Fallout of Cohen testimony leaves Dems at the crossroads

Last week’s testimony before the a House Oversight and Reform Committee, by Michael Cohen, a personal attorney and self-styled “fixer” for Donald Trump, drew over 13.5 million television viewers and made the case, for some, that this time, he was not lying as he had done in previous testimony to Bob Mueller, special investigator.

“I would argue he has less motivation to lie now than he ever did before. What does he have to lose?” Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.) told reporters amid a break in the hearing to vote. “He is already going to jail. He has been disbarred. His family is fractured. His future is gone. Maybe he can get a book contract out of it. I would argue he has no motivation to lie right now, none.”

The revelations of hush money paid to porn star Stormy Daniels, came to the fore as did his assertion that Trump falsified the worth of his holding downward to gain tax advantages, and vice versa, when the need suited him; along with using the Trump Foundation to avoid taxes, and a litany of abuses that many House Democrats say amount to obstruction of justice.

“Cohen testified extensively about Trump’s involvement in a scheme to pay off women who claimed to have had affairs with him during the 2016 campaign — in connection with which Cohen pleaded guilty to violating campaign finance law,” reported The Hill.

While there are those that smell blood in the water --- including the president, if his rant at CPAC is any indication -  the word impeachment is being said in a louder voice. Yet, and this is a big yet, can the Democrats afford to run this train to the station?

Yes, and no, say some and others say no ---- the most obvious history lesson, taking a rearward glance  --- has to be seen in 1998, when the GOP ruled, under Newt Gingrich, and the Dems, in a stunning rebuke got 6 seats, and President Bill Clinton was re-elected in a landslide.

Democrats were able to regain the House on a trifecta of issues: healthcare, voting rights and corporate finance reform; staying on script, with legislation is vital; and, becomes a real challenge after the partial government shutdown, when Trump wanted The Wall, and then the fallout by Rep. Ilhan Omar over her anti-Semitic remarks about our support for our long term ally, Israel.

And, if the president threatens to not cooperate, as he did at CPAC, and in the State of Union address, painting “any attempts by the House Democrats to perform their constitutional oversight duty as a threat the nation's security and prosperity,” then more is truly the better.

If as the more radical, at least vocal, members, have their way, Trump should be dragged from the White House, and placed in an orange jumpsuit. Pronto.

For some the sight might be, what was called a generation ago, “a Kodak moment”, providing even better optics than Watergate and the exile of Richard Nixon to California; yet, it would hamper the stately party of Roosevelt, as “getting” Trump - a miscalculation that, in part, helped to defeat Hillary Clinton.

The question remains is can there be two efforts, one to provide mandated Congressional oversight over real abuse, as evidenced by Cohen, and at the same time govern on the agenda that brought the Dems, and Nancy Pelosi, back to the helm?

Pure partisanship says “yes”, but a more nuanced effort, says “yes”, and then some; moves that show the much vaunted integrity of the Democratic party, but also to set the tone for the 2020 presidential campaign, while simultaneously governing on the elected agenda.

That tone of censure to those reflecting on someone whose behavior is that of a thug might play in some areas, but the best course is to tread carefully, and doggedly, as well as by careful timing: all essential ingredients should this balancing act succeed.

Then there is the specter of impeachment, which Pelosi has pushed to the back burner, a wise move considering that it would have no chance in the Senate, and the blowback could see the Democratic agenda begin to sink before it leaves port.

“Starting impeachment proceedings seems unlikely to end in a Senate conviction given the two-thirds majority needed in a body Republicans control with a 53-47 majority. That makes it a tricky political proposition, especially as Democrats eye a 2020 election they think could end the Trump era and leave Democrats in control of Congress and the White House. That scenario would leave Pelosi with the chance at scoring some sweeping policy achievements on health care and climate change in her last years in Washington.”

Far better to focus on the Congressional duty of oversight, rightly, while doing a 24/7 effort to stay on track with the legislative agenda and focus on what the Dems were voted in on, but, and this is imperative, to not neglect some glaring notes, for example, that “Cohen also revealed that he briefed then-candidate Trump as well as Ivanka Trump and Donald Trump Jr. on efforts to build a Trump Tower in Moscow a half-dozen times during the presidential campaign,” a key revelation, since Candidate Trump denied any efforts to build there.

In the eyes of the law, there is more: “Though it’s unclear whether Donald Trump and other Trump Organization officials like Trump Jr. were aware that the payments to Daniels and Karen McDougal, another woman who says she had an affair with Trump, violated campaign finance laws that make it illegal to make an unreported donation of more than $2,700 to a candidate in a general election, Cohen acknowledged under questioning from Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) that the hush payments scheme is akin to a criminal conspiracy.”

That became the tipping point for many viewers, but it also sets the stage for much more: “Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee unleashed a sprawling probe of President Trump's family, campaign, business and administration on Monday that includes more than 80 requests for documents,” said The Hill.

In the aftermath of the Cohen testimony, “The investigation under Judiciary Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) will focus on three key areas: obstruction of justice, public corruption and abuses of power. Nadler rolled out the expansive investigation less than a week after the president’s former attorney Michael Cohen delivered explosive public testimony against him on Capitol Hill.

Democrats will be looking at those involved in the June 2016 Trump Tower meeting between Trump campaign officials and a Russian lawyer linked to the Kremlin, the Trump Organization's plans to build a Trump property in Moscow and a scheme to pay off two women who alleged they had affairs with Trump before the 2016 election.”

All of this is separate and apart from the Mueller investigation and another one from the Southern District of New York on Trump corporate business holdings, creating an extensive web that the president will have to fend off, as he sees attacks coming from all sides.

With predictions as common as noses, the air in Washington and New York is peppered with subpoenas, and the future is all that can be called our own - for now.