Trump's campaign to discredit Michael Cohen is already underway


The president and his allies seem to be taking no chances. They have a ready-made, public-relations strategy to deploy if Cohen caves. In fact, they began rolling it out weeks ago.

Trump tweeted in April that “most people will flip if the Government lets them out of trouble, even if it means lying or making up stories.”

“I don't see Michael doing that,” Trump added, but the message to voters was clear: In the event that Cohen does trade dirt on the president for leniency, don't believe anything Cohen says.

The apparent plan is to discredit Cohen by arguing that whatever compromising information he might share about Trump is a lie, concocted to please Mueller's band of witch hunters and save his own skin.

Alan Dershowitz, a retired Harvard Law School professor who defends Trump on television and serves as an informal adviser, has sought to cast doubt on the reliability of Cohen's potential testimony. Here's part of his April op-ed in the Hill:

It is doubtful that Cohen would cooperate, even if he has anything on his client. But prosecutors often try to get lawyers to “sing” against their clients — to become “canaries” — in order to save their own feathers. Some flipped witnesses will tell prosecutors anything they want to hear in order to earn a “get out of jail free card.” They know that the “better” their story, the more leniency they will earn. So, in addition to singing, they “compose” by making up incriminating details.

I have seen this on many occasions.

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https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2018/06/14/trumps-campaign-to-discredit-michael-cohen-is-already-underway