Michael Cohen was Trump's personal attorney for years, an attack dog with a license to practice law, going after anyone who jeopardized Trump's rise to power, and negotiating hush payments or issuing threats as the situation warranted. 

Now persona non grata in Trump world after testifying before Congress, Cohen is preparing to drop a tell-all book lifting the veil to reveal the dirty deeds he performed for his longtime client. He launched a website offering pre-orders of the book, and posted the complete foreword available for download, full of scandalous accusations. 

There's financial fraud, backdoor communications with the Russians, and, oh yeah, a reference to some hanky-panky at a Vegas sex club. Read the sordid details here.

Kamala plays it cool

Trump's antics don't seem to bother Harris, who brushed off his attacks on her eligibility with a smile on Thursday when she met up with Biden to sign the documents to get their names officially on ballots.

Not too shabby

Another reason for Harris to smile: Biden's announcement that she was joining the Democratic ticket brought a financial windfall to the campaign, raising $48 million dollars in the first 48 hours after the news broke. 

Well, duh

To no one's surprise, the National Association of Letter Carriers, the national postal workers' union, has endorsed Biden for president.

The endorsement comes after restrictive cuts imposed by Trump's appointed postmaster general, that drastically reduced available overtime hours and resulted in increasing delays in mail delivery -- plus Trump's own public statements attacking the Post Office and promoting incorrect information about the risk of fraud from mail-in ballots. The president went so far as to admit in a recent interview that he was deliberately opposing increasing funding for the Post Office in order to make it harder for voting by mail to be expanded. 

“The Postal Service must not be allowed to fail,” the union wrote in their endorsement.

Stupid is as stupid does

One of the dumber developments of the Trump presidency is the growth of the "QAnon" conspiracy theory, which claims that Trump is battling a global network of Democrats and powerful wealthy people who worship Satan and engage in widespread child sex trafficking and sacrifice. It's dumb, it's insane, and it's fake, but it's also led some of its most impassioned adherents to commit actual violent crimes. 

Several Trump supporters who promote QAnon are running for office this year, and one of them just one the Republican primary in a deep, deep red Georgia congressional district. Trump, no doubt flattered by her vocal praise for him, tweeted his congratulations. 

When questioned by a reporter, Trump doubled down in his praise and refused to denounce QAnon. 

This truly is the dumbest timeline.

Don is done with this nonsense

CNN's Don Lemon was exasperated to find birtherism popping back up again in 2020, ripping Trump's promotion of the birther attacks on Harris on his show Thursday evening. 

“Every single day, another lie, another conspiracy theory, another racist dog whistle,” Lemon said. “Every day. It’s like the Groundhog’s Day for alternative realities. It is clear that this president will stop at nothing to win re-election, using everything at his disposal to achieve his goal.”

Trump boosts Fox

Trump's daily White House press conference helped boost Fox News' Special Report with Bret Baier to a huge ratings win, making it the most-watched program outside of primetime on Wednesday in the coveted 25 – 54 age demographic. Fox also easily won primetime, with Tucker Carlson's eponymous program leading the day in cable news and ranking second in all of TV. 

Read all about it at Mediaite+, our premium subscription service with ad-free browsing and exclusive content you won't find anywhere else.

Who's the racist?

MSNBC’s Donny Deutsch went on a rant where he accused a third of Americans of being racist. A bit of hyperbole, sure, but not so remarkable for cable news that gets ratings from being provocative.

The problem is that Deutsch used the term "yellow man" in his rant. He apologized on Friday. 

Killing comedy!

Blazing Saddles is an absolutely bonkers, side-splitting hysterical comedy, that probably could never be made today. HBO is still streaming the 1974 Mel Brooks classic but has added a disclaimer that airs before the film, similar to their treatment of Gone With The Wind.

Ben Shapiro was not amused by the disclaimer, accusing HBO of "killing comedy." Sigh, ok. What's the better solution here? To have the movie pulled down all together, or allow it to be shown in full, but with an introductory message that puts its comedy in the context of the era? Is that really the end of the world? 

We all need more laughter right now, but the current political climate is putting very real pressure on media and entertainment companies. If this is a compromise that allows the powers-that-be at HBO to feel comfortable continuing to allow a new generation to discover this crazy little movie, then so be it.

Some people should just stay off Facebook

Luray, Virginia Mayor Barry Presgraves (R) had one of the dumbest reactions to Biden's selection of Harris as his running mate this week, posting on his Facebook page that Biden had "just announced Aunt Jemima as his VP pick."

Aunt Jemima? Really? Really?

Even Quaker Foods -- the company that has made millions of dollars selling products with the character's smiling face on them -- is moving away from labelling anything Aunt Jemima, announcing a "rebranding" to move away from the moniker's racist past, and that's just breakfast food.

To refer to a Black female candidate as "Aunt Jemima" is beyond insulting, an obvious attempt to belittle Harris' accomplishments. 

Presgraves issued an apology and got a serious dressing down at the town's next council meeting, facing angry outcry from his constituents and calls for his resignation. And we've got video clips of the best parts.