DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE

There have been more developments in the adventures of Michael Cohen since I last posted, so I thought I’d share a correction and an update.

The correction is that, contrary to my speculation this morning, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Geoffrey Berman, did NOT sign off on the Cohen raids.  Rather, he recused himself, which strikes me as a reasonable and ethical thing for a recent Trump appointee to do. 

The update is that multiple sources are now suggesting that one the FBI’s priorities in this series of raids was information about Cohen’s New York City taxi medallions.  As I understand it, a medallion is like a license to operate a cab in NYC, and before the advent of Uber and Lyft, they were pretty valuable.  As in worth upwards of $200,000. 

Sources say that Cohen first made his fortune by buying up taxi medallions.  Reports also say that Cohen owes some $37,000 in back taxes to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, but that would hardly seem worth the FBI’s time.  Word on the street is that Cohen used money from Ukraine to buy those taxi medallions, which also doesn’t seem illegal.  But if he were buying lots of them, at $200,000 a whack, it might suggest that there was money laundering going on. 

Cohen’s ties to Ukraine aren’t exactly secret.  His wife, and his brother’s wife, are both from Ukraine. 

Funny thing, Paul Manafort also did a lot of business in Ukraine.  Not only that, but in 2015, at the start of Trump’s campaign for the Republican presidential nomination, Ukrainian oligarch Victor Pinchuk paid Trump $150,000 to make a 20-minute televised speech to a group in Kiev.  Trump reportedly offended some people by saying “the Ukraine” rather than simply “Ukraine,” but hey, what’s an indefinite article among friends?  It does seem remarkable, though, that Trump and his associates have so many connections to Ukraine, particularly among factions loyal to Vladimir Putin.  Just a coincidence, I’m sure.

Meanwhile, speculation continues on potential non-taxi-related issues that Cohen’s files might contain that would put Donald Trump in jeopardy.

As the guy who cleaned up after Trump’s extra-marital affairs, Cohen undoubtedly has records of all the women Trump has paid off over the years.  Trump’s base, including all those holier-than-thou Evangelicals, have already agreed that the Seventh Commandment, the one against adultery, doesn’t apply to their boy.  But what if Cohen’s records showed that Trump had paid some of them to have abortions?  Would that shake anyone’s faith?  Or would Evangelicals stand by their man?  I’d say that would be a 50-50 proposition.  The real deal breaker for Evangelicals would be proof that Trump paid women to give up their firearms. 

There’s also been speculation that Cohen has copies of Trump’s tax returns.  As with adultery, Trump’s Base has reconciled itself to his larceny.  But what if his financial records showed that he wasn’t nearly as wealthy as he’s claimed?  A lot of Trump’s swagger rests on the claim that he’s a brilliant businessman, worth billions of dollars.  What if he’s just a garden variety millionaire?  Or worse, what if he actually owes more than he’s worth?

What a week!  And it's only Tuesday.