DISLOYAL

I recommend Michael Cohen’s book, DISLOYAL. Mr. Cohen was a loyal lawyer and fixer for Donald Trump before he became president, during his 2016 presidential campaign, and during the early years of Trump’s presidency. The FBI seized materials from Cohen’s office and hotel room in April 2018 which documented his guilt in tasks done in the service of Trump. When it became obvious that Cohen would be indicted for those illegal tasks, Trump dumped Cohen and distanced himself from Cohen, leaving Cohen to take the consequences for the crimes which Trump directed Cohen to commit. Then Cohen turned against Trump, admitted his own guilt as well as those of Trump. Why did he turn against Trump? One obvious factor was that Trump did not return the loyalty that Cohen had shown to Trump. Another important factor was that his wife and children had all along disagreed with Cohen’s service to Trump and Trump’s corruption. Cohen admits his own guilt and agrees that his punishment was deserved. Perhaps Cohen had an epiphany as part of his reason. So what caused Cohen to do the crimes he did in the service of Trump? I can’t know independently what was in Cohen’s head. I can only read what Cohen said in his book. In the book, Cohen goes into detail about how he became enamored with glitter and power. In that way the book not only exposes Trump’s selfishness, narcissism, lack of empathy, and lack of morality. It also explores Cohen’s own complicity and how a person can be drawn into immorality by the glitter of power.