Image 01 Image 03

Michael Cohen Tag

I don't even know where to begin with the story on President Donald Trump's tax returns in The New York Times. There is so much wrong with it that someone like me, with no accounting or tax background, can figure out the article is worthless. But how about the three media conspiracy theories debunked by the story?

During his testimony before the House Oversight Committee, former Trump "fixer" and attorney Michael Cohen came across as a whiny, lying opportunist who may have violated not only lobbying but also perjury laws. This impression was not helped when it was revealed after his testimony that Trump is a “racist,” a “conman” and “a cheat” that he had been shopping a pro-Trump book that argued the exact opposite.  The president, of course, had a field day with these revelations.

Rep. Mark Meadows (R-NC) wants two things concerning President Donald Trump's former lawyer Michael Cohen: criminal referral for allegedly violating lobbying laws and supposedly committing perjury. Oversight Committee Ranking Member Jim Jordan joined forces with Meadows on the second item. Both of these concerns came up when Cohen testified in front of the committee on Wednesday.

President Donald Trump's former lawyer Michael Cohen has started his testimony in front of the House Oversight Committee. Reports have shown that Cohen will show lawmakers documents that include "a check signed by the president as part of his reimbursement for the $130,000 Stormy Daniels payment — Mr. Cohen had paid the porn star from his home-equity line of credit — and financial statements intended to demonstrate how Mr. Trump manipulated his net worth for business and personal purposes, including to reduce his tax liability." However, his prepared remarks show he saw no direct evidence of collusion.

Back in May 2018, attorney Michael Avenatti published what looked like bank records related to President Donald Trump's former lawyer Michael Cohen, who in turn demanded the court force Avenatti to reveal his source. Avenatti claimed that Cohen lacked evidence that he received or distributed any bank records. At the time, Cohen represented Stormy Daniels in her case against Trump. Well, now an IRS employee has been charged with providing Cohen's information to Avenatti.

President Donald Trump's lawyer Rudy Giuliani said that his legal team reached out to Special Counsel Robert Mueller's office after BuzzFeed dropped a supposed bombshell that Trump told former lawyer Michael Cohen to lie to Congress. Giuliani said that both sides "agreed a significant portion of it was false."

We have been here sooooooo many times before. A media outlet publishes an article based on anonymous sources providing information that is so vague it cannot be proven or disproven, but which purports to (1) implicate Trump in a crime, (2) show collusion with the Russians, and/or (3) raise enough suspicions to justify a 3-5 day news cycle.

One key part of the so-called Steele Dossier on Donald Trump was a reference to Trump lawyer Michael Cohen attending a summer 2016 collusive meeting in Prague to seek Russian help for Trump's campaign. It's something Cohen repeatedly has denied, including under oath. Cohen not only denies such a meeting, he denies EVER having been to Prague. While Cohen has been prosecuted for some lies under oath, he has not been charged -- so far -- with lying about Prague.

Just when I thought it couldn't get worse for Lanny Davis, the lawyer for President Donald Trump's former lawyer Michael Cohen, it has and yes it includes CNN. It all goes back to that explosive CNN report in July when "sources" told the network that Cohen claimed Trump knew about the "dirt" meeting at Trump Tower with Russians. BuzzFeed reported on Monday night that source was Davis himself. Here's the buried lede: Davis came out as the source of the story, but CNN's report stated that Davis declined to comment on the story.