From Mother Jones · David Corn · · 1m 30s
Michael Cohen's Trump Podcast Interview
Michael Cohen, Trump's ex-fixer, defends Trump's Russia ties on podcast despite book claims.
In brief
Michael Cohen, Trump's ex-fixer, defends Trump's Russia ties on podcast despite book claims. Michael Cohen, Trump's former fixer, defended Trump's Russia ties on podcast despite book showing Trump's complicity in Putin's shadow war. Originally reported by Mother Jones.
Michael Cohen's podcast invitation
I sent a note to a Fox host and Joe Rogan’s podcast. No one responded.
“I sent a note to a Fox host with whom I’ve had a cordial relationship. I also sent Rogan an email, and I did the same with Theo Von, a podcaster who draws an audience similar to Rogan’s. No one responded.”
Cohen's Trump reversal
Cohen, once Trump’s critic, now chats with Trump on WABC-AM radio.
“The guy who turned on Trump and called him a racist, liar, and sleazebag is now back in the fold, chatting with his old boss and hosting a radio show that is part of a pro-Trump lineup on WABC-AM in New York City.”
Fox's disinformation strategy
Fox focuses on disinformation and conspiracy theories, not deep dives into Trump’s Russia story.
“Fox is not interested in good debates or deep dives. Its business strategy is to sling red meat to its viewers, and that includes disinformation, hyped-up falsehoods, conspiracy theories, and other nonsense.”
Cohen's Russia defense
Cohen claims Trump’s Putin ties are pragmatic diplomacy, not appeasement.
“Trump’s whole pitch is pragmatic realism. You talk to people like Putin at the G20. You host meetings in Alaska, so you keep a dialogue open so that you don’t end up in World War III.”
Trump's Russia collusion
Trump met with Russian agents during 2016 campaign and pursued Moscow Trump Tower deal.
“In June 2016, Donald Trump Jr., Paul Manafort, and Jared Kushner met with a Russian emissary who was supposed to pass them derogatory information on Hillary Clinton after being told this go-between was part of a secret Kremlin effort to help Trump’s campaign.”
Cohen's hoax claim
Cohen calls Trump-Russia scandal a 'hoax' despite book evidence.
“Cohen insisted the Trump, Russia scandal was a 'hoax,' even as he referred to me as a 'very prestigious journalist, somebody who knows a lot.'”
Cohen's defense of Trump
Cohen says Trump wasn’t involved in Russian disinformation targeting Biden.
“Cohen replied: 'You’re 100 percent correct…Rudy Giuliani is not Donald Trump. Let’s be clear.'”
Trump's disinformation actions
Trump shared Russian disinformation about Biden on social media.
“US intelligence told Donald Trump that Rudy Giuliani was a target of Russian intelligence and Donald Trump did nothing. He never told him to stop…Donald Trump even ended up tweeting some of the Russian disinformation [about Biden] that Rudy Giuliani was putting out there.”
Cohen's intelligence unit critique
Cohen claims Trump’s cuts to anti-disinformation units are good governance.
“Cohen countered that conservatives 'look at these same intelligence agencies…and they see bloated, partisan operations that spent years, years chasing rumors…Isn’t it fair to say that cutting those units down to size is just good governance and draining the swamp than leaving our doors unlocked to Moscow?'”
Cohen's Ukraine stance
Cohen says Trump wasn’t soft on Putin regarding Ukraine.
“We went back and forth on Trump’s actions regarding Ukraine, with Cohen maintaining that his former employer was not soft on Putin.”
Cohen's Iran comparison
Cohen compares Trump’s Russia stance to Iran’s $1.7 billion deal.
“Cohen remarked: 'The premise of your book is accurate. I’m not going to argue with the premise of the book. Now do I think, again, that Trump is allowing Putin to win? No more than Obama wanted to play into the hands of the Iranians when he sent over $9 billion in an airplane in cash.'”
Cohen's book praise
Cohen praises book but defends Trump’s Russia ties.
“Cohen said: 'I applaud you. I applaud the writing of this book. I agree with the premise: Russia, bad; America, good.'”
Cohen's final promise
Cohen promises to give Trump a copy of the book.
“Send me the book”
Cohen's confusion
Cohen struggles to balance pro-Trump stance and book’s truth claims.
“Cohen had wiggled his way back into Trump’s good graces, but here he was telling his listeners to read a book that shows that Trump has been complicit in Putin’s twilight war against the United States. I was confused, but I concluded that Cohen’s recent reversal had caused him some whiplash and he, too, was confused about how to be pro-Trump, appear fair-minded, and not go full MAGA.”
In short
Michael Cohen, Trump's former fixer, defended Trump's Russia ties on podcast despite book showing Trump's complicity in Putin's shadow war.
