Michael Cohen, the president of the United States of America’s former personal attorney, is the republic’s prodigal son. Or he’s a pariah. Or a rat. He’s got nothing left to lose, or a giant book deal to gain. He’s the victim of a con man, or his best student.
While Mr. Cohen’s public testimony to Congress on Feb. 27 centered on the character and possible criminality of the president, much of the public conversation has centered around his own trustworthiness. In his prepared statement, he addressed “our nation” and said he is sorry “for actively working to hide from you the truth about Mr. Trump when you needed it most.”
Is he really sorry? Does that matter? How can we tell?
Mr. Cohen also said in his opening remarks, “Over the past year or so, I have done some real soul searching. I see now that my ambition and the intoxication of Trump power had much to do with the bad decisions I made.”
Was this soul searching authentic or merely convenient and reflexive? This is a question at least as much about sin and redemption as about political strategy.
Michael Cohen’s soul searching is at least as much about sin and redemption as about political strategy.
Our culture has no shortage of people who need to repent. But few people do it well, and we are not well-practiced at distinguishing between sorrowful remorse and face-saving performative regret. We are obsessed with determining that difference—but only within the timeframe of a 24-hour news cycle. Lacking the patience needed to evaluate remorse, we determine contriteness more often by bowing to the zeitgeist than by listening and understanding.
Mr. Cohen’s remarks on Wednesday can be understood in at least two ways.
First: Sentenced to prison and disbarred, Mr. Cohen has seen the fruits of his sins and has decided to come clean. For the good of the republic, he has willingly put himself under public scrutiny to help us get to the truth. By confessing his own sins, he shines a light on the crimes of his old boss in the interest of saving our democracy. While we should be cautious, we should be inclined to believe him because he has run out of reasons to lie.
Alternatively: Faced with prison time and the end of a career, Mr. Cohen needs to find an audience (and political party) who will pay his legal fees now and welcome him after his 36 months of incarceration. How convenient that he is turning on President Trump now. Noah Rothman, writing in Commentary, summarized this position well: “Under a federal prosecutor’s interrogation lamps, Cohen has seen the light.”
Indeed, some might point out that a three-year sentence is a remarkably small penalty, considering how severely our society punishes nonviolent crimes concerning drugs or immigration rather than lying to Congress or dodging taxes. And surely most of those convicted of the former—disproportionately people of color and poor—do not get the privilege of having their repentance so finely parsed.
But the response to undeserved mercy is not less mercy, but more. This is the logic of the Gospel. Perhaps we are an unforgiving culture because we are an unrepentant culture, always reluctant to examine our sins past and present. Our culture needs to learn to produce better penitents—but we also need to learn to forgive better.
Part of learning to forgive is recognizing that even contrition motivated by punishment is still contrition of some sort. It can serve as a starting point for more perfect contrition. A not-small part in how that plays out depends on how an imperfect apology is received.
Part of learning to forgive is recognizing that even contrition motivated by punishment is still contrition of some sort.
The rules surrounding the Sacrament of Confession in the Catholic Church could provide the rest of the nation with some context about human nature in the process of reconciliation.
The Catechism of the Catholic Churchdistinguishes between two types of contrition. The first, “When it arises from a love by which God is loved above all else,” is called “perfect” contrition.
Imperfect contrition, on the other hand, “is born of the consideration of sin’s ugliness or the fear of eternal damnation and the other penalties threatening the sinner.” This is the contrition that we are all so afraid of. We fear that it isn’t “valid” because it is at least as selfish as it is remorseful. We worry, “I’m only sorry because I’m afraid of jail on earth and hell in the afterlife.”
But here is the kicker, the irrationality of mercy: Sins confessed with both types of contrition are granted absolution. They are forgiven by God through the priest in the sacrament. The Catechism goes on to say that imperfect contrition “is also a gift of God, a prompting of the Holy Spirit.”
My Roman-collared colleagues tell me that what any priest who hears confessions comes to understand is that while imperfect contrition is, well, imperfect, it can still be a starting place for true conversion. Conversion is a much longer road—for Mr. Cohen and for us all—but we can make a choice to soldier on in the right direction.
Michael Cohen is a sleaze. He was Trump's sleaze before turning. Before the FBI raid on him, he was touting a book about Trump that made Trump look fantastic. And Trump hired this sleaze and kept him in his circle. That is damning for Trump as a judge of talent. But he is still a sleaze. An analysis http://bit.ly/2NBalRq
If you don't like Trump, Michael Cohen is your man (all the dirt you want to hear.) If you support Trump, Michael Cohen is your man (he did nothing to hurt Trump.)
Trump is a traitor and a fraud. A blind man can see that.
How is Trump a traitor? Michael Cohen just refuted that. As far as being a fraud, that's a very general term that could be applied to any politician. Trump I am sure had some dicey deals as a billionaire real estate builder in New York.
Cohen did not know about the Russian conspiracy to hack the DNC or the June meeting between Jr., Manafort, Kushner, and the Russians. It appears Cohen was not involved in the Russian conspiracy to steal the election. That is not the same as refuting. Cohen claims he did not go to Prague. Maybe some one else did go. Cohen claimed to be present when Stone called to inform Trump of the Wkileaks dumps prior to DNC convention.That is significant.
Interesting how to read exoneration when it's not in the testimony, but Cohen is an unreliable "sleaze" (your first post) when it suits you.
Wikileaks was public information at the time of the phone call (if the phone call took place as Cohen said) so how is that significant? It’s just the opposite, it’s insignificant if true. Wikileaks announced in March it had 30,000 emails, four months before the phone call. So the whole world knew. By the way, the meeting with Jr, Kushner, and Mannifort, was set up by the DNC. The Russians met with Glen Simpson before and after the meeting.
I did not say unreliable. You did. If the word “sleaze” implies unreliable then so be it. But given a chance Cohen who was very very close to Trump did nothing to implicate Trump with Russia except a passing phone call that was insignificant. Cohen was supposed to be the go between but provided no evidence or testimony that anything happened. Russian collusion is supposed to be the issue. But the only concrete evidence implicates Hillary Clinton not Trump. Her campaign did conspire with Russians to affect the election.
The article is not about Cohen, innocense or guilt, blah blah blah it is an example of us (all of us) approaching reconciliation in guilt (perfect contrition "i have wronged and and face my fate") or shame (imperfect cobtrition "I'm scared because I've done wrong") and God's mercy absolving both - even if insincere, because it may lead to contrition later
Cohen is just the example to relate to - juxtaposition for ourselves facing the light of God's inquiry. The depth of the article is asking us "Do you know how merciful God is?" "Do you see yourself judging in human or divine terms?" And the big one, "Can you be merciful, as God is, too?"
You are a severely misled man. I pity you.
There are several definitions of the word "pity." It seems your's is
It is not a word we should use towards other human beings in this context. Though we all should ask God to have pity on us.
I’m not his judge .
I’m not his judge .
Neither am I.
How ironic that this august magazine finds a way to try and impugn Mr. Trump. Mr. Cohen has violated his attorney-client privilege. Certainly there are better examples of redemptive contriteness?
Cohen knows that if he is caught lying to Congress, his prison stay will be much longer. I believe him. Oh, and attorney-client privilege doesn't hold if the two are committing a crime together.
What crime specifically?
Mr. Rysavy,
Trump is complicit in many of the crimes Cohen plead guilty to. Trump is Individual 1 in the SDNY court filings. The payoffs to the porn star and mistress were felony campaign violations.
Felony campaign violations? You sure there?
I don't understand the relevance or point of this article. As was pointed out during the House hearing, our justice system (particularly RICO convictions) often depends upon insiders turning "state's evidence." The status of their relationship with God or their spiritual motivation in providing this evidence is entirely immaterial to this process. Nor is it relevant to whether we as Christians should be prepared to forgive anyone involved.
As for Michael Cohen being a "sleaze," I am grateful that he and anyone else familiar with the criminal, maybe treasonous, activities of Donald J. Trump is willing to come forth and provide evidence against a person who is an existential threat to America. We should encourage and applaud such testimony by "whistle blowers" without condoning their own misbehavior.
As for books and films and any other vehicle for public consumption, Michael Cohen has the same right to tell his story as Donald Trump or anyone else. As a society, we benefit from such disclosures and the dialogue that accompanies them. Cohen will be punished for his crimes according to the law. Trying to stifle his ability to survive and provide for his family is just shameful vindictiveness by people whose motivation seems primarily to punish as much as possible anyone who exposes Donald Trump.
Well said. Who are we to judge? And why?
How many people have gone to prison for Donald Trump? As he said 2 or 3 years ago, "I could murder someone on a street in New York and get away with it." And he has gotten away with grabbing women in an sexually assaultive manner. He has yet to show genuine concern for anyone else. This should give his supporters pause.
Come on, did he really tell us anything that we already didn’t know. For me Cohen’s Testimony was like beating a dead horse and waste of time to watch it..
Mike Marcie---
Yes, we did get a great deal of information we already knew, but not all of it. It also provided information as to whom knows what and who holds the records of possible criminal behavior. More importantly, we have to have formal records of these events.
We *did* get new information .... Trump knew from Roger Stone about the coming release of the emails by WikiLeaks .... Trump has been defrauding banks by over-valuing his property to get loans, which is part of what Manafort will be going to prison for ... Trump has been devaluing his property to cheat on his taxes ... and I'm sure Cohen is telling the intelligence committees much much more.
Cohen undermined the entire Russian Collusion narrative. The biggest fake news story in the history of the country. We will have to see what financial things Trump did but the Russian story now appears to be dead. Cohen seems to have put the next to final nail in the coffin. The Muller report will be out soon to see what he has.
The Russian story is certainly not dead. Wait for Mueller.
I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. He is going to pay for his crimes. He is helping to bring out the truth about Trump. People close to him - Donny Deutsch, Lanny Davis - believe he has really changed and is asking for a second chance. Who doesn't want that?
I am much more concerned about the theater that accompanies all of this fracas. The holier than thou attitudes that all assume miss two substantial facts. Nowhere does the constitution require a president to be a saint, of which there are plenty of examples to prove the point. The other is that the time, money and hatred spent on this exercise is self destructive. Cohen is simply a pawn and a weak one at that. If the President was hell bent on committing treason, he could not possibly accomplish it without accomplices and the only evidence so far exposes that he surrounds himself with sinners, as though this were not the case with other administrations and that he may not be a very nice man. If I were to be objective about treason I could compare this administration with the Maduro presidency in Venezuela - I am not losing any sleep at this time.
How should we react to the church's contrition for child rape when nothing has been done for the sake of justice? Cohen's going to prison. Where is Roger Mahony?
To testify in such manner as the president, no matter how despised, is negotiating a nuclear disarmament agreement borders on treason. It's a betrayal of the United States. And to testify as to Trump's racist comments and beliefs is immoral. Why would anyone want to hurt the black community in that manner. Hasn't the black community suffered enough? I agree with the comment below that this testimony has nothing to do with confession/penance/reconciliation. He is a con man.
1. Treason is strictly defined in the Constitution. Cohen did not commit treason. If Trump conspired with the Russians to steal the election, even that is not treason (probably). Betrayal is not treason.
Cohen seems at least as contrite as any of the cardinals who gathered in Rome for the sex abuse scandal. Actually, he seems a little more genuine.
Your cynicism is understandable but unbecoming! Donald Trump is the most corrupt, evil president this republic has ever endured and he has caught many a soul into his evil web of deceit. Cohen is not only repentant, he is providing PROOF of Trump's illegal wranglings.
The only reason Republicans are upset is because they have to admit they are part of this evil ... just as the Germans were to Hitler.
Let the man repent ... and prove his case ... then send Trump and his minions where they belong ... in prison.
Hey Zak, you do know this whole televised side show was scripted by those 2 lawyers sitting right behind him don’t you? In fact Cohen’s closing statement was written by those 2 gooofballs, and it sounded like it as he hit all the fake news talking points one by one repeated every day on cnn, msnbc, cbs, huff post, ny Times, wa post ... and sadly America Magazine. Are you not at least a ltiite embarrassed about being proven wrong on nearly every single point? Donald Trump was s playboy and he paid some money to a woman. Got it. Now do you want talk about the Jesuit priests and bishops? Was that meeting in Rome a contrition? The Catholic clergy and nuns make Trump look like a clean cut angel, and who knows, Gods ways are not our ways, He draws straight with crooked lines, just ask King David ;-)
Christopher Scott--- You criticized the press. Ah grasshopper, you learn well. (I am digressing and I am dating myself. Sorry.)
I read books and articles that are left, right, and center. How else do people make a decision on their positions?
One does not have to read or watch the news to form an opinion about Trump. In all my readings about Trump or watching TV news shows, I have never found a book, an article, the press, or a news show that made Trump look as bad as he does himself. You can get it directly from him.
Why do some Christians support Trump given all he's done ... lying on a daily basis, cheating on his wife, sucking up to murderous dictators, locking children in cages, sexually accosting women, making climate change worse, giving tax cuts to the rich, cozying up to white supremacists and birtherists, inciting violence against the free press, appointing a cabinet full of grifters, etc.
I am always mystified that anyone, regardless of their politics, can casually observe Trump and not be appalled and revolted. The damage Trump is doing to our nation, our institutions, and our values are on an extraordinary level never seen before.
True, as someone here said, our Constitution does not require the president to be a saint and none of us are asking for that. Our Constitution does require that the president not commit high crimes and misdemeanors nor violate the emoluments clause.
Evidence strongly points to Trump being involved in seriously corrupt dealings. He has a history of that, but now as president he and his family have conflicts of interest with America that are truly frightening.
Our intelligence community reported the following: Putin of Russia interfered with the U S elections; Saudi Mohammad Bin Salman Al Saud, the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, murdered the journalist, Jamal Khashoggi, an American resident; and, Kim Jong Un of North Korea was aware of what was happening to the American young man, Otto Warmbier, who was tortured and beaten while he was in Kim’s prison. There is no way any American would be in a N. Korean prison and Kim would not be aware of everything happening to him.
Trump’s response? In a shocking rebuke of the U S intelligence community, Trump believed and sided with the murderous dictators against American interests. Why is that? Is it because Trump is incompetent? Is it because he is ignorant about foreign affairs? Is it because he is looking toward major financial advantages and favors from the three dictators now or in the future? I really don’t know, but I want to.
Many people, with strong credentials and much experience have been trying to bring about peace in the Mideast since 1948. Unfortunately, they have failed. Now comes forth Jared Kushner, Trump’s 38 year old son-in law, to bring peace in the Mideast. I can hardly write this without laughing. What are Kushner’s experience, background, and qualifications in this area? Absolutely nothing. Why does Kushner have this extremely important position? Are there some financial advantages the Trump family is looking for? I don’t know.
Kushner could not get top security clearance from the CIA. Obviously, they found a conflict or something that would not permit it. It does not mean he is a bad guy; he just did not qualify. Trump overruled this decision and got Kushner clearance. Then Trump lied about it and said he had done nothing. Alas, there are documents that differ with him. Why does Trump tell so many lies, even when the issue is irrelevant? He could have said he trust Kushner and that is who he wanted.
Why have so many of Trump’s people been found guilty or pled guilty in a court of law? Why are so many people appointed by Trump either incompetent or crooked? Why do so many of them leave under a cloud of suspicion? Why have so many either resigned or were fired because they would not do Trump’s bidding when it was unethical or against America’s best interests.
Many Americans, including me, believe these are all vital issues that strongly impact our country. Other Americans shrug and don’t care. Many Americans totally support him. Fine. But, they should at least stay out of the way and let those who care investigate these issues. Perhaps Trump is innocent of all the accusations. Guilty or not, the American people have a right to know.
You must not be paying attention, all your fake outrage talking points were debunked in that hearing, it backfired, a total miscalculation loser for the idiot democrat. Everyone except you, including the main stream media knows it and wants everyone ignore it. The problem is they’ve actually convinced a lot of people like you and it’s hard walk it back and admit it blew up in their face. They’re now trying to say this whole Russian hoax, racist, xenophob, homophob etc narrative was about Trump writing a check to a stripper. Hahahaha good luck with that. It’s time you get on board and help promote the new way forward, your other talking points just got flushed ...
You seem to be living in some alternate universe of news.
Interesting comment from someone who seems to be unaware of what is happening in the world. The whole Russia story has been debunked. Michael Cohen put an exclamation point on it. The fact that you are unaware of this is revealing. It may be the alternate universe of news that you participate in. Yes, the Muller report is to come. We will see.
Russia /Trump conspiracy ... Roger Stone told Trump about the WikiLeaks dump (via Guccifer 2.0). Manafort giving polling data to Konstantin Kilimnik. All the meetings that Trump associates lied about with Russians. Trump rower plans for Moscow. The meeting of Trump with Russian diplomats in the Oval office without any US Press. Trump kissing Putin's ass in Helsinki. I'm sure there will be more in the coming days.
Thank you for validating my assessment. All you said is irrelevant. Two things you don’t seem to care about:
Electing Trump has/will cost the Russians several trillion dollars. Is Putin that stupid? Hillary would not have done these things to hurt Russia and Putin knew it
The Clinton campaign actually conspired with the Russians to help elect her.
J Cosgrove---
You claim I am unaware of what is going on in the world. Believe me, I am dancing as fast as I can to keep up with everything.
Our discussion will be easier and more on point if you do not make superficial statements. Debate 101.
We have two issues concerning Russia that you are conflating. First, did Russia interfere with our elections? ALL of our intelligence agencies have stated that Russia interfered with our election. Plus, Europeans have made some of the same complaints about Russia interfering in their countries. What is your source to deny that Russia interfered with our election?
Second, did Trump collude with Russia? I never said that Trump colluded with Russia because I don’t know if he did or not. And neither do you.
You stated, “The whole Russia story has been debunked. Michael Cohen put an exclamation point on it.” Yet, in an earlier posting on this page you said, “Michael Cohen is a sleaze. So what is it? Did Cohen debunk the whole Russian story or is he a sleaze we should not believe?
I watched the entire Cohen hearing before the Committee on Oversight and Reform in the House. Cohen did NOT say that Trump did not collude with Russia. He said he had no direct knowledge of it. Cohen's testimony also says, "I have my suspicions." The transcript on the questions and answers are not published yet, but you can find these comments in many places.
The issues having to do with Russia were in closed hearings. It is perplexing that you could make any judgements without knowing what was said in the closed meetings.
You stated electing Trump would have cost the Russians several trillions of dollars. That seems rather extreme. What is your source for this statement?
You claimed that Hillary would not have hurt Putin and Putin knew it. I recommend you go back and read the history between Putin and Hillary. It is common knowledge that Putin did not like Hillary and this is confirmed by sources in and out of the intelligence community. Putin did not like Hillary because she was too tough on him. They spent years in a battle of words. In 2011-2012 when Putin ran for office again, his popularity was down and there were protests. He claim this was the fault of Hillary and the State Department. She was also Sec of State when sanctions were imposed on Russia by the
U. S. and Putin was outraged. Hillary always stood up to and criticized Putin. She called him a "tough guy with a thin skin." Whereas, Trump says he likes Putin…and he certainly acts like it.
Then you claim the Clinton campaign conspired with the Russians to help elect her. So you are saying that the Russians did spend trillions of dollars after all to try to elect the person they wanted? And you are saying that Putin was that stupid?
The only people who claim the Russians worked for Hillary are the Trump people. Do have any sources for this claim that are valid?
Ms. Jordan,
My comments were addressed to Crystal Watson not you. If you want to engage in a dialogue, I am more than happy to. I will try to answer your comments but am travelling at the moment am replying on the fly.
The biggest source of revenue for the Russian economy is oil/natural gas. Trump's energy policy was to expand both those in the US and thus keep lower fossil fuel prices due to fracking or make them even lower. Do the numbers and over a Trump presidency, the Russian economy would lose trillions of dollars. Now why would Putin want this?
Michael Cohen is a sleaze and I said he was Trump's sleaze. Nothing changed. He is still a sleaze. No problem standing by that. Now how does his new arrangement affect his honesty? He must be consistent or else he's in deeper trouble. I once was on a jury when the prosecution presented a witness that was one of the slimiest persons I had ever seen. But he presented testimony that was consistent so we believed him. Read the column by Ross Douthat on the implications of Cohen's testimony. http://bit.ly/2TmQLyi
Christopher Scott--
Please respond to what I wrote and not what you think I wrote. That will make our discussion easier and on point.
We have two issues concerning Russia that you are conflating. First, did Russia interfere with our elections? ALL of our intelligence agencies have stated that Russia interfered with our election. Plus, Europeans have made some of the same complaints about Russia interfering in their countries. What is your source to deny that Russia interfered with our election? Second, did Trump collude with Russia? I never said that Trump colluded with Russia because I don’t know if he did or not. And neither do you.
I watched the entire Cohen hearing. Cohen did NOT say that Trump did not collude with Russia. He said he had no direct knowledge of it. Cohen's testimony also says, "I have my suspicions." The transcript on the questions and answers are not published yet, but you can find these comments in many places. Further, the hearings having to do with Russia were closed hearings so it is perplexing that you could make any judgements without knowing what was said in the closed meetings,
What specifically, in my comments, were debunked at the hearings? Most things in my postings were not even discussed in the hearings.
I pointed out that that 1) Trump accepted Putin, Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Kim Jong Un’s versions over the American intelligence agencies.
2) Jared Kushner is unqualified to negotiate peace in the Mideast and he was denied high security clearance by the CIA and Trump over ruled it.
3) Many of Trump’s people have been found guilty or pled guilty to criminal activities. Not of these issues were part of the hearings. Are you able to disprove any of these items with evidence?
Here is a summary of the hearing from the Committee on Oversight and Reform in the House. You will see there is much more involved with the hearing which you seem to unaware of.
https://oversight.house.gov/news/press-releases/new-information-revealed-in-oversight-hearing-with-michael-cohen
Here is a transcript of Cohen’s opening statement in the hearings.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/27/us/politics/cohen-documents-testimony.html
Main stream media? I read books and journals from all sides for my information. Again, of all the books, journals, or news I have read or watched, none of them make Trump look as bad as Trump does himself. Go to the source and watch Trump, listen to his speeches, and read his Tweets.
Is the above article a lead up to a possible article titled “How should we react to Trump’s legal predicament?”
While support from Trump’s base likely remains solidly with him, could a pending, or ongoing legal scenario reach a stage lawfully halting a Trump run for president? Do republicans have a backup should they become convinced Trump has no chance of a second term?
I am bidding America goodbye! It literally tilts so far towards socialism that I am getting seasick. Mr. Cosgrove is one of the few stalwarts who courageously fights back against all the radical views taken here. I will find my time better spent reading the Bible than America.
I’m not his judge . Yes! clicker heroes 2.0