But given that the outcome of the
election may hinge to a considerable extent on whether Trump is convicted or
acquitted by this jury, it’s vital that the prosecution do everything it can to
maximize Cohen’s credibility. That means, perhaps paradoxically, bringing out
all the bad stuff themselves and getting it out of the way.
It’s an old belief among
prosecutors that jurors should hear the bad things about their star witnesses
from them. As former federal prosecutor Robert Katzberg told
The Washington Post last week: “Prosecutors guard their credibility with the jury by bringing
out all the bad stuff on direct examination. A prosecutor never wants to be
seen by the jury as hiding something from them.”
Cohen definitely has a story to
tell here. He’s told it in his book, on his podcast, and in numerous television
appearances. Yes, he spent years lying and fixing for Trump. Yes, he did bad
things, things he’s ashamed of. But once he saw what kind of president Trump
was, he changed and came clean. He started cooperating with prosecutors. He’s
reported to
have spent more than 50 hours talking to investigators for special counsel Robert
Mueller’s Trump investigation, and he did so without a formal cooperation
agreement, a standard measure that cooperating witnesses take in such
situations to immunize themselves. He’s become a regular voice in the anti-Trump
conversation (and, I should note, he participated in TNR’s Stop
Trump Summit in Manhattan last October, interviewed on stage by the veteran
journalist Jonathan Alter).
