THE OFFICIAL MEA CULPA WITH MICHAEL COHEN ARCHIVE

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.

Mea Culpa welcomes back our friend and intrepid newsman, Ali Velshi. Host of “Velshi” and seemingly the favorite fill-in host of every other MSNBC Prime Time News Show. Velshi also reported live from the frontlines of the George Floyd protests, he was drenched during hurricane Ian. And dodged incoming fire from Russian artillery when he fearlessly reported live from the frontlines in Ukraine. A concerned citizen of the world, Velshi seems to be everywhere there is an injustice. He has been a contributor at CNN, Al Jazeera America, and NBC to name a few. Velshi is also a prolific writer and has written books, articles, and columns for newspapers and monthly publications throughout the northern hemisphere. 

Mea Culpa welcomes one of our favorite people from the Lincoln Project, Tara Setmayer. Setmayer is a former CNN political commentator, a contributor to ABC News, and a former GOP Communications Director on Capitol Hill. She's appeared on ABC's The View, ABC's Good Morning America, and HBO's Real Time with Bill Maher. Setmayer was named a Harvard Institute of Politics Spring 2020 Resident Fellow. Also in 2020, she joined The Lincoln Project as a senior advisor. Setmayer hosts the live show "The Breakdown" alongside co-founder Rick Wilson, on the organization's streaming channel, LPTV. Michael and Tara dig deep into the media and its effect on the elections, Trump's denials, and George Santos. 

Mea Culpa welcomes Emily Jane Fox. Fox is a national correspondent at Vanity Fair and a cohost of the popular podcast “Inside the Hive”. She is the best-selling author of Born Trump and a chronicler of characters from Washington to Hollywood — But Fox will go anywhere where great characters can be found.

Donald J. Trump has been found liable of sexual abuse and defamation in the E Jean Carroll rape case. 

Mea Culpa welcomes legal scholar and advocate, Jennifer Taub. Taub is the author of the best-selling book, ”Other People's Houses." And is formerly an associate general counsel at Fidelity Investments. She is considered a leading expert on the Financial Crisis of 2008, and she’s a frequent commentator on corporate governance and financial reform matters. Taub is a graduate of Yale College and Harvard Law School (where she is currently a visiting professor) Taub is also a professor at Vermont Law School, where she teaches Contracts, Corporations, Securities Regulation, and White Collar Crime. Taub’s advocacy promotes transparency and opposes corruption. As she likes to say, it’s all about following the money.

Mea Culpa welcomes 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. 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. Eisen is also active with the Brookings Institute and other groups working to expose the myriad of ways Trump and others like him broke the law and attempted to overturn the 2020 election. Eisen is also working with the Brookings Institute to help Ukraine recover and thrive once Putin’s war has ended.

Mea Culpa welcomes one of the most recognized journalists in the country, Jeffrey Toobin. Toobin is the chief legal analyst for CNN Worldwide and a staff writer for the New Yorker. Before joining CNN, he worked for six years as a legal analyst for ABC News. He has written articles on and provided legal analysis for several significant cases including the O. J. Simpson murder case, the Kenneth Starr investigation of the Clinton White House, and the trials of Michael Jackson and George Zimmerman. As an author, he has written a number of best-selling books including, The Real Story of the Sex Scandal that Nearly Brought Down a President, The Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court, and The Oath: The Obama White House and the Supreme Court. His book, The Run of His Life: The People v. O.J. Simpson, inspired the television series, The People v. O. J. Simpson: American Crime Story. The series went on to bag nine Emmy awards. Michael and Jeffrey dig into the homegrown terrorism, Fox News, and Biden's age.