Don flip flap
Tweet rant over talk Cohen will turn on him
PRESIDENT TRUMP is flipping out over the idea his personal lawyer might betray him.
Trump on Saturday pushed back against reports that his longtime lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen might “flip” by coughing up details of his personal and political business.
Cohen’s motive for becoming a Trump turncoat would be avoiding punishment from a government probe of his finances.
“Most people will flip if the Government lets them out of trouble,” even if “it means lying or making up stories,” the President tweeted from his West Palm Beach, Fla., golf club.
“Sorry, I don’t see Michael doing that despite the horrible Witch Hunt and the dishonest media!”
Trump’s tantrum was sparked by a New York Times report about speculation that Cohen could end up cooperating with federal investigators.
The Times is “going out of their way” to destroy Cohen and his relationship with Trump in the hopes of making him “flip.”
The FBI raided Cohen’s home, office and hotel room earlier this month looking for evidence of fraud. Trump called the raid an assault on attorney-client privilege and “an attack on our country.”
Trump accused the newspaper of using “non-existent ‘sources’ ” in its story.
Several people were quoted on the record in the piece.
Trump also lashed out personally at one of the Times’ writers.
He called reporter Maggie Haberman “third rate,” claimed he has “nothing to do with” her and misspelled her name in tweets he later deleted and reposted, fixing the name.
Haberman, who is part of a Times team that won a Pulitzer prize for her reporting on the Russian investigation, said on Twitter that the story seemed to have “touched a nerve.”
The FBI raid on Cohen reportedly included records related to payments Cohen made in 2016 to adult film star Stormy Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal, both of whom allege having had sexual encounters with Trump, as well as his ownership of taxi medallions.
Cohen is reportedly being looked at for bank fraud and campaign finance law violations.
The investigation is tangentially connected to special counsel Robert Mueller’s larger probe into Russian election meddling and connections between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin.
Cohen’s attorneys have asked a federal judge to appoint a socalled special master to decided what materials can be viewed by prosecutors.
Some close to the President fear his fixer could cooperate if he faces serious charges.
“That’s what they’ll threaten him with: life imprisonment,” lawyer Alan Dershowitz told Politico. “They’re going to threaten him with a long prison term and try to turn him into a canary that sings.”
Jay Goldberg, another longtime Trump legal adviser, told the Wall Street Journal that he recently advised the President that he can’t trust Cohen to stay loyal if criminal charges emerge.
“Michael will never stand up (for you)” if charged by the government, Goldberg said he cautioned the President.