Cohen hints he’d aid FBI
President Trump’s former attorney Michael Cohen, who once boldly claimed he’d “take a bullet for the president,” signaled a willingness to cooperate with federal prosecutors — telling a TV interviewer that his loyalty lies firmly with his family.
“My wife, my daughter and my son have my first loyalty and always will,” the self-described Trump “fixer” told George Stephanopoulos in an off-camera interview that aired Monday on ABC.
“I put family and country first,” said Cohen, who in April tweeted that he “will always protect my POTUS.”
The interview was his first since FBI agents raided his Rockefeller Center office and his Park Avenue hotel room in April, seizing business records, including documents related to a hush payment to adultfilm actress Stormy Daniels.
Prosecutors in New York obtained a search warrant after receiving a referral from special counsel Robert Mueller’s team, which is handling the sweeping probe into Russian meddling in the 2016 election.
“Once I understand what charges might be filed against me, if any at all, I will defer to my new counsel, Guy Petrillo, for guid- ance,” Cohen said of his next move.ve.
When Petrillo takes over as hisi lead attorney, a joint-defense agreement Cohen shared with Trump — which allowed their lawyers to share materials — will come to an end, according to ABC.
When asked how he might respond if Trump or his lawyers try to discredit him, Cohen said he would “not be a punching bag as part of anyone’s defense strategy.”
“I am not a villain of this story, and I will not allow others to try to depict me that way,” he added.
Cohen paid Daniels $130,000 in the waning days of the 2016 presidential election — a possible violation of campaign-finance law — to keep her quiet about an alleged sexual liaison with Trump.
The White House has denied that Trump had a sexual encounter with Daniels, although the president has more recently said he was aware Cohen was making the payment at the time.
Stephanopoulos asked Cohen if Trump had directed him to make the payment or promised to reimburse him.
“I want to answer. One day I will answer,” Cohen responded, although he has said in the past that he acted on his own initiative. “But for now, I can’t comment further on advice of my counsel.”