Chris Cuomo asks the tough questions to newsmakers in Washington and around the world. Prosecutors. Theres no reason why they would have entered into this Plea Agreement that they did were he not cooperating. Michael cohen has a lot of information. So you dont need a Cooperation Deal to be cooperating . Exactly. I think that point that you just made is critical. You dont have to have it in writing in the documents in order to have an agreement in place. Im highly confident in fact, i know Michael Cohens been providing information. Prosecutors in sdny are expecting him to continue to cooperate because if he doesnt, they have the ultimate hammer, and that is at the sentencing stage, which for Michael Cohen is going to take place in december, they can ask for either an upward departure or the maximum. They have a significant hammer in their toolbox in the event Michael Cohen does not cooperate. Same with manafort . Same with manafort. But let me say this. You know, its one thing its a multistep process, chris. Its one thing for manafort and for cohen to provide the information to prosecutors. Then they have to decide what,
if anything, theyre going to do with it. And then we go back to the issue that i know you have talked about a lot on this program, which is can a sitting president be indicted or not . Does mueller believe a sitting president can be indicted . And now do the attorneys in the Southern District of new york believe an individual can be indicted who is president . One of the reasons i needed your help tonight is in looking at what would ordinarily be the indictment, the Charging Document they call it the information when you cut a plea deal in the Southern District they dont use trumps name anywhere. They also dont use the Parent Company of the national enquirer. They dont use the national enquirer. We dont see david peckers name in here. Why . And why did Michael Cohen say a candidate for federal office . Why ignore the obvious . Because normally if you have an unindicted coconspirator at a stage like this and thats what donald trump is. Hes an unindicted coconspirator, make no mistake about it based on this Plea Agreement, you wont necessarily insert their name into the
document. But we all know that the candidate is donald trump just like we all know that the individual relating to the 150,000 payment is ms. Mcdougal and the individual relating to the 130,000 payment is my client, ms. Daniels. The idea of hearing someones attorney stand In Open Court, yes, during an allocution of their plea deal and say, i committed crimes, and i was directed by the president of the United States, how big a deal . Well, its a huge deal. I mean its unprecedented in american history. I mean think about everything weve been through in this nation. Hundreds of years of president s, including Richard Nixon and that debacle, the outrageous illegal conduct that occurred during that presidency. Who would have thought and remember, were only what, 20 minutes in at this point . Well will say its been too long. What is your experience with federal investigations . No. Look, i agree with them that it may be too long for their liking. I understand that. They dont have to have one outright. Okay. Why Hasnt Mueller why hasnt the new york ag, you know, Why Havent People approached and interviewed cohen, which to our understanding, our best information, is it hasnt happened. You once told me, hey, youre assuming that those people wouldnt want him as a witness, you told me once, and that sometimes if they see someone as a potential witness, they dont bring them in early because then they would have a duty to give any exculpatory information that came up in their interview. Explain that to the audience. Well, sometimes you have to weigh your desire to well, first of all, you have to determine whether youre going to actually be able to acquire information from a prospective witness or not. And i imagine that as soon as the warrants were executed on Michael Cohens hotel room, office, and residence, the likelihood of him coming in voluntarily and sitting down for an interview or a statement under oath for bob mueller basically went out the window until his counsel and he were able to make a determination as to whether it made sense for him to cut a deal or not. So that window, if you will, closed as it related to being able to get Michael Cohens statement under oath. Furthermore, sometimes if you bring a witness in and you interview them, you are also, while they are giving you information, you are giving them information relating to the areas of inquiry that youre interested in, what topics you may be interested in. And keep in mind that up until recently, it was fairly clear that Michael Cohen was Firing Flare Gun after flare gun as it related to donald trump. I mean he was begging for help. He was begging for air cover. Whatever metaphor you want to use. And that begging went unanswered. Right. So up until that time, prosecutors would have wondered if they brought him in or attempted to interview him, even if they were successful, whether the content of that interview would have gotten back to donald trump because they would not have known where Michael Cohen was lining up in connection with
as long as Office Gossip travels fast, you can count on geico saving folks money. Craig and sheila broke up what . Fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. Cohigher ad higher parents arent perfect, but then they make us Kraft Mac Cheese and everythings good again. Hawaii is in the middle of the pacific ocean. Were the most isolated population on the planet. Hawaii is the first state in the u. S. To have 100 Renewable Energy goal. Were a very small electric utility. But, if we dont make this move were going to have changes in our environment,
and have a negative impact to hawaiis economy. Verizon provided us a solution using Smart Sensors on their network that lets us collect near Real Time Data on our power grid. colton this technology is helping us integrate rooftop solar, which is a very important element of getting us to our Renewable Energy goals. shelee if we can create our own energy, we can take care of this beautiful place that i grew up in. Sharper vision, without limits. Days that go from sun up to sun down. A whole world in all its beauty. Three Innovative Technologies for our ultimate in vision, clarity, and protection. Together in a single lens. Essilor ultimate lens package. Purchase the Essilor Ultimate Lens Package and get a second pair of qualifying lenses free. Essilor. Better sight. Better life. All right. You got lucky tonight. Were back with attorney Michael Avenatti. He is a main player in what we learned today from Michael Cohen and what it means going forward. He stood In Open Court today and
said, yes, i committed crimes. Two of them, felonies. Campaign finance. I did them at the direction of a candidate for federal office, also known as donald trump. What did you think when you heard that . Well, i thought that we made a giant leap forward relating to our civil case in multiple ways. First of all, theres little doubt now that were going to get a deposition of Michael Cohen in connection with our case. You know, on september 10th, we have a hearing where the judge is going to make a determination as to whether to lift the stay or the pause in the case that Michael Cohen had demanded while this criminal investigation played out. Well, now its basically been resolved. So we would expect the judge on the 10th Of September to lift that pause, allow the case to proceed. And we have a pending motion to depose Michael Cohen and donald trump. I think theres zero chance we dont get a deposition of Michael Cohen, and i think theres a significant likelihood that were going to get a deposition of donald trump. And so what thats going to mean is that im going to have an opportunity to ask Michael Cohen and donald trump questions under oath, under oath. You know, its one thing to lie to you or other members of the press. Its an entirely different thing to lie under oath. Im going to get a chance to did some very difficult questions of Michael Cohen and donald trump about what they knew, when they knew it, what they did about it, and what they did to cover it up. Cohen, much more of a straightline analysis. He asked for the stay. Weve all read those who are following this, we get what that was about. That may be over. I dont see anything in the plea deal that stops him from being in action. In fact, they say the opposite, that it doesnt forestall any other legal activities that are out of the bounds of this agreement. Not easy to get the president for a deposition. What precedent do you point to . Do you believe that clinton is any analogy for you . Absolutely. The Supreme Court decision, jones v. Clinton, we believe is on all fours with this case, meaning it serves as solid precedent for the idea that you can seek and get an order allowing you to depose a sitting president for conduct occurring before he or she was sworn into office. And thats exactly what were talking about here. What is the chance that if you have President Trump in the chair, he is able to avoid acknowledging that he knew about what was going on with Stormy Daniels, that either it was what Stormy Daniels says it was during the pendency of the actual relationship and that the arrangements that came thereafter is something he was aware of at the time . Well, i mean i think as weve witnessed over the last 2 1 2 years, i mean this is a man that will say or do anything, literally anything, even if it has no basis in the truth. But i will tell you that i think one of the last things that donald trump wants to have is me sitting across the table from him asking him questions under oath. I would also put bob mueller in the same category. This president , who is a habitual liar, wouldnt know the truth if it fell off a building and hit him in the head, would have a very difficult time in a sworn deposition where hes
asked very pointed questions and is forced to answer questions and provide the truth. If Michael Cohen is telling the truth today in court and i know people say, well, hes an admitted liar. Yeah, he also has tons of motivation to not lie about this right now because theyll pull this deal from him. Its very tenuous and attenuated to his complying in every way, including telling the truth today in court during his allocution. Its actually mentioned in the plea deal as one of the bases for the agreement. That would mean that this president lied to us again and again and again about criminal conduct. Relevant to you . 100 . I mean all you have to do is go back and look at the president s statement aboard the peoples plane, otherwise known as Air Force One not long ago. He was pointedly asked questions by the Associated Press reporter relating to what he knew about the payment, and he basically said he didnt know anything about it. And he pointed everybody to Michael Cohen and said, talk to my attorney. Basically said if you want to know the facts, go talk to my attorney. Well, guess what . Today In Open Court, in the Southern District of new york, we heard from his attorney. We heard the facts from his attorney, and those facts are directly counter to what donald trump told america aboard Air Force One. They are completely contrary. You cannot reconcile what donald trump has stated publicly and what Michael Cohen said In Open Court today. And that is a fundamental problem for donald trump because i would submit that even though neither one of these individuals, in my view, have substantial credibility, i mean theyre both damaged. Lets be clear. I think push comes to shove, the American People will believe Michael Cohen over donald trump. I really do. Well, we will see. One things for sure, this did not end today, but what a day it was. Michael avenatti, thank you. So now im going to go back in the room here, and im going to watch Alan Dershowitz try to put lipstick on this very, very big pig. Im going to enjoy that. Well, you have history with him on this because dershowitz at the time pointed out something that was true. You were putting a lot of chips on what was going to happen with Michael Cohen and what it would mean for your case. But today your stacks looking a little higher. A little higher. Michael avenatti, thank you very much. Thank you. Appreciate it. All right. So the president was just incriminated when Michael Cohen made his allocution in court, made his statement to the judge. Thats what avenatti says. Thats what Michael Cohen says. Do the great debaters agree . And do they think that Michael Avenatti has a shot at advancing his case with the president being put under oath . Look at who we got for you. Cuomos court is in session, next. Studies showed relief and remission with dosing every 8 weeks. Woman stelara® may lower the ability of your Immune System to fight infections and may increase your risk of infections and cancer. Some serious infections require hospitalization. Before treatment, get tested for tuberculosis. Before or during treatment, always tell your doctor if you think you have an infection or have flulike symptoms or sores, have had cancer, or develop any new skin growths, or if anyone in your house needs or recently had a vaccine. Alert your doctor of new or worsening problems, including headaches, seizures, confusion and vision problems. These may be signs of a rare, potentially fatal brain condition. Some serious allergic reactions can occur. Do not take stelara® if you are allergic to any of its ingredients. Man are you fed up with crohns symptoms following you . Talk to your doctor today, and learn how janssen can help you explore cost support options. Remission can start with stelara®. Cost support options. Does your Business Internet provider promise a lot . Lets see who delivers more. Comcast business gives you gigspeed in more places. The others dont. We offer up to 6 hours of 4g Wireless Network backup. Everyone else, no way. We let calls from any of your devices come from your business number. Them, not so much. We let you keep an eye on your business from anywhere. The others . Nope for a limited time, when you get fast, reliable internet, you can add voice for just 24. 95 more per month. Call or go online today. Call or go on line today. Trumps campaign chairman, paul manafort, found guilty by a jury of citizens. Not a witch hunt. His former attorney, the president s former attorney, Michael Cohen, pleaded guilty and implicated the president as directing some of the his crimes. What does this mean for the
president himself . Cuomos court is now in session. Jennifer rodgers, former prosecutor in the office that prosecuted cohen, and Alan Dershowitz, author of, apropos of this discussion the case against impeaching trump. How strong is that case now, professor dershowitz, in light of what Michael Cohen said about his former boss today . Well, let me be very clear. I dont have a dog in this fight. I dont have a client. Im not trying to put lipstick on anybody. Im here to defend Civil Liberties and to talk about the constitution and to talk about the presumption of innocence. So talk about it. What we have here is not even an indictment. What we have here is an allocution and a guilty plea, inadmissible in court. Today was not a good day for the president or the white house, but the funeral bells are tolling a lot too early. First we have a very, very vague law thats being admitted to by cohen, namely Campaign Contribution rules. Its not clear that they apply
when a president himself or a candidate himself makes the contribution or when a third party makes it as an advance. These are very, very, very close questions. Hold on. Lets go one point at a time. Sure. Sure. I dont want you to flood the zone. Jennifer rodgers, you worked in this office. One thing we know for sure. We have never heard someone of the standing of Michael Cohen connected to any kind of politician, let alone the president of the United States, stand In Open Court and say, yeah, i committed some felonies, but he directed me to do it. What is the impact from your perspective . Well, its hard to know what the legal impact would be. I mean as the professor points out, were probably not going to end up in court with an indictment against donald trump on this, in large part because of the office of Legal Counsel opinion that a president cant
be indicted. But it is unprecedented. I mean never before has someone stood up, sworn under oath that the president directed them to commit a crime, which means of course that the president also has committed a crime. And i dont agree that these laws are vague or theres some reason that this contribution to the campaign, which is clear is what it was, is somehow unenforceable. If the president were not the president , he would be indicted very soon if he hadnt been already. No, thats not true. Why . Any candidate has the right to contribute unlimited amounts to his own campaign. Any candidate it may sound terrible, and it may be terrible. But any candidate has the right to pay hush money to somebody to influence the outcome of the election. The problem is that not if its unreported. Well, thats the next question is whether it has to be reported, and is that a technical violation . When you think how many
technical violations the Obama Campaign committed and every other campaign committed, failure to report a contribution by the candidate itself is essentially jaywalking. Then you have the credibility issue. Yep. When you have somebody who himself admits that he is a liar. Remember as judge ellis said, what you have when you squeeze somebody, when you tell somebody, you have two choices. You can die in prison, or you can give me evidence that we can use against somebody else. The temptation not only to sing but to compose is very great, and its so easy to add a little bit of embellishment, saying and the president directed me to do it. Why do you believe thats an embellishment . Well, thats the point. Its an easy embellishment to make if it didnt happen. But how could it not have happened . Its very easy for it not to have happened. For Michael Cohen to have cut deals with women that he wasnt involved with, the president was, and the president never knew anything about it. You heard the tape that we broke on this show, right . We have a recording that says otherwise. The question is not whether the president knew. Its when the president knew, whether he directed him to do it. Now, the president may have had a standing situation with him. Get rid of all these problems. Pay them, and ill pay you back. That would not be a crime. So a lot depends on the nuances, and thats where you can easily compose and elaborate and embellish. Im not saying that happened. Im just saying with the presumption of innocence, we dont even have a grand jury indictment here. All we have is a statement at allocution In Open Court thats not admissible. Understood. Lets not get carried away the idea of naming somebody as a an unindicted coconspirator is something i complained about even when nixon although by the way they were pretty good today to the president. They actually didnt name him at all today which i thought was bordering on the absurd. Oh, come on. That was so absurd. Did you notice too that the u. S. Attorney, when he went out there and described the entire crime, never mentioned, as far as i can remember, never mentioned the fact that cohen, in his allocution, said and the president directed him to do it. Its not clear to me that the u. S. Attorneys office actually
credits that part of it. Well wait and see if they depend on cohens credibility. Lets not miss something a little bit bigger. I know its called cuomos court and i know you are also prestigious litigators. However, the idea of a felony, jennifer, being the bar for when political conduct is good or bad is also absurd. And if it is true that the president of the United States lied to the American People again and again to their face on Air Force One and many times otherwise, saying in fact, go to my lawyer, Michael Cohen, if you want to know what i knew and didnt know. Now if Michael Cohens telling the truth, we know the president has been lying to the American People about criminal conduct. Do you think that would meet if most politicians we all remember president ford saying an Impeachable Offense is what Congress Says it is. And thats wrong. I know, but thats what he said. Thats a political question, not a legal question. But im not willing to give up on the notion that there are
serious crimes being committed here and theyve been committed by the president if you credit what cohen said today. And let me make one other point that the professor raised. This was not a cooperation agreement. I mean he wants to talk about people who have an incentive to lie because they want to get out of a charge or get a lesser sentence. Thats not the case here. Oh, come on. He pled guilty be serious. Professor, he got more time than anybody else ive seen connected to a president. If he serves the time they want him to serve, weve never seen anybody get as much time as he got. Of course he hasnt been sentenced yet. Let me make the point. It is a cooperation agreement. Its just not in writing. Its clear that if he cooperates and tells them what he wants to hear, hell get a shorter sentence. If he doesnt, hell get a longer sentence. This is so clearly an implicit cooperation agreement. Just, you know, its so obvious that every criminal hes now accusing my former colleague of serious misconduct. Yes, you are. Without any basis at all. Oh, come on. Everybody knows Michael Cohen stood up and swore to that, and thats what the prosecutors in that office do. There is no basis to believe otherwise. That is total nonsense. We know that if he cooperates, he will get a lower sentence, and if he doesnt cooperate, hell get a harsher sentence. Welcome to the real world of 53 years of experience of doing this so many times. You cannot look Me In The Eye and deny that fact. She is staring you dead in the eye right now by the way just in case you cant see her. Im doing best. That he wont benefit if he cooperates. Right, but that doesnt mean he is lying or that they are suborning perjury. Jennifer rodgers, final word. If they decide to sign an agreement with him, a cooperation agreement, thats what they will do. At this time, the only agreement is not a cooperation agreement. Its a Plea Agreement. He doesnt have a deal. He doesnt have an incentive to lie. At this point he might even just be subpoenaed to testify. He has no incentive to lie at this point, so theres no basis to
he has every incentive to give them a story they want to hear. Thats the way the game is played. We know this. Dont believe me. Listen to judge ellis. He knows it too. We know this. Every Defense Attorney knows that. We know this. If Michael Cohen lied today in front of that judge about being directed by the president to commit those crimes, he knows hes going to get more time than he could ever possibly handle. Nonsense. If Hes Court Lying thats right. Not if he lies. People lie all the time and get away with it. Were seeing that in realtime every day here, arent we, professor . And its coming from on high. Thank you very much for this legal debate. Appreciate it from both of you. So what does this mean politically . Jennifer rodgers, fair point, saying some of this is political. So lets bring one on. The top democrat on the Senate Intelligence committee. What does he think todays verdicts mean . A lot. Mark warner is putting out a warning for the president , and the Top Republican has his back, next. When i received the diagnoses, i knew at that exact moment. Im beating this. My main focus was to find a team of doctors. Its not just picking a surgeon, its picking the care team and feeling secure in where you are. Visit cancercenter. Com breast so you have, your headphones, chair, new laptop, 24 7 tech support. Yep, thanks guys. I think he might need some support. Yes. Start them off right, with the School Supplies they need at low prices all summer long. Like these for only 2 or less at office depot officemax. Sharper vision, without limits. Days that go from sun up to sun down. A whole world in all its beauty. Three Innovative Technologies for our ultimate in vision, clarity, and protection. Together in a single lens. Essilor ultimate lens package. Purchase the Essilor Ultimate Lens Package and get a second pair of qualifying lenses free. Essilor. Better sight. Better life. Copd makes it hard to breathe. So to breathe better, i go with anoro. Go your own way copd tries to say, go this way. I say, ill go my own way, with anoro. Go your own way oncedaily anoro contains two medicines called bronchodilators that Work Together to significantly improve lung function all day and all night. Anoro is not for asthma. It contains a type of medicine that increases risk of death in people with asthma. The risk is unknown in copd. Anoro wont replace Rescue Inhalers for sudden symptoms and should not be used more than once a day. Tell your doctor if you have a heart condition, high blood pressure, glaucoma, prostate, bladder, or urinary problems. These may worsen with anoro. Call your doctor if you have worsened breathing, chest pain, mouth or tongue swelling, problems urinating, vision changes, or eye pain while taking anoro. Ask your doctor about anoro. Go your own way get your first prescription free at anoro. Com. Get your first prescription free now tmobile has unlimited for the rest of us. Unlimited for you. For them. For all. Get unlimited for as low at 30 bucks per line for four lines at tmobile. Trial. What will this all mean for the russia probe . Nothing says the president of the United States. Poppycock says the Vice Chairman of the Senate Intelligence committee. He says it will mean plenty. Senator mark warner, thank you for joining us on prime time. Thank you, chris. So your committee and you on it put out the Senate Select committee on intelligence statement on paul manafort, saying in part, the verdict makes it absolutely clear that the Mueller Probe is not a witch hunt. What is the significance first, on this monumental day, of manafort to you . Well, youve got the president s Campaign Manager convicted of eight counts of serious federal crimes, and
thats just his first trial. Theres another trial thats scheduled in september, and this is one of those days that we may look back on. Not only the president s Campaign Manager guilty, the president s personal lawyer guilty, microsoft, one of the Technology Companies acknowledging further russian intervention realtime this year with efforts to split our country and potentially impede with the 2018 elections. And then earlier today in our Banking Committee hearing, the four Administration Officials in an administration where theres nobody in the white house in charge of Election Security stumbling over answers of how they can say theyve done enough to take on russia with the individuals that have been sanctioned from the Internet Research agency questioning
whether theyre going to sanction some of the russian gru spies, the russian spy agencies. All of those individuals who came out of the Mueller Investigation, and we pressed those individuals from the white house, how can this be a witch hunt when the Mueller Investigation are finding out these individuals who are attacking our country . So it was a wild day even in trump world. The president says Manafort Verdict is proof of a witch hunt because none of it has anything to do with russian collusion or him. Whats your argument . My argument is these were indications of illegal activities that mr. Manafort involved with Frankly Ukrainians and others. The question will be as we move into this next trial, will mr. Manafort start to cooperate with mr. Mueller . And i can only imagine theres a lot of questions to be answered there. I dont know what that
cooperation might lead to, and i dont know if its even going to take place. But i believe you will see a nexus. Well, we havent seen one established yet. That takes us to Michael Cohen. Now, this is something that i dont think weve ever seen before. Correct me if im wrong. But the president s personal Attorney Standing In Open Court, Pleading Guilty and implicating then candidate, now president , as a cofelon, saying that the crimes he committed, he did at the direction of trump. Pretty remarkable. And that was just crimes that were related to the late stages of the campaign where it appears mr. Cohen was saying he was doing this to hush up witnesses and potential bad stories. Again, in the cohen plea, theres nothing that precludes cohen from again cooperating with mueller, and those questions around the potential trump tower deal in moscow and other Business Transactions that the Trump Organization had with russia, weve got a lot of questions. I hope mueller will have a lot of questions. And one of the statements we made about mr. Cohens guilty plea today was, i hope it will
not interfere with his ability to come back and retestify before our committee. You want him back . Absolutely. Why . Weve got questions that still need to be answered. So on another topic, just while i have you, even with everything that happened today, the speculation is still that you wont get the votes to pass the protection that you want to put into place that would just codify the existing 13 bases that exist within the executive, obviously headed by the president , to remove someones security clearance. That even after today, you will lose that partisan fight. Well, chris, i actually think its more likely i wont even get a vote. We dont control which votes go up on the floor. This has been constantly the problem in the United States senate, and its the rules of the road. It was the other way when the democrats controlled. True. The Majority Leader controls what amendments come up and which ones dont come up. I wish well get a vote. Ive got a bipartisan sponsor. I know ive got other republicans that will vote for it. But there are a number of my
colleagues that dont want to be on the spot, actually placing this president in judgment even though we saw in this last week over 100 former intelligence and defense officials, including george bushs secretary of defense, bob gates, come out and say this kind of action of creating an enemies list, not just john brennan but the other individuals named and the idea that this president or this white house was going to roll out taking away other Peoples Security clearance on a bad news day is frankly reprehensible and should not stand in our american system. Senator warner, thank you for coming on prime time. Thank you, chris. Not even get a vote on Something Like protecting security clearances. What does that tell you about where we are . Michael cohens lawyer is going to be with us when we come back. All those questions that you heard from avenatti and you heard from Senator Warner about what else cohen knows, this is the man who knows the answers. He helped with todays plea deal. He knows where this situation goes next. Lanny davis after the break. Adults are just kids with much, much better toys. Introducing the 2018 cclass sedan, coupe and cabriolet. The thrills keep getting better. Lease the c300 sedan for 399 a month at your local mercedesbenz dealer. Mercedesbenz. The best or nothing. With tripadvisor, finding your Perfect Hotel at the lowest price. Is as easy as dates, deals, done simply enter your destination and dates. And see all the hotels for your stay tripadvisor searches over 200 booking sites. To show you the lowest prices. So you can get the best deal on the right hotel for you. Dates, deals, done tripadvisor. Visit tripadvisor. Com hawaii is in the middle of the pacific ocean. Were the most isolated population on the planet. Hawaii is the first state in the u. S. To have 100 Renewable Energy goal. Were a very small electric utility. But, if we dont make this move were going to have changes in our environment, and have a negative impact to hawaiis economy. Verizon provided us a solution using Smart Sensors on their network that lets us collect near Real Time Data on our power grid. colton this technology is helping us integrate rooftop solar, which is a very important element of getting us to our Renewable Energy goals. shelee if we can create our own energy, we can take care of this beautiful place that i grew up in. Only remfresh usesodys ionpowered melatonin to deliver up to 7 hours of sleep support. Number one sleep doctor recommended remfreshyour nightly sleep companion. Trumps attorney, Michael Cohen, pleaded guilty to Campaign Finance violations and other crimes. But with the Campaign Finance, he said in front of the judge he did what he did at the direction of the president. Were joined now by cohens lawyer, lanny davis. Welcome back to prime time, sir. No tape tonight, chris, but well have Something Else to talk about. Ill talk an allocution In Open Court over a tape any day. Why did your client decide to plead guilty . Well, i think he had a very difficult decision to make and decided to take responsibility. And hes been through a
difficult time. His family is obviously suffering. But theres also a sense of relief when i talked to him today and a sense of liberation since when he first brought me in to help him, it was about telling the truth and about telling the truth about donald trump. And you saw in court today he not only implicated, he specifically, under oath, stated that donald trump directed him to commit a crime, making donald trump as much guilty of that felony as my client, mr. Cohen. Now, the pushback will be, well, cohen is an admitted liar and hes going to say whatever he has to to get the best deal that he can. Do you believe that he could prove that he was directed by thencandidate trump . So thank you for asking me that question, and i once asked everybody for donald trump watching your show to listen to a tape that Rudy Giuliani mischaracterized. So now im going to say to everybody for donald trump, the
word directed came from Donald Trumps lawyers, who wrote the Special Counsel and said that donald trump directed Michael Cohen to make that payment. And Rudy Giuliani, who threw his client under the bus and said, it doesnt matter that on Air Force One, that donald trump denied knowing about the payment. He, in fact, reimbursed mr. Cohen. Throwing his client under the bus and i think waiving attorneyclient privilege. So there is no factual dispute. Mr. Trumps lawyers said he directed Michael Cohen to make that payment. He is as much guilty of a felony. He just hasnt owned up to it. But what he did do is try to hide by asking his lawyer to do something he wasnt willing to
do because he feared the electoral consequences of what was being done was to pay hush money involving two women. Did Michael Cohen agree to a Cooperation Deal with the government . So im not able to answer that. My colleague who should be credited with the work on this matter as a very well known criminal defense lawyer, guy petrillo, can explain that one. So im not able to answer that. My colleague who should be credited with the work on this matter, a very wellknown criminal defense lawyer, guy petrillo, will be able to answer that one, but i will say categorically that Michael Cohen is committed to telling the truth, and nothing but the truth, and if asked by any authority, including Senator Warner and any Congressional Committee and including anybody in washington investigating President Trump, he will tell the truth. Of that i am certain. Would he sit for a deposition with Michael Avenatti in the Stormy Daniels case . If hes subpoenaed he will comply with the subpoena if its an appropriate subpoena. I dont know what he could add
to mr. Avenattis case, but hes a good lawyer, and he knows that if hes subpoenaed, if its an appropriate subpoena, he would have to be comply. He doesnt have to be subpoena. He just has to offer his services. Well see how that goes. You believe he will tell the truth. Do you believe that Michael Cohen has anything to offer, that he has any new information for the Special Counsel or maybe the new York Attorney general of wrongdoing or even potential Criminal Activity by then candidate or now President Trump . I do believe he does. The new York Attorney general has the jurisdiction, for example, to look into the Trump Foundation. Michael cohen being a lawyer for donald trump for many, many years knows almost everything about mr. Trump, and well see whether the level of corruption alleged concerning the Trump Foundation is a topic of concern for the new York Attorney general. We know that the pardon power wouldnt apply in new york state. But do you think cohen knows things . I do believe that he has information about mr. Trump that would be of interest both in washington as well as in new york state, yes. To mueller as well as new york . I do believe so, but well see. I know that he putting aside the word cooperation, i know that he wants to tell the truth about mr. Trump, and when he first came to me we had long conversations about his views, about the suitability of mr. Trump to be president of the United States and mr. Cohen is motivated by concern for his family and the country and he will tell the truth. Lanny davis, you know what he says he knows and what he can show. Thank you, sir, for being on the show. Thanks, chris, thanks for having me. A lot happened today. What the does it mean . Probably more than you think for better and worse. The Closing Argument next. If you have psoriasis,. Little things can be a big deal. Thats why theres otezla. Otezla is not a cream. Its a pill that treats moderate to Severe Plaque Psoriasis differently. With otezla, 75 clearer skin is achievable. Dont use if youre allergic to otezla. It may cause severe diarrhea, nausea, or vomiting. I tell you often that we are otezla is associated with. An increased risk of depression. Tell your doctor if you have a history of depression or suicidal thoughts,. Or if these feelings develop. Some people taking otezla reported weight loss. Your doctor should monitor your weight and may stop treatment. Upper respiratory tract infection and headache may occur. Tell your doctor about your medicines and if youre pregnant or planning to be. Otezla. Show more of you. Ill do what ive always done. Dream more, dream faster, and above all. Now, ill dream gig. Now more businesses, in more places, can afford to dream gig. Comcast, building americas largest gigspeed network. Living through history right now, and today is another piece of proof that weve never seen anything like this. While some of have reason to say the days developments as positive, i argue it may be a bad day for all of us as well. How . All right. Lets go from easy to hard in making the case. Easy, bad day for trump. His Campaign Manager, his personal attorney admitted or convicted felons. We know you by the company you keep. We know that expression, and now trump waving away the Manafort Verdict as bogus makes it worse. Why . Because hes accusing the citizens who took the time away from work and family and spend all that time considering the mountain of evidence and delivering a very nuanced verdict, guilty on some counts and mistrial or hung on others, that they are part of a witchhunt, shame on him and thank you to those jurors for their service. The silence on cohen by donald trump. That speaks volumes as the saying goes. The a president s personal attorney Pleading Guilty, admitting to the judge that crimes he committed were committed at the direction of trump. Now, the president s supporters will say cohen is an admitted liar but you heard lanny davis. He made a good point. The president s current counsel said he directed cohen to do what he did and thats okay. Now they are felonies. About trumps involvement or anything else that was said today you have to look at it for what it means to cohen. If he lies about the president directing him, his freedom goes byebye. He has little reason to lie so if hes correct that would also mean the president has been lying to all of you again and again about criminal conduct, and now we know why trump would have been lying. If he werent in office right now, he might be standing right next to cohen in that court. Trump refers to people like cohen as a rat, but that only shows you what he thinks of telling the truth under oath. Not the reality of cohens statements under law. Truth is a virtue, so this is a bad day for trump, cohen and manafort. Granted, just look at all of the people that trump this is just some of them, by the way. We were all haggling over this list. The list gets so big. They will never absorb all the names. These are the people and the president who have been fired, proven as frauds or liars or both. Look at the list, and its just a fraction. The man who coined the phrase drain the swamp added the biggest varmints weve ever seen on it. Many on this board may be players in the russia probe, Maybe Manafort and cohen, well within reach. What else could they say . Why could this be a bad day for all of us . Heres the simple argument. This kind of lying and disorder and fraud is disruptive to the business of making your lives better in government, but theres a grander concern. What if despite all that came out today, especially the lying to your face by trump about criminal conduct, and, remember, this isnt about judging his personal life. I dont think what the president does in his personal time is your place or my place to judge, but lying to you about potential crimes, that matters, so with all that, what if today does not change the president s polls. You heard the crowd in West Virginia tonight, right . Not a boo in the house. What does that tell you . Could be a bad day for america
comparemela.com © 2020. All Rights Reserved.