The revelation that Michael Cohen’s mysterious third client was Fox News commentator Sean Hannity was amusing to everyone—except Hannity, Cohen, and Donald Trump. With Trump and Hannity forming an Elliot Broidy sandwich, it’s become clear that the sort of “fixing” that occupied Cohen much of the time was following around these men to pay off the multiple women who they cheated with, cheated on, and left when inconveniently pregnant. And when Cohen wasn’t playing clean up crew to this upstanding trio of conservative Republican family men, he was … involved in some very shady real estate deals and helping to write a Russia-friendly plan for Ukraine.
Evangelical voters may have abruptly decided that there is no sin that a (white) politician can commit that rises to the level of being anything more than another reason to practice forgiveness, but Cohen’s position at the nexus of Trump’s angry politics and his ugly personal life, means that every item that drops from Cohen’s files is likely to be at least embarrassing, if not incriminating, for Trump.
It is not clear exactly where prosecutors from the hard-charging Southern District of New York are headed, but the payment could amount to a campaign finance violation. ...
"The President trusted Mr. Cohen as his fixer for years, he trusted him with his innermost secrets, and I think that the chickens are about to come home to roost," [Daniel’s attorney] Avenatti said outside court.
And rather than just being “part of” the existing investigation launched when Rod Rosenstein appointed Robert Mueller as Special Counsel, the business with Cohen is something else ...
The raid on Cohen increasingly looks like a new legal front, separate from special counsel Robert Mueller's probe, that could be immune from any attempt by Trump to neuter the special counsel.
That means that Trump could fire Rosenstein, and get someone to sack Mueller, and whatever emerges from Cohen’s files would still not go away.
Though the immediate reaction to Cohen may be connected to Stormy Daniels, there’s no sign that the crimes under investigation are strictly limited to one incidence of philandering and it’s consequences.
Prosecutors say they have been investigating Cohen for months for alleged criminal conduct in his personal business dealings. Since his primary client is Trump, that could be bad news for the President.
The FBI executed a search warrant seeking evidence of bank fraud, wire fraud and campaign finance violations, sources told CNN.
And with other sources reporting that those months included wiretaps, there’s every reason to believe the nation may be treated to conversations between Trump and Cohen that include both Trump’s knowledge of the Daniels pay-off and … other things. There’s good reason to think that the threat created by the investigation into Cohen isn’t at least as great as the less sensational, more methodical, work by Mueller.
And if Sean Hannity gets embarrassed, or convicted, in the process, that’s a bonus. A hilarious bonus.