From prison cells to podcast mics, I’ve survived Trump’s wrath and the system’s betrayal. This isn’t just my story; it’s America’s reckoning. And we’re not done fighting. Not even close.
Illegitimi non carborundum. My good friend from Cooper Union always wrote this to me when I needed a pep talk. Thanks for continuing the good fight, Michael. Make sure you listen to yourself and consider it a necessity to take a quick time out for your spirit to heal from this constant barrage. We need you feisty and healthy!
As a VIETNAM combat Veteran, I know it was the best way to Die if you gave up. I am proud to say that my MANY Family and Friends who are Veterans and Active-duty Military will stop when TRAITOR Trump is IMPEACHED or Removed Permanently!
thank you for being who you are, with the willingness to keep up the fight. to be a leader. to be strong when we don't feel like sending one more email, making one more call, marching in one more protest, talking to family and friends. thank you!
This had to be difficult to share. You came through it and realized the error of your ways. We are all in this together. I really thought your idea, yesterday, of posting how much money he grifted in a day would be a great idea to do every day! People really don't know how bad it is. I also liked your idea of consolidating the subscriber lists. I hope that you and your fellow writers, Jim Acosta, Don Lemon, Tara Setmayer, Jen Rubin, Ben Meiselas, Aaron Parnas, etc will jointly decide the week's message. You can tell us what to focus on for a week such as calling the vulnerable Republican Senators to tell them to vote NO on the budget bill or call Mike Johnson to tell him to hang the plaque up in the Capitol, or tell the members of Congress to go to El Salvador and demand to see the detainees and hear their stories and report back to the people, or Congress people should visit the ICE facilities, there are over 200, to see conditions and interview detainees to put faces to the horror. We are your Army, Captain, and we need our marching orders! We are right behind you and ready to go.
I have experienced my own unjust hell and imprisonment Michael though not with iron bars. You made it out alive Michael as have I. You are exactly right that our best selves come from learning from our past and then living lighter and brighter by moving forward helping others and ourselves be better. This is what you are doing Michael and every single day bask in the truth that you and your work now are vitally important. We WILL make it through this and will all be better for it. Thank you Michael !
Nice piece. Thanks for sharing. I’m still wondering how the Conman has evaded prison when many of his associates served time. Michael, Weisselberg, Bannon, Manafort et al. Maybe it means the Conman’s time is on the horizon. For now, I’ll wait patiently for the Conman to pay for all the horrible things he continues do.
Michael, I'm so impressed by your eloquence, soulfulness, stirring and heartfelt writing. You give me hope that we can prevail over this monster. It's so obvious, for example in his graduation diatribe, this past weekend, that he is unhinged, crazy. But why is he still allowed to run rampant, spewing vengeance and evil everywhere? When and how can he be stopped? How are we going to do this? I fear that this movement has been festering for some time; he saw it as a marketing tool and ran with it. He has embraced the cruelty, but he has also been even further corrupted by the enormous power he has been given. As awful as he is, he's really running someone else's playbook. He has no original thoughts. Maybe he's too insulated to be gotten rid of, but maybe we can get rid of his enablers, the policymakers. They aren't immune.
So I started watching Political Beatdown a little over a year ago, just listening while doing chores and such, and kept thinking, “Huh, that’s a pretty cool dude.” And when I had the spare cash and needed something new to read, I remembered that you had a book, so I got “Disloyal” on kindle and gave it a whirl, not expecting much out of a memoir (No offense to memoirs, they’re just usually not my thing. Not enough sword fighting and necromancers lol)
And I couldn’t get something my granny always told me and my brothers growing up out of my head after reading it.
“Nothing worth doing’s easy.”
And I’ve seen what happens when people take the easy route, which is obviously the most common route, especially when it comes to people who’ve been thrown in prison. So many people I know who’ve made mistakes that landed them in some sort of trouble (granted very different from your situation) would just bide their time while behind bars, may decide to become “a born again Christian” because they literally had nothing else to do. Guess what happened when they eventually got out?
They went right back to the bullshit. They didn’t learn anything, and they don’t want to. They repeated the cycle and got worse each fucking time until they ended up in a max security prison out west where they throw terrorists and serial killers. (No, I’m not exaggerating with that example.)
So I want to say that I appreciate you and seeing the example you’re setting, showing that people can change, grow, and actually make a difference and do something to make the world a better place. Cynicism is also easy, but learning to give a shit again is a better use of my time, so thanks~
Either WE fight for all we love and hold dear, or Donald Trump gets all he loves and holds dear. Know the difference. Values, truths, and heart-filled determination are what we need--to save our country, leave a better world than we found it for those we love and care about, and yes, and have a good night's sleep knowing we did all we could. We can do this! Been thru a little HELL of my own, and NO, you're never the same. But we hold dear that we can, and must, be, and do, better. Let's keep going.
You are not alone. We hear every word. We feel your pain. It has become our pain as well. We are fighting with you. I encourage you to stand tall and keep us all motivated. Your list of followers grows every single day. You are making good trouble. We are with you.
I thank you Michael from the bottom of my heart for all you have done and are doing for the cause. May God bless you and give you the strength to carry on in this important work!
"Because Trumpism cannot be beaten. No. It must be broken. Shattered. Reduced to shards we bury deep so that no one ever forgets how close we came to losing it all." Michael Cohen
It MUST be remembered, for the same reason that we remember the Holocaust- it must never, ever be repeated again!
Just wondering if anyone had the same experience…. I received a message through Substack from someone claiming to be Michael’s mother, Sondra Cohen. She thanked me for “liking” her son’s work. I didn’t respond because I didn’t want to be taken for a ninny. If it was a sincere message it would be the sweetest gesture and I would love to respond to her. People can be anyone on social media but I don’t wish to be taken by a bot.
We stand with you, Michael, our family hates Donald Trump and wish he were GONE!!!
I saw a post one day, ‘’if Trump is gone before I wake, I pray the Lord, the news ain’t fake!”
That is our prayer also!!!
Love that! I'm a 52 year old Canadian and hate him as much as you do
It's a sad day when we all feel the same....this is where we're at now. And it's so upsetting. But, we keep going. We must.
What a Great Prayer! I'm using it from now on. Thank you.
We are soldiers in the war and are with you, Michael. Rage on my compadres!
Illegitimi non carborundum. My good friend from Cooper Union always wrote this to me when I needed a pep talk. Thanks for continuing the good fight, Michael. Make sure you listen to yourself and consider it a necessity to take a quick time out for your spirit to heal from this constant barrage. We need you feisty and healthy!
As a VIETNAM combat Veteran, I know it was the best way to Die if you gave up. I am proud to say that my MANY Family and Friends who are Veterans and Active-duty Military will stop when TRAITOR Trump is IMPEACHED or Removed Permanently!
THANK YOU, for your service, and the service of your family members and all you speak of. Your patriotism is shining brightly..
thank you for being who you are, with the willingness to keep up the fight. to be a leader. to be strong when we don't feel like sending one more email, making one more call, marching in one more protest, talking to family and friends. thank you!
Amen brother.
Your words touch my heart. So proud of you for this powerful, much needed, speaking.
Hey, we survived Hitler, we'll survive trump.
Keep speaking out brother. You were there watching this monster get born.
We'll all be there to watch him go down in flames.
This had to be difficult to share. You came through it and realized the error of your ways. We are all in this together. I really thought your idea, yesterday, of posting how much money he grifted in a day would be a great idea to do every day! People really don't know how bad it is. I also liked your idea of consolidating the subscriber lists. I hope that you and your fellow writers, Jim Acosta, Don Lemon, Tara Setmayer, Jen Rubin, Ben Meiselas, Aaron Parnas, etc will jointly decide the week's message. You can tell us what to focus on for a week such as calling the vulnerable Republican Senators to tell them to vote NO on the budget bill or call Mike Johnson to tell him to hang the plaque up in the Capitol, or tell the members of Congress to go to El Salvador and demand to see the detainees and hear their stories and report back to the people, or Congress people should visit the ICE facilities, there are over 200, to see conditions and interview detainees to put faces to the horror. We are your Army, Captain, and we need our marching orders! We are right behind you and ready to go.
I have experienced my own unjust hell and imprisonment Michael though not with iron bars. You made it out alive Michael as have I. You are exactly right that our best selves come from learning from our past and then living lighter and brighter by moving forward helping others and ourselves be better. This is what you are doing Michael and every single day bask in the truth that you and your work now are vitally important. We WILL make it through this and will all be better for it. Thank you Michael !
Nice piece. Thanks for sharing. I’m still wondering how the Conman has evaded prison when many of his associates served time. Michael, Weisselberg, Bannon, Manafort et al. Maybe it means the Conman’s time is on the horizon. For now, I’ll wait patiently for the Conman to pay for all the horrible things he continues do.
Michael, I'm so impressed by your eloquence, soulfulness, stirring and heartfelt writing. You give me hope that we can prevail over this monster. It's so obvious, for example in his graduation diatribe, this past weekend, that he is unhinged, crazy. But why is he still allowed to run rampant, spewing vengeance and evil everywhere? When and how can he be stopped? How are we going to do this? I fear that this movement has been festering for some time; he saw it as a marketing tool and ran with it. He has embraced the cruelty, but he has also been even further corrupted by the enormous power he has been given. As awful as he is, he's really running someone else's playbook. He has no original thoughts. Maybe he's too insulated to be gotten rid of, but maybe we can get rid of his enablers, the policymakers. They aren't immune.
So I started watching Political Beatdown a little over a year ago, just listening while doing chores and such, and kept thinking, “Huh, that’s a pretty cool dude.” And when I had the spare cash and needed something new to read, I remembered that you had a book, so I got “Disloyal” on kindle and gave it a whirl, not expecting much out of a memoir (No offense to memoirs, they’re just usually not my thing. Not enough sword fighting and necromancers lol)
And I couldn’t get something my granny always told me and my brothers growing up out of my head after reading it.
“Nothing worth doing’s easy.”
And I’ve seen what happens when people take the easy route, which is obviously the most common route, especially when it comes to people who’ve been thrown in prison. So many people I know who’ve made mistakes that landed them in some sort of trouble (granted very different from your situation) would just bide their time while behind bars, may decide to become “a born again Christian” because they literally had nothing else to do. Guess what happened when they eventually got out?
They went right back to the bullshit. They didn’t learn anything, and they don’t want to. They repeated the cycle and got worse each fucking time until they ended up in a max security prison out west where they throw terrorists and serial killers. (No, I’m not exaggerating with that example.)
So I want to say that I appreciate you and seeing the example you’re setting, showing that people can change, grow, and actually make a difference and do something to make the world a better place. Cynicism is also easy, but learning to give a shit again is a better use of my time, so thanks~
Either WE fight for all we love and hold dear, or Donald Trump gets all he loves and holds dear. Know the difference. Values, truths, and heart-filled determination are what we need--to save our country, leave a better world than we found it for those we love and care about, and yes, and have a good night's sleep knowing we did all we could. We can do this! Been thru a little HELL of my own, and NO, you're never the same. But we hold dear that we can, and must, be, and do, better. Let's keep going.
You are not alone. We hear every word. We feel your pain. It has become our pain as well. We are fighting with you. I encourage you to stand tall and keep us all motivated. Your list of followers grows every single day. You are making good trouble. We are with you.
I thank you Michael from the bottom of my heart for all you have done and are doing for the cause. May God bless you and give you the strength to carry on in this important work!
Know that a bandaged heart bleeds but still beats...
You’re a true Patriot, Michael. Thank God you’re fighting on.
"Because Trumpism cannot be beaten. No. It must be broken. Shattered. Reduced to shards we bury deep so that no one ever forgets how close we came to losing it all." Michael Cohen
It MUST be remembered, for the same reason that we remember the Holocaust- it must never, ever be repeated again!
Just wondering if anyone had the same experience…. I received a message through Substack from someone claiming to be Michael’s mother, Sondra Cohen. She thanked me for “liking” her son’s work. I didn’t respond because I didn’t want to be taken for a ninny. If it was a sincere message it would be the sweetest gesture and I would love to respond to her. People can be anyone on social media but I don’t wish to be taken by a bot.
I got one too. She's lovely