Matt Tyrnauer’s documentary, Where’s My Roy Cohn?, isn’t just a biographical film; it’s a chilling examination of a figure whose influence continues to reverberate through the American political landscape. Director Matt Tyrnauer’s initial curiosity about Roy Cohn sparked in 2016 while reviewing archival footage for his previous project, STUDIO 54. Cohn, the lawyer for Studio 54’s owners, frequently appeared in the footage, immediately capturing Tyrnauer’s attention. “I’ve never seen anyone leap off the screen like Cohn,” Tyrnauer remarked, questioning the absence of a dedicated Roy Cohn documentary. He soon realized the broader significance of Cohn’s story, particularly after Donald Trump’s presidential victory. Tyrnauer recognized that Roy Cohn had transitioned from a historical footnote into a modern-day Machiavelli, instrumental in shaping the presidency of Donald Trump. This realization became the driving force behind Where’s My Roy Cohn?.
Tyrnauer aimed to connect the dots for a wider audience, illustrating who Roy Cohn was and how his actions contributed to the current political climate. He stated, “While he might seem a relatively obscure figure in our political history, he has an outsized role in fashioning the predicament we’re in right now politically.” Echoing Gore Vidal’s sentiment about the “United States of Amnesia,” Tyrnauer envisioned his film as an antidote, a way to remember and understand Cohn’s enduring impact.
Shortly after conceiving the project, Tyrnauer encountered investigative journalist Marie Brenner, who was also delving into the complex relationship between Roy Cohn and Donald Trump. Brenner’s long-standing knowledge of both figures and the world surrounding them made the collaboration a natural fit. Together, they embarked on a journey to uncover the psychological underpinnings of Roy Cohn and the forces that molded him into a figure often described as a “moral monster.” Their combined efforts brought forth voices that had remained silent for years, alongside insights from figures like Roger Stone, resulting in a comprehensive exploration of Cohn’s life and influence in Where’s My Roy Cohn?.
Where’s My Roy Cohn? meticulously traces the formative circumstances that shaped Cohn’s unique persona, starting even before his birth. The film reveals the calculated arrangement that facilitated his parents’ marriage. Dora, Cohn’s mother, was described as difficult and considered unattractive, causing her wealthy parents to worry about her prospects of marriage. Albert Cohn, a young, ambitious Assistant District Attorney in the Bronx, entered the picture. Judgeships within the Democratic Party at the time required substantial payments, which Al lacked. Dora’s parents offered to provide the necessary funds if Al agreed to marry Dora. This transactional agreement led to a loveless marriage that profoundly impacted Roy’s upbringing. Tyrnauer explains, “Cohn is a product of the bizarre combination of his parents.” Dora was portrayed as overbearing and emotionally dark, while Al, a political judge, introduced Roy to the manipulative tactics of the Bronx Democratic patronage system.
Dora’s overprotective and intrusive mothering persisted into Roy’s adulthood, as she lived with him until her death. This dynamic contributed to a childlike aspect of his personality, starkly contrasting with his aggressive public image. Dora consistently excused Roy’s actions, fostering a sense of invincibility. Paradoxically, she also instilled in him a deep-seated insecurity about his physical appearance. Obsessed with a minor bump on his nose as an infant, she subjected him to a botched surgery that left a permanent scar, a constant reminder of perceived imperfection. Roy’s father, reportedly gentler than Dora, initiated his son into the world of power accumulation through reciprocal favors – the “favor bank.” Tyrnauer notes, “Roy’s father had Democratic, maybe even liberal leanings. But that didn’t mean that there wasn’t a level of corruption and back-scratching and clubhouse politics behind all of that. And he passed an awareness of how that operated on to his son.” Young Roy quickly mastered the art of manipulation, even fixing a teacher’s parking ticket while still in high school.
Furthermore, Where’s My Roy Cohn? delves into how Cohn’s personality was further warped by the societal pressures of being a closeted gay Jewish man in a time of intense prejudice. Tyrnauer speculates, “I think he was aggrieved and traumatized by being considered short and ugly when he wanted to be tall and beautiful and admired.” He suggests that Cohn’s brilliance wasn’t enough for him; fueled by his mother’s encouragement that he could have it all, he became bitter and resentful. Another source of deep resentment stemmed from the downfall of his uncle, Bernard Marcus, President of The Bank of The United States. Marcus was blamed for the banking collapse during the Great Depression and imprisoned, bringing shame upon Cohn’s prominent family, especially Dora. She believed a WASP conspiracy targeted her brother as a scapegoat. This family indignation resonated deeply with young Roy, leaving him with a lifelong sense of being wronged. “He always cast himself as a rebel and an outsider,” Tyrnauer observes, “He did that even as he was accepting favors from the people who literally ran the government and were, by definition, the establishment.”
Cohn’s rapid ascent continued as he graduated from Columbia Law School at the remarkably young age of 20. Due to age restrictions, he had to wait a year before being admitted to the New York bar. Just two years later, he found himself in a highly controversial role as a prosecutor in the trial of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, accused of communist espionage. Driven to secure their execution, Cohn engaged in unethical and illegal ex parte communications with Judge Irving Kaufman. While historical consensus leans towards Julius’s guilt, many believe Ethel’s conviction, beyond a reasonable doubt, was heavily influenced by Cohn’s improper conduct and the prevailing Red Scare hysteria. This episode marks a significant point in understanding the tactics employed by Roy Cohn, tactics that are further explored in Where’s My Roy Cohn?.
Roy Cohn’s education in political maneuvering, initiated by his father, expanded through relationships with influential figures. Walter Winchell, a powerful gossip columnist, became his first mentor, teaching Cohn how to weaponize the media to control others. Winchell, the inspiration for J.J. Hunsecker in THE SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS, wielded immense media power, akin to an early version of a right-wing news network. Tyrnauer describes Winchell as “a kind of equivalent to the entire network of Fox News in that he was a right-wing, jingoistic, demagogic media megaphone,” adding that “Cohn helped him, like a hummingbird, pollinate the gossip trees of the country in that period.”
Cohn’s media connections were further strengthened by friendships with future media moguls like S.I. Newhouse and Generoso Pope Jr., forged during his school years. J. Edgar Hoover, the FBI Director, became his second significant mentor when Cohn was in his early twenties at the Justice Department. Applying Winchell’s media manipulation techniques, Cohn proved invaluable to Hoover by disseminating stories discrediting Hoover’s adversaries. Both shared a fervent anti-communist stance and a methodology of secretly compiling dossiers for blackmail purposes. Tyrnauer poignantly notes the irony: “How ironic that two of the greatest persecutors of homosexual people in American history were closet homosexuals themselves, and how extraordinary that one mentored the other,” a dynamic explored in depth in Where’s My Roy Cohn?.
Cohn’s most notorious partnership was with Senator Joseph McCarthy, the face of the anti-communist crusade. McCarthy sought out Cohn based on his reputation for ruthlessness. Cohn’s alignment with McCarthy’s campaign to purge communists and homosexuals from the government marked a sharp departure from his Democratic Party roots. Whether Cohn’s anti-communism was genuine or a calculated move to distance himself from anti-Semitic stereotypes linking Jews to communism remains debated. However, his anti-communist stance remained unwavering throughout his life. Cohn and McCarthy’s shared obsessions and approaches made it difficult to discern who influenced whom. Their primary tactic was “The Big Lie,” a propaganda strategy described by Adolf Hitler in Mein Kampf. Where’s My Roy Cohn? highlights how this tactic, based on the audaciousness of a colossal lie being more believable than a small one, became central to their strategy. McCarthy’s infamous declaration, “I have here in my hand a list of 205 State Department employees who are known members of the Communist Party,” exemplified this, despite lacking any factual basis. The sheer audacity of the claim led many to believe it, showcasing the effectiveness of “The Big Lie.”
Cohn amplified “The Big Lie” through aggressive strategies: constant attack, never apologize, retaliate fiercely, spin defeats into victories, and accuse enemies of one’s own wrongdoings. This ruthless approach, honed during the Rosenberg trial, reached its peak in his alliance with McCarthy. The objective was not truth-seeking but destruction and intimidation. Cohn’s belief in fear as the foundation of power solidified during the Army-McCarthy hearings, explored in detail in Where’s My Roy Cohn?. These hearings arose from Cohn’s attempts to secure preferential treatment for his friend G. David Schine, a recently drafted army private, threatening to dismantle the Army if his demands weren’t met. While Cohn and McCarthy had targeted gay men in government, Cohn’s intense focus on Schine’s well-being hinted at a deeper, possibly romantic, interest, though perhaps not acknowledged by Cohn himself. Tyrnauer admits, “Before making this film, I didn’t fully comprehend what Army-McCarthy was. I didn’t fully understand the homosexual subtext it had. It was really important for me to parse Army-McCarthy in the film, and to show Cohn at the center of it.”
Although McCarthy’s career ended in disgrace after the Army-McCarthy hearings, Cohn returned to New York and reinvented himself as a prominent New York City lawyer, catering to both high society and organized crime figures. Throughout the 60s and 70s, he became arguably the most influential political fixer in New York. Despite facing three indictments for white-collar crimes, he was acquitted each time, further solidifying his image of invincibility. Tyrnauer addresses the seeming paradox of Cohn’s rapid social rehabilitation: “I’m often asked, ‘How could Roy Cohn go from reviled assistant to McCarthy to darling of New York society in one week?’ My response to that is, ‘Have you met New York society?’ It’s a transactional system, and Cohn was the ultimate transactional human being.” He explains that New York society, then and now, often embraces questionable figures who understand and exploit the system, which allowed Cohn to thrive for decades. Where’s My Roy Cohn? unpacks this transactional nature of power and influence.
Despite his reputation for ruthlessness, Cohn cultivated friendships with a diverse array of people, from George Steinbrenner and Andy Warhol to Cardinal Spellman and mob bosses like Carmine Galante. Tyrnauer describes Cohn’s unique position: “Cohn occupied a unique position as the bridge between the legitimate world of politics and the illegitimate world of organized crime. I don’t think anyone has ever filled that dubious role as completely or as proficiently as he did.” His charm and ability to do favors contributed to his social acceptance. As Tyrnauer notes, “He could be fun, funny, charming, mischievous, naughty in a puckish way. He did a lot of people a lot of favors, and as long as he wasn’t hurting them personally, they were more than happy to promote him.” Furthermore, his legal expertise made him a valuable asset to those in high society anticipating future legal troubles. The saying went, “if you were on his good side, it was wonderful, but if you were on his bad side, it was terrible,” a sentiment echoed throughout Where’s My Roy Cohn?.
Cohn played a significant, often unseen, role in numerous historical events, from the Rosenberg case and the McCarthy hearings to Ronald Reagan’s presidency and Rupert Murdoch’s establishment of Fox News. Crucially, as Where’s My Roy Cohn? emphasizes, he also played a pivotal role in the rise of Donald Trump.
David Cay Johnston, featured in the film, asserts that “Roy Cohn began this whole new mode of what you see today: get off the issue; attack law enforcement; attack the government; attack the press; and create phony issues so you can totally change the debate.” Cohn operated behind the scenes, acting as a fixer for the young Donald Trump, who increasingly relied on him for legal and other challenges. The documentary’s title, Where’s My Roy Cohn?, originates from Trump’s complaint in 2017 when Attorney General Jeff Sessions didn’t act as his personal lawyer. Tyrnauer clarifies, “Trump missed the essential fact that the Attorney General doesn’t serve as the President’s personal lawyer, he serves the Constitution. That’s a direct result of his being the mentee of Roy Cohn, because that’s the way Roy Cohn behaved. Everything was for personal gain. The general welfare was never considered.” The film Where’s My Roy Cohn? directly connects Cohn’s influence to Trump’s political style and understanding of power.
Tyrnauer’s research for Where’s My Roy Cohn? was extensive. “I cast a wide net,” he explains, immersing himself in books about Trump, Cohn, McCarthy, the Rosenbergs, and the broader political context of Cohn’s life. He watched hundreds of hours of archival footage, meticulously piecing together the narrative. He assembled a diverse group for interviews, including family members, reporters, eyewitnesses, and scholars, aiming for a balanced and insightful portrayal. Tyrnauer prioritized interviewees who were articulate and compelling on camera, pre-interviewing everyone to ensure their contributions would enrich the film.
Securing interviews with Cohn’s cousins was crucial. Dave Marcus, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, provided valuable insights, facilitated by Tyrnauer’s former editor Wayne Lawson. Marie Brenner, the film’s producer and a Vanity Fair colleague of Tyrnauer, connected him with another cousin, Anne Roiphe. Gary Marcus, another cousin, initially held a more favorable view of Roy but, after his first interview and further research, asked to be interviewed again to explicitly condemn Cohn’s actions, a compelling arc captured in Where’s My Roy Cohn?.
Roger Stone, another political operative deeply influenced by Cohn’s playbook, also features prominently in Where’s My Roy Cohn?. Tyrnauer notes Stone’s understanding and skillful on-camera presence: “Stone knows what he’s doing and was brilliant on camera. Cohn was very good on camera, too.” Stone’s inclusion underscores the film’s message about the media-celebrity world Cohn helped pioneer. Tyrnauer also located one of Cohn’s former boyfriends through connections at Studio 54, although he ultimately participated under a pseudonym, adding a layer of personal intimacy to the film.
Without a narrator, Where’s My Roy Cohn? relies on a rich tapestry of archival material, including interviews with Cohn himself, TV appearances, and, significantly, never-before-heard audio interviews conducted by Ken Auletta in the 70s. Access to Cohn’s personal photo archive, including childhood pictures and images with Donald Trump and shirtless young men, further enriches the film. Tyrnauer juxtaposes these images with Cohn’s denials of being gay, highlighting the contradictions within Cohn’s carefully constructed persona.
Working with editor Andrea Lewis, Tyrnauer developed a distinctive visual language, blending archival footage to create a cinéma-vérité feel. Footage of Cohn’s townhouse, drawn from various sources including a “60 Minutes” profile, is seamlessly edited to give the impression of an immersive tour, enhancing the viewer’s sense of intimacy with Cohn’s world in Where’s My Roy Cohn?.
Where’s My Roy Cohn? deliberately avoids a strict chronological structure, a technique Tyrnauer adopted from his journalism background at Vanity Fair. This non-linear approach, jumping between timelines, creates a more epic and cinematic scope, enhancing the film’s impact and prompting deeper reflection.
While many view Cohn as purely evil, Where’s My Roy Cohn? encourages a more nuanced understanding of his complex humanity. The film doesn’t excuse Cohn’s actions but offers clues to his motivations: his overbearing mother, insecurities about his appearance and sexuality, internalized shame, and resentment towards the establishment. These factors contributed to his relentless need for control and inflicting pain. The irony, as the film explores, is that Cohn’s adversaries often mirrored his own hidden aspects: a closeted, Jewish member of the establishment engaging in homophobic and anti-Semitic rhetoric. Without his sharp intellect and connections to unscrupulous power brokers, Cohn might have remained just another embittered individual. Where’s My Roy Cohn? argues that the convergence of these elements propelled him to cast a dark shadow on American society.
Ultimately, Where’s My Roy Cohn? reveals that despite Cohn’s belief in his untouchability, he faced consequences. Disbarred shortly before his death, thanks to the relentless efforts of Martin London and the New York Bar Association’s Grievance Committee, and shunned by many former allies as he succumbed to AIDS, Cohn faced a form of justice. Tyrnauer concludes, “In his own time, he was defeated. It’s ironic that it came just weeks before his death. It makes him sort of an operatic figure. His life is laced with ironies and tragedies that are born and abetted from his hypocrisy and his horrendously bad character. In the end, it did catch up with him.” Where’s My Roy Cohn? serves as a powerful and timely reminder of the dangers of unchecked ambition and the enduring legacy of a figure whose tactics continue to influence contemporary politics.
