Yesterday morning, Andy McCarthy joined Rich Lowry on the second NRPLUS conference call. As the news about Michael Cohen’s guilty plea and a verdict in the Paul Manafort’s trial had broken the day before, Rich and Andy used the call as an opportunity to explain what the news meant.
Andy started by explaining that the common phrasing of the allegation against the president, that Trump directed his lawyer Michael Cohen to make a payment designed to affect the outcome of the election, is not unlawful. What Trump could be in trouble for is making an in-kind campaign expenditure that exceeds the limit by way of a corporation.
Rich asked Andy about what arguments the president could make if Trump were charged — which he won’t be, Rich pointed out, while he’s in office. Andy thinks the argument that Trump is running with — that “Cohen isn’t a credible witness” — is the weakest Trump has, despite how true it is. Cohen’s is a straight plea deal, without a cooperation agreement, suggesting that Trump’s former lawyer doesn’t have anything to offer Special Counsel Robert Mueller.
On Paul Manafort, Andy explained that even though the prosecutors didn’t get a conviction on every count — the former campaign manager was convicted on eight counts and the jury hung on ten — the trial was a victory for Mueller. The government can choose to try Manafort again on the hung charges, and Manafort still faces another trial, this time in Mueller’s home turf of Washington, D.C. In reality, the Manafort trial was almost a clean sweep for Mueller. Almost.
Finally, Andy and Rich turned to questions from the members of NRPLUS, who were participating via the members-only Facebook group. One member asked whether Cohen’s implication would hurt the GOP’s chances at taking back the House or Senate in 2018. Rich’s prediction? Put simply, no. It surely can’t help, but the laws of gravity have gone out the window since January 2017, and Trump’s supporters are willing to forgive worse missteps.
The audio is available above. As a special bonus, we have a video of Rich and Andy during the call below: