Where’s my Roy Cohn?
In the early pivotal moment of the Trump Presidency, Attorney General Jeff Sessions determined that he had to recuse (remove) himself from any Department of Justice investigations into the Presidential campaign of 2016 and the Russian connections (March 2nd 2017). This was after Sessions failed to answer questions truthfully about meetings with Russians during 2016 to the Senate Judiciary Committee.
The President was very aware that whoever controlled the Department of Justice investigations would determine how deep into “Russiagate” the Department would go. He depended on his good “friend” Sessions to “have his back.” Now, with Sessions out of authority, the acting Deputy Attorney General would be in charge. This was originally Dana Boente, a hold over from the Obama Administration and acting as Deputy while serving as the US Attorney for Eastern Virginia. Soon Rod Rosenstein, US Attorney for Maryland, was appointed and approved to the Deputy position.
On May 9th, President Trump fired FBI Director James Comey, in what clearly was an attempt to divert the investigation. On May 17th Rosenstein appointed Robert Mueller as a Special Counsel with broad authority to investigate Russian connections, and any other matters that might arise in the course of the investigation. Rosenstein essentially gave Mueller a “blank check” to investigate the actions both of the Trump campaign, and the individuals who were involved.
All of this was inevitable once Trump’s pick, Sessions, recused himself. Trump needed “protection” from investigation, a protection that he had grown used to as a young developer on the New York scene; protected by Roy Cohn.
Trump—who would remain loyal to Cohn for many years—would be one of the last and most enduring beneficiaries of Cohn’s power. But as Trump would confide in 1980, he already seemed to be trying to distance himself from Cohn’s inevitable taint: “All I can tell you is he’s been vicious to others in his protection of me,” Trump told me, as if to wave away a stench. “He’s a genius. He’s a lousy lawyer, but he’s a genius.” [1]
Roy Cohn died in 1986. To post World War II America, has name was synonymous with Senator Joe McCarthy and the unending and merciless search for Communist subversion in the early 1950’s. Cohn was the twenty-six year old lawyer beside McCarthy in America’s first televised Congressional Hearings, ripping into the State Department, Hollywood, and the military in search of mythical spies. They turned the United States upside down; little but fear came from their quest. When McCarthy finally imploded on alcohol and the righteous presence of attorney Joseph Welch, Cohn returned to New York to practice law.[2]
As an attorney Cohn continued his practice of ruthless action, representing clients ranging from Mafia Dons to real estate developers. He also continued as a behind the scenes organizer for the Republican party, and it was in 1979 that he put his young client, Donald Trump, together with a fundraiser for the Ronald Reagan Presidential campaign, Roger Stone.
When Trump asked, “where’s my Roy Cohn,” what he was really asking is where was the one person who would do anything, moral or immoral, legal or illegal (Cohn was ultimately disbarred just before his death) to protect him. Like many of his personnel choices (Steve Bannon for example), Trump seems to have mistaken Jeff Sessions for someone else. Now he finds few protecting “his back,” and none with the personal loyalty that he ultimately values above all. He is vulnerable and alone, and he knows it.
[1] https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2017/06/donald-trump-roy-cohn-relationship
[2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Po5GlFba5Yg
