President Trump’s former attorney is a liar.
Michael Cohen is so dishonest, in fact, that a judge sentenced him to three years in prison for lying to Congress about arranging hush-money payments to the president’s mistresses.
But now that Cohen has turned on Trump, some in the national media are treating the disgraced attorney like he’s some sort of misguided, wayward soul, looking for a way to redeem himself after a bad bender. Because for some in the press, credibility and whether a voice should be amplified apparently hinge on whether that person can be used to damage the current administration.
“[Cohen] very honest there at the end,” ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos said Friday of his “Good Morning America” interview with the attorney. “He wants to make amends, does not know exactly how to do it.”
ABC’s Celica Vega asked, “Is that, do you think, why he’s talking right now?”
“I think that’s part of it. I think he’s in a lot of pain right now,” Stephanopoulos theorized. “I think this has been painful for him, painful for his family, and as he just said right there, to be on the wrong side of the president of the United States is something that most people don’t go through, and he just feels he has to get his side of the story out.”
Vega added in a note that sort of gives the game away, “To hear him say Trump is not telling the truth on Russia is a very big deal.”
We get it. Cohen can possibly damage the White House, so let’s forget that the self-described “fixer” made a living lying on the behalf of his ultra-sleazy former employer. Let’s pretend that there’s no reason to doubt whether he is being forthright now about what he does and doesn’t know. Rather than handle Cohen with well-earned skepticism, let’s ask of the man who is quite literally going to prison for lying:
- “Do you think President Trump is telling the truth about [the Russia investigation]?”
- “If he were sitting in this chair what would you say to him?”
- “When you look back at the Michael Cohen who spent ten years with Donald Trump, what would you say to him on that first day?”
These are actual questions that Stephanopoulos asked Cohen. The only thing worse than the ABC reporter trying his hand at the Barbara Walters “What kind of tree are you?” routine is that the network gave Cohen a platform from which he could launch a tearful rehabilitation act.
“There’s a system here. He doesn’t understand the system. And it’s sad because the country has never been more divisive, and one of the hopes that I have out of the punishment that I’ve received as well as the cooperation that I have given, I will be remembered in history as helping to bring this country back together,” Cohen told Stephanopoulos.
First, please. Secondly, as far as “never been more divisive” is concerned, the American Civil War would like to have a word.
Look, this isn’t to say there isn’t news value to pursuing Cohen’s story or the facts of his crimes and his sentencing. But if newsrooms are interested in those details, there are so many other credible individuals from whom they can pull answers. They can interview law enforcement agents, investigators, and attorneys. They can talk to Cohen’s colleagues and peers.
But Cohen himself is a known snake. There’s no reason to treat him like a credible, trustworthy source. He was a liar when he served Trump, and I don’t think it’s unfair to suspect that he’s also lying now. The probability that he has turned the corner on being dishonest is, uh, low. And that’s the problem with lying for a living (aside from the fact that, you know, it’s wrong). It makes it near impossible for the rest of us to know when you’re actually telling the truth.
Sure, it’s possible Cohen has had a genuine come-to-Jesus moment. But to paraphrase the Apostle Thomas, I’ll believe it when I see it.
