In the corporate media and, to a great extent, here as well, writers are identifying convicted fraudster and election-cheater Michael Cohen as Donald Trump’s former personal lawyer and “fixer”. Which is correct, but it omits his other important former position as Deputy Finance Chairman of the Republican National Committee.
Cohen, who implicated Trump in election crimes yesterday and was subpoenaed by the FBI about allegedly “persistently illegal conduct” at the Trump Foundation today, was raided basically everywhere he had info socked away — home, office and hotel room — by the FBI back in April. But he had the gall not to quit his RNC position until June 20.
But let’s go back in time to when he got it in the first place. The official GOP media release, with my annotations:
RNC Announces Additions To RNC Finance Leadership Team
April 3, 2017
WASHINGTON– Today Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel and RNC Finance Chairman Steve Wynn (resigned in January after decades of sexual misconduct allegations came to light including a $7.5 million payment to a manicurist who said he raped her) announced additional members of the RNC’s Finance leadership team:“I am delighted to announce the addition of these longtime friends of the Party and supporters of this administration to our Finance leadership team,” said Chairwoman McDaniel. “Elliott Broidy, Michael Cohen, and Louis DeJoy will serve as National Deputy Finance Chairmen, and Brian Ballard, Bob Grand, Gordon Sondland, Geoff Verhoff, and Ron Weiser will serve as Regional Vice-Chairmen. Together this team will employ their extraordinary talent and understanding of Americans across the country to maintain and build upon our unprecedented fundraising success.”
"Our team is dedicated to the goal of increasing the number of Republican senators and representatives in the Congress, with the firm belief that all Americans will enjoy the benefits of a better future," said Chairman Wynn. "The challenge of guiding a swollen and overreaching government to a position that serves its citizens in a truly efficient manner will be best served by the leadership our team hopes to achieve."
Elliott Broidy, National Deputy Chairman (one of Cohen’s three clients, the others being Trump and Sean Hannity; resigned shortly after the Cohen raid amid revelations that Cohen arranged a $1.6 million hush-money payment to a Playboy model Broidy got pregnant… or was the father actually Trump?)
Mr. Broidy is Chairman and CEO of Broidy Capital Management. He served as a National Vice Chairman of the Trump Victory Campaign during the 2016 election cycle and Vice Chairman of the Presidential Inaugural Committee. He has previously held the position of RNC Finance Chairman, and during the Bush Administration he served on the Homeland Security Advisory Council and was a member of the Board of Trustees of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
Michael Cohen, National Deputy Chairman
Mr. Cohen is currently the personal attorney to President Donald J. Trump. He served for more than a decade as Executive Vice President Special Counsel to President Trump at the Trump Organization and has sat on the boards of multiple Trump organizations, including Trump Productions, the Eric Trump Foundation, and the Miss Universe Organization. In addition to raising millions of dollars for his campaign, Mr. Cohen has been an active spokesperson and advisor for the President during his interest in seeking office since 2011.
According to Fortune, a GOP source figured the GOP was fine with Cohen retaining his position after the raid:
One GOP source familiar with the workings of the RNC Finance Committee posited it is unlikely Cohen’s role on the committee will change anytime soon. The source highlighted Cohen’s fundraising prowess, but noted that Cohen himself may not even care one way or another what happens.
“I can’t imagine the RNC punishing a guy who seems to be in the crosshairs of the special counsel’s office because of his client,” said the source. “Punishing him because of his client doesn’t seem to be an effective way to go.”
Because top GOP fundraisers get all their cellphones, computers and papers in every location they’re hidden nabbed by the FBI all the time.
I’m going to go out on a limb and guess that the investigators are finding some interesting facts about where hotshot bagman Cohen was getting all that money from, for the use of the entire GOP, not just Trump. Recall Cohen bullshitted that he had no recent dealings with Russians.
So please, everybody, going forward: when writing about Michael Cohen, please call him “Trump’s former personal lawyer and ‘fixer’ and former Republican National Committee Deputy Finance Chairman.”
Cohen’s criminality had tentacles in multiple directions and the Republican Party is corrupt through and through — so every crooked connection needs to be pointed out, not omitted.
The Onion nails it:
“Look, at the end of the day, all Michael Cohen did was help oversee the finances for one of the two major American political parties in a leading capacity,” said RNC chair Ronna Romney McDaniel, adding that the president’s lawyer, who was under investigation for $20 million in bank fraud, was only the second most powerful person when it came to determining the nationwide organization’s budget and long-term financial goals…
The GOP was also quick to point out that Paul Manafort, who was found guilty of eight counts of financial crimes, only served as the campaign manager for the current United States president, performing minor tasks such as handpicking Mike Pence as Donald Trump’s running mate.
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