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But now, pride has humiliated Roger Stone, Michael Cohen and Paul Manafort.
The three men have been charged with or convicted of or pled guilty to alleged crimes and offenses that, in most cases, are not directly related to their work for the president.
But if they had not eagerly plunged into the Trump Shark Reservoir and he had not introduced himself to the presidency, they would not have attracted him. Attention of special advocate Robert Mueller and possibly other prosecutors in the cases that led to their downfall.
The White House line, whenever one of the president's men breaks down, is that none of this has anything to do with Trump. Technically, this is often true: so far, none of the trio's members have been charged with conspiring to collude with Russia, for example.
What is clear is that these are men that Trump was happy to have by his side. While their partnerships worked and before the prosecutors rushed, he never seemed troubled by their dubious reputations and their hand-operated tactics. In fact, he may have recommended it.
And Manafort swapped the life of an international political consultant who laid the foundation for an oleander to turn Trump, the main winner of the 2016 GOP, into a candidate who could run for president even as a president of his campaign.
If their story has a common morality, it is this: sooner or later, even the political and legal murderers who seem to steal unrestricted by the normal rules may end up falling under the foot of the law and leading to the ruin of lives of notoriety.
Only time, Mueller, various other court proceedings and many congressional investigations will indicate whether Trump himself will learn the same truth or whether he is smart enough to avoid the fate of his contaminated agents.
& # 39; Attack, attack, attack & # 39;
"Attack, attack, attack, never defend," he said. "Do not admit anything, deny everything, launch a counter-attack."
But there was no attack, attack, attack Thursday. This Roger Stone was not seen anywhere in a courtroom in Washington. He was abject and apologized after being summoned to explain his posting on Instagram.
His bravado flowed from him the day when a life of political chicanery finally claimed his prize.
"I offer no justification, no excuse or justification, it's just a stupid lack of judgment," he told the angry judge. He pleaded his case stating that he was having trouble putting food on the table and paying the rent because of the lawyer fees. .
Stone crosses the front line and has been crossing it for decades. In fact, he was cross-examined by Judge Amy Berman Jackson as Roger Stone. And now, thanks to the complete order that will prevent him from talking about the case in the media, this person must remain silent about the topic that interests him the most – his political tips.
"He played this character throughout his career and today, I think he's hit the wall," said David Urban, who organized Trump's victory in Pennsylvania at the time. the 2016 campaign and who is now commentator on CNN.
"He has always pushed the finish line, and I think he has passed it today and that the judge has violently hit him," Urban said in a statement. "The Lead" issue of CNN.
Jackson told Stone that her apology sounded hollow and that she had not been impressed by her explanations.
"It's not baseball, there will be no third chance," she said.
The depth of his situation may have begun to appear on Stone while the gag order was formally imposed.
"He just put his head in his hands, he leaned back and it seemed that his eyes were closed, letting in the reality of this sink," said CNN reporter Kara Scannell, who was in the courtroom.
Cohen swears that he will not be the "villain" of Trump
Cohen has been attached to Trump more than ten years ago, glorifying the role of the strong legal man who was engaged in business.
When his famous client became a presidential candidate, Cohen became a political substitute for the man he always described as "Mr. Trump".
Once, Cohen said that he would "take a bullet" for Trump.
"I will not be the bad guy in his story," said Cohen.
A broken man
Another Trump associate who fell to earth in the most humiliating way is Manafort.
Before he was trapped by Mueller, Manafort was an ultra-powerful lobby and symbol of Washington's swamp culture, exporting the dark arts that he had learned as an operator of the GOP with several politicians disreputable abroad.
He worked for pro-Russian politicians in Ukraine, in one of the contacts that sparked Mueller's interest.
Manafort has also built an immeasurable real estate portfolio, with a house touting an outdoor kitchen funded by offshore accounts. Her Hamptons shelter included a $ 10,000 karaoke system and a giant M-shaped flowerbed.
Manafort may be facing the rest of his life in prison.
He will be convicted of financial fraud on March 8, a federal judge in Virginia said Thursday. He will be sentenced in Washington, where he pleaded guilty to conspiracy and broke a plea agreement with Mueller on March 13.
Even before long years behind bars, Manafort is a painfully diminished figure.
When he last appeared in court last month, he had to ask the judge to allow him to wear a suit instead of his dark green prison clothes.
Leaving the courtroom, Manafort kissed his wife, Kathleen.
Kara Scannell, Katelyn Polantz and Sara Murray of CNN contributed to this report.
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