Profile of Evan Matthew Cohen on Famous Like Me

Evan Montvel Cohen born in 1966 is a former resident of Guam who gained national notoriety as founder and the first Chairman of Air America Radio.

Cohen was born and raised on Guam. Cohen attended but did not graduate from Beloit College in Wisconsin eventually returning back to Guam. During the 1990s, Cohen owned several advertising agencies and a market research company on Guam as well as advertising agencies in other Pacific Rim areas. Cohen was also an executive and shareholder at Latte Magazine, a Guam publication which featured articles on local culture. The Company also published an Asia- Pacific Golf Magazine and other speciality publications.

Cohen acted as chief of staff for Republican Governor of Guam 1994 Candidate and Guam Senator Tommy Tanaka. Tanaka lost that election to Democrat Carl T.C. Gutierrez. Around 1998, Cohen testifed on behalf of Governor Gutierrez (and against the Republican challenging the election) in the contested Guam governor election case of Joseph Ada v. Carl T.C. Gutierrez.

In mid 2004, Cohen became involved in the Air America radio network concept through a meeting arranged by David Goodfriend, a former Clinton aide and Beloit College classmate of Cohen (Cohen never did graduate but tried to make up missing credits in 2003 by submitting a thesis called "Examining the role of government in economic development"). It has recently been learned that Cohen earned his needed science credit for graduation by taking a class at Brooklyn College but never had the credit transfered over. Goodfriend intoduced Cohen to Anita and Sheldon Drobny, a wealthy Chicago couple who had conceived the idea of starting a progressive talk radio network. Shortly thereafter Cohen and Rex Sorensen created Progress Media, Inc., which was the parent company for Air America Radio. Rex Sorensen is the founder of Sorensen Pacific Broadcasting Inc., a network of five radio stations in Guam and Saipan.

Questions were raised about Cohen's previous ties to the Republican Party on Guam. Cohen dismissed concerns about his political past by saying he was a committed "progressive" and that Republicans on Guam were "left of Paul Wellstone." Although, later Cohen was diagnosed with brain cancer in 2001 only to make a recovery and that spurred him to focus on progressive causes. Mark Walsh, an co-investor and executive at Air America Radio, said he found Cohen's cancer recovery story impressive." Later, Al Franken was quoted as saying about Cohen that, "Brain cancer seemed to be his answer to everything." Eventually around May 7, 2004, both Cohen and Sorensen left Air America Radio. It was widely reported that Cohen and Sorensen were forced out, after disagreements over how much money was raised.

Around May 2005, Multicultural Radio, a creditor seeking to enforce an earlier default judgment against Air America Radio, brought a complaint in New York Courts against some of the former and current officers and directors of Progress Media and Piquant LLC, the successor company to Progress Media. Evan Cohen and Rex Sorensen are named in that lawsuit. Cohen was very recently seen in New York and there is much speculation that a counter lawsuit will soon be filed.

Allegations were also raised that Cohen, on behalf of Air America, borrowed hundreds of thousands of dollars from a Brooklyn based charity, Gloria Wise Boys and Girls Club. The Gloria Wise charity was heavily funded by the City of New York, so loans to a commercial start-up would be very unusual and and many have questioned the legality of the loans. The City is no longer funding the charity and may soon be forced to stop operating.

Al Franken told the New York Sun's David Lombino he only learned the details of the story around July 2005, but that Air America's new owner, Piquant LLC, discovered the fund transfer in a forensic investigation of the previous owner. Piquant has acknowledged the debt (while denying responsibility) but have also promised to voluntarily pay it back. It is unclear how much, if any, of the debt has been paid back. It has since been reported that Piquant knew of the Gloria Wise Boys & Girls Club loan and was required to pay the loan as part of the settlement agreement with Cohen and Sorensen. This is also stated in the lawsuit against Cohen, Sorensen, Piquant and all of the original Piquant Investors (all of whom were investors in the original company).

The New York Post has reported that New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer is going to investigate Gloria Wise and its board regarding these loans. Cohen has been rumored to be cooperating with the parties investigating Gloria Wise. The New York Sum Reported the investigation of questionable activities at Gloria Wise strated over 19 months ago and before the luanch of Air America Radio.

After much speculation of Cohen's whereabouts Radar magazine reported that Cohen maintains residences in both New York and Hawaii and is listed in the phone book in both locations. Mr. Cohen was contacted in Hawaii around September 2005 by journalists. There are also documents signed by Franken during the Progress Media-Piquant handover which includes details of the loan between Progress Media and Gloria Wise. While Mr. Cohen confirmed that the Gloria Wise loans were a bad idea, he denied he was a crook and that he took any of the money personally. In response to Mr. Franken's allegations that Cohen was a crook, Cohen replied to bloggers Michelle Malkin and Brian Maloney "that's like the pot calling the kettle black." . The only other quote he gave was: "Was what I did stupid? Yes. Illegal? No."

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