Here’s what I think. I think I’ll believe that Michael Cohen can do some real damage to the president* when he does some real damage to the president*. His interesting—if essentially useless—interview with George Stephanopoulos could just as easily be a badly disguised plea for a pardon as easily as it is a sudden attack of civic conscience. In fact, the former seems to me to be far more likely than the latter.

“My wife, my daughter and my son have my first loyalty and always will. I put family and country first.”

Dude, you were an international fixer in the service of an international grifter. You’re all tangled up with at least two foreign kleptocracies. I don’t mean to be presumptuous but I’m ready to believe that “family and country” was not always your first thought on all these occasions, but I am a suspicious bastid about such things.

When I asked Cohen directly what he would do if prosecutors forced him to choose between protecting the president and protecting his family, he said his family is “my first priority.” Cohen added: “Once I understand what charges might be filed against me, if any at all, I will defer to my new counsel, Guy Petrillo, for guidance.” But when I pointed out to Cohen that he wasn’t repeating past vows to “take a bullet” and “do anything” to protect the president, the longtime Trump loyalist left little doubt about where he stands now, saying simply: “To be crystal clear, my wife, my daughter and my son, and this country have my first loyalty.”

I don’t minimize the general amusement factor inherent in how nervous Cohen’s interview might make certain people who deserve to be made as nervous as possible. But don’t try and convince me at this point that he deserves the benefit of the doubt any more than any of the people with whom he used to work, let alone the guy for whom he used to run errands. When he actually testifies, come talk to me. When he actually sends somebody up, come talk to me. I don’t want him to shut up, but I’ll reserve judgment until he puts up.

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Charles P. Pierce Charles P Pierce is the author of four books, most recently Idiot America, and has been a working journalist since 1976.

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