We the American people are governed today by very bad men, and a few bad women, and after two years, this humiliation feels like a chronic illness for which there’s no relief, a mysterious infection nobody can diagnose or treat. We all know well that the president is a liar, a serial sexual harasser, a business cheat, the plutocrat’s plutocrat; a man who flouts American political norms and even laws; who flaunts his ties to dictators like North Korea’s Kim Jong-un and Russia’s Vladimir Putin; a man who talks and acts disconcertingly like a mob boss. The corruption of the president and the men (and a few women) around him is obvious and demoralizing. The scandals break so frequently, we’re becoming inured to them. Our chronic illness makes it hard to adequately respond, as individuals and as a nation.

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When Cohen’s written testimony dropped Tuesday night, it was shocking to read the president’s former lawyer state coldly: “He is a racist. He is a con man. He is a cheat.” We all know that, but Cohen went on to provide, as they say, the receipts: checks and wire transfers paid to cover up affairs, copies of Trump’s financial statements, threats he made to block the release of Trump’s college transcripts and draft records, his memories of Trump’s casual but committed racism, as well as already public Trump tweets in which he called Cohen a “rat” and appeared to threaten his family, like the mob boss he so frequently appears to be.

And just like Mafia minions, Trump’s House GOP defenders moved quickly to thuggishly defend him. Florida Representative Matt Gaetz tweeted Tuesday night: “Hey @MichaelCohen212—Do your wife & father-in-law know about your girlfriends? Maybe tonight would be a good time for that chat. I wonder if she’ll remain faithful when you’re in prison. She’s about to learn a lot.” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi immediately reprimanded Gaetz for what was clearly a threat to a congressional witness, and Gaetz walked it back. But then he showed up at the hearing, even though he’s not a committee member, glowering at Cohen like a street-level enforcer loitering at the back of the courtroom trying to intimidate someone testifying against a mob boss. (The Florida bar association just opened an investigation into Gaetz’s threat, probably just the beginning of his troubles.)

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"I did the same thing that you’re doing now for 10 years. I protected Mr. Trump for 10 years,” he said. “That puts you into the same position that I’m in. The more people who do what I did, follow Mr. Trump blindly, will suffer the same consequences I did.” He added: “Everybody’s job at the Trump Org was to protect Mr. Trump. Every day, most of us knew we were coming in and we were going to lie for him on something. And that’s exactly what’s happening right now in this country. It’s exactly what’s happening here in government.”


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https://www.thenation.com/article/michael-cohen-hearing-moscow-wikileaks/