Michael Cohen Promotes Trump Pardon Conspiracy Theory

For as disdainful the mainstream media has been about the conspiracy theories that surrounded the 2020 election and the Qanon phenomenon, they seem to have an enormous blindspot for those sorts of theories that advance their narratives.

For instance, when those conspiracy theories suggest some ill-tempered or nefarious deed possibly committed by Donald Trump, there seems to be no issue with disseminating that information far and wide.

Take the latest from Michael Cohen, for example.

Former Donald Trump lawyer Michael Cohen on Sunday expressed his belief that the ex-president had issued pardons for himself, his children and Rudy Giuliani before leaving office.

In the early hours of Wednesday morning, Trump granted pardons to 73 individuals and commuted the sentences of an additional 70, including Steve Bannon and rapper Kodak Black. But his list did not include preemptive pardons for himself, his family or Giuliani.

Cohen told MSNBC host Alex Witt that he started to ponder why the former president didn’t issue pardons for himself, his children or Giuliani after “knowing Donald Trump for well over a decade.”

The former fixer seemed to make no effort to hide his conspiratorial thought process.

“I started thinking to myself it doesn’t really make sense because it’s not like Donald Trump, so what am I missing?” he said.

Cohen concluded that Trump could have already pardoned himself, his children and Giuliani in secret, in what he referred to as “pocket pardons.”

Cohens’ verbiage belied his uncertainty.

“I kind of think I figured it out,” he said. “I think Donald Trump actually has given himself the pardon. I think he also has pocket pardons for his children and for Rudy and it’s already stashed somewhere that, if and when they do get indicted and that there’s a criminal conviction, federal criminal conviction brought against him, that he already has the pardons in hand.”

There is no evidence to support these claims by Cohen, who was convicted of lying to Congress in order to protect Donald Trump in the past.