Michael Cohen

Fox News Ignored the Michael Cohen Tape Until Trump Freaked Out About it on Twitter

Posted by on July 21, 2018 at 1:13 pm. NO Comments :

The presidency of Donald Trump has been a constant challenge for the press to keep up with his outrages, crimes, and embarrassments. The news cycle has been flooded with mostly non-newsworthy distractions that nevertheless need to be covered just to document them for the record. And then, of course, there are the legitimate stories that reveal Trump’s penchant for breaches of ethics or the law, his ignorance of the job he’s supposed to be doing, and the corrupt swampiness of his administration.

Fox News

While most of the media struggles with this unprecedented journalistic dilemma, Fox News has a much easier go of it. They can just neglect to report on any event that reflects badly on the President (pretty much all of them), or invoke “whataboutism” in order to misdirect their glassy-eyed viewers with mentions of President Obama or Hillary Clinton’s emails. And that’s the approach that Fox took with Friday’s breaking news about Trump lawyer, Michael Cohen.

It was reported that Cohen had secretly recorded conversations between himself and his main client, Donald Trump. Those recordings included discussions about how to handle hush money being paid to another one of Trump’s mistresses, Playboy model Karen McDougal. The story has repercussions that extend to exposing Trump’s prior lies denying the affair, and possible campaign finance violations. The mere existence of these tapes raise speculation about what other tapes might turn up, including, perhaps, discussions about Russia aiding and abetting Trump’s campaign.

Naturally, Fox News went to great lengths to avoid any airing of these matters. It’s a blockbuster story that Fox was content to sweep under the rug. They spent a grand total of twenty-one seconds on it during Friday’s primetime programs that feature devoted Trump-fluffers Tucker Carlson, Laura Ingraham, and Sean Hannity. And they would likely have left it at that had not Trump himself escalated the issue with a manic tweet on Saturday morning:

What’s “inconceivable” is how much Trump can lie in the space of 240 characters. First of all, the government did not “break into” his lawyer’s office. they were executing a judicially authorized search warrant. Cohen himself described the FBI agents as “extremely professional, courteous and respectful.” Secondly, it is not “unheard of” for a lawyer to record conversations with a client or other persons while representing a client. It is unusual for those recordings to become public, but that only occurs when there is a criminal investigation in progress where they become evidence. Third, it is entirely legal in the state of New York to record a conversation as long as at least one person in the recording grants permission. In this case that’s Cohen.

How Fox News Deceives and Controls Their Flock:
Fox Nation vs. Reality: The Fox News Cult of Ignorance.
Available now at Amazon.

Finally, the most absurd part of this masterfully absurd tweet is Trump’s conclusion that “The good news is that your favorite President did nothing wrong!” Anyone with a functioning brain stem knows that Trump does virtually everything wrong. But his claim to be our favorite president is laughable. For that to be true he must be talking to only himself and maybe Ivanka. Maybe. But looked at another way, the statement might actually be true. America’s favorite president, according recent polling, really didn’t do anything wrong. Thanks, Obama.

Barack Obama, Favorite

Fox News Buries Bombshell on Trump’s Fixer Michael Cohen – Posts Fake Obama/Iran Story Instead

Posted by on July 2, 2018 at 1:13 pm. 3 Comments :

On Monday morning there was one big story that was dominating the news. Michael Cohen, Donald Trump’s attorney – and self-described fixer – was interviewed by George Stephanopoulos for ABC News. In the interview Cohen pretty clearly indicated that he was no longer willing to “take a bullet” for Trump. He told Stephanopoulos that “My wife, my daughter and my son have my first loyalty and always will.”

Fox News, Michael Cohen, Obama

This development is properly being handled like the bombshell that it is by most of the media. Cohen’s additional announcement that he will no longer participate in a joint defense agreement with Trump is generally regarded as a prelude to flipping on the President and cooperating with prosecutors. Even Judge Andrew Napolitano of Fox News said Trump should have some “sleepless nights” over this.

However, if you were to visit the Fox News website Monday morning you would have had a hard time finding anything related to this blockbuster story. A long scroll down the front page would have eventually brought you to a single line on the subject that linked to a two minute video clip. Later in the day that was replaced by the Napolitano quote. And on the air, Fox News covered the story on Outnumbered in a segment that cast Cohen as “not credible” because he was “going against” the President. Apparently on Fox News that’s all you need to know to be considered not credible.

Meanwhile, the Fox News website chose to put a story at the top of their page that was somewhat less timely. The headline: “Path to Citizenship? Powerful cleric claims Obama naturalized thousands of Iranian VIPs during nuke talks.” Fox had to reach back three years to pull this story out of the woodwork. And it was still just a jumble of fiercely spinning jabs at President Obama. None of them hit their mark because they were so far fetched and thinly argued. The article said that:

“The Obama administration granted citizenship to 2,500 Iranians, including family members of government officials, while negotiating the Iran nuclear deal, a senior cleric and member of parliament has claimed.

“Hojjat al-Islam Mojtaba Zolnour, who is chairman of Iran’s parliamentary nuclear committee and a member of its national security and foreign affairs committee, made the allegations during an interview with the country’s Etemad newspaper, cited by the country’s Fars News agency.

“He claimed it was done as a favor to senior Iranian officials linked to President Hassan Rouhani, and he alleged the move sparked a competition among Iranian officials over whose children would benefit from the scheme.”

First of all, everything being reported here is coming from Iran’s state news operation and a hardliner within the Iranian government. For some reason Fox News is granting them the journalistic legitimacy that they would never give to the New York Times, or CNN. But more to the point, the article actually outlines a story wherein Obama allowed Iranian dissidents to emigrate to the United States where they are reportedly working against the national interests of the theocratic, totalitarians in Iran. But that isn’t revealed until much further down in the article:

“[Zolnour] estimated that between 30 and 60 were studying in the U.S. while the rest of them were working in the country ‘against our national interests.'”

So Fox News is deliberately trying to cast Obama in a negative light as having done favors for the offspring of Iranian dictators. But the truth is that he was securing the freedom of Iranian dissidents who oppose the current regime. And this fake news story was elevated to the top of the page, even while the much more consequential (and truthful) story about Michael Cohen was virtually eliminated. It’s kind of ironic that Fox is offering this lesson in how State TV works in an article about Iran’s state TV. Fox News can teach Iran so much about propaganda.

How Fox News Deceives and Controls Their Flock:
Fox Nation vs. Reality: The Fox News Cult of Ignorance.
Available now at Amazon.

UPDATE: By Monday afternoon Fox News had replaced their Obama/Iran feature story with one about California splitting into three states. That may be even less newsworthy (and extremely unlikely to happen) than the Iran story. And still just one small link to Cohen, this one linking to a video clip with Shepard Smith.

Giuliani’s Mouth Erupts Again, Says Trump Lied About Not Interfering with AT&T/TimeWarner Merger

Posted by on May 12, 2018 at 10:00 am. NO Comments :

It really says something when your brand new attorney can’t stop making incriminating statements about you. Rudy Giuliani recently made the news when he publicly announced to the world that Donald Trump reimbursed his personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, for the $130,000 hush money payout to Stormy Daniels. That was something that Trump had been denying for months.

Rudy Giuliani, Donald Trump

Following that gargantuan gaffe, Giuliani went on a whirlwind tour of the media with clarifications that only made matters worse. If we didn’t know better, we’d think that he’s working for Robert Mueller and giving the special counsel more evidence of Trump’s guilt. What else could explain his relentless trashing of his own client?

Well, he’s done it again. On Friday Giuliani gave an interview to the Huffington Post wherein he sought to defend Trump from allegations arising out of Cohen’s suspicious financial dealings with a variety of corporations that have obvious interests in Trump’s decision making. Cohen took in millions from the likes of Novartis, Korean Aerospace, AT&T, and even a Russian oligarch connected to Vladimir Putin. All of these funds were funneled through the same account Cohen used to payoff Stormy Daniels.

The AT&T payola holds special significance to Trump considering their still pending merger with TimeWarner (parent of CNN). Trump’s Justice Department is currently suing to block the deal. So any involvement by Trump would violate both legal ethics and his statement that he would not interfere. Giuliani’s latest verbal misfire was launched while attempting to clear Trump of the perception that he was being influenced by Cohen and the money received from AT&T. Giuliani said that:

“Whatever lobbying was done didn’t reach the president. He did drain the swamp … The president denied the merger. They didn’t get the result they wanted.”

OK then. So Giuliani is now contradicting Trump’s assertion that he wouldn’t get involved. Giuliani is explicitly saying that Trump did step in to deny the merger. In effect, Giuliani is calling the President a liar. And as if to confirm Giuliani’s assessment of Trump as less than honest, Trump himself joined in with a tweet saying:

Of course, the media has reported that repeatedly. But more to the point, Trump is agreeing with Giuliani that the opposition to the merger is proof that Trump wasn’t improperly influenced by Cohen and AT&T. Which would only be true if the premise that Trump had something to do with it holds. Therefore Trump is now calling himself a liar for saying that he had not interfered.

Saturday morning Giuliani was once again walking back something he said that hurt his client in the White House. He told CNN’s Dana Bash that Trump didn’t interfere after all. So the merger is still being contested by Trump’s Justice Department, which Trump proudly boasted about in his tweet. It’s just not because of anything that Trump said, allegedly, despite Giuliani’s previous statement and Trump’s months of bashing the merger on the campaign trail.

How Fox News Deceives and Controls Their Flock:
Fox Nation vs. Reality: The Fox News Cult of Ignorance.
Available now at Amazon.

If this is confusing you, you’re not alone. There has to be a reason that AT&T would pay Cohen $600,000 after Trump’s inauguration. Cohen has no discernible skills or knowledge relating to the communications industry or mergers and acquisitions. What he had to sell was access to the President. AT&T now says that their contract with Cohen was a mistake. Obviously, since the DOJ is still suing them. But the fact that the merger is still being contested in court doesn’t exonerate Trump. It just reveals that Trump hates CNN even more than he loves money. And he doesn’t care who he has to screw over to achieve his goals.

UPDATE: Giuliani is now telling CBS News that he’s standing by his Friday comments that Trump denied the merger. So we’re back to Trump interfered. Is anyone else getting nauseous?

Proof That Fox News Has Been Suppressing the Stormy Daniels Story to Protect Trump

Posted by on May 8, 2018 at 2:11 pm. 1 Comments :

For the past several weeks the nation has been in the peculiar position of watching a porn star dominate much of the news concerning the American president. Stormy Daniels, and her telegenic attorney Michael Avenatti, have succeeded in holding Donald Trump’s feet to the fire and exposing his brazen dishonesty and lack of morals. The story has kept the American people enrapt due to its unique blend of political intrigue and salacious melodrama.

Fox News, Stormy Daniels

Many legal experts have said that Trump has more to fear from this litigation than from the investigations into his collusion with Russia. That’s partly due to the fact that it is not a federal matter over which Trump could have some influence. He would also find it more difficult to evade having to give depositions and testimony. And now with his new lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, gallivanting across America’s TV screens and making everything worse with his ignorant ravings, Trump is in a decidedly more precarious position than he was in when this began.

There is, however, one group of the populace that is probably not especially concerned about the Stormy affair. Fox News viewers simply don’t care about any unethical or criminal thing that Trump does. They will forgive him for whatever the “deep state,” “hate-Trump” media cooks up. But there’s another reason they won’t be troubled by Trump’s abhorrent behavior. They don’t really know much, if anything, about it.

Vox Media did an analysis of the coverage of Stormy Daniels and discovered that Fox News provided the bare minimum of airtime to the story. That’s surprising considering that Fox ordinarily would be all over a sex scandal involving a politician. Well, if the politician were a Democrat. But in this case their avoidance of the story is nothing less than deliberate suppression. It is why Fox News is so often characterized as State-Run TV. What Vox found was that Fox News covered stories mentioning Stormy, Cohen, or Giuliani a fraction of the amount as their peers in cable news. The charts reveal the extent to which Fox sought to smother this story.

In addition to the self-censorship employed by Fox, it is also notable that on those rare occasions when they did report on these topics, the spin was always in Trump’s favor. They would portray Stormy as a disreputable figure who can’t be trusted. And, conversely, Trump was always an innocent victim who did nothing wrong and was being subjected to a smear campaign. Never mind that both Trump and Giuliani were the people most responsible for disclosures that point to Trump’s guilt.

How Fox News Deceives and Controls Their Flock:
Fox Nation vs. Reality: The Fox News Cult of Ignorance.
Available now at Amazon.

At the end of the day, the glassy-eyed disciple of Fox News remain blissfully ignorant of the facts surrounding these events. And to the degree that they are aware of some of the facts, they believe that they were manipulated by the evil media cabal that controls the planet. Trump, they are convinced, has been miscast by his enemies as a lying pervert who scoffs at the law. The only problem with that is that he is a lying pervert who scoffs at the law, and his tunnel-blind followers refuse to see it. And with the help of Fox News, they will continue to see only very little of the truth that is so offensive to them.

Rudy Giuliani Gives Fox News a Flagrantly Incoherent ‘Clarification’ of His Previous Incoherence

Posted by on May 6, 2018 at 9:33 am. 1 Comments :

The past week in Trump Land has been a roller coaster of bizarre tales and absurd explanations. Most of which were provided by Donald Trump’s newly minted lawyer, Rudy Giuliani. In a whirlwind tour of Fox News programs, Giuliani tried to offer justifications for Trump’s web of lies related to his affair with Stormy Daniels and the subsequent hush money payoff to suppress news of the incident. But he only made things worse by blurting out admissions to potential criminal activity that hadn’t been raised before.

Fox News, Rudy Giuliani, Jeanine Pirro

On Saturday night Giuliani resumed stumping for Trump with a visit to “Judge” Jeanine Pirro of Fox News. And true to form, he only succeeded in stirring up more trouble for his client who is already in a fairly deep legal bog. Giuliani’s wild-eyed raving made little sense and his grasp of the law was laughably off kilter. And if he thought he was advancing the interests of Trump, he was insane as well.

One of the first things out of his mouth was speculation that a case before the Virginia grand jury involving Trump’s former campaign manager Paul Manafort, might just be an attempt to “flip” him into providing testimony against Trump. Of course there would nothing to worry about on that account unless there was something to flip. So Giuliani introduced that notion on his own. He followed that up with the false claim that the judge in that case called it a “witch hunt.” He didn’t.

Giuliani went on for awhile about how “Attorney General Jeff Sessions should step up and dismiss this entire investigation.” He asserted that “There is no evidence of collusion with the Russians. Gone. There is no evidence of obstruction of justice.” But there have already been dozens of indictments and five guilty pleas that suggest that the investigation has merit and should continue. And then he launched into a full blown manic episode (video below):

“The President of the United States did not in any way violate the campaign finance law. Every campaign finance expert, Republican and Democrat, will tell that if it was for another purpose, other than just for campaigns, even if it was for campaign purposes, if it was to save his family, to save embarrassment, it’s not a campaign donation.

“And second, even if it was a campaign donation, the President reimbursed it fully with a payment of $35,000 a month that paid for that and other expenses. No need to go beyond that. Case over. That case should be dismissed by the Southern district of New York. At least with regard to President Trump.”

First of all, it is preposterous to say that every campaign finance expert would say that there was no campaign finance violation. Lots of them are saying that there is. Just turn on the TV like your boss does all day long. More to the point, Giuliani asserts that there is no violation even if the funds were used for campaign purposes if it was to “save his family, to save embarrassment.” Is he listening to himself? If it was for campaign purposes it was unambiguously a violation. And Giuliani’s next point asserts that even a campaign donation would have been legal because Trump paid it back. But if it was paid back without disclosing it in his campaign finance reporting, that’s illegal. And as Giuliani says, “No need to go beyond that. Case over.”

It also isn’t especially good lawyering when your counsel says on national TV that “I’m not an expert on the facts.” And repeating a previous slander of the FBI as Nazi Storm Troopers hardly seems like positive messaging. Even if he falsely claims that “the judge basically said that.” He didn’t. And asking for the case in New York to be dismissed, “At least with regard to President Trump,” makes no sense at all. That case is against Michael Cohen, not Trump.

Giuliani appears intent on proving that he’s utterly incapable of handling a parking ticket, much less a case as complex and legally hazardous as this. But one of the most peculiar comments in this interview came when Giuliani attempted to belittle testimony given by Hillary Clinton (who was interviewed by both the FBI and Congress for eleven hours). He stroked his own hand and said:

“Nice nice nice. Poor little Hillary. We gotta be nice to her. No under oath. We’ll take that now.”

Setting aside Giuliani’s embarrassing playacting, if he’s willing to agree to an FBI interview without being under oath, no doubt Robert Mueller would be as well. After all, you don’t have to be under oath to be required to tell the truth. And lying to either the FBI or Congress is crime even without taking an oath. So shut up already and present your client (who says no one wants to talk more than he does) for the interview, and we can get this thing over with. What are you all afraid of?

How Fox News Deceives and Controls Their Flock:
Fox Nation vs. Reality: The Fox News Cult of Ignorance.
Available now at Amazon.

Holy Sh*t: Giuliani Told Hannity That Trump Reimbursed Cohen for His Payment to Stormy

Posted by on May 2, 2018 at 7:20 pm. 3 Comments :

This is gonna be a short article to post for the record a shocking admission that was made public for the first time. Sean Hannity hosted Donald Trump’s new attorney, Rudy Giuliani for the whole hour of his program on Wednesday night. And it was stunning.

Rudy Giuliani

For the most part Giuliani was rambling incoherently. He spent most of the hour insulting James Comey and calling everyone from Comey to Clinton liars. But one particular exchange is certain to make some news. With regard to the $130,000 payment that Trump’s personal attorney Michael Cohen made to Stormy Daniels, Giuliani revealed that Trump reimbursed Cohen. Here is how that segment of the interview went down courtesy of Yashir Ali who was live tweeting the show (video below):

The significance of this revelation cannot be overstated. Trump has previously said that he knew nothing about the arrangements that Cohen had made with Daniels. Now, according his own lawyer, that was a lie.

This what Trump gets for hiring a freak job like Giuliani and putting his legal life in his hands.

How Fox News Deceives and Controls Their Flock:
Fox Nation vs. Reality: The Fox News Cult of Ignorance.
Available now at Amazon.

UPDATE: CNN got a reaction from Stormy Daniels’ attorney Michael Avenatti:

And now “a source close to Trump just confirmed.”

And Giuliani Trump is “pleased” that he’s been outed as a liar and this was all part of their master plan:

Zombie Obsessed Trump Keeps Saying Things Are ‘DEAD’ Even Though They Definitely Aren’t

Posted by on April 30, 2018 at 5:41 pm. 5 Comments :

There is something terribly wrong Donald Trump. Of course, that isn’t going shock most readers. Trump’s deranged mind and malignant narcissism are well known, and the acute symptoms are all too visible, even to lay persons. He acts out with tantrums and juvenile histrionics whenever he is criticized or doesn’t get his way. He’s worse than a colicky toddler who refuses to be ignored.

Donald Trump

However, there is another problem that has a more morbid quality. Whenever Trump gets a burr up his butt over something, he just lashes out declaring it dead. He thinks that his baseless declaration is sufficient to affirm the demise of whatever it is he’s opposed to. Unfortunately for him, that isn’t only untrue, it makes him look like a fool and a weakling who can’t achieve any goal except with meaningless ranting.

The latest incident of this psychosis is Trump’s assault on the White House Correspondents Dinner (WHCD). For the second year in a row he has been too afraid to show up himself, and instead organized a rally to assemble his most devoted disciples for an extended public ego-stroke. The dinner featured comedian Michelle Wolf’s stinging roast of Trump and his staff. She also hit liberals and the media, but none of that registered in Trump’s micro-focused brain. Having only absorbed whatever was about himself, Trump responded with predictable rage:

Of course, the WHCD is not dead at all. Every year there is a comic routine that is lambasted by snowflakes who can’t take a joke. And Trump’s reaction is particularly hypocritical considering his practice of disgusting insults and personal attacks. He is the definition of a “total disaster and an embarrassment,” and a far worse example since he is the President and not just a comedian.

As for his assertion that the WHCD is “dead,” that’s just another in a long line loopy death sentences from Dr. Trump. Here are a few of others that are just as delusional as the one above:


This came after Michael Cohen, his personal attorney, had his home and offices raided. There is no evidence of any breach of privilege, especially after Trump himself told Fox News that Cohen does only “a tiny, tiny, little fraction” of legal work for him.


First of all, it was Trump who tried to kill DACA by rescinding the executive action President Obama implemented. But it is alive and well because his rescission was struck down by federal courts.


In an effort to prop up his widely disparaged proposal for trade tariffs, Trump actually maligned some core industries of the American economy. While these industries are experiencing changes related to technology and global trade, they aren’t dead. But his tariffs could put an end to them.


Continuing to beat on this tattered drum, Trump still peddles his “Russian Collusion Hoax” theory that was last year’s PolitiFact “Lie of the Year.”


Despite his determined efforts, Trump has never managed to outright kill ObamaCare. He has repeatedly tried to sabotage it, with varying results. But it’s still firmly in place and popular.


OK. He got one right.


But he’s still way off on his attacks on the media. CNN is enjoying its highest ratings in years. And MSNBC is regularly beating Trump’s State-Run TV network, Fox News. Even the Washington Post and the “failing” New York Times are pulling in record revenues.

A lot of these crackpot outbursts can be traced back to an early comment Trump made at the beginning of his campaign. He actually proclaimed that “The American Dream Is Dead.” That one sort of encompasses all of the other death notices. And thankfully, Trump’s assessment of the nation is just as ludicrous as all of the other bleak projections he’s unfurled.

How Fox News Deceives and Controls Their Flock:
Fox Nation vs. Reality: The Fox News Cult of Ignorance.
Available now at Amazon.

Trump Towering Inferno? National Enquirer Attacks President’s Attorney Michael Cohen

Posted by on April 29, 2018 at 2:37 pm. 1 Comments :

Everyday there are more indications that Donald Trump’s shoddily constructed shelter from the scandals enshrouding him is collapsing. His closest allies are abandoning him and his administration, or are being cast out by him unceremoniously. Trump ends up being protected by incompetents with the same set of sleazy principles that he embraces.

Donald Trump, National Enquirer

After the raid of the home and offices of Michael Cohen, Trump’s personal attorney, the President set out to distance himself from his long-time friend and lawyer. He told the hosts of Fox and Friends that “Michael is a businessman, he’s got a business. He also practices law.” Continuing he said that prosecutors are “looking at something having to do with his business. I have nothing to do with his business.” And when asked by Steve Doocy what percentage of his legal work is handled by Cohen, Trump said it’s “a tiny, tiny, little fraction.”

That description of their relationship amounts to trump throwing Cohen under a freight train. Cohen’s lawyers had just argued in court that Trump was one of his primary clients, along with Sean Hannity. But Trump is calling him a liar. Hannity also called that a lie. These characters are purposefully fleeing from any suggestion that they are connected to Cohen. And the reasons have to do with what is expected to be uncovered in the items collected in the raid.

Now another prominent friend of Trump is bravely running away. The National Enquirer is a gossipy tabloid whose chairman, David Pecker, is a close friend of the President. It has reliably boosted Trump on its front page, and attacked his political foes. However, the headline on the latest issue is joining in the rapidly escalating disavowals of Cohen. It reads: “Trump Fixer’s Secrets and Lies!” The article says that:

Cohen “is under the spotlight, as scandals swirl around his boss, and some are questioning Cohen’s role, alleging blackmail, threats, hush-money payoffs – and even collusion with Russia. The president is in the hot seat because of his lawyer.”

Indeed he is. And he knows it. There is speculation that Cohen is likely to “flip” on Trump and tell the feds every little dirty detail that he knows. And having been the President’s consigliere for at least a decade, he knows a lot.

For the National Enquirer to publish such a damning story about a Trump ally is an astonishing turn of events. This is, after all, the magazine that paid former Playmate, and Trump mistress, Karen McDougal $150,000 for a story that they never published. That’s a tactic known as “catch and kill” that is used to bury negative news so that no other publisher can report it. Recent headlines from the Enquirer include fawning praise for Trump and brutal attacks on his enemies. For instance:

  • How I’m Cleaning Up Obama’s Mess
  • The Donald Trump Nobody Knows
  • Trump Takes Charge
  • FBI Plot To Impeach Trump
  • Obama’s Secret Plot To Impeach Trump
  • Trump Must Build The Wall
  • Proof Obama Wiretapped Trump
  • Trump Must Be Prez
  • Hillary: Six Months To Live
  • Hillary Framed Trump Family
  • Hillary Caught In Sex Scandal Cover Up
  • Hillary Going To Jail

So now the Enquirer is piling on Michael Cohen. This coincides with Trump’s blatant distancing himself from Cohen and nearly pretending that he hardly knows him. Trump is preparing for Cohen’s rumored intention to turn state’s evidence. He even posted a Twitter rant that implied that if Cohen sings, he will be lying. Trump said that “Most people will flip if the Government lets them out of trouble, even if it means lying or making up stories.”

It appears rather likely that Cohen is going to turn on Trump and his pals at the Enquirer are helping to discredit him before his testimony is revealed. And seeing as how the paper has been such a dedicated Trump-fluffing comrade, it’s inconceivable that the Enquirer would have published a story like this without Trump’s knowledge and approval. Therefore, the ground must be shifting under both Cohen and Trump. And a legal earthquake may be about to shake things up. Stay tuned.

How Fox News Deceives and Controls Their Flock:
Fox Nation vs. Reality: The Fox News Cult of Ignorance.
Available now at Amazon.

HUH? Fox News Wonders ‘How Can Professional Commentators Go On the Air and Speculate?’

Posted by on April 22, 2018 at 12:40 pm. NO Comments :

From its inception, Fox News was determined to disguise their political biases. They fashioned a network that they would claim is “fair and balanced,” but would never even attempt to live up to that standard. Last year they finally abandoned that slogan and replaced it with one that was obviously and shamelessly inspired by Donald Trump’s anti-media histrionics: “Real News.”

Fox News, Howard Kurtz

So it isn’t surprising when the chief media correspondent on Fox News, Howard Kurtz, would host a discussion on his show about media bias that flagrantly ignores it own ethical breaches. Sunday’s episode of MediaBuzz delved into the controversy surrounding Fox News host, and official Trump-fluffer, Sean Hannity. This week Hannity was revealed in court to be another client of Trump’s beleaguered attorney, Michael Cohen. He vehemently denied that which, in effect, means that he’s calling Cohen a liar. That’s something that Trump himself seems to be preparing to do.

Kurtz was disturbed by the media reaction to Hannity’s unambiguous ethical lapses (video below). Primarily, he found fault with the coverage of this story by his competitors on cable news. He led off the conversation saying that:

“In the aftermath, and it was such intense media reaction to this, a couple of people went on the air on other cable news channels and kind of just got out there.”

As examples of this alleged “outness,” Kurtz played video of two guests that appeared on MSNBC, but no other cable news channels. They raised questions about the undeniably conflicted relationship between Hannity and Cohen. The guests were Danielle Moodie-Mills, a SiriusXM talk show host, and Jennifer Rubin, a conservative opinion columnist from the Washington Post. Both observed the coincidence that Hannity had secured the services of Cohen, a “fixer” who had facilitated payoffs to the mistresses of his other clients (Trump and RNC official Elliot Broidy).

Since Hannity refused to disclose the nature of his relationship with Cohen, it’s entirely fair for pundits to assemble available data and offer analyses that seek to provide a coherent explanation. But that’s not how Kurtz sees it. He asked his guest, Shelby Holliday of the Wall Street Journal:

“How can professional commentators go on the air and speculate, without a shred of evidence right after this happened, that ‘Oh, there must have been a woman involved or something’ and there is absolutely no evidence to support it?”

Seriously? This is Fox News wondering whether it’s appropriate to speculate about public figures. It’s the network that spent years asserting that Barack Obama was an illegitimate president due his birth in Kenya. It’s the network that tried to blame Hillary Clinton for deliberately causing the deaths of American diplomats in Benghazi. It’s the network that advanced wild conspiracy theories like the child sex slave ring in the basement of a Washington, D.C. pizza parlor. And it’s the network that pushed ludicrous allegations that DNC employee Seth Rich’s murder was a clandestine, “Deep State” political assassination. That last one was Hannity’s baby. And those are just a few of Fox’s innumerable adventures in ridiculous and defamatory speculation.

Holliday responded to Kurtz’s inquiry by agreeing that “Journalistically that’s out of bounds. No reporters or news people should be speculating like that.” Of course, the examples that Kurtz played were opinion commentators, not reporters. And to her credit, Holliday did point that out to Kurtz. But Kurtz shot back that “Fine. You can criticize him all you want, but you can’t make stuff up and speculate.”

Well, thanks for that completely obvious and, for Fox News, hypocritical advice. Being told by Fox not to speculate is like being told by Donald Trump not to lie. And the fact that their specialist in media is so woefully lacking in self-awareness makes anything he has to say about the press unworthy of consideration. It’s asinine comments like these that make laughter the only appropriate response to anything Fox News says.

How Fox News Deceives and Controls Their Flock:
Fox Nation vs. Reality: The Fox News Cult of Ignorance.
Available now at Amazon.

Terrified, Trump Paves the Way for Calling His Lawyer Michael Cohen a Liar When He Flips

Posted by on April 21, 2018 at 12:36 pm. NO Comments :

There have never been darker clouds over the White House than there are now. Donald Trump is keenly aware that he is in deep peril and his presidency could come crashing down. Much of his concern is centered around the recent news that his lawyer, Michael Cohen, was the subject of a raid by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Manhattan. Trump is behaving as though he is aware of the potential for discovery of his own criminal activities. Innocent people don’t act this guilty.

Donald Trump, Maggie Haberman

Our desperately frightened president is showing his seething fear on Twitter with another of his morning tweetstorms. This one is directed at the Pulitzer Prize winning New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman, but it goes much deeper than that:

The article that triggered Trump’s rant was an analysis of the potential for Cohen to flip on Trump and spill his guts to special counsel Robert Mueller. If Trump didn’t think that was possible, he wouldn’t have lashed out like this. His attack on Haberman is a typically shallow insult without any factual basis. Third rate reporters don’t win Pulitzers. Haberman has a record of being particularly harsh on the Clintons. And he frequently calls Haberman, who has also been his guest at the White House.

Trump’s reference to “a drunk/drugged up loser” is the sort of blind attack that he specializes in. Speculation that he’s referring to Roger Stone is safe, but unconfirmed. [Update: Haberman tweets that Trump is referring to Sam Nunberg. He’s too scared of Stone]. In any case, he is proving that anyone who crosses him is subject to his wrath, even loyal supporters. Additionally, his assertion that Haberman’s sources are “nonexistent” is a common and baseless line that he throws out in a lame attempt to dismiss criticism. But it’s also a direct attack on the First Amendment.

Most troubling about this flurry of tweets is Trump’s attempt to distance himself from Cohen. His phrasing that Cohen is a “businessman for his own account” is Trump’s way of implying that he isn’t really Trump’s lawyer. Perhaps he’s just the coffee boy. Even worse is Trump’s assertion that “Most people will flip if […] even if it means lying or making up stories.” Here Trump is laying out his strategy for what he will do if Cohen does flip. He’s going to call Cohen, his personal attorney for decades, a self-serving liar who was seduced by the evil government into inventing heinous tales of criminality by Trump.

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Trump closes with a signal to Cohen that he can stay in Trump’s good graces if he resists the efforts by the Feds and the media to coerce him into telling the truth. But if Cohen flips, Trump isn’t going to be able to credibly portray him as a liar. He would have to make people believe that Cohen would expose himself to even greater legal jeopardy by giving false testimony. So in this affair Trump is a cornered rat and he’s acting like one. That, of course, is only going to make matters worse as events continue to close in around him. Fun times ahead.