC:

Did Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Just Lay Groundwork for Democrats to Subpoena Trump’s Tax Returns?

Ocasio-Cortez started by picking up on previous lines of questioning regarding whether he knew if Trump ever “provide inflated assets to an insurance company.” When Cohen answered yes she continued: “Do you think we need to review his financial statements and his tax returns in order to compare them?” Cohen answered yes again.

During her questioning, Ocasio-Cortez repeatedly asked Cohen about ways in which Cohen [sic; Trump?] may have tried to decrease his tax bill by undervaluing his properties. At one point she quoted a report from the New York Times that said Trump undervalued the properties he inherited.
Cohen said he didn’t know anything about that because he wasn’t working for Trump then but noted that Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg could shed light on the issue. “Would it help for the committee to obtain federal and state tax returns from the president and his company to address that discrepancy?” Ocasio-Cortez asked. “I believe so,” Cohen answered.

From a satire site, but you know a lot of MAGAers don’t get it based on some of the comments:

“Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was born in Puerto Rico and needs to be deported back immediately!”

[SteveG1]

@Smapti

Connelly pointing out that by the GOP’s standard today, no RICO case could ever be prosecuted.

He’s right.

[ThelmaLou]

Excerpt from The Atlantic’s recap of Cohen’s testimony.

…Cohen: Unlike my [Twitter account] that’s got 1,000 followers, [the president]’s got over 60 million people. When Mr. Trump turned around early in the campaign and said, I can shoot somebody on Fifth Avenue and get away with it, I want to be very clear: He’s not joking. He’s telling you the truth. You don’t know him. I do. I’ve sat next to this man for 10 years and I watched his back. I’m the one who started the campaign, and I’m the one who continued in 2015 to promote him. So many things I thought that he can do are just great. And he can and he is doing things that are great. But this destruction of our civility to one another, it’s out of control. When he goes on Twitter and he starts bringing in my in-laws, my parents, my wife, what does he think is going to happen? He’s sending out the same message—that he can do whatever he wants. It is becoming his country, and he’s becoming an autocrat. And hopefully something bad will happen to me, my family, my children, or my wife, so that I will not be here to testify—that’s what his hope is, to intimidate me.

Cooper: Have you seen Mr. Trump personally threaten people with physical harm?

Cohen: No. He would use others.

Cooper: He would hire other people to do that?

Cohen: I’m not so sure that he had to hire them. They were already working there. Everybody’s job at the Trump Organization is to protect Mr. Trump. Every day, most of us knew we were coming in and we were going to lie for him on something. And that became the norm. And that is exactly what is happening right now in this country and it is exactly what’s happening here in government, sir.
…

[SteveG1]

@Rick_Kitchen

The Florida Bar has opened an investigation into Matt Gaetz.
Florida Bar Opens Investigation Into Gaetz Over Cohen Threat - TPM – Talking Points Memo?

Good. They need to. And then they can lock his ass up for witness intimidation, witness tampering, and conspiracy to obstruct justice.

[SteveG1]

@Smapti

The commentator on CNN just said “Roger Stone is a known bullshitter”, uncensored, on daytime TV.

UUhhhhhhhhm everyone already knows that.

[SteveG1]

@Smapti

Cohen: “I fear that even if he loses the election in 2020, there will never be a peaceful transition of power.”

Is that more “civil war” talk???

[SteveG1]

@jayjay

No. Closed-door. That’s the one that’s likely to get into the Russian connections that went through Cohen (if any).

Like all the shady shit that went on in Trump Tower, between Trump, Junior, Stone, and WikiLeaks?

[jsc1953]

I wonder if Republicans are such assholes behind closed doors, or is it all just posturing for the cameras?

[Ann_Hedonia]

I keep earbugging Randy Rainbow’s The Russian Connection, sung to the tune of the Muppets Rainbow Connection

������������Someday they’ll find it, the Russian Connection, the hustlers, the cheaters and YOU ������������

One of my favorite moments happened when they mentioned that this scoundrel all the Republicans were disparaging as a life long cheat and con artist was once vice-chairman of the RNC finance committee, a fact that I think the Republicans on the committee would have preferred to forget. Then Cohen mentioned that Steve Wynn made him change from Democrat to Republican to take the job, and he did.

And I did another Fox check-in. During the time I was watching they weren’t really pushing the “he’s a liar and can’t be trusted” angle. Instead, they made much of the fact that Lanny Davis was his lawyer and suggested that the Clinton’s had a hand in staging this event. Of course. Then they tried to dig through that big pile of shit to find little gold nuggets that helped Trump and polish them… “He said Trump didn’t take drugs, he said he wasn’t in Prague”.

But mostly they are just painting it as part of the Clinton / Deep State / Globalist conspiracy.

[eschereal]

@SteveG1

That is fraud.

No, that would be Individual-1’s father.

[dasmoocher]

@Ann_Hedonia

But mostly they are just painting it as part of the Clinton / Deep State / Globalist conspiracy.

Yep. I clicked on this opinion piece on Fox just to see what the MAGAers were saying:

David Bossie: Michael Cohen spends a day lying about Trump to aid Democratic witch hunt

The projection is strong with the author, who may not be the most objective opinion writer:

David N. Bossie is president of Citizens United, a Fox News contributor and the former deputy campaign manager for Donald Trump for President. He is the author of “Let Trump Be Trump” and co-author of “Trump’s Enemies.”

These are hysterical times in the Washington swamp. At times like this it’s important to take a clear-eyed look at what is actually happening. In truth, what’s happening is a national embarrassment caused by Democrats more interested in hurting our president than in serving the American people.

The witch hunt conducted by the Oversight and Reform Committee at its hearing Wednesday was yet another demonstration that Democrats are suffering from a serious case of Trump Derangement Syndrome.

…

The sad truth is that the Democrats hate our president more than they love our country.

Cohen simply told the Trump-hating Democrats on the committee what they wanted to hear. But his claims that President Trump is a racist, a con man and a cheat are despicable lies – and Cohen knows it.

Failed presidential candidate Hillary Clinton must be smiling. Her good friend Lanny Davis is representing Cohen, president Trump’s former personal attorney.

…

Davis’ prominent appearance on camera sitting behind Cohen at Wednesday’s hearing tells us all we need to know. The hearing was an orchestrated political hit job being acted out in plain sight. The American people are too smart to be fooled by it.

Are we supposed to ignore that The Washington Post has described Lanny Davis as “the ultimate Clinton loyalist?”

Democrats are not interested in finding out the truth about President Trump. Their investigation of him is about political payback, Clinton style.

…

Michael Cohen – a man consumed by personal ambition and greed – swore under oath that he’s tried to be a good person in life. Let that sink in for a moment and you decide if his testimony is worth the paper it was printed on.

[my underline]

The penultimate quoted sentence may be true, but it also describes Trump who is now much more able to fuck up the country than Cohen.

And doesn’t Trump tell us the Washington Post is FAKE NEWS?

Would that mean Davis is not “the ultimate Clinton loyalist?”

And I noticed at least two Republicans, including Jordan in his opening statement, used the line “Let that sink in” in their talking points. Collusion!!! :eek:

[Kimstu]

Yeah, I think the Republicans are really going to have an uphill battle, even in the delusion-friendly media climate of nowadays, trying to argue that “claims that President Trump is a racist, a con man and a cheat are despicable lies”.

Trump was widely known as a racist, a con man and a cheat decades before he was ever taken seriously as a Presidential candidate.

[Monty]

From the quote in ThelmaLou’s post above:

So many things I thought that he can do are just great. And he can and he is doing things that are great.

Yeah, Cohen? Like what, exactly, is that scum doing great?

[Guest-starring_Id]

@SenorBeef

You must be lying about Trump doing nasty stuff.

@jsc1953

When Cohen was asked if he was aware of any collusion between Trump and the Russians, he said he wasn’t sure. AHA! NO COLLUSION!

So if Cohen wanted to be “nasty”, then, he would’ve said there was collusion, regardless of how annoyingly weak his “wasn’t sure” answer was. Also, Cohen wouldn’t have doubted the existence of the pee tape. And as Adam Schiff told Judy Woodruff today, Cohen also doubted the existence of a tape showing Trump striking Melania in an elevator.

So much for Cohen being nasty at every single turn. Of course the Reps would overlook this - Cohen did nothing but smear smear smear!

[I_Love_Me_Vol.I]

@jayjay

No. Closed-door. That’s the one that’s likely to get into the Russian connections that went through Cohen (if any).

Does anyone know if a redacted transcript of the hearing will be made public?

[Acsenray]

@Colibri

Not really. Back then there were enough Republicans with some moral sense and a greater devotion to the welfare of the country than to their party that they might take action. It’s still good to get this stuff on the record in advance of the 2020 elections, though.

@jsc1953

The most famous quote from the Watergate hearings - “What did the president know and when did he know it?” - came from a Republican. That’s the difference between now and then.

Have you listened to the Slow Burn podcast? It turns out that we have somewhat skewed memories of what happened there. Actually the Republicans and conservatives did everything they could think of, Nunez-style, to block any progress. It took days and days of daily, relentless hearings for public opinion to turn against Nixon. Even now the conservatives still around from then believe that the whole deal was cooked up as political revenge against Nixon.

Looking back, it’s astonishing how Nixon managed to get the loyalty of the tough-guy set. Nixon was a totally nerdy jock-wannabe. It’s amazing how far striking the egos of the foolish and ignorant will get you.

[Morgyn]

I note that trump, in true trumpian fashion, is referring to a Congressional committee investigation as a “fake hearing”.

[Happy_Lendervedder]

“Fake” = “anti-Trump.”

[wguy123]

@Acsenray

Have you listened to the Slow Burn podcast? It turns out that we have somewhat skewed memories of what happened there. Actually the Republicans and conservatives did everything they could think of, Nunez-style, to block any progress. It took days and days of daily, relentless hearings for public opinion to turn against Nixon. Even now the conservatives still around from then believe that the whole deal was cooked up as political revenge against Nixon.

Looking back, it’s astonishing how Nixon managed to get the loyalty of the tough-guy set. Nixon was a totally nerdy jock-wannabe. It’s amazing how far striking the egos of the foolish and ignorant will get you.

The Slow Burn podcasts are great! It is very interesting to listen to what happened with Nixon and Clinton and compare to what is happening today. Quite remarkable.

"Even now the conservatives still around from then believe that the whole deal was cooked up as political revenge against Nixon. "

I hear there is some nutjob that has a Nixon tattoo on his back.