While Republicans spent Wednesday shedding fake tears over the implication that doing racist things in fact makes them racists; obsessing over whether or not the president‘s former fixer has a book deal in the works; ceding time so Jim Jordan could try and fail miserably to land gotcha questions; and generally defending Donald Trump like he’s got golden-shower footage of them, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez used her five minutes to surgically question Michael Cohen about a matter of keen interest to at least half the country: Trump’s elusive tax returns.
Specifically, the freshman congresswoman asked the guy who was Trump’s lawyer for a decade if the former real-estate developer:
All of which Cohen responded to affirmatively, as he did to the question of whether or not it would be helpful for the committee to take a look at Trump’s federal and state tax returns.
In other words, A.O.C. laid the groundwork for the committee to obtain the stuff the president has been trying to keep hidden for more than two years now, claiming that he’d love to make good on his promise to release his tax returns but his hands are tied because of a routine audit. Speaking of which:
When Rep. Jimmy Gomez (D-Calif.) asked Cohen if he knew whether Trump’s tax returns were actually under audit in 2016, Cohen replied, “I don’t know the answer . . . I asked for a copy of the audit so that I could use it in terms of my statements to the press, and I was never able to obtain one.”
Cohen said that Trump told him that Trump didn’t want think tanks examining his tax returns, leading to an audit that could result in penalties. “I presume that he’s not under audit,” Cohen said.
Over the course of the hours-long hearing, Cohen expressed regret for doing Trump’s bidding, which included not just paying women to keep quiet about alleged affairs, but evidence that Donny Jr’s. stupidity is an inherited trait:
Leading up to the 2016 presidential election, Donald Trump directed his personal attorney at the time to threaten legal action against the colleges and high school he attended if they publicly released his grades or standardized test scores, the attorney, Michael Cohen, told Congress on Wednesday.
Cohen revealed details about the threats among a list of other actions he took on behalf of Trump in testimony before the House Oversight Committee. Cohen and Trump parted ways last year after Cohen implicated Trump in federal campaign finance violations.
“When I say con man, I’m talking about a man who declares himself brilliant but directed me to threaten his high school, his colleges, and the College Board to never release his grades or SAT scores,” he said.
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So you’re saying that threatening to expose a congressional witness’s alleged affairs is not appropriate behavior for a U.S. representative? Is that what you’re saying?
Meanwhile, in the Middle East . . .
As his father-in-law’s former fixer laid out a litany of crimes supposedly committed by the president of the United States, Jared Kushner was reuniting with a special friend:
Kushner, the president’s son-in-law and White House adviser, met Tuesday with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, their first known face-to-face meeting since the Saudi government’s murder of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi . . . The encounter, part of Kushner’s seven-day tour through the Middle East, comes weeks after the Trump administration reserved the right to decline lawmakers’ demands that the White House issue a report to Congress determining who is responsible for the murder of Khashoggi. The move caused an uproar among legislators on both sides of the aisle, some of whom claimed the president’s actions amounted to a cover-up on behalf of the Saudi government and a violation of the law.
Kushner, who reportedly “argued that the crown prince can survive the outrage” over the kingdom dismembering a guy, is on a road trip through the Middle East to drum up support for his “peace plan.” Strangely, given the First Son-in-Law’s vast foreign-policy experience, things are not going too well:
Kushner’s approach to ending the Israeli-Palestinian conflict does not appear to have progressed since his last regional tour in June, focusing largely on economic initiatives at the expense of a land-for-peace deal long central to the official Arab position, two sources in the Gulf told Reuters on Wednesday.
One of the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the plan presented this week did not appear to take into consideration previously stated Arab demands on the status of Jerusalem, the right of Palestinian refugees to return and Israeli settlements in occupied territory.
In December, we learned that Kushner hadn’t spoken with Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erekat since Trump decided to move the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, and that Erekat viewed him not so much as a statesman, but as a glorified “real-estate agent.” Which, to be fair, is an entirely accurate statement!
1MDB scandal may force Goldman Sachs to part ways with a metric f–k-ton of cash
Typically, when you hear reports of banks being forced to pay fines for wrongdoing—whether it’s over mortgage fraud, workplace harassment, Libor-rigging, or the like—the number sounds quite large, but in reality amounts to a rounding error for the company. But thanks to a little scandal wherein one of its former partners engaged in a heist that siphoned billions from Malaysia state investment fund 1MBD, that may not be the case for Goldman Sachs this year:
Goldman Sachs Group Inc said losses related to ongoing lawsuits could possibly exceed its reserve for legal matters by up to $1.9 billion. . . . In September, the investment bank said its losses could be up to $1.8 billion in excess of its reserve. The bank did not give specific details on why it raised its loss estimate.
The bank added $844 million to its legal and regulatory provisions last year, more than four times what it set aside in 2017, though it did not specify the purpose.
And, according to Fox Business’s Charlie Gasparino, the $1.9 billion figure would actually be a dream compared to what senior executives’ worst fears, which no doubt involve their eight-figure bonuses going up in flames:
The firm’s chief executive officer David Solomon and other senior officials have yet to publicly comment on the size of the firm’s potential liability stemming from its work as an underwriter of the scandal-tarred fund . . . But people with knowledge of the thinking of these senior executives say internally Goldman believes the liability could be much larger than the roughly $2 billion originally estimated and could cost about $10 billion, essentially wiping out a year’s worth of earnings.
In December, Goldman said it was cooperating with authorities in the U.S. and Malaysia, and believes any charges against it are “misdirected” and “will vigorously defend them.” It’s also tried extremely hard to throw ex-partner Timothy Leissner, who pleaded guilty in August, under the bus, painting him as one bad apple who deceived not just Malaysia but the bank, too, as well as two women Goldman suggested he was married to at the same time in quite possibly the most vengeful corporate PowerPoint presentation ever.
D.C. has questions for Trump’s inaugural committee
Such as: was the actual inauguration of the president an afterthought to the true purpose of the weekend, i.e. enriching the Trump Organization? Things like that:
Karl A. Racine, the Washington attorney general, appears to be looking for any evidence of self-dealing. Under the local statute, a court can dissolve a nonprofit organization for a variety of reasons, including if a judge finds that it has misspent or squandered money.
According to a copy of the subpoena obtained by The New York Times, investigators are seeking to determine whether funds “were wasted, mismanaged and/or improperly provided private benefit, causing the committee to exceed or abuse its authority or act contrary to its nonprofit purpose.”
The subpoena requests documents identifying what role three of Mr. Trump’s adult children—Ivanka Trump, Donald Trump Jr., and Eric Trump—played on the committee. . . . A spokesman for Mr. Racine declined to comment on the subpoena. A spokesman for the committee said officials were in touch with Mr. Racine’s office about the inquiry.
While none of the children had an “official” role running the fund—led by Trump pal Thomas Barrack Jr.—the president’s two eldest sons run the family business, where his daughter was employed until she became a senior adviser to the president, a job she worked very, very hard for.
How are those trade negotiations going?
Depends on who you ask:
Trump this week raised the prospect that he could meet Xi for a “signing summit,” possibly at the Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida as early as next month. Trump has extended the deadline for talks beyond March 1, buoying hopes among investors that an end to the trade war could be in sight.
But U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer took a more cautious tone on Wednesday, telling lawmakers that much work needs to be done before the administration reaches a trade pact with Beijing, and after that, the tough task of implementing it will get underway.
On Monday, Trump tweeted, “If a deal is made with China, our great American Farmers will be treated better than they have ever been treated before!” Currently, farmers are being treated to bankruptcies and a multi-billion-dollar bailout necessitated by the trade war he started last March, which prompted his top economic adviser to quit.
Elsewhere!
Big Short’s Eisman Expands U.K. Short Bets to Three Banks on Brexit (Bloomberg)
Why New York Values Ken Griffin’s $238 Million Condo at Less Than $10 Million (W.S.J.)
The Global Economy May Have Bottomed Out Already, Goldman Says (Bloomberg)
Stormy Daniels is proud of Michael Cohen (CNBC)
Elon Musk changes Twitter handle to “Elon Tusk” (N.Y.P.)
Wynn Resorts to Pay $20 Million Fine Related to Sex-Misconduct Inquiry (W.S.J.)
Powell Says Fed Close to Finalizing Portfolio-Runoff Plan (W.S.J.)
“The hoodie includes an insulated, food grade, washable pouch that can hold a slice of pizza and keep it warm for hours” (Food & Wine)