pattern of cash coming into trump s business around the time that cohen arrives in the trump organization. and what we don t know is exactly the nature of those sources. and i think that s where we need to look next, is exactly where that money has been coming from. you re not surprised. julia, i m going to get back to you. but i said to you before we came on, i asked you how unusual is it to have the president s personal lawyer, a fixer in this role, rather than someone or a company that has, you know, has been paid as a lobbyist, a registered lobbyist or someone who, you know, is not a part of the administration? how unusual is that. well, to me it s an incredibly sloppy, clumsy sort of sleazy effort. he s got a company where you re mixing slush funds and a pay to play in a company with his name on it. and it s just an astonishingly bad operation from soup to nuts.
rick, and talk about this as a piece in the washington post that s by george will, about vice president mike pence and he really doesn t hold back here. he says, donald trump, with his cunning, knew mike pence, with his talent for toadyism and the appetite for, could, trump knew is that right? could, trump knew i think that s wrong there, become america s most repulsive public figure. because his is the authentic voice of today easlickspittle republican party. he clarifies this year s election, vote republican to ratify groveling and groveling. you can t get any tougheren t t that. is that an unfair characterization? you know, don, i ve always say that george will has two
him. so they re intertwined and have a history that goes back years. they have money connections through family, through trump s businesses. to me it s all interrelated. it s all connected, and, you know, that s the key. that it s through cohen this money is coming into trump s world. when we come back as the white house dodges questions about michael cohen, is the president s attorney on thin ice tonight? my family while i was overseas serving. it was my very first car accident. we were hit from behind. i called usaa and the first thing they asked was are you ok? they always thank you for your service, which is nice because as a spouse you serve too. we re the hayles and we re usaa members for life. see how much you could save with usaa by bundling your auto and home insurance. get a quote today.
allegiances and trump s desire to get more money is also what the russians know. and they certainly knew it. and so they were playing with it as well, and they were giving money to michael cohen or trying to meet with the son-in-law or whatever. so these vulnerabilities that are trump s own fault because of his focus solely on what kind of wealth he can accumulate are actually national security vulnerabilities because we don t know what allegiances trump had and what allegiances the trump organization had. i think that means michael cohen is vulnerable because he s not family. if you re not family you are extendible. seth, before we run out of time, you said cohen was the key to unlocking trump. what do you mean by that? i guess i disagree with julia a little bit there. that their relationship goes back so far, if cohen goes down then trump is going down with
is the possibility of cohen cooperating with mueller seem likely given what we ve learned about these payments? i think so. i mean i think that noise you re hearing is everyone throwing michael cohen under the bus whether it s novardis or at&t or the silence of the trump white house in defending him. i mean i think the questions i have now are sort of where did this $4.4 million go? that s how much we know was in this llc. was it just supporting michael cohen s family or lifestyle or where did the go? i think that s a legitimate question to ask. and the other is taking a stem back on the national security side and why i do think it s important reporters not view stormy daniels and russia as different. they are linked, and which is everything we know to the extent of, you know, trump s vulnerabilities, trump s