Matthew Miller on Cohen: Trump’s Been ‘Acting Like a Mob Boss’

EXCERPT:

MILLER: “I agree with that. I think Joyce kind of hit the nail on the head. The President has been to some extent acting with impunity throughout this investigation and trying to tamper witnesses, and praising witnesses who don’t cooperate and criticizing witnesses who don’t cooperate. Kind of acting like a mob boss throughout. Attacking the FBI for flipping people. Basically always taking the sides of lawbreakers over law enforcement agents. And I think the reason he acts with impunity is because he knows very well the Justice Department’s opinion that he can’t be indicted. So he thinks he can act with no consequences. But there ought to be some sanctions for this action. Whether — I think the account of Cohen's thinking was very compelling. I suspect also, as he said, that he decided ultimately there wasn’t much to gain in this hearing since he couldn’t talk about the two investigations with which he’s cooperating, he was just going to sit there and get beaten up by Republicans. So this was a good reason to pull out. But the President shouldn’t be able to escape this without a sanction. So if there’s no criminal sanction, if there can’t be any criminal sanction, that means it has to be a political sanction. If there is ever some kind of reckoning where the political environment changes sufficiently enough that Democrats feel they can move impeachment articles against him and feel confident of a conviction in the Senate, this absolutely would have to be in the bill of particulars.”