Tonight on MSNBC’s “The Rachel Maddow Show,” former personal attorney and ‘fixer’ to President Donald Trump Michael Cohen joined host Rachel Maddow for a one-on-one interview to discuss the explosive allegations in his new book and his time in the Trump organization.
Asked if the President’s financial records pose a threat:
“Yes, I think it poses a tremendous threat to the president, which, of course, is why he elected not to release his tax returns.”
Asked to clarify his claim on the President’s arrangement to pardon himself should he lose the election, Cohen said:
“My theory is that, if he loses, there’s still the time between the election and the time that the next president would take office. And in — during that time, my suspicion is that he will resign as president, he will allow Mike Pence to take over, and he will then go ahead and have Mike Pence pardon him. And it’s a very — let’s just say it’s a very Nixon type of event.”
On Trump’s fascination with praising Vladimir Putin:
“Trump is keen on this power. And whether it’s Putin, Mohammed bin Salman, the Kim Jong-uns, the Maduros, it’s the power that he is so involved with and so in search of, that this is exactly what he believes.”
Cohen continued:
“He’s fixated on the wealth of Vladimir Putin and all of the opportunities that come with it. You have to remember — and I have said this many times, and I have said it under oath to the House and the Senate, as well as my open testimony — Donald Trump never thought he was going to win this election. He actually didn’t want to win this election. This was supposed to be — and it’s how we started it — the greatest political infomercial in the history of politics. So, if you take that line, and you — and you add to it the Trump Tower Moscow project, you will understand that this was a branding deal.”
Asked if Sen. Ted Cruz was aware that President Trump personally demanded that the photo of Cruz’s father appear on the front page of the National Enquirer in connection with Lee Harvey Oswald or the killing of JFK:
“He does now.”
Pressed by Rachel Maddow if the President approved it:
“Let me say this and I want to be clear to you and to the viewers and everybody. Nothing happens without Mr. Trump’s approval at the Trump Organization. To the same extent, nothing happens without President Trump’s approval. He micromanages everything, especially and including things that he doesn’t know anything about.”
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Credits to: MSNBC / “THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW”