1
00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:02,640
Speaker 1: Welcome back to The Michael Cohen Show on our continued

2
00:00:02,720 --> 00:00:05,759
journey to two hundred and fifty thousand subscribers. I mean,

3
00:00:05,759 --> 00:00:10,080
we're about four thousand shy, so hit subscribe, watch and share.

4
00:00:10,560 --> 00:00:13,519
It's important to share because there's a lot that's going on.

5
00:00:13,800 --> 00:00:17,359
So let me start with this one. Around one o'clock

6
00:00:17,399 --> 00:00:22,440
this morning, Volume one of the Special Counsel Jacksmith's report

7
00:00:22,679 --> 00:00:26,839
on Trump's involvement in the January sixth insurrection, it was

8
00:00:26,960 --> 00:00:31,640
released and despite Trump's many, many attempts to block the

9
00:00:31,719 --> 00:00:36,079
release of the report, even Judge Eileen Cannon, who we

10
00:00:36,240 --> 00:00:40,799
all know is a Trumper, is a maga, she even

11
00:00:40,920 --> 00:00:43,920
ruled that it could be released, and so it was

12
00:00:44,320 --> 00:00:48,359
last night. Now, one thing you're going to get continuously

13
00:00:48,439 --> 00:00:52,039
on this show. It's not partisan. And people may say, bullshit, Michael,

14
00:00:52,079 --> 00:00:56,000
your partisan. No, no, because you have heard me say

15
00:00:56,159 --> 00:01:00,640
that this report should not have been released, all right,

16
00:01:01,280 --> 00:01:05,400
and now that it was, I feel extremely confident that

17
00:01:05,480 --> 00:01:09,200
my position was correct. And let me tell you why.

18
00:01:09,879 --> 00:01:13,079
All right. I want both sides of the aisle. I

19
00:01:13,159 --> 00:01:16,719
want whether you're a Republican or Democrat, to follow this

20
00:01:16,959 --> 00:01:19,959
point and I hopefully hopefully will be able to change

21
00:01:20,040 --> 00:01:23,879
some people's mind. It's no different than for example, if

22
00:01:23,920 --> 00:01:27,560
you total your car. All right, you total your car,

23
00:01:27,879 --> 00:01:32,280
what's the point to change the tires. What's the point

24
00:01:32,400 --> 00:01:39,519
to repaint the car it's totaled. No point, That's my point. Trump,

25
00:01:39,840 --> 00:01:43,799
by the way, was not happy about this being released.

26
00:01:43,840 --> 00:01:46,680
And I want to show you first what he posted

27
00:01:46,879 --> 00:01:50,239
on truth Social put up the first part. He turns

28
00:01:50,280 --> 00:01:52,840
around and he goes right back to the same rhetoric.

29
00:01:53,200 --> 00:01:58,480
Deranged Jack Smith was unable to successfully prosecute the political

30
00:01:58,560 --> 00:02:02,400
opponent of his boss, Crooked Joe Biden, so he ends

31
00:02:02,480 --> 00:02:06,359
up writing yet another report based on information that the

32
00:02:06,480 --> 00:02:12,000
Unselect Committee of political hacks and thugs illegally destroyed and

33
00:02:12,120 --> 00:02:16,439
deleted because it showed how totally innocent I was and

34
00:02:16,479 --> 00:02:21,879
how completely guilty Nancy Pelosi and others were. Jack is

35
00:02:21,960 --> 00:02:25,479
a lame brain prosecutor who was unable to get his

36
00:02:25,599 --> 00:02:30,039
case tried before the election, which I won in a landslide.

37
00:02:30,080 --> 00:02:34,759
The voters have spoken. The second one says, to show

38
00:02:34,800 --> 00:02:38,759
you how desperate deranged Jack Smith is. He released his

39
00:02:39,199 --> 00:02:42,240
fake findings at one am in the morning. Did he

40
00:02:42,360 --> 00:02:46,719
say that the Unselect Committee illegally destroyed and deleted all

41
00:02:46,759 --> 00:02:51,280
of the evidence. Okay, let me start by saying this

42
00:02:51,719 --> 00:02:55,159
first and foremost, Jack Smith is not deranged. This has

43
00:02:55,199 --> 00:03:00,199
nothing to do with Nancy Pelosi. There is no unselect committee,

44
00:03:00,280 --> 00:03:04,680
and so on. Again, this is just Donald Trump ranting

45
00:03:04,960 --> 00:03:08,599
because he didn't get what he wants. He didn't get

46
00:03:08,639 --> 00:03:11,919
it the way that he wants it. And the point

47
00:03:11,960 --> 00:03:14,800
that I was trying to make when I said that

48
00:03:14,960 --> 00:03:19,800
I didn't believe the report should be released, it goes

49
00:03:19,840 --> 00:03:23,800
to the essence of what's the purpose. So people will

50
00:03:23,840 --> 00:03:26,639
say to you, well, it's now part of history. It's

51
00:03:26,680 --> 00:03:33,240
a historical document. I say to that big shit who cares,

52
00:03:33,919 --> 00:03:37,639
maybe had Merrick Garland done what was needed to be done,

53
00:03:37,840 --> 00:03:42,759
acted more expeditious instead instead of being cautious as he is,

54
00:03:43,599 --> 00:03:47,719
maybe this report would have been released one year ago.

55
00:03:48,080 --> 00:03:52,960
Maybe today would be January fourteenth of twenty twenty four,

56
00:03:53,439 --> 00:03:58,479
not twenty twenty five. Maybe then, as Jack Smith and

57
00:03:58,520 --> 00:04:01,759
I will show you in the first four pages of

58
00:04:01,800 --> 00:04:06,560
his writing to Merrick Garland, why this case might have

59
00:04:06,759 --> 00:04:11,800
been relevant and my position would be completely different. And

60
00:04:11,919 --> 00:04:14,240
I wanted then go through the first four pages with

61
00:04:14,360 --> 00:04:19,240
you because it explains to you my position on why

62
00:04:19,279 --> 00:04:22,800
I did not believe that this report should have been released.

63
00:04:23,839 --> 00:04:27,160
Let's go to the first page. He turns around and

64
00:04:27,199 --> 00:04:30,160
he writes, dear Attorney General, and he's talking, of course,

65
00:04:30,160 --> 00:04:33,839
to Merrick Garland. In the fall of twenty twenty two,

66
00:04:34,639 --> 00:04:38,519
former President Donald J. Trump was a subject of two

67
00:04:38,560 --> 00:04:42,720
separate criminal investigations by the DOJ. The first was an

68
00:04:42,759 --> 00:04:47,120
investigation into whether any person violated the law in connection

69
00:04:47,199 --> 00:04:50,439
with efforts to interfere with the lawful transfer of power

70
00:04:50,560 --> 00:04:56,399
following the twenty twenty presidential election. The second investigation focused

71
00:04:56,639 --> 00:05:00,120
on the possession of highly classified documents of missis to

72
00:05:00,160 --> 00:05:04,759
Trump's Maro Lago social club following his presidency. It goes

73
00:05:04,759 --> 00:05:07,399
on to say that on November fifteenth of twenty twenty two,

74
00:05:07,759 --> 00:05:11,759
mister Trump declared his candidacy to UNSEA President Joseph R.

75
00:05:11,759 --> 00:05:15,639
Biden Junior, who had previously stated his intention to stand

76
00:05:15,800 --> 00:05:21,399
for reelection. Mister Trump's announcement created a highly unusual situation

77
00:05:21,839 --> 00:05:25,560
in which the Department, an agency within the executive branch

78
00:05:25,839 --> 00:05:30,879
headed by President Biden, was conducting criminal investigations regarding his

79
00:05:31,079 --> 00:05:35,920
newly declared challenger based on a longstanding recognition that in

80
00:05:36,040 --> 00:05:40,720
certain extraordinary cases, it is the public interest to appoint

81
00:05:40,879 --> 00:05:47,120
a special prosecutor to independently manage investigation and prosecution. You,

82
00:05:47,480 --> 00:05:51,480
as the Attorney General, promptly did so. Here to underscore

83
00:05:51,720 --> 00:05:56,680
the Department's commitment to both independence and accountability and particularly

84
00:05:56,720 --> 00:06:00,800
sensitive matters. Attorney General Merrick B. Garland remarks on the

85
00:06:00,800 --> 00:06:04,959
appointment of a special counsel Washington, d C. Again that

86
00:06:05,160 --> 00:06:10,079
stated November eighteenth of twenty twenty two. On that day

87
00:06:10,199 --> 00:06:13,800
I was appointed, I pledged that I would exercise independent judgment,

88
00:06:13,959 --> 00:06:16,920
file the best tradition of the DOJ, and conduct my

89
00:06:17,040 --> 00:06:21,720
work expeditiously and thoroughly to reach whatever outcome the facts

90
00:06:21,720 --> 00:06:25,279
and law dictated. All right, take that down, because here's

91
00:06:25,279 --> 00:06:29,800
something interesting. That's twenty twenty two. This report didn't come

92
00:06:29,839 --> 00:06:34,199
out now until twenty twenty five. When you talk expeditious,

93
00:06:34,240 --> 00:06:38,720
and you have somebody who is being appointed as Jack

94
00:06:38,800 --> 00:06:43,680
Smith was because Donald Trump had declared his presidency and

95
00:06:43,759 --> 00:06:49,360
did so for obvious reasons. You don't need to You

96
00:06:49,399 --> 00:06:52,399
don't need to get the testimony of a thousand people.

97
00:06:52,600 --> 00:06:56,480
You don't need a million documents. You need merely a

98
00:06:56,600 --> 00:07:00,399
handful and maybe one hundred documents with it which to

99
00:07:00,480 --> 00:07:03,360
prove your point. Go to the second page, because what

100
00:07:03,560 --> 00:07:07,720
Jack Smith does in this document, it's almost it's personal,

101
00:07:07,959 --> 00:07:11,040
which it's not supposed to be. Very few times have

102
00:07:11,160 --> 00:07:15,319
you ever seen four pages written to explain why you

103
00:07:15,399 --> 00:07:18,399
are releasing the document, why the document was done in

104
00:07:18,399 --> 00:07:21,040
the first place. Normally it's oh, it's pursuing to agreement

105
00:07:21,120 --> 00:07:25,240
that that dot, and they move on. Jack Smith makes

106
00:07:25,279 --> 00:07:29,279
this personal, and that too, my friends, is a mistake

107
00:07:29,560 --> 00:07:32,360
and one of the reasons why I said this report

108
00:07:32,439 --> 00:07:36,920
should not be released. Attorney General Edward H. Levy, who

109
00:07:36,959 --> 00:07:41,079
assumed the Department helm in the wake of Watergate. Watergate,

110
00:07:41,120 --> 00:07:44,160
now we're going back to the seventies. He turns around

111
00:07:44,199 --> 00:07:47,720
and goes one paramount concerns must always guide our way.

112
00:07:47,920 --> 00:07:50,360
This is the keeping of the faith in the essential

113
00:07:50,439 --> 00:07:54,720
decency and even handedness in the law, a faith which

114
00:07:54,920 --> 00:07:57,759
is the strength of the law, and which must continually

115
00:07:58,199 --> 00:08:01,720
renewed or else it is lost. He goes on to say,

116
00:08:02,639 --> 00:08:06,079
addressed to the Los Angeles County Bar Association, which again

117
00:08:06,279 --> 00:08:10,000
nineteen seventy six, I had been a career This is

118
00:08:10,079 --> 00:08:13,920
Jack Smith. Now I have been a career prosecutor in local, national,

119
00:08:14,000 --> 00:08:18,279
and international settings over the last three decades, working shoulder

120
00:08:18,480 --> 00:08:22,639
to shoulder with hundreds of prosecutors in that time. The

121
00:08:22,639 --> 00:08:25,839
prosecutors and staff of the Special Counsel's Office are, in

122
00:08:25,920 --> 00:08:32,200
my estimation, without peer in terms of accomplishment, capability, judgment,

123
00:08:32,279 --> 00:08:35,639
and work ethic. More importantly, in my book, they are

124
00:08:35,720 --> 00:08:40,279
people of great decency and the highest personal integrity. The

125
00:08:40,320 --> 00:08:44,559
intense public scrutiny of our office, threats to their safety,

126
00:08:44,759 --> 00:08:49,080
and relentless unfounded attacks on their character and integrity did

127
00:08:49,080 --> 00:08:53,639
not deter them from fulfilling their oats and professional obligations.

128
00:08:54,279 --> 00:08:58,480
These are intensely good people who did hard things well.

129
00:08:58,879 --> 00:09:01,320
I will not forget the same sacrifices they made and

130
00:09:01,360 --> 00:09:05,000
the personal resilience they and their families have shown over

131
00:09:05,039 --> 00:09:08,200
the last two years. Our country owes them a debt

132
00:09:08,240 --> 00:09:11,840
of gratitude for their unwavering service and dedication to the

133
00:09:11,919 --> 00:09:15,639
rule of law without pause. They have upheld the Department's

134
00:09:15,639 --> 00:09:20,360
commitment to the impartial and independent pursuit of justice. For that,

135
00:09:20,639 --> 00:09:23,519
I am grateful, as I know you are as well.

136
00:09:24,320 --> 00:09:27,120
Let me be very clear about something I am not grateful.

137
00:09:27,559 --> 00:09:30,919
I believe that this report needed to have come out earlier,

138
00:09:31,200 --> 00:09:35,039
as I said, a year earlier. And while yes, they

139
00:09:35,080 --> 00:09:38,200
did sacrifice their time, and they produced this one hundred

140
00:09:38,320 --> 00:09:44,440
and seventy two page volume one of their report. What

141
00:09:44,519 --> 00:09:47,240
good is it? So read it? Read it, knock yourself out.

142
00:09:47,279 --> 00:09:50,080
As I'm going to read the entire thing. I'm about

143
00:09:50,120 --> 00:09:53,039
a third of the way through. But what good is

144
00:09:53,080 --> 00:09:56,440
it going to do? January twentieth of twenty twenty five,

145
00:09:56,840 --> 00:09:59,399
Donald Trump will be standing in the Capitol with his

146
00:09:59,480 --> 00:10:02,080
hand on the Bible and being sworn in as the

147
00:10:02,080 --> 00:10:06,519
forty seven president of the United States. This document, this volume,

148
00:10:06,759 --> 00:10:11,039
produces nothing. Go to the next page where he turns

149
00:10:11,039 --> 00:10:13,879
around and he says, step by some of the most

150
00:10:13,919 --> 00:10:17,720
experienced prosecutors in the Department. My office operated under the

151
00:10:17,720 --> 00:10:22,240
same department policies and procedures that guide all federal prosecutors.

152
00:10:22,480 --> 00:10:26,200
The regulations under which I was appointed required that we

153
00:10:26,279 --> 00:10:30,240
do so, and our work benefited from those processes. The

154
00:10:30,279 --> 00:10:34,720
Department has long recognized that proceeding with uniformity of policy

155
00:10:35,080 --> 00:10:38,799
is necessary to the prestige of federal law. All right

156
00:10:38,960 --> 00:10:42,720
goes Our work rested upon the fundamental value of our democracy,

157
00:10:43,000 --> 00:10:45,480
that we exist as a government of laws and not

158
00:10:45,600 --> 00:10:48,840
of men. He goes back to John Adams for God's

159
00:10:48,840 --> 00:10:53,360
sakes seventeen seventy five. Again, he's writing this for the

160
00:10:53,559 --> 00:10:57,200
history books, not for the purpose that it was designed

161
00:10:57,480 --> 00:11:01,759
or its intent. In making decisions as special counsel, I

162
00:11:01,879 --> 00:11:06,159
considered as a first principle whether our actions would contribute

163
00:11:06,399 --> 00:11:10,279
to upholding the rule of law, and acted accordingly. Now

164
00:11:10,320 --> 00:11:14,679
he's becoming very self righteous, inness, and he's protecting his

165
00:11:14,879 --> 00:11:19,159
own reputation. Our committed adherence to the rule of law

166
00:11:19,399 --> 00:11:23,519
is why we not only followed department policies and procedures,

167
00:11:23,679 --> 00:11:28,919
but strictly observed legal requirements and dutifully respected the judicial

168
00:11:28,960 --> 00:11:35,559
decisions and precedents our prosecutors prompted. That is also why

169
00:11:35,639 --> 00:11:39,519
in my decision making, I heeded the imperative that in quotes,

170
00:11:39,799 --> 00:11:43,080
no man in this country is so high that he

171
00:11:43,240 --> 00:11:46,600
is above the law. Simply go to the next page.

172
00:11:47,120 --> 00:11:49,360
It turns around says the Department of Justice is guiding

173
00:11:49,399 --> 00:11:54,679
mandate which my office strove to uphold is that power, politics,

174
00:11:54,720 --> 00:11:59,200
influenced status, wealth, fear and favor should not impede justice

175
00:11:59,320 --> 00:12:03,000
under the law. When I assume responsibility for the matters

176
00:12:03,039 --> 00:12:05,840
you assigned to me. I came to the work with

177
00:12:06,200 --> 00:12:09,639
no preconceived notion of what the just outcome of the

178
00:12:09,679 --> 00:12:12,759
investigation would be. I was not yet familiar with all

179
00:12:12,759 --> 00:12:15,799
of the relevant facts and had not yet researched the

180
00:12:15,879 --> 00:12:20,120
relevant law. Depending upon what the investigations revealed, I was

181
00:12:20,240 --> 00:12:25,600
equally comfortable closing the investigations or moving forward with prosecutions

182
00:12:25,600 --> 00:12:28,519
in one or both of the matters, having done both

183
00:12:28,679 --> 00:12:33,279
in high profile matters throughout my career. Again self laudatory.

184
00:12:33,960 --> 00:12:38,000
He goes on to say, indeed, mister Trump's cases represented

185
00:12:38,279 --> 00:12:42,080
ones in which the offense was the most flagrant, the

186
00:12:42,120 --> 00:12:45,559
public harm the greatest, and the proof the most certain.

187
00:12:45,799 --> 00:12:49,200
Goes back to Jackson. He's going back to Jackson in

188
00:12:49,279 --> 00:12:53,080
the federal prosecutors all right, let me go on where

189
00:12:53,120 --> 00:12:57,159
he turns around and he states, it is equally important

190
00:12:57,200 --> 00:12:59,720
to me to make clear that nobody within the Department

191
00:12:59,720 --> 00:13:02,759
of just As ever sought to interfere with or improperly

192
00:13:02,840 --> 00:13:07,519
influence my prosecutorial decision making. The regulations under which I

193
00:13:07,600 --> 00:13:14,440
was appointed provided you with the authority to countermanded my decisions,

194
00:13:15,039 --> 00:13:18,159
but you did not do so. Now again, he's protecting

195
00:13:18,279 --> 00:13:22,440
who is protecting Merrick Garland and the DOJ. Nor did you,

196
00:13:22,559 --> 00:13:25,440
the Deputy Attorney General, or members of your staff ever

197
00:13:25,480 --> 00:13:29,080
attempt to improperly influence my decision as to whether to

198
00:13:29,159 --> 00:13:33,919
bring next page charges against mister Trump. And to all

199
00:13:33,919 --> 00:13:36,799
who know me well, the claim from mister Trump that

200
00:13:36,879 --> 00:13:40,480
my decisions as a prosecutor or influenced or directed by

201
00:13:40,519 --> 00:13:46,200
the Biden administration or other political actors is in a word, laughable.

202
00:13:46,600 --> 00:13:49,240
This is not the type of document that you see.

203
00:13:49,879 --> 00:13:52,759
All Right goes on today. Accompanying this letter, I am

204
00:13:52,799 --> 00:13:58,480
providing you a confidential report explaining the prosecution or declination

205
00:13:58,679 --> 00:14:03,279
decisions reached by the Special Council. Report consists of two volumes.

206
00:14:03,360 --> 00:14:07,480
Volume Money goes On talks about volume, but both volumes

207
00:14:07,519 --> 00:14:12,440
minimize the identification of witnesses and co conspirators, consistent with

208
00:14:12,559 --> 00:14:16,399
accepted Department practice. And we have provided a redacted version

209
00:14:16,399 --> 00:14:20,440
of Volume two that identifies certain information that remains under

210
00:14:20,480 --> 00:14:24,320
seal or is restricted from public disclosure by federal rule

211
00:14:24,360 --> 00:14:28,759
of criminal procedure, because Volume two discusses the conduct of

212
00:14:28,799 --> 00:14:32,720
mister Trump's alleged co conspirators in the classified Documents case,

213
00:14:33,480 --> 00:14:37,480
Walter Nada and Carlos del la Vera, consistent with Department policy,

214
00:14:37,759 --> 00:14:41,200
Volume two should not be publicly released while their cases

215
00:14:41,240 --> 00:14:45,200
remain pending. And then, finally, finally, this is what he

216
00:14:45,279 --> 00:14:49,360
goes on to say, though not required, prior to finalizing

217
00:14:49,360 --> 00:14:52,639
the report, my office provided an opportunity for counsel for

218
00:14:52,759 --> 00:14:55,879
mister Trump to review both volumes, and for counsel for

219
00:14:56,039 --> 00:15:00,720
his former co defendants in the classified documents case anonymous

220
00:15:00,720 --> 00:15:04,440
to to Olivera to review Volume two. After their review,

221
00:15:04,480 --> 00:15:07,039
counsel of mister Trump wrote a letter to you, and

222
00:15:07,080 --> 00:15:09,240
we have provided a written response to you, both of

223
00:15:09,279 --> 00:15:11,919
which you will find as an addendum to the report.

224
00:15:13,440 --> 00:15:16,000
He goes on to turn around and to say in

225
00:15:16,039 --> 00:15:20,759
this document that there is no doubt in his mind

226
00:15:21,720 --> 00:15:25,799
that had he had the opportunity within which you could

227
00:15:25,840 --> 00:15:30,559
take that down, had he had the opportunity within which

228
00:15:30,600 --> 00:15:35,360
to present this case, that Donald Trump would have been

229
00:15:36,080 --> 00:15:40,039
found guilty of the charges. Specifically, the ones that I'm

230
00:15:40,039 --> 00:15:43,759
referring to are the ones that are enumerated and identified

231
00:15:44,039 --> 00:15:52,200
in Volume one. Once again, once again my point is,

232
00:15:52,240 --> 00:15:57,279
what is the consequence, Where is the accountability? Where is

233
00:15:57,720 --> 00:16:02,200
all of the taxpayer money that into this investigation over

234
00:16:02,320 --> 00:16:07,039
two plus years over two years. In fact, it could

235
00:16:07,080 --> 00:16:10,960
even be closer to three years. There will be no

236
00:16:11,080 --> 00:16:15,000
accountability as Donald Trump again will be sworn in on

237
00:16:15,080 --> 00:16:18,519
the twentieth of this month. And so with that, I

238
00:16:18,600 --> 00:16:22,120
turn around and I say, great, we now have something

239
00:16:22,159 --> 00:16:26,039
to talk about. You'll be now watching this episode and

240
00:16:26,120 --> 00:16:31,639
finally understanding that they waited too long. Goes to the

241
00:16:31,679 --> 00:16:36,679
adage too little, too late. And with that, as always,

242
00:16:37,240 --> 00:16:40,919
thanks for listening. Hey everyone, First of all, thanks for watching.

243
00:16:40,960 --> 00:16:44,080
I mean, we're going to be posting daily episodes with

244
00:16:44,279 --> 00:16:48,360
reactions and talking about politics. We'll be talking about everything

245
00:16:48,440 --> 00:16:52,399
in fact, so please liken subscribe join us on this

246
00:16:52,480 --> 00:16:52,919
journey