Where's My Roy Cohn

Amazon Prime. Apple TV
When the president was being investigated about his ties to Russia, he famously asked: “Where’s My Roy Cohn?” Cohn was Trump’s mentor and hero. This documentary is essential to understanding the mindset and strategies of the current president. The name Trump could replace the name Cohn in much of what is described here regarding politics and ethics: everything is transactional, money and power are all, when accused return the accusation and double down, never apologize or admit wrong-doing, and when met with lawsuits delay, evade, lie, or wear the other party down with counter lawsuits. Cohn was preening, loud, abrasive, and criminally hypocritical. He fed on hate, fear, and name-calling. He famously proclaimed: “I bring out the worst in my enemies and that’s how I get them to defeat themselves.”
The details of his life are shocking. He pushed for Ethel Rosenberg’s execution and was chief counsel to Senator Joseph McCarthy. With his reputation soiled after the Army–McCarthy hearings, he resurrected himself as a mob attorney for Tony Salerno, Carmine Galante, and John Gotti, as well as the Studio 54 owners, the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York, and Rupert Murdoch, among others. He mentored Roger Stone during Reagan’s campaign. He was Jewish but hated Jews and was a closeted homosexual who called gay men “fags.” He died of AIDs at age 59. To anyone unaware of this troubling history, the film is a must-see.