Who Needs Enemies With Friends Like Michael Cohen?
By
Leonard Zwelling
Trump takes strange bedfellows. From Stormy Daniels to his latest Playboy model Karen McDougal, Mr. Trump certainly has a way with women. And apparently with men too. No, not like that. He can’t seem to develop a business relationship with guys that doesn’t blow up at some point.
It is looking more and more likely that Michael Cohen, presidential fixer, lawyer and potential flipper, the Ray Donovan of Manhattan, taped discussions he had with his famous client and that these discussions may reveal that there were payoffs to “girls” with whom Mr. Trump had affairs while married to Melania. If the payoff can be proven, proven to be substantial, and ajudged to be made to hide facts that might have damaged Mr. Trump’s election chances, they can be viewed as political contributions that exceeded the legal limit.
Uh-oh! Go to jail and do not pass Go!
I think that the more important question is what else was turned up in the searches of Mr. Cohen’s offices and homes? Who else was paid? How much? From what source? You know—Nixon burglar Watergate stuff.
And while we’re on the subject of money, how did Marshall Hicks and Steve Hahn pull off the trick—before Dr. Pisters arrived—of righting the financial situation at MD Anderson? Was there a sudden influx of patients? More MRIs? More activity in the network? Maybe it was the reduction in force, but didn’t that happen while DePinho was still president? OR—were Dr. DePinho and his minions put on a spending diet and that corrected the shortfall?
I don’t know, but I do want to know why a leader whose performance was so poor that he had to be relieved of his leadership is still being supported by the institution he tried so hard to bankrupt?
If Dr. Pisters can get advice on the number of computers each faculty member can own and cannot trust the faculty to care for their own flash drives, I suggest that the same should be said of Dr. DePinho and the hold over, underperforming executives who flourished under the past administration.
I think that there may be more money to be saved.
It was inevitable that the truth about Donald Trump’s election would eventually make its way to the consciousness of America. Although Mr. Mueller has still not written a report for general consumption, there can be little doubt that with over 30 indictments and 5 guilty pleas already, he is well on his way to justifying his appointment and possibly saving the country.
I believe that the same is true at MD Anderson and the attitude of “we will just look at things going forward” may not be the healthiest attitude for the new administration to have. There needs to be a reckoning of the bad old days. A Truth Commission like in South Africa is in order for what DePinho did so it never happens again. And while we are at it, the complicity of the UT Board of Regents and the Chancellor in DePinho’s Reign of Terror also needs some investigation so that someone is watching those doing the watching.
How did MD Anderson get in so much financial trouble and how can the greater Anderson community be assured it won’t happen again? I suggest a little sunlight be shone on the subject–an independent commission reporting to the president of MD Anderson about the DePinho years. If it wants to go back a little further, that’s a good idea, too.
