Michael Cohen revealed something incredibly important during his hearing on August 21: There was hush money involved to hide evidence that could have been harmful to the Trump Campaign, including instances where Cohen could be held responsible for contributing to the campaign above the federal monetary limit.
There was no innocence in that agreement. Cohen is an attorney performing at a federal and political level. He had to know that he was violating campaign laws when he made the agreement. He was pleaded guilty on eight counts. Five were for tax evasion, and number six was for lying to a credit institution. But counts seven and eight had to do with campaign violations.
Donald Trump said on Twitter that those counts do not count as a crime. He also mentioned Obama's case.
Two things: In the plea agreement, it clearly states the years of potential imprisonment and monetary fines. Yes, both were crimes. Also, Obama's case had to do with a 48-hour gap of reporting donations, which was handled as a civil case — while Cohen's case dealt with lying to a financial institution, an unlawful campaign contribution and an excessive campaign contribution.
Talk about damage control.
See, the thing is, Donald Trump and his administration have done quite a good job of clouding the sphere of facts, especially to its fanbase. The lying has happened repeatedly. This isn't the first time Trump clouded everything that was happening.
For starters, there are the "alternative facts." This was presented quite a while ago, and it quickly caused an uproar. It was an idiotic statement, since there is no such thing as "alternative facts." But here's what we forgot about that statement: The message implies that the Trump Administration is truthful to its word, since the facts that it states are just that; they are facts.
It's a good moral exchange for those who have major confirmation bias. Take Trump's facts, and you'll get the truth you want. Of course, people often forget that the truth doesn't work that way. If they get hit with that statement, it's too confusing to comprehend all at once, since the alternative fact theory implies otherwise — that facts are interchangeable.
There's also Rudy Giuliani's recent exclamation that "the truth isn't the truth." The beauty behind this statement is that it creates the same level of clouding — denying the meaning of truth, while depending on that meaning to finish the statement.
For many of us, it seems like Rudy had no idea what he was saying. But some may view it as an indicator of credibility: that he is understanding something they aren't, and until they do, it's best to just trust him.
And finally, the Trump administration has made a habit of calling the news "fake." That is the big statement behind the Trump presidency. The poll numbers are fake. The reports are fake. The news behind the investigations is fake.
The issue here is that, rather than calling the stories what they may be — vague, not properly edited, not entirely correct — Trump calls the organization fake and tries to use blunders to gain support. Instead of working with the media to help them get facts totally straight or acknowledging when the administration is wrong, Trump pushes people to hate the news.
By calling it all fake, he's telling people that the facts are all wrong, then acting like he is the savior.
All of this implies one thing to his supporters: that they should simply trust him because no one else is fighting for them. The mainstream facts are telling them that they are wrong, that the people he is with are brilliant people who think in complex ways and the media is just out to get them. For many, it's this enemy formation that makes Trump look so much like a savior.
When it comes to those who committed crimes, Trump, not the FBI, will appear as the moral compass to many, due to his process of creating confusion, performing what seems like exposing the group and delegitimizing the character of those opposing him.
As a result, if Trump is found guilty of any charges, his legacy of criminal action won't damage his core reputation. He will simply appear as the martyr of the fight against those who hated Trump and the policies he stood for. His movement still keeps on moving.
