The revenge of the Lesser Trumps

I’m not equating Trump and Avenatti, who doesn’t deserve that. I’m just pointing out leitmotifs. And I’m hardly the first. Brian Kabateck, the president of the Los Angeles County Bar Association, told Matthew Shaer of The New York Times Magazine that Avenatti was “a perfect foil for Trump, because he actually sees the world just like Trump does.” Kabateck paused before adding, “In a way, he sort of is Trump.”

In a way, Cohen sort of is Trump, too, with shady ties, bendy rules and limber ethics. His exposure is now Trump’s vulnerability. There’s actually a scene in Manigault Newman’s book where she and Cohen watch Trump eat a piece of paper rather than leave it around for presidential record-keepers. Cohen has denied this; Trump has essentially denied everything by tweeting copiously that Manigault Newman is “vicious,” “deranged,” “crazed” and a “dog.” You can muddle through whom to believe or you can marvel — and shudder — at the intersection of these three at the apex of American government.