Cohen slimy, but repent he has
The Republicans who attacked longtime former Trump attorney and “fixer” Michael Cohen during his gripping appearance before the House Oversight Committee painted themselves into a corner.
Yes, Mr. Cohen was a slimy figure, a vulgar, rough man who was devoid of character and integrity in his service to the president, one who would do anything for money and power, but what does it say about Donald Trump that this was the type of person he relied upon to do his dirty bidding, the man who was an integral part of the Trump syndicate no matter the extent to which the president now seeks to minimize their connection?
Michael Cohen told us of the many ways in which his former boss is “a racist, a con-man, and a cheat”. No Republican member of the Oversight Committee sought to challenge those characterizations: how could they? We know now and we knew before he was elected that he was all of these things and more.
No one would assert that Michael Cohen acted as a pillar of honor and integrity, but for whatever reason and unlike the president, he now sees the error of his ways, has sought to come clean, to expose and repudiate what he did in service to Trump, and to repent as he heads to prison.
House GOP members can go into high dudgeon, they can have conniptions over the elevation of Michael Cohen, but they cannot escape the fact that the president for whom they are shills is a man who shamelessly acts with his interest at heart first and foremost, not that of the country.
Bad things happen when good people remain silent. History will judge our Republican friends.
Oren Spiegler
South Strabane Township