It doesn’t cost anything, to tell the truth – but Michael Cohen’s lawyer Lanny Davis set up a “Michael Cohen Truth Fund” last week, which has raised nearly $200,000 since Cohen pleaded guilty to tax and bank fraud.
Davis promoted the fundraiser in a number of interviews, stating that Cohen would be an “open book” for Robert Mueller, insinuating that he was going to turn on and incriminate President Donald Trump.
Despite the money raised for the “truth fund,” Davis then immediately went and lied to the media that Cohen would testify he witnessed Donald Trump Jr. notified his father in advance of his Trump Tower meeting with a Russian lawyer who offered dirt on Hillary Clinton (but didn’t provide it). CNN ran with the story, citing Davis as an anonymous source.
Trump Jr.’s adviser Andrew Surabian fired back at the report earlier this week, pointing out that the Washington Post had reported that Davis “pulled back his claims that Cohen knew about the meeting in advance,” and “expressed regret for not being clearer in assertions he made to reporters.” In other words: he lied.
Lanny Davis has told BuzzFeed News that he was an anonymous source for CNN's Trump Tower bombshell, a story he now disputes. He also regrets lying about his involvement, on CNN's own air, in an interview with Anderson Cooper last week https://t.co/gUO3piTM0V
— Steven Perlberg (@perlberg) August 28, 2018
And despite that lie, CNN has decided to stand by their story. Reporter Brian Stelter condescendingly told IJR’s Caleb Hull that he doesn’t know who CNN’s sources are…. which we do. The source is Lanny Davis. He then blocked Hull on twitter. Ironically, Stelter’s CNN show is called “Reliable Sources.”
It doesn't get any better than this, folks. pic.twitter.com/iGT1HdVG9y
— Caleb Hull (@CalebJHull) August 28, 2018
Slow clap guys… @oliverdarcy @brianstelter pic.twitter.com/X9xvf0n30e
— Stephen Miller (@redsteeze) August 28, 2018
Stelter & Darcy stood by a debunked story when they knew Davis was the source and then attempted to blame their critics. Guessing @CNNPR will be handling this one from here on out. @oliverdarcy @brianstelter
— Stephen Miller (@redsteeze) August 28, 2018
Embarrassing.
But not as embarrassing as being one of the people that forked over their hard earned cash to Lanny Davis.
According to the Washington Examiner, “Some donors to a ‘truth fund’ promoted by attorney Lanny Davis believe he should issue refunds after he admitted lying about what his client Michael Cohen knows about President Trump. Two donors told the Washington Examiner they have regrets after Davis admitted lying to news outlets [about comments made] in late July.”
They quoted the following two donors:
- A Switzerland-based tax adviser who donated $150 to the ” truth fund” told the Washington Examiner that she read articles describing Davis’ walk-back on Tuesday morning and would now like a refund. “If it is possible to get the money back, I would appreciate this,” she said.
- Los Angeles-based attorney Henry Gradstein said he’s not particularly concerned about losing $100, but that refunds might be the right thing to do. “As an ethical matter, yes, very disappointing,” Gradstein said regarding whether he wanted a refund. “As a practical matter, no — it’s $100.”
In all fairness, the kind of person who would donate to such a fund deserves to be fleeced in the first place.
