| | | | My 5 big questions for Michael Cohen |  | | Michael Cohen's moment is now.
President Donald Trump's personal lawyer and fixer for the better part of a decade will speak publicly about his experiences with The Donald at a House Oversight Committee hearing on Wednesday morning. Cohen's appearance has been months in the making and is likely to be the only time the public hears directly from him before he heads off to jail for three years in May. (Cohen pleaded guilty to nine criminal counts related to, among other things, making hush money payments in the course of the 2016 election to two women alleging they had affairs with Trump in the mid-2000s.)
My former colleagues at The Washington Post came up with an amazing list of 20 questions Cohen could be asked by members of the Oversight Committee. It got me to thinking about the five things I would ask Cohen if I had the chance. (Yes, I always think in fives.)
Here are my five big ones:
1) "What, specifically, did Donald Trump direct you to do when it came to payments made to porn star Stormy Daniels and Playboy model Karen McDougal?"
Remember that when these twin six-figure payments were revealed, Cohen said he had made the payments without consulting with Trump and without any money given to him by anyone in Trumpworld. As part of his guilty plea, Cohen acknowledged that Trump had "directed" and "coordinated" the payments to the two women. What, specifically, did that mean? Did Trump suggest setting up a shell company in Delaware to shield the payments? Did Trump work with American Media Inc. boss David Pecker to come up with the catch-and-kill idea for McDougal's allegations?
2) "When is the last time you spoke with Donald Trump about your ongoing conversations with the Russians about the possibility of a Trump Tower Moscow development? What was the nature of that conversation?"
OK, I am cheating a little bit here because this is two questions in one. But Cohen has admitted he lied to Congress when he told them he had ceased speaking with the Russians about the development in January 2016. He was actually talking to the Russians about it through at least June 2016, according to Cohen, and briefing members of the Trump family about those conversations. So what did he tell the Trumps about the development? And whose call was it to end the deal?
3) "Did Donald Trump ever advise you or tell you to advise anyone else to lie to Congress or federal investigators about the ongoing probes into Russia's interference in the 2016 election?"
A bombshell BuzzFeed News report last month suggested Cohen had told special counsel Robert Mueller's office that Trump had directed him to lie to Congress. Mueller's office released a rare rebuttal, offering a broad rejection of the story. Obviously, if Cohen says that Trump either told him to lie or directed him to get others to lie, that pretty much seals the deal on obstruction of justice on the President. Which would be the whole ball game.
4) "Did Donald Trump -- or anyone in his White House -- discuss the possibility of a pardon with you?"
Cohen's office, home and hotel were raided by the feds on April 9, 2018. Cohen pleaded guilty to eight criminal counts -- and implicated Trump as an unindicted co-conspirator in the end-running of campaign finance laws in regard to the payments to Daniels and McDougal -- on August 22, 2018. On November 29, 2018, Cohen pleaded guilty to making false statements to Congress about the Russia investigation. Did Trump or someone with Trump's imprimatur ever float the idea of a presidential pardon for Cohen during that time? What was the nature of that discussion -- if it happened? And why was the pardon ultimately not offered or taken?
5) "Did you travel to Prague in either August 2016 or at any time during the presidential campaign to meet with Russians about Trump's candidacy? Did you meet with Russians anywhere during the course of that campaign to talk about the campaign?"
In the dossier put together by former British spy Christopher Steele (and partially funded by Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign), there was an allegation that Cohen had been in Prague in the summer of 2016 as a sort of liaison between the Trump campaign and the Russians. (The summer of 2016 was also when three top Trump campaign officials, including the President's eldest son and son-in-law, met with a group of Russians promising dirt on Clinton at Trump Tower.) Cohen, through his lawyer at the time, denied he had ever visited Prague. But did he meet with Russians or Russian-linked officials anywhere else to talk about the campaign during the course of the 2016 race?
The Point: Cohen's testimony is a huge moment of danger for Trump's presidency. Few people -- if anyone -- know Trump and what he did when, why and how over the past decade better than Cohen. What Cohen says Wednesday -- and how believable he is -- could mark a pivot point for Trump's tenure in office.
-- Chris | | "I personally owe an apology to now-Sen. Romney, because I think that we underestimated what was going on in Russia."
-- Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, midtestimony to the House Intelligence Committee on Tuesday. During the 2012 campaign, Albright criticized Romney's assessment that Russia was the US' greatest geopolitical threat. | | | Now that the House has approved a resolution to block President Donald Trump's national emergency declaration to build a border wall, what happens next?
Glad you asked.
The Senate has 18 days to vote on the resolution. Because the Senate is Republican-controlled, passage isn't essentially guaranteed like it was in the Democrat-controlled House.
But there already are a handful of Republicans saying they will side with Democrats to vote for the resolution: Thom Tillis, Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski. If one more Republican joins the Democrats (and no Democrats vote against the resolution) it will pass and head to the President's desk. Trump already plans to veto the resolution -- his first presidential veto.
A note on timing: Don't expect this Senate vote to happen quickly. Senate Majority Whip John Thune said Tuesday that there's "not any rush on our part to take it up." | | WATCH: THE LAWYER GONE ROGUE | |  | How Michael Cohen became Trump's worst enemy | | Michael Cohen went from Donald Trump's personal lawyer to administration pariah in less than two years. As the President's former "fixer" testifies in front of Congress about his former boss, here's a look back at their sad, strange history.
You know what can be your best friend? The Point on YouTube (but only when you subscribe!) | | | Kurt Vile did a "Tiny Desk Concert" earlier this month?!? How did I miss this????? | | Joe Biden: Says he is "very close" to deciding whether he will run -- and that among his family, there is a "consensus" he should do it. If he does, Biden says, he won't be a part of a super PAC.
Kamala Harris: Replied "yes" when asked if she believes President Donald Trump is racist.
Cory Booker: Has locked down the first endorsement from an Iowa elected official: state Rep. Amy Nielsen. | |
LOOK HOW FAR THEY'VE COME | | In the year 2000, Pete Buttigieg was a South Bend high school student and won the JFK Presidential Library's nationwide Profile in Courage Essay competition, in which he wrote about Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders.
"Above all, I commend Bernie Sanders for giving me an answer to those who say American young people see politics as a cesspool of corruption, beyond redemption," Buttigieg wrote. "I have heard that no sensible young person today would want to give his or her life to public service. I can personally assure you this is untrue."
Fast-forward to today.
Buttigieg, now the mayor of South Bend, Indiana, is running for president against Sanders. | | Because there are two important municipal elections taking place in Chicago and New York on Tuesday.
Chicago's electing a new mayor. Voters have a field of 14 candidates to choose from, including a Daley (more on that from Chris).
And New York's electing a public advocate (who is second in line to the mayor). The previous officeholder, Letitia James, is now the state's attorney general. And with 17 contenders, the field of candidates is even more vast than in Chicago's mayoral race. | | | | | | |
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