Essentially an unindicted coconspirator. Yesterday we saw how the judicial system is supposed to work. Now, in a Functioning Congress, All Of The Lights would be blinking red today. In a Functioning Congress, the outgoing House Speaker would be directing the outgoing House Judiciary Chair to be beginning the very similar process of investigating cohens investigations. I wouldnt say you start an impeachment hearing, but you start the process. The president was accused of committing a crime in a federal courtroom. And if enough evidence is found in a Functioning Congress the committee would begin to draw up articles of impeachment. Of course this isnt a Functioning Congress. Right now it is sort of not around, controlled by republicans w. H. Ho have been unwilling to hold its party leader accountable. Is there a Point Riepublicans will decide enough is enough and abandon ship . The house isnt in washington
but heres what some Senate Republicans said today. These are serious charges. They cant be ignored. I dont think he can be indicted while sitting in office, but well just have to see where this all works out. Obviously this is very, very unfortunate. Its very serious. I want to see this go through our judicial system. Thats whats been happening and well see it through. If the Mueller Investigation is not a witch hunt. No, its not a good day for the president. Youve got an accusation by his former lawyer that he did conspire to violate Campaign Finance laws. I dont know the intricacies of familiar Pain Finance Laws but its not a good day. Im sure there will be other revelations that come up and i think we ought to just let the process work. I dont think we know all the facts. So youre not concerned . Thats not what i said. Thats what you said. Lets bring in tonights panel, carol lee, george will, syndicated columnist and donna edwards, a former democratic
Exploring issues that affect leaders in the U. S. And around the globe. The Mueller Investigation and that report. I think its going to be the combination of those things that will then provide at least a means, a mechanism for the political process that i agree is going to take place. I guess the question i have, carol, is there are some republicans that need a steam valve here. The most powerful argument in a Midterm Election in good times for a party is well be a check on the president. How do republicans make that case if theyre in a Swing District outside of philadelphia. Especially while democrats are saying, look, its not just trump and theres a number of people in his cabinet who have had issues, but its also his first big supporter in congress, his second big supporter in congress. Its going to be really tough. I think if you look at what republicans have said, theyre really trying to drill down on collusion. Theyre banking that its no collusion, no collusion. But the interesting thing about the Cohen Investigation is while Rudy Giuliani and the president s legal team are
fighting this Political Team against mueller, the Cohen Investigation is not part of the witch hunt per se, its a separate thing. So youre starting to see them try to conflate that and discredit him. But its not over and its not entirely its not entirely linked to mueller. Thats what im wondering about the relief valve. Theyre trying to win suburban voters. These guys, theyre not doing anything with trump. Thats why i thought speaker ryan has more leeway here to give that wing of his party something. What wing . Its a onewing party now. Which is why it flies in circles. What about the ones that want to win in competitive races . I dont think they have it at this point because they are tied to the president. Youre either with him or youre against him. This business that you can split the difference. I like gorsuch, i dont like the other stuff. I dont think that sells anymore. I think they have pretty much lost independents and moderates
in exactly those districts that they have to gain them, and i dont think that this helps. It would have been one thing if you could begin to add some of those, but what this indictment well, not even an indictment anymore, its a guilty plea and its Manafort Being found guilty by a jury of his peers. What that does is it solidifies the opposition, i think, of moderates and independents and gives them a reason to go to those democrats in the Swing Districts. Let me play Sarah Sanders today, because her denials today just felt like they came up with something they could say and they didnt have much else to say. Take a listen to how she pushed back. Did President Trump commit a crime . As the president has said, weve stated many times, he did Nothing Wrong. There are no charges against him. He did Nothing Wrong. There are no charges against him in this. Just because Michael Cohen made a plea deal doesnt mean that that implicates the president on
anything. Does the president feel betrayed by Michael Cohen . He did Nothing Wrong and there was no collusion. He did Nothing Wrong. There are no charges against him. Just because Michael Cohen has made a deal doesnt mean anything with regards to the president. No controlling legal authority, referring to that famous Al Gore Press Conference when he kept trying to say shes technically trying to say the president wasnt named. Yeah, hes unnamed in all of those things. I get what she was trying to do because its all they have to hang their hat on. It is all they have to hang their hat on. His name wasnt in the pleading. He did Nothing Wrong, his name is not in there, he hasnt been convicted of anything or accused of anything in an actual court. But you also see her and shes increasingly done this with things involving President Trump, which is shell say the president has said or to the best of my knowledge or theres a lot of shes protecting herself there, as the president has said. Increasingly protecting
herself. And thats what im wondering, george. Thats this is where governing gets challenging for the president. Youre going to have a whole west wing starting to wonder about themselves. They already are. It cant be a happy place. I cant imagine that the Chief Of Staff is having fun. No one is having fun there, as a matter of fact. And when you have a really unhappy west wing of the white house, people looking over their shoulder and looking under the table and all the rest, i dont know how they function. But when the dust settles from the last two days, i think lawyers are going to look at what Michael Cohen said that the president did, he directed me to spend this money, and to try to make that into a crime is not as easy as it looks because theyre going to have to say that he Wasnt SpendingCampaign Contributions the way edwards was. He took his own money and tried to silence someone who could have been awkward during a campaign. That doesnt quite come under
the rubrick of trying to influence a federal election. Right. The crime he may have committed is failure to disclose. To georges point, youre sitting there saying, all right, so he didnt disclose. But it wasnt a Campaign Contribution to disclose. Well, it was his own money. And it wasnt to the campaign. But it was to benefit the campaign. It serves as an inkind contribution. Exactly, which still requires disclosure. It still requires reporting as an expenditure. He didnt do those things. I mean the key here is that they didnt do it intentionally because they wanted to get around the Campaign Finance laws. And so this is an intentional violation of the law. This wasnt some accident. It wasnt because they didnt understand. What you read in the cohen Plea Agreement is that they intended to violate the law. You know, whether or not they actually ever end up going to the president on this i dont think thats the
point because its a political solution. Look, let me put out a theory here that this is less about the specific incident and more about a pattern. George, if how cohen handled this for trump fits the pattern of Everything Else mueller is looking at, which is how they do this, then they move money over here, then suddenly you have a pattern of how they make things. If it becomes part of a pattern, then what . Then you have a pattern of seedy behavior, which is neither a crime nor a surprise. Might be a crime. But seediness itself is not a crime. But if some of that seediness is with russians. Let me give you a thought experiment. Suppose what was at stake here with these two women, 280,000 or Something Like that. Suppose mr. Trump had said late in the campaign it would help me if i gave 280,000 to the american cancer society. Is that an inkind contribution to his campaign if he did it because it would improve his
standing with voters . I dont think so. I think its a hard argument to make in court. I think this is obviously an important moment, but right now its serious, but this is a snapshot. I think the thing that we dont know is this may not be the end of all that were talking about. We also have another Paul Manafort trial in a month, which is in the middle of the election. And then you just the unknown of what is in the Mueller Investigation is what has the white house on edge and is what lea leaves all of these conversations kind of lacking. I go back to my metaphor of the boat. Its hit the iceberg. I talked to one republican who said i just want to know if theres a hole in the ship. This person said ill suck it up and defend the payoff to the porn star. Theyre in the Sarah Sanders problem. But if its Something Else, im out. But the question is whats
the Something Else. Nobody knows the risk. Is it worth the risk and say maybe theres not a hole in the jump ship or do you jump . Either way were going to find out because were going to get a mueller report. Then today you hear theres a subpoena in the Trump Foundation case as well in new york state. Let me put it to you this way, george. This is an opportunity to jump off the train, an opportunity to evacuate if you want. Its another opportunity. Will republicans regret missing this opportunity if Something Else comes down the pike . Suppose youre a republican whos thinking of jumping. What do you say is the reason why youre jumping now . What have you learned that you didnt already know about this . And thats the thats why they call it a faustein bargain . Stick around. Up ahead, now that Michael Cohen has agreed to a plea deal, what happens now and how could it impact the white house . Theres a gentleman that has
been on a couple of programs today, Michael Cohens attorney, lanny davis. Hell join us next. Alright, i brought in new max protein. To give you the protein you need with less of the sugar you dont. Ill take that. [cheers] 30 grams of protein and 1 gram of sugar. New ensure max protein. In two great flavors. Are you one sneeze away from being voted out of the carpool . Try zyrtec®. Its starts working hard at hour one. And works twice as hard when you take it again the next day. Stick with zyrtec® and muddle no more®. This wifi is fast. I know i know i know i know when did brian move back in . Brians back . He doesnt get my room. Hes only going to be here for like a week. Like a month, tops. Oh boy. Wifi fast enough for the whole family is simple, easy, awesome. In many cultures, young men would
stay with their families until their 40s. Uhp. I didnt believe it. Again. Ooh, baby, do you know what thats worth . I want to believe it. [ claps hands ] ooh im not hearing the confidence. Okay, hold the name your price tool. Power of options based on your budget and well make heaven a place on earth yeah oh, my angels ooh, heaven is a place on earth [ sobs quietly ] as the president has stated on numerous occasions, he did Nothing Wrong. There are no charges against him in this. Just because Michael Cohen made a plea deal doesnt mean that that implicates the president on anything. Welcome back. Well, White House Press secretary Sarah Sanders is right when she said today there are no charges against the president. But the part about cohens plea deal not implicating the president on anything, well,
thats dead wrong because as weve said, thats exactly what cohens plea deal did. The president s former lawyer pleaded guilty to violating Campaign Finance law with hush payments to women and said then candidate trump, the plea deal said a federal candidate because it cant name him, told him to do it right before the 2016 election. Im joined pby lanny davis, the lawyer for mr. Cohen. Mr. Davis, i hope youve been able to take a walk around the building there throughout the day. Lots of coffee has helped me. Let me start with this. I keep hearing the words deal, deal, deal, plea deal. Michael cohen still is facing jail time. Michael cohen does not have immunity from anything. Michael cohen has other things. What deal did you cut . Explain what the deal is when i heard the words deal. What makes it a deal . I have no idea. He pled guilty in a
corroborative statement. The word that the prosecutors and Michael Cohen agreed he would say to the judge under oath, at the direction and coordination of the candidate. And what did he get in return, a promise of a lesser sentence . No. What did he get in return . Nothing. He has said i will tell the truth to whoever asks me to appear. But he hasnt done that in return for anything. Thats why he called me. Let me ask you this. Is this a deal in order to make a deal . No. Is he hoping to get something in the future no. From the feds . Is he hoping that he has more information that will help him get less jail time . No. He said in court under oath using words provided and corroborated by prosecutors that the president of the united
states committed a felony. Thats exactly what he said. I dont know what miss sanders is talking about. If hes guilty of doing what his client tells him to do, which is to pay money to keep Somebody Silent for the principal purpose of political effect, thats a crime, thats a felony. If thats guilty, then the client who instructed and coordinated him doing that, hiding the fact that he was behind it is also guilty of the same crime. Theres no way to escape that conclusion and no deal. Let me ask you a few questions about you have teased out that he has some interesting things to say to prosecutors in new york, prosecutors in washington, d. C. , including mr. Mueller. First let me ask you about in new york. I know there was a subpoena that was issued by the state of new york involving their investigation into the charitable aspects of the Trump Foundation. They issued the subpoena today. Is Michael Cohen going to comply . Of course. I received a phone call about
receiving the subpoena. I referred it to my cohort, guy petrillo, who is the Criminal Defense Lawyer who handled the case for michael with the prosecutors. It will be received and accepted in new york. But mr. Cohen will accept subpoenas. He will do exactly as he did with the fbi agents who raided on a Sunday Morning everything he ever possessed, including his childrens cell phones. He thanked them for being polite. When he was processed through the court house, he thanked the individual marshals for being polite. Thats who Michael Cohen is. Do you believe hes still under investigation by the Southern District of new york or by Robert Mueller when it comes to things like his relationship with novartis or at t and what may have been promised . First of all, i dont know what you mean by relationship. He had clients. Only innuendo would suggest no, i wasnt trying to innuendo. I wasnt accusing you. The answer is no. Is he still under investigation for this . Not that im aware of. The answer is no. He made a plea of guilty to that responsibility. Does that mean sdny promised they werent going to sue about the pay to play . He took responsibility and pled guilty. I am again giving you the big story. I understand that. The big story is that President Trump is guilty of a felony according to the Southern District of new york prosecutors. Do they have more than just