Dear Mr. Trump,

You’re “a racist, a con-man, and a cheat.” Those aren’t my words, but the words of someone who knows you extremely well, someone who stood at your side for 10 years and did your bidding.

You excoriate Michael Cohen as a liar, but that’s the reason you employed him. You’re attacking him as a convicted liar, but his lie was in your service and at your direction. When he knew that you were still seeking business in Russia right up through the Republican convention and in fact had spearheaded your effort, when you knew he was about to testify, you looked him in the eye and instructed him: “There were no business dealings with Russia.”

One doesn’t have to believe in a code to know that, by those words, you ordered to Cohen to lie to Congress.

Then you had your legal team in the White House edit the written statement to make sure it coincided with the lie that you’d been telling us Americans all along, i.e., that you had not been pursuing business with Russia.

One who directs another to lie under oath commits a crime. You’re not only a racist, con-man, and cheat, you’re a criminal.

Of course, this is one of only many crimes. Ordering Cohen to pay off your porn-star mistress violated campaign finance laws, because he was not allowed to support your campaign with his own money to that extent. Then paying him back – even while you were president – broke other laws, including laws against obstruction of justice.

Right after you paid him in August 2017, you lied to the American public. When asked about such payments, you said “I know nothing about that.” Why lie if these are innocent payments?

You’re a disgrace to this country and to the office of president.

Very truly yours,

Bruce J. Berger