Michael Cohen says Trump lied about sending investigators to Hawaii to look into Obama's birth certificate
President Trump was lying when he claimed in 2011 that he had paid private investigators to go to Hawaii to dig up information on former President Barack Obama's birth certificate, Michael Cohen, Trump's former personal lawyer and fixer, told MSNBC's Rachel Maddow on Tuesday.
In his new book, Disloyal: A Memoir, Cohen writes about Trump pushing the false claim that Obama was not actually born in Hawaii. Cohen told Maddow that when Trump began talking endlessly about the conspiracy theory, he "saw that his poll numbers and his popularity and the number of times that he's gracing the cover of the newspaper is increasing." Trump didn't actually believe any of it, Cohen said, but "he doesn't care what he says, he doesn't care who gets hurt, so long as he wins."
After Trump claimed to have sent private investigators to Hawaii, he declared that they couldn't "believe what they're finding." Later, Trump refused to share what the PIs allegedly uncovered, telling CNN's Anderson Cooper it wasn't "appropriate" to reveal their discoveries and letting ABC News' George Stephanopoulos know "it's none of your business right now."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
"He never sent anybody anywhere, he just said it and everybody sort of bought into it," Cohen said. "'Of course Donald Trump sent somebody, he's rich, right, who wouldn't send somebody if you wanted to prove your point?' Well, Donald Trump didn't do it because he didn't want to spend the money and he didn't believe it. His hatred for Barack Obama is plain and simple: He's Black, he went to Harvard Law, he graduated the top of his class, he's incredibly articulate, and he's all the things that Donald Trump wants to be, and he just can't handle it."
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
-
Does Nepal have too many tigers?
Under the Radar Wild tiger numbers have tripled in a decade but conservation success comes with rise in human fatalities
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Today's political cartoons - January 19, 2025
Cartoons Sunday's cartoons - moving to Canada, billionaire bootlickers, and more
By The Week US Published
-
5 inflammatory cartoons on the L.A. wildfires
Cartoons Artists take on climate change denial, the blame game, and more
By The Week US Published
-
DeSantis appoints Florida's top lawyer to US Senate
Speed Read The state's attorney general, Ashley Moody, will replace Sen. Marco Rubio in the Senate
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Pam Bondi downplays politics at confirmation hearing
Speed Read Trump's pick for attorney general claimed her Justice Department would not prosecute anyone for political reasons
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Biden warns of oligarchy in farewell address
Speed Read The president issued a stark warning about the dangers of unchecked power in the hands of the ultra-wealthy
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Hegseth boosts hopes for confirmation amid grilling
Speed Read The Senate held confirmation hearings for Pete Hegseth, Trump's Defense Secretary nominee
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Biden removes Cuba from terrorism blacklist
Speed read The move is likely to be reversed by the incoming Trump administration, as it was Trump who first put Cuba on the terrorism blacklist in his first term
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
South Korea arrests impeached president
speed read Impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol has been detained, making him the first sitting president to be arrested in the country's history
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
House GOP unveils bill for Trump to buy Greenland
Speed Read The bill would allow the U.S. to purchase the Danish territory — or procure it through economic or military force
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
DOJ releases Trump Jan. 6 special counsel report
Speed Read Jack Smith's report details the president-elect's "criminal efforts to retain power" amid the 2020 election
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published