Donald Trump speaks in code. So says Michael Cohen, his former lawyer/fixer, who ought to know.

But we as a country still haven’t figured it out.

We somehow expect the architect of a crime to tell his henchmen, “Go commit this crime,” and record himself saying it. Maybe it’s because Richard Nixon did something like that.

The Watergate tapes were considered a “smoking gun.” In fact, the term was popularized in connection with those tapes, specifically a discussion between Nixon and his chief of staff, H.R. Haldeman, about covering up the Watergate break-in.

But that doesn’t happen most of the time. Most criminals are smart enough to make sure someone else pulls the trigger and have them dump their smoking guns in the river. Criminal masterminds and mob bosses don’t give orders directly. They speak in code that’s plainly understood by their cronies, but which shields them from any personal implication in the crime.

If those cronies “flip” or “snitch” on them, they get thrown under the bus, the way Cohen was when he turned on Donald Trump over hush-money payments to porn actress Stormy Daniels.  

Cohen served time in prison. Trump did not.

Ignoring the obvious

Despite this, we’ve come to depend on smoking guns in passing judgment against anyone. We want to see crimes committed with our own eyes, the way we did when we saw Ray Rice punch his wife in the elevator or when we saw that police officer kneeling on George Floyd’s neck. Anything less can be denied or explained away. Even Trump’s own voice, bragging about sexual assault on that Access Hollywood tape.

We believe what we want to believe. Case in point: Some of the same people who ignored Trump’s voice on that tape believe, without any evidence, that he’s defending the world against an underground network of satanic pedophiles.

Evidence no longer irrelevant.

Not even smoking guns matter anymore.

But they’re still important — not in proving a case, but in disproving it. Here’s why: Since they don’t exist most of the time, those who want an excuse to dismiss evidence against someone (such as Trump) can say, “There’s no smoking gun, so we can’t be sure.” Then add, “People are innocent until proven guilty,” as though a smoking gun is the only proof that will suffice.

In short, they use the absence of a smoking gun to discredit any accusation.

Coded messages

This is what Trump will doubtless seek to do in turning aside accusations that he incited racist. He’ll say, “I never told them to do that!”

Even though he told the Proud Boys to “stand by” in a nationally televised presidential debate.

Even though he summoned supporters to Washington for a “wild” rally on the day Joe Biden’s victory was to be certified.

Even though he told the crowd at that rally, “We will not take it anymore,” egging them on as they chanted “Fight for Trump!”

Instructing them to “walk down Pennsylvania Avenue... to the Capitol” and “be strong.”

“Because you’ll never take back our country with weakness. You have to show strength, and you have to be strong.”

Then these same people stormed the Capitol in a riot/invasion, forcing lawmakers to hide in unmarked offices and their staffs to huddle under tables as they shattered windows and broke down doors.

And afterward, Trump told them to “go home with love and peace” and “remember this day forever.”

He might as well have told them, “Mission accomplished.”

Dangerous dance

Trump never said those words, nor did he say, “Go break into the Capitol and find Nancy Pelosi and other Democrats, and make them pay for what they did to me.” But he might as well have, because what we often forget is that communication isn’t an announcement, it’s a dance. It’s not just what’s said, but how it’s interpreted. And if someone knows coded content will be interpreted in a certain way, that’s all you need to prove intent.

During World War II, the United States used Native American code talkers to decipher encoded messages by the Axis powers that had declared war on the Allies.

Because these powers knew what we fail to understand today: Coded messages carry clear intent to those for whom they’re intended, but disguise that intent to everyone else. We are the “everyone else” listening to Trump’s coded messages. They aren’t intended for us. They’re meant for white nationalists and other insurrectionists.

Clear intent

But it doesn’t take much to figure out what he’s saying. It’s not difficult at all to break this code and understand Trump’s clear intent.  

All we have to do is remember that Trump is, like the Axis powers, at war with America’s democratic institutions. Just like the mob he unleashed on the Capitol, he tried to undermine our system of government and invalidate a free and fair election. He and the mob both wanted the same thing: to seize power by any means necessary.

Remember this: People in common cause speak the same language.

It’s not the language of civil society. It’s the language of criminals and traitors. We must learn to recognize it and call it out for what it is. It’s not a dog whistle or even a bullhorn.

It’s pure evil.

Featured photo: Code talkers in Australia, 1943, USMC archives, Creative Commons 2.0