payments you heard there s a tweet for everything. in this case there s an actual recording. we are going play it for you. also, bob mueller undercutting trump s comments about flynn in a new court reporting. mick mulvaney the new chief of staff of the white house since michael cohen being sented to three months in prison, saying trump told cohen to pay hush payments even though trump knew it was wrong. nothing at the trump organization was ever done unless it was run through mr. trump. he directed me as i said in my elocution and i said as well in the plea, he directed many toe make the payments, he directed know become involved in these matters. he was trying to hide what you were doing, correct? correct. and he knew it was wrong. of course. and he was doing that to help his election. yes, he was very concerned
about how this would affect the election. to help his campaign. to help him and the campaign. you heard it there. cohen making it absolutely clear. two key claims. one, trump directed the payments. builds on nbc reporting that trump was in fact in the room with cohen and david pecker discussing the hush money payments in the campaign. the second claim is that trump knew it was illegal. here s the potentially danieling news for trump today new audio emergencies from 2012 showing that trump was indeed familiar with the relevant campaign finance laws, specifically how the law applied to the john edwards case. arguing that payments to his mistress were not campaign finance violations. in fact, they were personal payments. here s trump in 2012 revealing he was watching the case very closely.
counselor to the president? does he have that kind of expertise? it s not clear he has that kind of legal expertise at a time when, as you re alluding to, the democrats will take over the house. they ll launch an onslaught of investigations into folks including trump and everyone around him. trump needs someone who can guide him on the legal and ethical matters in a way mick mulvaney is not clear to be able do. at the same time i think going through this i think what trump will want and need on a personal level is someone who can tell him what he wants to hear and make him feel better personally, but that s not going get him out of legal trouble or help him with legal matters. let s break down what cohen was saying today. comes on a day where trump has a new chief of staff. let s listen to what cohen had to say today. what was your takeaway from the michael cohen interview where he said the president directed him
critical if you have to show that someone had criminal intent. dan, i want to get your reaction as well. the point cohen made was a lot of what he was telling mueller mueller already now about. how critical is that with what people say, cohen is a lawyer, he s not to be trusted. far more important than cohen s sprf is the fact that the southern district asserted to a court that donald trump coordinated and directed michael cohen to make these payments because the southern district of new york, you ll remember, in april, did those searches and what they likely obtained is a treasure trove of information. the fact that they could say cohen was credible about that indicates they have more evidence. but the problem they run into or