Hal Brown's Substack (fomerly Hal Brown's Blog)

August 10, 2025

Did Michael Cohen just write something that could get him in trouble with the DOJ and Secret Service?

Even before I read the article “Trump's ex-lawyer makes 'bold prediction' about president's 'king'-like ambition” on RawStory, I wondered why the headline writer just didn’t write “Michael Cohen makes 'bold prediction' about president's 'king'-like ambition." After all, by now every RawStory reader, like most Americans, know that Michael Cohen was once Trump’s personal lawyer and legal consigliere. From 2018, here’s an article about his backstory.

My not really relevant reaction to the title being pointed out, the RawStory article summarizes Cohen’s Substack for today:

I recommend reading it here.

Here’s how he begins:

I’ve never been shy about making bold, public predictions. And to date, as you have seen, I’ve been right almost every time. This one is no different. We didn’t just elect President Trump to a second term. We gave him power that looks less like a presidency and more like a monarchy. And this King is already using his courts to punish those who stood against him.

Even if you don’t read it, or just skim through it, go to his conclusion. This is where he writes something that could get him in trouble with the DOJ or the Secret Service, or both.

The proverb "when you strike at a king, you must kill him" is attributed to Ralph Waldo Emerson, although he was expressing an idea that goes back to Machiavelli. In The Prince he wrote "men ought either to be well treated or crushed, because they can avenge themselves of lighter injuries, of more serious ones they cannot; therefore the injury that is to be done to a man ought to be of such a kind that one does not stand in fear of revenge."

It is quite clear what kind of injury Machiavelli was suggesting.

It is a crime to advocate this for a public official and if someone does so it can get them in trouble. Just ask Kathy Griffin.

Addendum:

Here’s Michael Cohen on The Weekend on MSNBC this morning.

In his Substack today, “MAGA and Americanism are antithetical propositions,”Steve Schmidt blasted Laura Loomer for what she wrote about her disgusting attack on the fact that Florent Groberg was a recipient of the Medal of Honor, the highest valor award of the Armed Forces of the United States. It was how he described her that hit me as an albeit crude, but spot-on description of her:

Here’s just a snippet of what Loomer wrote:

Are we supposed to believe the Army couldn’t find a Republican and US born soldier?
They had to find an immigrant who voted for Hillary Clinton and spoke at the DNC as Obama’s guest?

You can read the rest of Schmidt’s Substack.

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August 9, 2025

Iceland is about to get a US ambassador with a Trumpian sadistic sense of humor.

The best place to read this is on Substack here. You are invited to subscribe. It is free.

On the very bottom of the page on Substack is a new feature. It is my reaction to various news reports of the day updated though the day.

We know that Trump sense of humor leans heavily towards the sadistic. He thinks it’s amusing to tell police officers not to be too careful loading people into the backs of their cruisers so they don’t bump their heads or bragging that he could shoot someone on Fifth Avenue or grab a woman by her privates. There are numerous articles about Trump’s sense of humor. I won’t delve into it here. You can read them with a Google search here.

This guy pictured above you probably never heard of. He epitomizes the kind of sadistic, cruel, insensitive humor favored by Trump and mimicked by his toadies. He demonstrated this in what was meant to be a joke in something he tweeted last night.

Read “‘ICE — not Iceland!’ Fired IRS head jokes about Trump’s chilly reassignment” in RawStory here.

Here’s another article about this:

This is supposedly the joke, i.e., something meant to be funny.

Here’s what he posted on X:

So, are you holding your sides to keep them from splitting as you are rolling on the floor laughing uncontrollably at his saying that he got so fired up when he saw that the former Superman actor Dean Cain had announced he was joining ICE that he wanted to do the same, and called Trump to tell him that he wanted to do this. And then Trump misunderstood him and made him ambassador to Iceland instead.

Oh my fucken God, that is so hysterically funny… he wanted to join the thugs at ICE who are terroizing thousands of law abiding citizens across the country.

The question as to why this guy was fired after only two months on the job running the IRS has not been answered. It’s possible he refused to order the agency to go after some of Trump’s enemies. Perhaps this act of intergity got him axed and, because in other ways he was a loyal Trumper and because Trump didn’t want anyone looking too closely at his removal he was given another job, albeit what isn’t considered a to be a plum ambassadorship. Perhaps he got since of running an agency which had it’s staff cut by 25% by DOGE.

Iceland is not a major player in world politics except for the Greenland “thing,” living in Reykjavik, Iceland’s capital, is not a hardship assignment. In fact, it seems to be a rather pleasant place to work for the next few years.

The government website about Iceland has not been updated. It shows that the US still has an interim ambassador. (Reference)

Reykjavík is consider to be vibrant and colorful city which is far from the icy wasteland which the name Iceland suggests. The city is filled with museums, cafes, and has a lively arts scene. Here’s a photo of their Pride celebration which began on Aug. 5th and ends tomorrow:

August 8, 2025

Is Dan Bongino the inside man Trump has to worry about the most? Could he be a modern day Serpico?

Substack is the best place to read this is where updates are posted throughout the day (here).

Today I am writing about Dan Bongino, however if you click 1 on the left it will take you to the bottom of the page for my reaction to various other stories.1

This Substack is a deeper look at the article from RawStory “‘He’s dangerous to them”: Trump reportedly scrambling to ‘muzzle’ a rouge FBI official.” This isn’t just any FBI official. He is second in command and is someone most Amercians have heard of and who is identifiable to them. It’s this guy:

Here’s a recent NBC News article about him:

The FBI created a multiagency team to protect him when he took the job as the number two man at the FBI.

Like Pete Hegseth, the man had previous jobs that once required carrying guns. He no longer carries a gun because he opted out to meet the FBI requirements for doing so. However he is the boss of all the agents who do carry guns.

He used to carry a gun since he was once a Secret Service agent and a New York City police officer. Then, like Hegseth, he went on to have a career in broadcasting.

Also, like Hegseth, he has some bulging biceps and a buff body which he liked to show off.

This is what he posted on X in April:

Headed back to DC today after spending a day back home with my wife and daughter. As I dive back into work, I want to reassure you that nothing that is happening here is happening by accident. Because of the sensitivity of what the FBI deals with, both the Director and I have to be circumspect in what we can make public. Bad guys read this stuff too. Neither one of us came here to play games. Measure us by results. You will see them. But just because you don’t see something happening right this second, doesn’t mean it isn’t happening. I’ll conclude by stating that not every result is going to please everyone. That’s just pandering, it’s not leadership. Complex problems require diligence and a reform-oriented process to create lasting changes. Or else you’re simply putting a bandage on a gushing wound. Let’s do it right. God bless America, and all those who defend Her. -Dan

Below is his followup post:

I’d like to add this: Your comments and criticisms are not only welcome, but they’re helpful. We work for you, the American people. Your feedback is invaluable. All I ask is that you consider the following feedback to the feedback. When you see something happen, and the entire story isn’t public, and the underlying facts aren’t all public, it may appear counterintuitive to our reform agenda. I promise you, it’s not an accident. Ask yourself, why I would sign on to something like this otherwise. Is it a desire to be wealthy, famous, “connected,” or to be a future lobbyist? If that sounds ridiculous, it’s because it is. I realized when I signed up that I’d never be able to fully explain some decisions we make due to legal and ethical constraints. But that’s a pill I agreed to swallow when I swore in. In conclusion, I realize asking you to “trust me” is a waste of time. Watch what happens, continue to demand results, be cautious of narrative “traps,” let time put the puzzle pieces together, and what we’re doing will make sense. I see and hear you and your feedback. Thanks for your time. -Dan

This strikes me as something quite a bit different that what we see coming from the typical Trump toady, but then again I am always skeptical about such missives coming from anyone in Trumpworld.

Now we have a story from Lev Parnas that suggests Dan Bongino may turn out to be the Serpico of, not the law enforcment agency he works for, but of the entire Trump criminal enterprise (my comparison, not his).

In his Substack (here) he begins:

They talk about the dinner. They talk about the people who were supposed to be there. They talk about what was likely discussed. But not a single outlet, not one reporter, is talking about the name that wasn’t there. The name that matters most.
Dan Bongino.
Because what I’m telling you now, is that this dinner—this meeting Todd Blanche was supposed to lead at J.D. Vance’s residence—was never just about Epstein. It was about Dan. About bringing him to heel. About getting him in line. And when that dinner got exposed and canceled, the conversation didn’t go away. It just moved behind closed doors.
According to my sources, that conversation happened yesterday at the White House. Kash Patel sat down with Pam Bondi in private. The topic? Bongino. The rift. The refusal. The threat.

This is a follow-up to what Parnas Substacked on Aug. 6 (here):

This Substack begins:

My sources tell me that due to the mounting media scrutiny—especially after we broke the story—the original dinner was scrapped and moved off the books. Instead, quiet meetings were held at the White House, and high-level conversations took place behind closed doors. But here’s the part the media missed while chasing what we already exposed: Dan Bongino the one man in Trump’s inner circle who has refused to play along with the Epstein cover-up, was never going to attend. And that was a major point of discussion in those meetings. The tension between Bongino and Trump’s loyalists—especially Bondi—is real. And Trump knows it. They’re trying to hold the narrative together, but Bongino is the crack they can’t control.
Bongino, I’m told, is not playing ball. He’s defiant. He’s seen the files, read the transcripts, and knows the truth about Epstein. The documents. The flight logs. The dirty connections. And he wants no part of the cover-up Trump is orchestrating now. That’s why there’s tension inside the walls of Trump’s DOJ. And that’s why, according to my sources, part of these conversations were spent trying to broker peace between Bongino and Bondi— Kash Patel was acting as Bongino’s proxy. Think about that.
This is one of the darkest scandals this country has ever seen.

I know it is wishful thinking when I wonder whether Bongino could have the guts and integrity to actually live up to the oath he swore. Could he be a modern day Serpico? If so, he’d be different from Frank Serpico (Wikipedia) who as a police detective exposed widespread racketeering and corruption in the New York City Police Department. Bongino wouldn’t be exposing corruption in the FBI. If he became a whistleblower like Serpico he would be exposing the corruption and ciminality of Donald Trump and his henchmen (and henchwomen).

Afterthought:

More a more apt comparison than Bongino becoming Trump’s Serpico is him becoming Trump’s John Dean.