Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

Michael Cohen Is Pleading the Fifth, and a Line of Trump's From the Campaign Just Came Back to Bite Him...Again

Michael Cohen Is Pleading the Fifth, and a Line of Trump's From the Campaign Just Came Back to Bite Him...Again

How the worm has turned.

President Donald Trump's personal attorney and long-time "fixer" decided to exercise his 5th Amendment right against self-incrimination in the ongoing saga between Trump, Cohen, and adult film star Stormy Daniels, with whom Trump allegedly had a one night stand in 2006. The irony, however, lies with Trump's own words regarding people who plead the 5th.


Last month, Daniels (Stephanie Clifford), sued Trump and Cohen over a non-disclosure agreement she signed shortly before the 2016 presidential election. Clifford received $130,000 in hush money from Cohen via an LLC set up by Cohen. Trump never signed the agreement, and Cohen is now under criminal investigation for campaign finance violations, bank fraud, and wire fraud.

"The mob takes the Fifth," Trump said at an Iowa campaign rally in September 2016. "If you're innocent, why are you taking the Fifth Amendment?"

Trump was referring to Bryan Pagliano, a former State Department computer specialist who helped Hillary Clinton set up her private email server, which led to a quasi-scandal that doomed Clinton's presidential ambitions. During the investigation of her use of a private email server as Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton never invoked her 5th Amendment right. She also never asked for an attorney.

Pagliano took the 5th more than 130 times during the investigation, and two other computer contractors later followed suit. No criminal charges were ever filed against Clinton or any of her associates.

Trump's first National Security Adviser Michael Flynn invoked the 5th in 2017 after the Senate Intelligence Committee subpoenaed Flynn for documents relating to his contacts with Russian officials during Trump's 2016 presidential campaign.

But the most glaring element of Trump's about-face on people who choose to avoid self-incrimination is that Trump himself has pled the 5th. As The Washington Post wrote last year:

Trump himself invoked the Fifth Amendment in 1990, during his bitter and public divorce from his first wife, Ivana Trump. The real estate mogul took the Fifth to avoid answering questions about adultery; according to Wayne Barrett's "Trump: The Greatest Show on Earth," the Fifth Amendment is Trump's "favorite" and allowed him to not answer a total of 97 deposition questions that were mostly about "other women."

Trump also suggested that President Bill Clinton should have pled the 5th in 1998 during the Monica Lewinsky scandal. "I'm not even sure that he shouldn't have just gone in and taken the Fifth Amendment," Trump remarked about the former president.

The Twitterverse didn't skip a beat, quickly noting Trump's hypocrisy on defendants who invoke their constitutional right. By Trump's own logic, Cohen, and by some degree himself, are mobsters. It should be noted, however, that taking the 5th is not an admission of guilt.







More from People

Carnie Wilson and Brian Wilson
KMazur/WireImage for The Recording Academy/Getty Images

Carnie Wilson Shares Heartbreaking Tribute To Dad Brian Wilson After His Death At 82

Beach Boys founding member Brian Wilson died on Wednesday at the age of 82. Tributes from friends, fellow musicians, and fans referred to him as a musical genius for his songwriting, musical composition style and innovative recording techniques.

He's also patriarch to a musical dynasty, with his daughters, Carnie and Wendy, and granddaughter, Lola, following in his footsteps. Carnie and Wendy Wilson formed Wilson Phillips with their childhood friend Chynna Phillips—whose own parents are Michelle and John Phillips of '60s super group The Mamas And The Papas.

Keep ReadingShow less
JD Vance
Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images

Vance Tried To Make A Joke About Seeing 'Les Misérables' At The Kennedy Center—And It's Peak Cringe

Vice President JD Vance had people groaning after he made a bad joke about the production of Les Misérables he and his wife, Second Lady Usha Vance, attended at the Kennedy Center with President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump.

The musical, set in 19th century France, tells the story of Jean Valjean, an ex-convict who is released from prison for stealing a loaf of bread. The story touches on timeless themes such as justice and mercy—and also happens to be about people resisting an authoritarian takeover, which many find ironic given the Trump administration's response to protests in Los Angeles.

Keep ReadingShow less
bride and groom cutting wedding cake
Wedding Dreamz on Unsplash

People Who Smashed Wedding Cake In Their Spouse's Face Reveal How Their Relationship Is Going Now

According to The Knot wedding resource magazine and website, smashing cake into the face of a spouse after tying the knot is a tradition tied to medieval England. To celebrate the marriage, the bride would toss a piece of piece of cake over her shoulder for good luck.

This evolved into newlyweds feeding a piece of cake to one another, then taking frosting or a small bit of cake and rubbing it gently onto each other's faces—usually the cheek or tip of the nose.

Keep ReadingShow less
Screenshots of U.S. Army veteran who criticized Donald Trump
@btnewsroom/TikTok

U.S. Army Vet Goes Viral With Blistering Speech Ripping Trump For Deploying Troops To L.A.

A U.S. Army veteran went viral after she spoke out to encourage other current and former military members to publicly condemn President Donald Trump for using them as "pawns" to suit his own ends after he deployed the National Guard and Marines to Los Angeles amid ongoing protests against his administration's immigration raids.

Trump has activated over 4,000 National Guard members and 700 Marines, despite opposition from city and state leaders. He has painted a bleak picture of Los Angeles—claims that Mayor Karen Bass and Governor Gavin Newsom say are wildly exaggerated.

Keep ReadingShow less
Barack and Michelle Obama
Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

The Obamas Just Shared A Rare Family Photo With Their Adult Daughters To Celebrate Sasha's Birthday

Former President Barack and First Lady Michelle Obama warmed hearts when they shared the same photo to their respective social media accounts, showing them with their adult daughters, Sasha and Malia, to commemorate Sasha's 24th birthday.

Sasha Obama was born in June 2001, nearly eight years before the family moved into the White House at the start of her father's first term in January 2009. She and her older sister, Malia, now 26, spent their formative years in the presidential residence, growing up there throughout their father’s two terms, until the family departed in 2017.

Keep ReadingShow less