It’s a tale of two Michaels
It looks like Donald Trump has met his match.
Since he was a young New York City businessman in the early 1970’s, he’s benefited by exhibiting one skill; when you’re under attack, don’t defend yourself — attack back.
He’d learned that from his “fixer” at the time, Roy Cohn.
Cohn had been Joe McCarthy’s attack dog during those tumultuous Army-McCarthy hearings back in 1954.
He was a bully.
Cohn was McCarthy’s chief counsel in the failed crusade to ferret out communism in the U.S. government.
Both he and McCarthy were discredited
for what would eventually be called their “witch hunt.”
Flash forward to 1973, when the U.S. Justice Department accused Trump of practicing racial discrimination in the rentals of his apartments in Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island.
Cohn came to Trump’s rescue.
He defended him, though Trump eventually settled the charges out of court.
But, more importantly, he taught Trump a valuable lesson.
He counter-sued the government for $100 million — claiming the government’s case was baseless.
While that suit was meritless, and was thrown out of court, Trump found in Cohn a man who could do the proper amount of wheeling and dealing for him.
Cohn’s questionable past didn’t seem to bother Trump.
After all, as one New York attorney said of Cohn, “You knew when you were in Cohn’s presence you were in the presence of pure evil.”
Trump, though, has seemingly lived by Cohn’s “the end justifies the means,” or shoot-from-the-hip, or take-no-prisoners (you can fill in the hyphenate) style ever since.
In fact, one author, Sam Roberts, wrote that Cohn always employed a “three-dimensional strategy,” which appears to be the basis for everything Trump does today: 1. Never settle, 2. Counter-attack, counter-sue immediately, 3. No matter what happens, no matter how deeply into the muck you get, claim victory and never admit defeat.
That’s Donald Trump in nutshell.
Plus, he frequently uses one of the phrases Cohn was famous for using, “That I can tell you.”
Michael Cohen is currently Trump’s “fixer” and current version of Roy Cohn.
In a 2011 interview on ABC News, Cohen said, “If somebody does something Mr. Trump doesn’t like, I do everything in my power to resolve it to Mr. Trump’s benefit.”
That’s why when Stormy Daniels was planning to talk about her one-night stand with Trump right before the 2016 presidential election, it was Cohen who “did everything in (his) power to solve it” – with a big check for $130,000.
Cohen hadn’t simply made the payment. He’d written the non-disclosure agreement, then funneled the money through a limited partnership.
It was pure Roy Cohn.
But something mysterious happened along the way.
Or should I say somebody happened along the way?
His name is Michael Avenatti — the ever-present attorney for Stormy Daniels.
Since he first came on the scene in March, Mr. Avenatti has appeared all over the place in the interest of having Stormy Daniels’ non-disclosure agreement invalidated.
Heck! I have Verizon’s Ultimate TV plan, and I swear he’s been on every one of the 425 channels, except Nick at Night — and sometimes all of them at the same time.
Last week Avenatti uncovered a $500,000 payment to Cohen from a supposed Russian oligarch right after the 2016 election.
It’s not known exactly what that payment was for.
But it does point to Trump’s “fixer” being a bagman.
The revelation is also the kind of bold move that Trump might appreciate if it hadn’t created more suspicion about his ties to Russia.
I believe that Mr. Trump has a grudging respect for Mr. Avenatti.
Of course, he’d never admit that.
But his own attorney (Cohen) is currently silenced by a federal investigation that he’s apparently blundered into.
And Cohen may face serious charges for his willingness to “do everything in his power to solve Trump’s problems.”
While, at the same time, Avenatti roams free — and has become something of a cable news star.
Trump has met his match.
Although he’s certainly gotta love the guy’s moxie — THAT I CAN TELL YOU!
Edward A. Owens is a multi-Emmy Award winner, former reporter and anchor for Entertainment Tonight and 20-year TV news veteran. Email him at freedoms@bellatlantic.net.