Yesterday, Michael Cohen, long time “lawyer" and “Fixer" for Donald Trump, pleaded guilty to multiple felony charges, including actions aimed at manipulating the 2016 elections. This was a confession, without a plea deal.
Cohen implicated Trump in those crimes, saying he committed them at Trump's request. Aiding a crime is a crime in America — if a person authorizes a murder, even if that person authorizes a lawyer to commit a murder, that person is guilty of a crime, Cohen stated that Trump authorized him to pay off Stormy Daniels in order to affect the elections. If proved, this is a crime, a violation of federal campaign law.
If Trump were not “President," he would already be indicted for those crimes. The man who sits in the White House is all but named an unindicted co-conspirator.
If Trump conspired with Cohen to commit felonies as a candidate, the only thing that might protect Trump from criminal charges is the question of whether he can be indicted during his tenure in office. Will he be impeached and removed from office? That is a political question, in the hands of a Republican Congress for now, perhaps in the hands of a Democratic Congress elected in November.
The jurisdiction for the Cohen case is the Southern District of New York. This is not an investigation led by Robert Mueller, but a separate, criminal investigation by the Federal Investigators in New York.
Therefore, these investigators are not within Trump's reach in his threats against the Special Counsel. They are completely insulated from any actions Trump might take to fire Mueller, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, or even Attorney General Jeff Sessions .
Last week the special master in the case determined that almost none of the documents seized from Cohen's office are protected by attorney-client privilege. Judge Kimba Wood accepted that finding on Monday.
Last night, Cohen's lawyer, Lanny Davis, expressed Michael Cohen's willingness to speak with Robert Mueller, saying that Cohen had “many things of interest" to say.
Listen to Lanny Davis here.
There are no good options for Trump. Via his lawyer, Cohen has also said he will not accept a Trump pardon, but even if he did, Cohen would then be positioned to be subpoenaed to testify all he knows about Trump. He would not be allowed to plea the Fifth Amendment.
What is next?
Who knows.
There were no deranged tweets yet this morning, but I promise you this.
The fireworks have just begun.
#TrumpIsACriminal
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August 22, 2018