Just dropped · Trial Balloon · Ep. 194
What Just Happened?
Michael Avenatti, the lawyer for Stormy Daniels, told MSNBC that there are more audio recordings made by President Trump’s personal lawyer.
Said Avenatti: “I know for a fact this is not the only tape. And I think that any and all tapes Michael Cohen has in his possession relating to this president should be released immediately for the benefit of the American public and they can decide what happens next.”
President Trump’s former personal attorney, Michael Cohen, has purchased a $6.7 million apartment in New York City in a building that is being developed by two of Trump’s friends, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Michael Cohen has hired attorney Lanny Davis, who worked in the Clinton White House, as he prepares for a potential legal onslaught from prosecutors and a potential public relations onslaught from President Trump’s allies, the New York Times reports.
Adam Davidson: “Many people assume that Cohen has an enormous amount of information that could shed light on Trump’s relationship with Russia, suspicious business activity, and, possibly, corruption in office. Cohen, after all, received millions of dollars from companies seeking his help in influencing Trump’s Administration. Cohen also held meetings with some of these new clients in Trump Tower. It would be a dramatic shift in Trump’s approach to business to allow his subordinate to profit from his name without some benefit to himself. It seems reasonable to imagine that Cohen may well have information that could damage, or even destroy, Trump’s Presidency. Yet what Cohen, in fact, knows remains a mystery.”
“Trump, for his part, has enormous power to punish or reward Cohen. As President, Trump can pardon him or use the full law-enforcement power of the federal government to punish him.”
“We are witnessing a grand, public Prisoner’s Dilemma, in which each man could, theoretically, destroy the other. Or, perhaps, they could work together to explain away any troubling information that comes out of the investigation of Cohen’s files. They can’t talk privately, because every interaction is likely to be scrutinized. Instead, they speak to each other through the media.”
BuzzFeed News: “When the Department of Justice announced this month that investigators had pieced together records found in a shredder belonging to the president’s former lawyer, Michael Cohen, critics, legal experts, and journalists feverishly speculated about what they might contain.”
“Now, BuzzFeed News has obtained documents reconstructed by the FBI. A close examination shows that the records are a combination of documents that prosecutors already had, handwritten notes about a taxi business, insurance papers, and correspondence from a woman described in court filings as a ‘vexatious litigant’ who claims she is under government surveillance.”
In his first in-depth interview since the FBI raided his office and homes in April, Michael Cohen strongly signaled to ABC News his willingness to cooperate with special counsel Robert Mueller and federal prosecutors in the Southern District of New York — even if that puts President Trump in jeopardy.
Said Cohen: “My wife, my daughter and my son have my first loyalty and always will. I put family and country first.”
Vanity Fair: “Earlier this week… a woman chased him down the street, shouting at him that he could be a hero if he cooperates with the government and brings President Trump down. Last week, another person attempted to get a message to Cohen, saying, ‘Please let him know that he could go down in history as the man that saved this country. I think his family would be so proud of him. Even people like me that were disgusted with the things we heard on those audio recordings, would totally forgive him.'”
“Cohen’s friends have been whispering encouragements, too, particularly after the president distanced himself from Cohen earlier this month by telling reporters that he ‘liked’ Cohen, in the past tense.”
Said one person close to Cohen: “He’s frustrated. Washington is actively pushing him away as opposed to protecting him or welcoming him back in, when, at the same time, he has all these people telling him that he could change the course of the midterms, or 2020.”
“Stormy Daniels was due to meet federal prosecutors in New York on Monday as part of their investigation into the president’s former longtime personal attorney Michael Cohen, but the meeting has been cancelled after it was reported by news organizations,” the Guardian reports.
“Stormy Daniels is scheduled Monday to be interviewed by prosecutors in the Southern District of New York, preparing for a potential grand jury appearance about a $130,000 payment from President Trump’s attorney Michael Cohen in exchange for her silence about an alleged affair with Trump,” the Washington Post reports.
“Cohen is under federal investigation for possible campaign finance violations as well as bank and wire fraud. An FBI raid of his New York law office and home included a search for records related to the Daniels payment.”
Federal Court Judge Kimba Wood issued an order on Friday ruling that just eight items of communication, out of some 292,226 seized by the FBI from Michael Cohen’s office and home, were protected by attorney-client privilege.
“Michael Cohen has hired New York lawyer Guy Petrillo to represent him in a federal investigation into his business dealings, and has told associates he wants President Trump, his former boss, to pay his legal fees,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
Michael Cohen, President Trump’s longtime confidant and former personal attorney, has resigned from his post as deputy finance chair of the Republican National Committee’s Finance Committee, sources close to the RNC told ABC News.
But Cohen notes the federal investigations into him weren’t the only reason for stepping down.
Said Cohen: “As the son of a Polish holocaust survivor, the images and sounds of this family separation policy is heart wrenching. While I strongly support measures that will secure our porous borders, children should never be used as bargaining chips.”
“A federal judge on Friday refused to grant Michael Cohen, President Trump’s longtime personal lawyer, an immediate restraining order against the attorney for adult film actress Stormy Daniels,” Reuters reports.
Michael Cohen “has indicated to family and friends he is willing to cooperate with federal investigators to alleviate the pressure on himself and his family,” CNN reports.
“Cohen has expressed anger with the treatment he has gotten from the President, who has minimized his relationship with Cohen, and comments from the President’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani… The treatment has left him feeling isolated and more open to cooperating.”
Asked by reporters Friday if he was worried about Cohen cooperating, Trump said: “I did nothing wrong, nothing wrong.”
“Federal prosecutors in Manhattan are investigating whether Michael Cohen, the longtime personal lawyer for Donald Trump, illegally engaged in secret lobbying,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“Investigators in the U.S. attorney’s office for the Southern District of New York are examining whether Mr. Cohen violated any federal disclosure laws in connection with his consulting deals, including whether he lobbied for domestic or foreign clients without properly registering.”
“Attorney Michael Avenatti’s months-long publicity tour attacking President Trump and Trump attorney Michael Cohen could be brought to an abrupt end soon if a federal judge agrees to a new request for a gag order against the ubiquitous Avenatti,” Politico reports.
“A lawyer for Cohen, Brent Blakely, asked a judge in Los Angeles Thursday to issue an order barring Avenatti from making public statements about the lawsuit Avenatti’s client, porn star Stormy Daniels, filed against Trump and Cohen in March… Blakely said an avalanche of inflammatory public comments by Avenatti—including at least 121 TV appearances and 439 tweets—is tainting the court proceeding.”
Michael Cohen “is facing mounting pressure from two active federal investigations, contending with skyrocketing legal bills and planning to change lawyers in the near future,” the Washington Post reports.
“Amid his escalating legal concerns, Cohen is feeling neglected by the president, his longtime patron for whom he has long professed his loyalty.”
“Cohen is under intensifying scrutiny from federal prosecutors in Manhattan who are examining his business practices, as well as special counsel Robert Mueller, who is continuing to investigate episodes involving Cohen.”
“As attorneys for Michael Cohen rush to meet Judge Kimba Wood’s Friday deadline to complete a privilege review of over 3.7 million documents seized in the April 9 raids of Cohen’s New York properties and law office, a source representing this matter has disclosed to ABC News that the law firm handling the case for Cohen is not expected to represent him going forward.”
“Cohen, now with no legal representation, is likely to cooperate with federal prosecutors in New York, sources said. This development, which is believed to be imminent, will likely hit the White House, family members, staffers and counsels hard.”
Meanwhile, Cohen is telling friends that he expects to be arrested soon, CNBC reports.
Taegan Goddard
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire -- which for more than two decades has been one of the nation's most influential political news sites.
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