THE OFFICIAL MEA CULPA WITH MICHAEL COHEN ARCHIVE

Mea Culpa welcomes back our good friend Norm Eisen. There’s pretty much nothing going on in politics today that Eisen doesn’t have an educated opinion about. Eisen is a CNN Legal Analyst. And the founder and executive chair of “States United Democracy Center” a nonpartisan organization advancing free, fair, and secure elections. His articles for the Brookings Institute and elsewhere have made the case for why Trump and his band of criminal conspiracists represented a clear and present danger to democracy. His latest piece for MSNBC lays out how Jack Smith can defeat Trump and put him behind bars. Eisen served as special counsel to President Barack Obama on ethics. In that role, he was dubbed “Mr. No” and the “Ethics Czar” because he's well known for his tough anti-corruption approach to governance. Having spent time in Eastern Europe as the Ambassador to the Czech Republic, Eisen cares deeply about the region and is also working with the Brookings Institute to help Ukraine recover and thrive once Putin’s war has ended. But today it’s all indictment talk. And Norm is ready to put the bracelets on little Donny for good. 

Mea Culpa welcomes back Maz Jobrani. The actor and comedian who starred on the Axis of Evil Middle East Comedy Tour, a groundbreaking tour of the US and Middle Eastern countries, where it sold out 27 shows in Dubai, Beirut, Cairo, Kuwait and Amman. The Axis of Evil Comedy Central Special premiered in 2007 as, arguably, the first show on American TV with an all-Middle Eastern/American cast. He is also the author of the best-selling memoir, “I’m Not a Terrorist But I Play One on TV.” In addition, Maz is a frequent host of NPR’s “Wait, Wait Don’t Tell Me.” And a popular TED speaker. His latest comedy special, “The Birds and the Bees” was filmed at Hollywood’s legendary Comedy Store and is available for download on YouTube. Leading up to the election and its aftermath, Jobrani’s Twitter feed delivered much-needed laughs during an especially tense time for me as we awaited this nation’s fate. Now as we find ourselves in the De Ja Vu of yet another Donald Trump indictment, it's time to bring him back and hear his view on what’s in store for all of us. 

Mea Culpa welcomes our old friend, Harry Litman, the former US Attorney and Deputy Assistant Attorney General. Litman is currently the legal affairs columnist for the Los Angeles Times and a professor of Constitutional Law at UCLA and UCSD. Harry can be seen as a legal and political commentator on CBS, NPR MSNBC, and CNN. Litman is also the creator and host of the Talking Feds Podcast. You’d be smart to subscribe to the “Talking Feds” YouTube channel. New episodes are posted daily. But today Harry is here to give us the rundown on all things Trump indictment. He is especially interested in Judge Cannon and the damage she could potentially do to the prosecution’s case. 

Mea Culpa welcomes Reed Galen co-founder of The Lincoln Project and an independent political strategist. A veteran public affairs and political commentator with more than 20 years of experience, Reed has been involved in politics, government, and business at the highest levels. Galen has spent more than a decade advising Fortune 50, 100, and 1000 companies in need of high-level counsel in the fields of strategic communications, procurement, and legislation. In addition to his private sector work, Reed has managed several high-profile ballot measure campaigns in California, Texas, and Colorado – Before moving to the private sector, Reed served as Deputy Campaign Manager for John McCain’s presidential campaign and Deputy Campaign Manager for Arnold Schwarzenegger’s successful 2006 re-election campaign. Galen also worked on both of President George W. Bush's campaigns and served the Bush Administration at both the U.S. Department of the Treasury and the Department of Homeland Security. As founder of the Lincoln Project, Galen has led the group's vision and created some of its most memorable attacks against Donald Trump, Ron DeSantis, and others. He is now focused on not only ridding the nation of Trump. But punishing those willful collaborators who think they can sit in the middle rather than use this indictment to finally rid the party of this disease. 

Mea Culpa welcomes Tristan Snell. The former New York Assistant Attorney General famously lead the civil prosecution in the Trump University case for the state of New York against the Trump Organization. The 2013 case found the Trump Org guilty; forcing them to pay out $25 million in restitution. Snell spent years scaling the walls of the Trump Organization, largely creating the playbook for defeating Donald Trump in court. Ultimately, he said, it’s about the receipts, not the witnesses. To beat Trump you need indisputable proof, a smoking gun and that only comes from having the documents to prove it. Snell is the founder of Main Street Law and appears as a commentator on CNN, and serves as a contributing writer for the Washington Post. His work as a lawyer and founder has been featured in a wide array of media outlets, from the New Yorker to the Atlantic to Last Week Tonight with John Oliver. He joins me today on Mea Culpa as the nation goes on indictment watch for the Mango Mussolini. Snell believes that the government has the goods this time and Trump may actually go to prison. Listen in.

Mea Culpa welcomes podcaster, radio host, and columnist Joe Walsh. Walsh was elected to the House of Representatives in 2011 from Illinois’s 8th District. He also ran for president and then blew up his life when he spoke out against the MAGA cult and gave Trump the bird. To quote Joe, Republicans “have become fully radicalized and anti-democracy.” Joe’s podcast, “White Flag” strives to find a path to unite, not divide us politically, but he pulls no punches in his latest book, “F*ck Silence: Calling Trump Out for the Cultish, Moronic, Authoritarian Con Man He Is.” He has of late, railed against the GOP establishment who voted for Trump in 2020 and believe the rest of us simply forgot their actions. He is also deeply worried about the future of the GOP and the idea that there is no longer space for a sane, anti-Trump candidate who supports small government and fiscal conservatism. What happens next is anyone’s guess. 

Holy $hit!! CNN is reporting that there is an audio recording of Trump bragging about being in possession of a top secret document detailing a plan to attack Iran. If true it blows apart hi entire defense and could be what ultimately sends him to prison.  Asha Rangappa joins Michael to analyze the fallout.

Mea Culpa welcomes back Joe Trippi. Heralded on the cover of The New Republic as the man who “reinvented campaigning,” Trippi pioneered bringing politics into the digital age. Most recently, he’s brought his campaign savvy to the Lincoln Project where he serves as a senior advisor. With Trump a target of Federal Prosecutors and State DA’s, Trippi is targeting the MAGA machine that continues to prop up divisive politics. Lately, his scorn is being directed at Ron DeSantis, who the GOP hoped to dress up as a more palatable Donald Trump but instead got a zombie hall monitor with a mean streak. You can listen to Joe’s podcast, “That Trippi Show,” everywhere podcasts are found or see him on MSNBC, CNN and NBC. Today we’re going to talk to him about Ron DeSantis, fake campaign ads and of course the 2024 election. Listen closely, this man is the maestro of campaign politics.

Mea Culpa welcomes back from the wilds of Boca Raton, Florida. Lev Parnas Lev is a Soviet-born businessman who along with Rudy Giuliani and Igor Fruman played a central role in the campaign to pressure Ukraine to investigate Trump’s political rivals, including Hunter Biden. Parnas was thrown into Trump's first impeachment drama, but he ended up working with federal prosecutors against Giuliani and the former president. Parnas is currently serving a 20-month sentence for Campaign Finance, Wire Fraud, And False Statements Offenses, and is speaking to us today while on home confinement. Lev is a truth-teller and unafraid to remember the things that most folks wish he would forget. Sorry folks but there’s a hashtag that Parnas deploys that says it all, “LEV REMEMBERS.” What that means for Rudy Giuliani and the allegations against him from Noelle Dunphy that include sexual assault and the selling of pardons could prove problematic for AMERICAS FORMER MAYOR. And then there’s Ron DeSantis who in typical Ron DeSantis fashion is trying to distance himself completely from the fact that he took a lot of money from Lev Parnas. Sorry buddy. But LEV REMEMBERS. 

Mea Culpa welcomes back our good friend, Brooklyn Dad Defiant, or simply BDD. BDD is a left-wing political commentator on Twitter, YouTube, and various other social media platforms. His outspoken defiance and often humorous take on the Trump administration have earned him over 1.2 million Twitter followers. Since the riots at the Capitol on January 6, BDD has used his platform to bring attention to GOP lawmakers like MTG, Cruz, Jordan, and Biggs, asking that they face consequences for their actions in connection to the insurrection. In addition, he is keeping watch over Kevin McCarthy and the GOP Congress over what he sees as the far-right hijacking of our legislature and courts to push through a damaging, extremist agenda. He calls himself a proud papa who is perpetually pissed. He’s a fascinating guy. BBD and Michael dig deep into Rudy, DeSantis and what's in store for Trump.