Rep. Steve Cohen Says President Donald Trump is a 'Criminal Enterprise'

U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN-09), the same man who said he wants U.S. Sen.-elect Marsha Blackburn to jump off a bridge, has concluded that President Donald Trump is a “criminal enterprise.”

On Friday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “The Last Word,” Steve Cohen spoke about the sentencing memos on former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen. He said, “Donald Trump is a criminal enterprise.”

Host Lawrence O’Donnell said, “Only three presidents of the United States have been accused of federal crimes by … a prosecutor, a federal prosecutor of any kind while in office, and Donald Trump is now one of them.”

O’Donnell pointed out that any impeachment proceedings would start in the House Judiciary Committee, where Cohen is a member.

Steve Cohen said, “I think that what we’ve learned today is what we — many of us have known for at least two years, and some for maybe 10 or 15, that Donald Trump is a criminal enterprise. The Trump family is a criminal enterprise, and that most of the people he’s involved with, like Michael Cohen and Manafort, are shady folks.”

The representative said many committees would investigate “Trump activities” but they would not start out with impeachment.

Steve Cohen added, “proof is going to come out. They probably have recordings of Trump that Michael Cohen had. They probably have recordings of other people, the family members, and it’s going to be so clear that this has been a criminal enterprise from day one with the Russians and Trump, that the Republicans will jump off of the ship and say, we’ve got to get rid of this guy.”

In July, Steve Cohen spoke at a breakfast at Broadway Baptist Church in Memphis that was hosted by Democrat Phil Bredesen’s campaign for the U.S. Senate. He said he wanted Trump to tell Blackburn, who was running against Bredesen for the Senate, to jump off the Harahan Bridge in Memphis.

Manhattan federal prosecutors on Friday said that President Trump’s longtime lawyer, Michael Cohen, committed campaign finance crimes “in coordination with and at the direction of Individual 1” — a reference to President Trump, the New York Post reported.

It was the first time the feds directly linked Trump to hush money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels and Playboy model Karen McDougle, the Post said.

The amounts paid, at least $130,000 to each woman, exceed the legal level of donations that can be made to aid a campaign, the Post said. Prosecutors also said Cohen should serve “a substantial term of imprisonment despite his cooperation with their investigation.”

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Jason M. Reynolds has more than 20 years’ experience as a journalist at outlets of all sizes.