The Most Chilling Thing Michael Cohen Said About Donald Trump

Today, President Trump's former personal attorney, Michael Cohen, testified before Congress about his decade or more of dealing with Trump.  Cohen's testimony indicated Trump may have suborned perjury, violated campaign finance laws, conspired with Russians to undermine the Presidential election of 2016 and even possibly violated the draft laws of the 1960s in order to avoid service in the Vietnam War (which would have been a crime).  All of these could be serious offenses, although the draft violation, if there were one, would no longer be prosecuted today. 

But the most chilling thing that Cohen said was, "Given my experience working for President Trump, I fear that if he loses the election in 2020 that there will never be a peaceful transition of power."  See https://www.thedailybeast.com/cohen-if-trump-loses-in-2020-i-fear-there-will-never-be-a-peaceful-transition-of-power?ref=home.  It's one thing to have a criminal in the White House.  That, although very, very bad, has by all accounts happened before and America survived the experience.  But a felonious dictator is far worse.  America established the tradition for modern democracies, with the key element that elected officials step down when their terms are over.  Indeed, this is what most distinguishes America from the monarchies that preceded it.  The first President, George Washington, could easily have been crowned monarch of the United States had he wanted it.  But he did America perhaps his greatest service by stepping down at the end of his second term and retiring quietly to Mount Vernon.  That, more than anything, is the bedrock of democracy that makes America great.

Would Trump attempt a coup d'etat if he lost the 2020 election?  Michael Cohen, as Trump's personal attorney for about a decade, knows Trump better than almost anyone.  Having already pled guilty to perjury before Congress in 2017, he has little reason now to lie, as he knows the cost of perjury.  And Trump's well-publicized affinity for despots (think Vladimir Putin, Kim Jong Un, Xi Jinping, and the rulers of Saudi Arabia) ominously buttresses Cohen's assertion.  There is no procedure written into the Constitution for fending off a tyrant (who by definition would refuse to honor an impeachment proceeding).  Neither Congress nor the federal courts have the means to remove an autocrat who might flaunt the law in order to stay in power.  But Americans have dealt with tyrants before.  These were ordinary Americans, many of whom assembled quietly in the early hours of April 19, 1775 in Lexington and Concord to await the tyrant's redcoated soldiers.  And these farmers, tradesmen and other civilians were victorious.  In America, right makes might.  While we can hope that if Donald Trump tries unlawfully to seize power we don't need to take up musket, powder and shot, we must remember that the greatest defense against oppression and subjugation is the righteousness of a democratic citizenry. 

A Peek Under Facebook's Rug?

There's an old saw about people sweeping dirt under the rug when they do a quick and not necessarily good job of cleaning.   Well, CNBC reports that some Facebook content reviewers are so stressed out by what they see and hear that they are developing symptoms of PTSD, or starting to believe conspiracy theories about 9/11 or the Las Vegas mass shooting.  Reviewers reportedly used drugs or alcohol at work to find relief from their stress, or had sex in bathrooms or a lactating room to escape.  One even said he brought a gun to work in order to protect himself from other employees who made him feel threatened.  See https://www.cnbc.com/2019/02/25/facebook-content-moderators-describe-a-stressful-work-environment.html.  These reviewers, employees of a contractor hired by Facebook, work for wages around $15 an hour to screen violence, threats, hate, and other extreme stuff.  Facebook's contractor says it offers counseling and other assistance to employees.

Is it any wonder Russian government intelligence operatives can use Facebook to undermine American democracy?  Is it any wonder hate groups and other weirdos can use Facebook to promote all manner of sick and extreme views?  Facebook's algorithms can't stop this stuff.  Evidently, Facebook's human reviewers, paid what many consider barely a living wage, can sometimes become so stressed they aren't really able to cope with the job.  So they probably aren't stopping it, either. 

No website is better than its content.  Facebook evidently struggles to control its content.  If its content reviewers can develop PTSD or resort to alcohol, drugs or sex in the lactating room to cope, what reaction might Facebook's users (especially its young users) have to such content?  It may be that so much content is uploaded so fast to Facebook that it cannot truly screen out the bad.  Then again, no website is irreplaceable.  Whatever excuse Facebook may offer for its content problems, no one needs to use it.  The rest of the Internet is a pretty big place, and you're the only person stopping you from exploring it.    

The Defining Moment of Donald Trump's Presidency

Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller's report may be finalized as early as next week, according to a news story (see https://www.cnn.com/2019/02/20/politics/special-counsel-conclusion-announcement/index.html).  The report presumably will address crucial questions about President Trump.  Did he collude (conspire would be the legal term) with Russian authorities to undermine American democracy?  Was he a Russian intelligence asset, as one former acting FBI director has speculated (see https://www.cnn.com/2019/02/19/politics/andrew-mccabe-trump-law-enforcement/index.html)?  Did he obstruct justice or suborn perjury?  Did he violate federal campaign finance laws?  Did he engage in money laundering?  Did he violate the tax laws?  These and perhaps many other questions could be encompassed by the Mueller Report.  The answers may go a long way to defining President Trump's legacy.

Will the report be released publicly?  The President has said he'll leave that up to newly installed Attorney General William Barr.  Barr has said he wants to be as transparent as possible and will release at least a summary of the report to Congress.  But there is a view in the Justice Department that "derogatory" information about uncharged individuals should usually not be revealed, and Barr may give weight to the this practice.  If Trump is not charged because he is the current sitting President, which is what traditional Justice Department thinking could dictate, then one might wonder whether Barr would engage in legal convolutions to reason that because the President hasn't yet been charged, derogatory information about him shouldn't be released.  Such a contorted line of reasoning would defy the logic of democracy.  If the President is a crook, the people need to know it whether or not the President is charged.  But only time will tell whether Barr is inclined toward something verging on a lawyer's trickery to protect President Trump.

In addition, Barr will have to think through the issue of executive privilege, a doctrine that often shields the President's conversations with other Executive Branch personnel from disclosure.  However, executive privilege is not unlimited, and a President's general interest in confidentiality does not override the needs of the criminal justice process (see United States v. Nixon, 418 U.S. 683 (1974)(a case in which the Supreme Court enforced a subpoena issued by Watergate special prosecutor Leon Jaworski for President Nixon's tape-recordings of conversations in his office).  Moreover, it is a time-honored tradition in American law that discussions concerning a crime or fraud cannot be protected by a legal privilege.  (See Alexander v. United States, 201 U.S. 117 (1906)).  If Mueller's investigation shows that Donald Trump was engaged in criminal conduct, release of that information cannot be blocked by a privilege.

How William Barr handles the question of releasing the Mueller Report will define his legacy.  Although he has had a highly successful career, nothing he has done thus far will compare in significance to his handling of the Mueller Report.  He will be well-remembered, or not, depending on what he does with the report.

If Barr disappoints the curious members of Congress and the public, remember this.  Many, and perhaps most, of the investigations into President Trump and his doings are outside the scope of Mueller's investigation.  The U.S. Attorney's Office in Manhattan is looking into activities of Trump's former personal attorney, Michael Cohen, in relation to various Trump matters and also activities of the Trump Inaugural Committee.  The U.S. Attorney's Office in Washington, D.C. and the main Justice Department in Washington are involved in some of the cases brought by Mueller's staff, and other cases (like the Maria Butina case).  The Attorney General of New York is looking into the Trump Foundation and some of Trump's activities as a landlord.  Trump's continued ownership in the Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C. is the subject of litigation brought by the Attorney Generals of the District of Columbia and Maryland.  As these cases progress, we will learn more and more about Donald Trump.  Even if we don't learn everything in the Mueller Report, we will eventually learn a heck of a lot about Donald Trump.  And the totality of this growing tidal wave of investigations and litigation will define Trump's legacy.  Facing, as he does, a Democratically controlled House of Representatives, he won't have any more major legislative achievements.  And his erratic wackiness on the international stage make major diplomatic accomplishments highly unlikely.  It's a sad time when a President's legacy is defined by the legal investigations into his activities.  But Donald Trump has done what he has done, and the chickens are coming home to roost.