President Donald Trump's former lawyer, Michael Cohen, said that the unwritten rule at the Trump Organization was that anyone working for the principal was there to protect him. Attorney General Pam Bondi may have yelled about his accomplishments, but Cohen said that she failed to protect him.
Writing for his Substack on Friday, Cohen said that watching the hearing this week, he thought, "someone forgot the memo."
Bondi sang his praises and tried to distract from trafficker and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein by touting "the Dow." However, Cohen wrote, "None of it accomplished the core objective that defined every strategy session I ever sat through."
Behind Bondi sat a group of survivors of Epstein's abuse. At one point, they were asked to stand and be recognized for their bravery. They were also asked if the Justice Department had reached out to them to apologize for exposing their names and personal information in violation of the congressional law mandating the release of the Epstein files. They hadn't, and Democrats wanted to know from Bondi why that was and if she regretted it.
She responded by pulling out her so-called "burn book" and sifting through for talking points to attack whatever Democrat asked a question.
Cohen wrote, "That visual alone should have reset the tone in the room. Instead, Bondi dismissed the questioning as theatrics and said she would not 'get in the gutter.'"
It would easily have scored Bondi a big win by saying it was inadvertent, apologizing and promising it would never happen again.
"But politics is not litigated in footnotes. It is decided in perception," wrote Cohen. "And the perception was dismissiveness."
Cohen pointed to Marina Lacerda, who told reporters that Bondi ignored their calls and emails. She thought that Bondi and the GOP were trying to intimidate them into silence.
It's not unusual, said Cohen. This was part of the unwritten rule of Trump's life. It might be easy to do when going up against Democrats, but not when going up against the Epstein survivors.
A larger question came from Rep. Tom Massie (R-Ky.), who wondered why some of the Epstein associates earned a redaction when the abuse survivors were not. Bondi was dismissive and punched back.
As Cohen wrote, "every punch created a new headline."
The lesson that the Trump administration has failed to learn is "when you act evasive, people assume there is something to evade. When you appear defensive, they assume there is something to defend. And when victims feel unheard, conspiracy theories flourish in the vacuum."
It only perpetuates Trump's ongoing problem with Epstein.