What does the "hit by a truck" exchange mean on the Trump/Cohen tape?

[bigtree]

Ted Lieu @tedlieu
What does this "hit by a truck" exchange mean on the Cohen tape?

"COHEN: All the stuff. Because — here, you never know where that company — you never know what he’s —

TRUMP: Maybe he gets hit by a truck.

COHEN: Correct. So, I’m all over that...."


twitter.com/tedlieu/status/1021962350801416193

full transcript: The Trump-Michael Cohen tape
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2018/07/24/the-trump-michael-cohen-tape-transcript-annotated/?utm_term=.00b1fcbd85a2

[nolabear]

1. He meant sleeps with the fishes.

“Would be a shame should something happen to him.”

[Sneederbunk]

2. Mob euphemism.

[Oneironaut]

3. "That's a nice life you have there. It'd be a shame if something happened to it..."

It's like the Godfather in real life.

[greatauntoftriplets]

4. He's not wishing him good health.

[underpants]

5. I've heard at work referring to duplication of responsibilities

and training to make sure more than one person can perform tasks.

[targetpractice]

15. That's the way I took the meaning, too...

I've used it many time at work to quickly point out that we need to have a back-up plan if someone is not replaceable...

Example, "If I were to be hit by a bus tomorrow, who would finish the Acme project?"

[eleny]

23. That's how I took it to mean

They needed a backup because the payoff scheme they were discussing was serious business that had to get done.

[Arkansas Granny]

6. That sounds rather ominous.

[MineralMan]

7. It demonstrates that Trump is not averse to such a thing happening.

It makes me wonder. Yes, it does.

[lagomorph777]

8. That pricked up my ears too.

[Dem_4_Life]

9. That stood out to me as well and especially how casually he brings that up.

Makes me wonder how many other acquaintances in his past have had "accidents" or "got hit by a truck"....

[Proud Liberal Dem]

10. Trump's explanation will be:

I/he "misspoke" (or that it was just "locker room talk&quot

[Achilleaze]

11. republican-russian family-values are skunk ugly

[Lars39]

12. I wonder who got T boned by a dump truck

[RhodeIslandOne]

13. That stood out to me too

Trump with a little “Gee that’d Be a shame”

[unblock]

14. i do not think this is a threat. this is a standard business phrase for contingency planning.

they're talking about making a deal with someone to buy the story and to never report on it.

sounds to me like they're wondering how they make sure they story stays dead even if the guy they're paying to kill the story goes away (not necessarily by death).

[NCTraveler]

16. I thought her deal was through a corporation, not an individual. Nt

[unblock]

18. the corporation bought her story; that keeps *her* quiet.

but how do they keep the corporation that bought the story to never publish it?

[NCTraveler]

19. That is the part that doesn't equate to the phrase.

Makes sense if it was an individual being discussed.

[bigtree]

20. they were talking about buying the story from AMI

...seems like it would be publisher David Pecker that Trump was talking about getting 'hit by a truck'. He's likely the one who made the deal with McDougal.

Otoh, the David mentioned in the tape was likely David Dennison, the code name for Trump in the documents.

[unblock]

21. That's the problem when you make a deal with an individual at a business

I think the individual agreed to never run the story but the story is being bought by the individual's business.

They may trust the individual but if the individual goes away, what will the business do with some new person in charge of running the story or not.

[Recursion]

17. It's a business metaphor meaning "don't put your eggs in one basket"

You even measure project teams by their "truck factor" or "bus factor" (how many people can get hit by a truck/bus without paralyzing the project)

[jcgoldie]

22. Is he taking about the Enquirer guy?

David Pecker? Like if he buys up the story to kill it then gets hit by a truck they could run it?