One of the issues facing the current administration, filled with billionaires, millionaires, and all-around terrible people, is that its members have spent a considerable amount of their lives being allowed to skate across and around some of the most basic laws of the land. The New York Times reports that former New York Police Department Lt. Paul Dean claims that NYPD officers allowed celebrities and other high-profile New York residents—including Donald Trump, Donald Trump Jr., and former Trump personal lawyer Michael Cohen—essentially to bribe their way into getting gun permits while bypassing required paperwork.
The allegations come after Dean pleaded guilty to accepting such bribes in exchange for gun licenses, and were filed by his lawyer in the hope of a more lenient sentence for his client. In the filing, Dean asserts that he was instructed to work something of a tier system of privilege for big donors to the Police Athletic League or the New York City Police Foundation, as well as to campaigns of high-ranking politicians like current New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio. Trump, Trump Jr., and Michael Cohen all are alleged to have paid big donations to the PAL and the foundation in exchange for expedited gun permits.
Mayor de Blasio has said that this is the first he’s heard of the scheme, and Police Commissioner James O’Neill questioned the allegations, calling Dean’s “credentials highly suspect.” That is very true. But knowing what we know about the Trump family and Michael Cohen, is a former police lieutenant who is guilty of bribery any less credible than Donald Trump, Donald Trump Jr., or Michael Cohen?