Roy Cohn was a ruthless lawyer who helped convict Ethel and Julius Rosenberg for treason and sent them to the electric chair. He was Senator Joseph McCarthy’s chief counsel during investigations into communism in America.
After he left Washington, he pursued a win-at-all-costs strategy defending the wealthy and powerful. One of his clients: a young real estate developer named Donald Trump. Cohn reportedly taught Trump lessons that are carried out to this day: attack first, never apologize, and spin everything.
Cohn tried (unsuccessfully) to spin the stories of his private life. He never admitted that he was gay or diagnosed with AIDS, complictions of which killed him in 1986.
His story is told in the new documentary called “Where’s My Roy Cohn?”