Cohen, Manafort fallout could have consequences for Trump.
Trump’s former lawyer willing to offer information to special counsel
WASHINGTON – Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump’s former lawyer and fixer, doesn’t want a pardon from Trump and, rather, is hoping to open up about what he knows to investigators with special counsel Robert Mueller, his lawyer said.
Speaking with NPR Wednesday morning, Lanny Davis, Cohen’s attorney, said his client wasn’t interested in being pardoned.
“Under no circumstances would he accept a pardon from Mr. Trump,” Davis said, adding that the president “not only directed a crime, he’s part of a coverup.”
Cohen pleaded guilty to eight counts Tuesday in a surprise hearing in New York that happened within an hour of a jury dropping a guilty verdict on eight counts in the trial against Trump’s former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort.
Cohen admitted to charges of lying about his income to evade income taxes, lying to banks to obtain loans, and making illegal contributions to benefit Trump’s campaign. The contributions to Trump’s campaign were violations of campaign finance laws and were made by arranging payoffs to silence two women who claimed to have had affairs with Trump.
While admitting to the charges, Cohen stunned a federal courtroom in New York by declaring that he made those payments “at the direction of the candidate,” by whom he plainly meant Trump. He also said he did so specifically to influence the outcome of the election.
Davis also started a GoFundMe page to raise money for Cohen, his family and legal fees. As of about 10 a.m. Wednesday, the fund had raised more than $22,000.
“Michael decided to put his family and his country first. Now Michael needs your financial help – to pay his legal fees,” the page’s description reads, adding all the donations would go toward “his journey to tell the truth about Donald Trump.”
Davis appeared on MSNBC and CNN after the news dropped Tuesday, explaining that Cohen was dedicated to telling the truth and interested in speaking with Mueller and his team of investigators.
“Mr. Cohen has knowledge on certain subjects that should be of interest, and he’s more than happy to tell the special counsel all that he knows,” Davis said on MSNBC, adding he could tell investigators “not just about the obvious possibility of a conspiracy to collude and corrupt the American democratic system,” but also about his “knowledge about the computer crime of hacking and whether or not Mr. Trump knew ahead of time.”
Davis was referring to the emails hacked from the Democratic National Convention and top Hillary Clinton aides during the 2016 election.
Davis noted that Trump publicly “cheered” on the hacks but alluded to private conversations that Cohen may have been privileged to.