“The first method for estimating the intelligence of a ruler is to look at the men he has around him.”

— Niccolo Machiavelli, The Prince.

Michael Cohen formalized the copping of his plea on Wednesday. He will go to prison for three years for crimes that he committed almost exclusively in the service of the man who is currently the President* of the United States. It is helpful, then, to remember that, a little more than two years ago, Michael Cohen was on top of the world. This newly minted felon was then the finance chairman of the Republican National Committee. For over a decade, he had dedicated himself to fixing those legal problems into which Donald J. Trump inevitably walked, because Donald J. Trump is a man without a perceptible soul.

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Cohen had threatened the reporters. He had paid off the porn stars. He had cashed in heavy on reflected, if rancid, glory. And the man on whose behalf he had put out so many fires was about to become the President* of the United States. Which, as it turns out, was the worst thing that ever happened to Michael Cohen and, very likely, to the man he served as well. From the New York Times:

Judge William H. Pauley III said Mr. Cohen had committed a “smorgasbord” of crimes involving “deception” and motivated by “personal greed and ambition.” “As a lawyer, Mr. Cohen should have known better,” the judge said.

Hell, as a burglar, Cohen should have known better, but never mind.

Cohen leaves a Manhattan federal courthouse Wednesday after his sentencing. TIMOTHY A. CLARY Getty Images

Before he was sentenced, a solemn Mr. Cohen, standing at a lectern, sounded emotional but resolved as he told the judge he had been tormented by the anguish and embarrassment he had caused his family.“I blame myself for the conduct which has brought me here today,” he said, “and it was my own weakness and a blind loyalty to this man” – a reference to Mr. Trump – “that led me to choose a path of darkness over light.”

Mr. Cohen said the president had been correct to call him “weak” recently, “but for a much different reason than he was implying.”

“It was because time and time again I felt it was my duty to cover up his dirty deeds rather than to listen to my own inner voice and my moral compass,” Mr. Cohen said. Mr. Cohen then apologized to the public: “You deserve to know the truth and lying to you was unjust.”



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As the charges, indictments, plea deal, and years of incarceration pile up over the next couple of years, I'll never stop being amazed at the incredible galaxy of thieves and lowlifes this president* attracts. I know that, at this point, nobody with any sense of decency and personal honor will work for the guy—He can't even get Rick Santorum to come onboard as White House chief of staff, and have I mentioned recently what a colossal dick Rick Santorum is?—but someone like Cohen goes back years in his service. He would have committed most of these crimes if the idea of entering politics had never been burped to the surface of the toxic waste facility that is this president*'s mind. In fact, he did.

The president speaks at a White House event Wednesday. BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI Getty Images

There is simply nobody in this president*'s professional life who does an honest job of it. It's crooks all the way down. What we are going to witness, over and over again, is a steady train of broken people who fell for the biggest long con of them all—that Donald Trump knew anything about doing anything honest, and that he knew anything about anything at all. He has no friends now, only witnesses. His family has yet to jump ship but, in one way or another, that's coming, too. Today we saw the beginning of something—a quickening of the wind and the first steady pattering of raindrops ahead of a foul and onrushing typhoon.

The winds blow harder and the rain falls steadier. From NBC News:

"We will use every area of the law to investigate President Trump and his business transactions and that of his family as well," James, a Democrat, told NBC News in her first extensive interview since she was elected last month.

James outlined some of the probes she intends to pursue with regard to the president, his businesses and his family members. They include:

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Any potential illegalities involving Trump's real estate holdings in New York, highlighting a New York Times investigation published in October into the president's finances.

The June 2016 Trump Tower meeting with a Russian official.

Trump in the Oval Office Wednesday. Mark Wilson Getty Images

Examine government subsidies Trump received, which were also the subject of Times investigative work.

Whether he is in violation of the emoluments clause in the U.S. Constitution through his New York businesses.

Continue to probe the Trump Foundation.

I think she means business, too.

"We want to investigate anyone in his orbit who has, in fact, violated the law," said James, who was endorsed by New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo. James campaigned on passing a bill to change New York's double jeopardy laws with an eye on possible pardons coming out of the White House. James told NBC News she wants to be able to pursue state charges against anyone the president were to pardon over federal charges or convictions and whose alleged crimes took place in the state. Under current New York law, she might not be able to do that.

LBJ was right, way back in the day. Sometimes, you can't run, can't hide, and can't make it stop.

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