Trump attorney Michael Cohen picked the wrong day to piss off the United States Senate
As Donald Trump’s Russia scandal has gradually enveloped his staff, his associates, and even his family, one of the key questions has been who will flip on him in exchange for leniency, who will purposely decide to spitefully go down in flames, and who will dumbly get tripped up and be left with no choice but to flip. Based on what we just witnessed, it appears longtime Trump attorney Michael Cohen is now facing Choice B or Choice C.
Cohen agreed to voluntarily testify about his role in the Trump-Russia scandal for the Senate Intelligence Committee, with the stipulation that it be in private. The Senate agreed, because it was easier than dragging him through the subpoena process, but on the condition that Cohen not speak publicly about his testimony. The trouble: just before Cohen’s scheduled testimony on Tuesday morning, after he was already in the building, he released a last minute statement to the media. In return, the Senate dropped the hammer on him.
The Senate Intel Committee decided to immediately send Cohen home without testifying, and announced that it will now only allow him to testify in public (link). It also announced that it’s subpoenaing him to force him to come back and testify in public (link). This isn’t merely an attempt at punishing Cohen by making him dodge questions on live national television. It’s all about who else will be watching that testimony.
Some Trump-Russia figures have only agreed to testify before Congress privately, because they don’t want Special Counsel Robert Mueller having access to it. He’ll subpoena them to come in and answer his own questions when he’s ready to. But in the mean time, because Michael Cohen just screwed up and gave the Senate an opening to force him to testify publicly, it means Mueller will be watching that day. If Cohen screws up and gives anything away, it’ll put Mueller that much further ahead in the game.
