Michael Cohen makes wildly impossible-sounding predictions which then come true. Michael Cohen promised Congress that Trump would never peacefully give up power while we said, “Yes, but he’ll have no choice but to peacefully give up power.” We were wrong. So when Michael Cohen says that Trump is going to try to blackmail the FBI to keep himself out of jail. We should probably at least consider that it is a possibility, no matter how absurd it sounds.
This morning, Cohen spoke to Michael Steele on MSNBC, with Steele asking: (VIDEO BELOW)
Based on everything you know about him, why do you think he wanted to keep those top secret documents at Mar-a-Lago?
And then the bizarre-sounding answer that came without a moment’s hesitation, nor any doubt:
“He’s gonna use it as a get out of jail free card. It’s a way to extort America turn around to say if you put me in jail, if you go after me — he’ll even say his children — I will have my loyal supporters who you do not know who has copies of information that may have been, and again this is my conjecture, that i would take those documents, I will release them to Iran, to China, to North Korea, to Russia.
“You want to take me down? I’ll take the whole country down.”
“Remember, and I’ve said this with you 1000 times, Mike, Donald Trump doesn’t care about this country. He doesn’t care about anyone or anything other than himself.”
It does sound like perfect Trumpian logic. And it may very well be what Trump plans to do with the files, though it seems unlikely that he would only use them for that purpose. They are, after all, worth a lot of money. But it would be a fairly bad calculation on Trump’s part.
There is a dawning awareness and appreciation now that this is more than domestic law enforcement and political problem. Given that the entire international community knows that these documents pertained to American nuclear secrets, this is a global stability concern, as well. Even if Trump threatened to release the documents through his own contacts if arrested, the FBI would know that Trump could release some or all of those documents down the road anyway, perhaps just selling them.
The international community, especially the most powerful members like the G7, NATO, Pacific Rim, etc. are going to demand that the U.S. cap this problem even if it comes at a terrible price. Trump has transitioned from merely being the biggest domestic political risk to suddenly, now, being the biggest walking global nuclear security risk. Even without blackmailing the FBI, this problem is far more an international concern than even January 6th. Our allies (and some adversaries) are going to demand to know just how much damage has been done, to what areas, and how it is being remedied. Global nuclear security is not one country’s concern. Indeed, it’s closer to every country’s concern.
Michael Cohen may be 100% right that Trump anticipates using these files as blackmail to stay out of jail, thinking that he has the United States government over a barrel. But given that he is not “just” up against the United States government, and especially given that “staying out of jail” in no way ensures that Trump won’t release some of the documents anyway, it all means that the FBI, CIA, NSA, even the Pentagon are going to have to swallow hard, say “Go ahead,” and arrest him, having put in place every sort of safety precaution available already.
Again, there is a dawning awareness that this absolute madman is not “just” an immediate threat to American democracy. Trump is now a threat to global security. As such, the stakes are simply too high, and he must be stopped now, in his tracks, and then be as strong as possible with the inevitable blowback. Even though Trump is a reckless risk to international order (like Putin), the blowback should “only” be domestic, even if it looks a lot like a civil war of some kind. Despite what Trump thinks, nuclear security is non-negotiable.
@JasonMiciak believes a day without learning is a day not lived. He is a political writer, features writer, author, and attorney. He is a Canadian-born dual citizen who spent his teen and college years in the Pacific Northwest and has since lived in seven states. He now enjoys life as a single dad of a young girl, writing from the beaches of the Gulf Coast. He loves crafting his flower pots, cooking, and currently studies philosophy of science, religion, and non-math principles behind quantum mechanics and cosmology. Please feel free to contact for speaking engagements or any concerns.
