Cohen allegedly knew of some allegations against Schneiderman
WASHINGTON >> Long before Eric Schneiderman stepped down as New York state attorney general amid allegations he had abused four women, Donald Trump hinted of trouble in the life of the lawman who was a thorn in his side for years. At that point, Schneiderman had sued Trump University in the defrauding of students, a case Trump settled shortly after the 2016 election for $25 million. More recently Schneiderman had spearheaded legal assaults on Trump administration policies.
On Friday, a court filing in New York indicated that Trump may have known of some allegations against Schneiderman through his personal lawyer, Michael Cohen. The filing was in a federal court that is handling an unrelated investigation into Cohen’s business dealings.
Peter Gleason, a New York attorney, told the court that some records seized from Cohen during FBI raids on April 9 could involve two women who said Schneiderman had abused them.
Gleason asked the judge to prevent the identity of the women from becoming public. The story of how Gleason came to tell Cohen about the allegations provides a glimpse of how political intrigue can be routed through New York, sometimes with Trump himself as a prime conduit.
In 2012 and 2013, two women approached Gleason at separate times to share allegations against Schneiderman, the top law enforcement official in the state, he wrote.
He told the judge in his letter that he believed that the district attorney’s office in Manhattan would not take the case, and he didn’t recommend that the women tell their stories to law enforcement. (Gleason has run twice against Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance, both times unsuccessfully.)
But Gleason later shared the material with Steven Dunleavy, a retired New York Post columnist known to be close with billionaire Rupert Murdoch, whose media empire has long covered Trump.
They were talking over dinner about Schneiderman’s lawsuit against Trump University when Gleason brought up the abuse allegations, he recalled.
“Trump might be interested in that,” Dunleavy responded, according to Gleason.
Soon after the dinner, Gleason said, he got a phone call from Cohen, Trump’s self-appointed fixer. He said they had never spoken before.
“Cohen had a very sympathetic ear,” Gleason recalled. “I realized, as a lawyer, he may want to use that information against his adversary.”