Cohen's Key Points

On February 27, 2019, Michael Cohen, President Trump's former fixer testified before members of the House Oversight Committee. Say what you will about Cohen's Testimony, it was still an important part of our culture as we know it. The trials, in my opinion, were a great indication of how much our world has changed since Donald Trump was elected President because I have never heard so many young people talking about a televised House hearing so passionately in my life. This is so important because we are the future and I am so proud to be a part of a generation that cares so much about what is going on in the world around them. I would just like to have that said before I begin discussing my thoughts on the trial. If you didn't have the time to watch the trials yourself, C-SPAN has many clips on their YouTube page and website, if you'd like to check them out. If not, I will highlight the 4 things that I felt were key takeaways so you are all caught up.

1. The evidence and claims that Cohen and his team provided could be even more damaging to his reputation than we thought.

Cohen said that the president had firsthand knowledge of the payment made to Stephanie Clifford. Stephanie Clifford, known by her screen name Stormy Daniels, is an adult film star that Trump supposedly had a sexual encounter with. Cohen was prompted by Trump to pay Ms. Daniels $130,000 just before Election Day in 2016. He also presented a copy of a check dated Aug. 27, 2018 for $35,000 from President Trump's personal bank account that bore Trump's signature. Cohen said that the check was one of 11 installments that the president wrote to reimburse him.
Furthermore, Cohen said that the president directed him to lie about Trump's knowledge the payment.

2. Trump might still be involved with Russian entities.

Cohan testified that Trump asked questions about negotiations regarding the construction of a Trump Tower in Moscow, on at least six occasions in 2016. In his opening statement, Cohen says, "Mr. Trump knew of and directed the Trump Moscow negotiations throughout the campaign and lied about it." He later explained that Trump never explicitly told him to lie about the negotiations. Rather, Trump spoke in a sort of "code" that Cohen was able to discern after over a decade of working with him. Additionally, he said that Trump knew about WikiLeaks scandal before it happened, mentioning a meeting between Roger Stone Jr. and Julian Assange where the information dump was discussed.
I think it is an interesting thing to think about and these claims say a lot about our president, but he did not provide enough evidence for this particular claim to make it infallible. He left himself open to a lot of scrutiny, which caused his words to be less impactful than they should have been.

3. Cohen defined his role when he was a part of Trump's team.

Cohen is known as "a fixer," meaning that his job is to fix problems that come up through any means possible. He most commonly had to stop negative articles before they were released, made easy by working with the company that owns The National Enquirer. He has also written threatening letters to schools, warning them against the release of Mr. Trump's academic records, and paying off individuals with compromising information about a presidential candidate. 

4. Cohen's testimony felt personal when he went after Trump's character.

It is very difficult to gather hard evidence assessing someone's true motives and character. It takes years of trust and friendship to really know what a person is truly like and that was why Cohen's testimony was such a hot topic. He said that Trump made bigoted remarks about African Americans in the US and about predominantly black nations. He said that Trump would boast about his assets when it served him, and undervalue his earnings when it came to tax purposes. The only exculpatory information that he offered about Trump was that he did not hit his wife, Melania, like he supposedly was caught on video doing.

So we're left with the big question on everybody's mind: is Cohen is a reliable source? It's a logical and important question, especially in a world where "fake news" is everywhere. He was recently accused of perjury, but prosecutors are used to questioning witnesses with credibility problems. But Robert Mueller and federal prosecutors in the Southern District knew this before beginning the trial and so they made sure that every statement made by Cohen was backed up using corroborating evidence. It is your choice whether you wish to believe his words or not, but veracity aside, they were damning enough to make you think 'is Trump is the right man to lead our country?'