Cohen Hearing and California GOP
Michael Cohen, President Trump’s former personal lawyer, delivered a scathing account Wednesday of what he says was a lying, cheating president who used his money and power to hide illegal behavior. Cohen told Congress that Trump remained involved in paying hush money to a porn film actress even after arriving in the White House and directed him to lie about it. California lawmakers played a prominent role in the hearing on Capitol Hill, with some of the most pointed questions coming from Silicon Valley congressman Ro Khanna and Southern California Rep. Katie Hill. Meanwhile, California’s Republican Party recently picked a new leader, Jessica Patterson, the first woman and first Latina to chair the state GOP.
Guests:
- Tal Kopan, Washington, D.C., correspondent, San Francisco Chronicle
- Jason Clark, Bay Area regional vice chair, California Republican Party
- Scott Shafer, KQED senior editor of politics and government
U.S. and North Korea Summit Collapse
President Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un abruptly ended their summit in Vietnam this week after they failed to reach a deal to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula. Trump said North Korea wanted the lifting of all international sanctions in exchange for closing some but not all nuclear sites. But North Korea’s foreign minister disagreed, contending North Korea wanted only partial sanctions relief to end its enrichment of nuclear material. No announcement has been made on future talks. Still, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Trump stressed that progress had been made since the first meeting between the two leaders last year in Singapore.
Guest: Yong Suk Lee, deputy director, Korea Program at Stanford University
Investigating Police Misconduct
A joint investigation by several news organizations — including KQED — has brought to light a lengthy, previously secret list of police officers accused of crimes. A new California law allows the media and the public to request certain police records that were previously inaccessible. Newly released records reveal that in the last 10 years, nearly 12,000 peace officers and prospective officers have committed crimes ranging from shoplifting to embezzlement to murder. Attorney General Xavier Becerra is responding forcefully, threatening legal action against the reporters who obtained the documents legally through Public Records Act requests.