Editor’s Note: Michael D’Antonio is the author of the book, “Never Enough: Donald Trump and the Pursuit of Success,” and co-author with Peter Eisner of “The Shadow President: The Truth About Mike Pence.” The opinions expressed in this commentary are the author’s. View more opinion articles on CNN.
When Michael Cohen called to threaten me — “You just bought yourself an f-ing lawsuit” — were his exact words, I felt a little special. How many people, I thought, had been subject to such thuggery? Surely it was a rare thing.
Now, thanks to Cohen’s testimony before Congress, I’ve learned I wasn’t so special after all. Asked to estimate how many folks Trump had asked him to intimidate, Cohen guessed it had been 500 or more.
I experienced Cohen’s weak imitation of a mobster trying to silence a witness in 2015, as I was finishing a biography of Trump the businessman/TV star. Trump had told me he would announce for president but I wasn’t sure he would follow through. The call made me certain he would, because Cohen was so concerned about what I was writing.
He worried that I was going to reveal unpleasant facts about Trump’s past, including his bankruptcies and his betrayals of his wives. In fact I did eventually report on those aspects of his life, but it’s not like they weren’t well known.
The problem, I think, was that a biography that deflated the Trump myth wouldn’t serve the real estate developer’s political purpose. I suspect Trump had hoped my book would elevate him. When others I had interviewed told Trump of my interest in the full truth, he apparently told Cohen to go after me.
Early in the call I was upset by Cohen’s tone. No one likes to hear even an idle threat and he sounded like he meant business. But I kept him talking and eventually he started chuckling when I told him the title of the hardcover would be “Never Enough.” “You’re right,” he said, “for him nothing is ever enough.” By the time we ended the call, I knew Cohen was just following orders. He sent a nasty letter to my publisher, but in the end nothing came of the threat.
Listening to Cohen’s testimony on Wednesday I heard more of the chuckling fellow and nothing of the thug. Time will tell whether the change in Cohen that he described to the committee – the abject contrition – will stick. But in my time researching Trump – and dealing with Cohen – it always seemed to me that a better man was waiting to be seen if ever Cohen emerged from the big man’s shadow.
