Welcome to the commentary magazine podcast.

Today is Thursday, December 13th, 2018.

I am John Pudhord, the editor of Commentary Magazine, the 77-year-old monthly of intellectual

analysis, political, property, and cultural criticism from a conservative perspective.

We invite you to join us at commentarymagazine.com.

We offer you a few free reads and then ask you to subscribe 1995 for a digital subscription,

2995 for an all-access subscription, including our beautiful monthly magazine.

In your mailbox 11 times a year, with me as always, senior editor Abe Greenwald Hyab.

Hyjon. Associate editor-in-a-Rothman Hynoah Hyjon.

And social commentary columnist Christine Rosen Hykristine.

Hyjon. Okay, guys, so the president of the United States

has, it is now official or legal.

It is now in the books that the president's lawyer Michael Cohen is going to jail for three years,

for largely for matters unrelated, some related to Trump, some not related to Trump,

but the case seems clearly to have been made and Cohen himself said that he subborn the law

to help Trump. He was blinded by loyalty to Trump and that the long question is campaign finance law,

specifically the payoffs to stormy Daniels. And now the second shoot to drop in this,

these things being known, but not having been confirmed, is that National Inquirer owner,

David Pecker has apparently told investigators that he did in fact pay $150,000 to catch and kill

the story of Playboy, Playmate, Karen McDougal's affair with Trump. And that it's also a campaign

finance violation if the purpose of the payoff was to help Trump's election effort.

So it's $150,000 there. And the one thing I'll say and then I'm going to ask Christine to reflect

...