It was revealed by a series of emails released by CNN Wednesday, that pardons may have been dangled for Michael Cohen. In an email exchange, President Donald Trump's attorney Bob Costello told Cohen to "sleep well" and reminded him that he has "friends in high places."
According to a statement to the Daily Beast, Costello was simply quoting Garth Brooks lyrics.
“To repeat myself, Michael Cohen and his counsel’s interpretation of events is utter nonsense,” Costello said. “This statement: ‘Sleep Well tonight, you have friends in high places’ was a tongue-in-cheek reference to a Garth Brooks song, to a client whose state of mind was highly disturbed and had suggested to us that he was suicidal. We were simply trying to be decent human beings. There is no hidden message.”
The problem they face is that the lyrics don't match up with Brooks song, nor the sentiment behind the song.
"I've Got Friends in Low Places," was written in 1989 by Dewayne Blackwell and Earl Bud Lee. While drinking and writing with friends in a bar, Lee realized he forgot his wallet. He was asked how he intended to pay for the dinner and he recited the line.
"Don't worry. I have friends in low places. I know the cook," Lee said, according to stories around the song. Blackwell fell in love with the line and the Garth Brooks song was written and helped launch the Oklahoma-born singer to the top of the charts in his debut album.
The song is about an angry, bitter man who shows up to a wedding and attacks the wedding party, throwing their life choices in their faces.
The third verse of the song is perhaps the most damning to the Trump team:
Well I guess I was wrong
I just don't belong
But then, I've been there before
Everything's all right
I'll just say goodnight
And I'll show myself to the door
Hey I didn't mean
To cause a big scene
Just wait til I finish this glass
Then sweet little lady
I'll get back to the bar
And you can kiss my ass!!
It's unclear whether the man was Cohen or Trump in Costello's analogy.
