August 22, 2018

Trump’s Tweet About Michael Cohen Is Completely Wrong

No, Obama did not do what Trump is accused of.

Bryan Smith/ZUMA

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On Wednesday, President Donald Trump broke his silence on Michael Cohen’s plea agreement—which involved extraordinary statements implicating the president in federal crimes—to assert that the two campaign violation charges against Cohen are not actually crimes.

Trump also appeared to downplay the charges against Cohen by comparing them to fines paid by former President Barack Obama’s campaign committee for campaign finance reporting violations stemming from the 2008 election. The two cases could not be more starkly different, as the Obama violations involved reporting errors and missing reports, and Cohen’s plea involves a criminal plot, allegedly directed by the president. 

Cohen on Tuesday pleaded guilty to a total of eight counts, including two counts involving illegal contributions intended to sway the election.

Observers noted that Trump likely picked up the talking point from Fox News.

The president on Wednesday also appeared to lay the groundwork for a possible pardon for his former campaign chairman Paul Manafort, who was found guilty Tuesday on eight charges of bank and tax fraud. Trump continued to express sympathy for Manafort, who he said did not “break” like Cohen had. “Such respect for a brave man!” the president wrote.

In a more humorous tweet, Trump said he would “strongly suggest” against hiring Cohen for legal representation. Cohen, of course, served as Trump’s personal attorney for more than a decade.

Listen to Mother Jones Washington, DC, bureau chief David Corn discuss the consequences of the Paul Manafort conviction and Michael Cohen guilty plea on this week’s episode of the Mother Jones Podcast:

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WE CAME UP SHORT.

We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

So we urgently need this specific ask, what you're reading right now, to start bringing in more donations than it ever has. The reality, for these next few months and next few years, is that we have to start finding ways to grow our online supporter base in a big way—and we're optimistic we can keep making real headway by being real with you about this.

Because the bottom line: Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. The only investors who won’t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its future—you.

And we hope you might consider pitching in before moving on to whatever it is you're about to do next. We really need to see if we'll be able to raise more with this real estate on a daily basis than we have been, so we're hoping to see a promising start.

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