Just the end of the beginning?
This article is part of a two-part series on the Cohen case. For Part 1, click here.
Unveiling new Cohen Search Warrants: More Unanswered Questions
Furthermore, newly unsealed search warrants from the Michael Cohen investigation were revealed on March 19 and detail the variety of potential crimes Cohen was investigated for. Key takeaways from the search warrants include the following:
- Several portions of the warrants are redacted, which suggests that there are further probes being conducted by state investigators. In particular, the redacted sections of the article are those related to Cohen’s campaign finance crimes where he aided in paying hush money to silence women claiming to have had sexual encounters with Trump. During his testimony, Cohen implicated Trump and claimed that the President was heavily involved in the hush money arrangements. The ongoing investigation into Cohen’s campaign finance crimes is being conducted by the Manhattan Office of the U.S. Attorney.
- The investigation into Michael Cohen began roughly nine months prior to the FBI’s raid on Cohen’s home, hotel, and storage unit. The first warrant was requested on July 19, 2017 by the FBI and sought all of Cohen’s emails from his Gmail account dated from 2016 to July 2017. By early August 2017, the Manhattan Office of the U.S. attorney executed a similar warrant granting them access to Cohen’s emails from November 13, 2017 to February 29, 2018. The investigation was primarily centered around Cohen’s taxi businesses and his false bank statements that were part of a scheme to relieve him of taxi business debts.
- Cohen was investigated for further crimes that he was ultimately not charged with. The other crimes he was investigated for include acting as an unregistered foreign agent, violating foreign lobbying laws, and committing money laundering. Ultimately, he was not charged of these crimes, although it is unknown exactly why. It could potentially be because he agreed to cooperate with the Mueller investigation or because he agreed to plea guilty to the other crimes he was charged with.
- The shocking details in the newly unsealed documents show that Cohen was involved in a number of illegal activities while a part of the Trump campaign and was suspected of having committed more crimes than previously thought. Moreover, the redacted parts of the document reveal that there are further investigations being conducted into Trump’s campaign financing and that neither Cohen nor the President’s campaign are fully exempt from further criminal investigations.
Special Counsel Mueller’s Report and the Future: Just the end of the beginning?
On March 27, Attorney General Anthony Barr released a four-page summary of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation in a letter to Congress. The summary of the full report highlights two instances where Russia attempted to directly influence the 2016 Presidential election, but concedes that it could not find any evidence proving that President Trump, his campaign officials, and his associates intentionally partnered with Russia for the purposes of collusion. The Special Counsel also determined that the Russian government was responsible for hacking Hillary Clinton’s emails and leaking them to several intermediaries, resulting in charges being laid against several Russian government officials. Furthermore, the report stresses that the Counsel did not find any evidence that the Trump campaign directly partnered with the Russian government to damage Hillary Clinton’s campaign. However, in regards to the investigation into obstruction of justice charges, the Special Counsel states that it could neither conclude that the President certainly committed a crime nor could it fully exonerate him.
While the Special Counsel’s report failed to determine whether or not the President committed any explicit crimes, the report was successful in prosecuting former associates of President Trump. Furthermore, as the report reveals new intrigue into the mismanagement of the Trump administration and election campaign, it opens new pathways that may form the basis for new investigations regarding President Trump. Potential investigations include campaign finance violations stemming from Cohen’s testimony, the mishandling of funds by Trump’s inauguration committee, and state investigations into the Trump Organization that also stem from Cohen’s testimony in February.
Until the Special Counsel’s report is released in its entirety, President Trump remains in a state of limbo being deemed neither deemed neither guilty nor innocent in regards to any acts of criminality. Even in the absence of this critical designation, it is clear that Trump’s former associates, Michael Cohen included, are guilty of conducting illegal actions. It is not far-fetched to assume that there are additional members within Trump’s inner circle that are similarly guilty of committing wrongdoings. The report further exemplifies that is it not a far-fetched assumption that even Trump may have committed crimes himself. Therefore the responsibility to wrap up this ongoing affair falls in the hands of state investigators, who should conduct further investigations on Trump’s associates, his foundation, and the President himself. Even in the event that the President is absolved of collusion with Russia to rig the 2016 election, it is likely that the President and his associates have committed further crimes that may be revealed to the public prior to the next Presidential election. But the question as to whether or not Trump definitively committed any further acts of criminality remains unanswered.B
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