COHEN NEEDS A LAWYER, NOW!
Trump fixer’s move stirs buzz about deal
President Trump's longtime personal lawyer is looking for a new legal team.
The law firm representing Michael Cohen — whose home, office and hotel room were raided by the FBI in April — will not be working for the fixer going forward, ABC News first reported Wednesday.
Cohen, who has yet to be charged with a crime, was being repped by Stephen Ryan and Todd Harrison of McDermott, Will & Emery LLP. Ryan's departure is primarily due to nonpayment of legal bills, a source told The Associated Press.
It's unclear if Cohen will be looking to cooperate with federal prosecutors.
Following the raid, in which more than 3.7 million records were seized, Cohen's legal team argued that his attorneys should be given first look at the material.
Manhattan Federal Judge Kimba Wood appointed former Federal Judge Barbara Jones to act as a “special master” to conduct an impartial review of the materials and to referee any disputes that could arise over attorney client privilege.
The President lashed out after the raid, comparing it with a break-in and tweeting that, “Attorney-client privilege is dead!”
The Manhattan U.S. attorney's office is probing Cohen for a number of possible crimes, including potential bank fraud and campaign finance violations.
Following reports this week that Cohen was anticipating his impending arrest, a source close to the Trump acolyte told the Daily News that Cohen is “very stressed out” about facing a possible indictment.
“None of it is good,” the source added.
Former federal prosecutor Renato Mariotti said the possibility of Cohen flipping and cooperating should scare Trump.
“It appears that Michael Cohen will cooperate with federal prosecutors in New York,” he tweeted. “In order to get a cooperation deal, Cohen will need to provide all information he knows about criminal activity, no matter who it is, but attorney-client privilege may create some hurdles.”
Cohen has been haunting Trump in the media since it was revealed in January he brokered a hush agreement between the President and porn star Stormy Daniels.
Daniels, 39, accepted $130,000 from Cohen in exchange for signing a contract barring her from speaking publicly about an alleged 2006 affair with Trump.
Michael Avenatti, who represents Daniels in a lawsuit seeking to void the hush agreement, knocked Cohen's outgoing representation.
“So after Mr. Ryan makes false accusations against me in fed court, he now abandons Mr. Cohen, withdraws, tucks his tail between his legs & goes home? . . . Not a good look and a disaster for Mr. Cohen and Mr. Trump,” he tweeted.