The Trumps insist that the testimony of former lawyer and “fixer” to the president, Michael Cohen, should not be believed because he’s a convicted felon. The only problem with that is that other people can corroborate his story, and those people haven’t been convicted of anything and have no reason to lie.
Alisyn Camerota: “Did you ever feel that you were asked to lie for Donald Trump?”
Former Trump Organization Executive VP Barbara Res: “Yeah… I said, ‘No, I won’t do it.’ And I think that set a tone for him where he really didn’t ask me to do things that he knew I wouldn’t do.” pic.twitter.com/dFbZiM9PFY
— CNN (@CNN) March 1, 2019
On Friday, former Trump Organization executive Barbara Res spoke to the parts of Cohen’s testimony in front of Congress that “rang true” to her after her experience of working for Trump. For instance, she noted that Cohen’s words about Trump not “directly” telling him to lie doesn’t mean Trump didn’t make sure that Cohen was going to lie for him.
Res confirmed to CNN’s Alyson Camerota:
‘He didn’t have to say what he wanted you to do exactly. He implied what would be good, what would be the right outcome, something he would like to see. [We’d] make it happen without him telling you what to do.’
Barbara Res recalled “hearing jokes, there were always black jokes going back and forth and he told them too.” https://t.co/rVSOwJTY6N
— HuffPost (@HuffPost) March 1, 2019
Cohen also confirmed for the first time that Trump absolutely knew about the 2016 Trump Tower meeting between Trump, Jr., Jared Kushner, Paul Manafort, and Russian government operatives. Res confirmed that nothing in Trump’s orbit happens without his knowledge.
‘I can’t imagine anything happening of any import at all at the Trump Organization…without [Trump] knowing about it. Anything major back then – something like the Trump Tower meeting with the Russians – He would know about that, absolutely.’
Former Trump Organization executive Barbara Res reacts to the various allegations Michael Cohen outlined in his testimony.
“Something like the Trump Tower meeting with the Russians, that was major, major. [Trump] would know about that,” she says. https://t.co/5nrLrC5bYM pic.twitter.com/EECScTx4WN
— New Day (@NewDay) March 1, 2019
Of course, Cohen’s conviction should actually make him more credible, even if the Trumps don’t want to admit it. He’s already been convicted of lying to Congress and will serve three years in prison. Why would he take a chance on lying again and add more time to his sentence? Further, Cohen has already been sentenced; therefore, his testimony in front of Congress does not help him at all. He has no reason to lie.
According to CNN:
‘[Cohen] was sentenced in December for tax crimes, campaign finance violations tied to hush money payments to women and lying to Congress during his 2017 testimony about how long negotiations for a Trump Tower Moscow extended into the 2016 campaign.’
"There was never a woman with power that he ran up against, until Pelosi," said Barbara Res, who worked for Donald Trump as a construction executive. "And he doesn't know what to do with it. He's totally in a corner." https://t.co/QaTnFumg39
— The New York Times (@nytimes) January 21, 2019
Even more notable is the fact that Cohen testified that one of the crimes he will serve three years in prison over was “at the direction” of the current president. No one is above the law, so Trump should be serving that sentence right along with Cohen.
Featured image screenshot via video
H/T: Mediaite