Trump lawyer Cohen vows to defend himself, puts family first -ABC News

[webfact]

Trump lawyer Cohen vows to defend himself, puts family first -ABC News

 

U.S. President Donald Trump's personal lawyer Michael Cohen arrives at his hotel in New York City, U.S., June 20, 2018. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump's longtime personal lawyer Michael Cohen vowed to defend himself and protect his family and country first if Trump or the president's legal team tried to discredit him, ABC News reported on Monday.

 

Cohen, in an interview with ABC, indicated he would be cooperative with prosecutors investigating his business dealings and probes into Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. election.

 

"I will not be a punching bag as part of anyone’s defense strategy," ABC quoted Cohen as saying in the interview on Saturday and published on Monday. "I am not a villain of this story and I will not allow others to try to depict me that way."

 

Cohen, who has not been charged with any crimes, and his lawyer Guy Petrillo did not respond to requests from Reuters for comment.

 

The White House did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment on Cohen's remarks.

 

Cohen has expressed worries about the financial burden of his legal defense and complained that he has not received enough support from Trump, a friend who spoke with Cohen last month has told Reuters, speaking on the condition of anonymity.

 

Trump has alternately defended Cohen, expressed outrage over a raid by the FBI on the lawyer's office in April and distanced himself from the man who previously said he would take a bullet for Trump.

 

In the ABC interview, Cohen said: "My wife, my daughter and my son have my first loyalty and always will. I put family and country first."

 

The FBI seized documents and files as part of investigations by federal prosecutors in New York stemming in part from a referral by the U.S. special counsel's office looking into possible coordination between Trump 2016 campaign aides and Russia.

 

Moscow denies interfering in the U.S. election and Trump denies collusion by his campaign, describing the probe as a political witch hunt.

 

Prosecutors are investigating Cohen for possible bank and tax fraud, possible campaign law violations linked to a $130,000 payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels, and other matters related to Trump's campaign, a person familiar with the investigation has told Reuters.

 

Cohen refused to criticize U.S. Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation and he condemned Russia for interfering in the election, the ABC report said.

 

Cohen said he had provided documents to the special counsel's office but had not been interviewed by Mueller's team, ABC said.

(Reporting by Nathan Layne and Susan Heavey; editing by Bill Trott and Grant McCool)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2018-07-03

[Chomper Higgot]

This man has been recording his telephone calls for decades - Mueller has the tapes.

 

Trump was funding Cohen’s defence, then stopped doing so when all the legal arguments to stop evidence seized by the FBI failed.

Cohen responded by switching lawyers to an attorney to Guy Petrillo, who served as the chief of the criminal division in the S.D.N.Y. from 2008 to 2009.

 

Trump has not yet responded to Cohen’s statements over the weekend.

 

July and August are going to be particularly sweaty months this year in NY and D.C.

[Becker]

 

[Berkshire]

As much as I admire and respect Bob Mueller, this investigation needs to come to a conclusion and soon.  If not, the crazies on the right will keep chipping away at its credibility.  And then of course, you've got the new Supreme Court justice.  I realize an investigation like this takes time, but time is one thing we ain't got.  Come on Mr. Mueller, let's end this thing!

[blazes]

One thing our Trump does not ever want to do is give away his own money, so Cohen is out on a limb, and the only thing in his armoury is the useless half-promise of a "pardon" from the POTUS.  What would you do if you were Cohen?

[Tug]

I will bet the trator in chief is a bit nervous lol 

[TGIR]

4 hours ago, Chomper Higgot said:

This man has been recording his telephone calls for decades - Mueller has the tapes.

 

Trump was funding Cohen’s defence, then stopped doing so when all the legal arguments to stop evidence seized by the FBI failed.

Cohen responded by switching lawyers to an attorney to Guy Petrillo, who served as the chief of the criminal division in the S.D.N.Y. from 2008 to 2009.

 

Trump has not yet responded to Cohen’s statements over the weekend.

 

July and August are going to be particularly sweaty months this year in NY and D.C.

More fake news.  Where did you get this information?

[zaphod reborn]

5 hours ago, webfact said:

"I am not a villain of this story and I will not allow others to try to depict me that way."

Cohen is a monster and a villain, and if he claims he isn't, it is only because in relative terms, Trump, Trump's clan and campaign staff were much worse monsters.  Only one audio tape of Cohen in his "work mode" has been aired and it proves that his license to practice law should have been yanked by the NY State Bar Association years ago.  There are presumably thousands of these audio recordings which have now been turned over to the SDNY US Attorney's Office.  Cohen is toast, but it will be interesting to see if he will honestly fess up to his shenanigans while he was attempting to get Putin's blessing to develop the Trump Tower in Moscow during the 2016 campaign and his work for Trump which mostly consisted of laundering Russian money through purchase of Trump condos by Russian oligarchs.

[johnnybangkok]

It seems that the normally vociferous Trumpers are unusually quiet on TV with this one. Heavens to Betsy could it be that even they are struggling to defend the orange one on this little gem? 

[Briggsy]

3 minutes ago, johnnybangkok said:

It seems that the normally vociferous Trumpers are unusually quiet on TV with this one. Heavens to Betsy could it be that even they are struggling to defend the orange one on this little gem? 

They are awaiting orders coming down from the FSB through their shill team leader how to play it.

[riclag]

2 hours ago, Berkshire said:

As much as I admire and respect Bob Mueller, this investigation needs to come to a conclusion and soon.  If not, the crazies on the right will keep chipping away at its credibility.  And then of course, you've got the new Supreme Court justice.  I realize an investigation like this takes time, but time is one thing we ain't got.  Come on Mr. Mueller, let's end this thing!

Surly the world would rather not  have PT making anymore decisions that threaten liberal ideology/humanity   . One person can end it all,with one report,he has the presidency in the palm of his investigated hands. Why wait! Why let democracy flounder,like a fish out of water. We been told by the dem's that there is evidence of Interference and obstruction by PT. Before he chooses another conservative SCJ , or takes another  immigrant child, show it now, let our people go! Shame on the SC ,surly you hear the cry's by the  liberals 

Edited July 3, 2018 by riclag

[riclag]

2 hours ago, Tug said:

I will bet the trator in chief is a bit nervous lol 

I asked for your evidence of treason,please show a link with a indictment or conviction. 

[billd766]

1 hour ago, TGIR said:

More fake news.  Where did you get this information?

 

How do YOU know if this is fake news?

 

Where did you get YOUR information from?

[bristolboy]

1 hour ago, billd766 said:

 

How do YOU know if this is fake news?

 

Where did you get YOUR information from?

• Michael Cohen was known to keep digital recordings of his conversations with associates, and those files may be among the materials that FBI agents confiscated during a raid at Cohen's home and office this week.
• The Washington Post cited people familiar with Cohen's work and allies of President Donald Trump who said Cohen, Trump's longtime personal attorney, kept digital files of his conversations and sometimes played them back for colleagues.
• People close to Trump are wondering exactly who Cohen recorded and what those conversations entailed.
• http://www.businessinsider.com/michael-cohen-taped-conversations-with-associates-trump-fbi-raid-details-2018-4

[attrayant]

5 hours ago, TGIR said:

More fake news.  Where did you get this information?

 

Careful, your bias is showing.  Why do you even care where the info came from if you're already sure it's fake?

[FritsSikkink]

7 hours ago, Berkshire said:

As much as I admire and respect Bob Mueller, this investigation needs to come to a conclusion and soon.  If not, the crazies on the right will keep chipping away at its credibility.  And then of course, you've got the new Supreme Court justice.  I realize an investigation like this takes time, but time is one thing we ain't got.  Come on Mr. Mueller, let's end this thing!

Very easy let Trump go for the interview, he always said he would do.

[riclag]

4 minutes ago, FritsSikkink said:

Very easy let Trump go for the interview, he always said he would do.

You must be kidding the dem's claim Mueller has  the evidence no need for a interview, besides a interview will be disputed and go to the SC. Mueller must put a end to it now. Stop PT term,no more suffering for Americans

[attrayant]

Just now, riclag said:

You must be kidding the dem's claim Mueller has  the evidence no need for a interview, besides a interview will be disputed and go to the SC. Mueller must put a end to it now. Stop PT term,no more suffering for Americans

 

What is the poster you quoted kidding about?  Trump has always said he'd love to sit for an interview and clear things up.  He actually said that.  Nobody is kidding you about that.

[FritsSikkink]

15 minutes ago, riclag said:

You must be kidding the dem's claim Mueller has  the evidence no need for a interview, besides a interview will be disputed and go to the SC. Mueller must put a end to it now. Stop PT term,no more suffering for Americans

Mueller is a republican, his boss is a republican. Before you start a court case with your evidence, you would like to have an interview with the suspect. Stop the excuses and let Trump do what he promised, take the interview so this can be resolved asap. What can be disputed about an interview?

[bristolboy]

19 minutes ago, riclag said:

You must be kidding the dem's claim Mueller has  the evidence no need for a interview, besides a interview will be disputed and go to the SC. Mueller must put a end to it now. Stop PT term,no more suffering for Americans

All dems? Some dems? There are over 43,000,000 registered Democrats in the USA. I imagine you'll find a very wide range of opinions there including some poor confused souls who support Trump.

[Chomper Higgot]

5 hours ago, TGIR said:

More fake news.  Where did you get this information?

Trump organization paying Cohen’s legal fees:

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/trump-campaign-paid-portions-michael-cohens-legal-fees/story?id=54831269

 

Cohen legal challenge to block evidence fails:

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/trump-michael-cohen-lose-bid-review-records-seized-fbi-article-1.3936984

 

Cohen breaks joint defense (I think this coming from ‘Christians for Trump’ is a nice touch):

https://christiansfortrump.com/trumps-joint-defense-agreement-with-cohen-ending-report/

 

Cohen, ‘Family, Country first loyalty, not Trump:

http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/395120-cohen-family-country-first-loyalty-not-trump

 

 

Next up: 

Trump sends not too subtle messages to Cohen, ‘pardons’ etc.

 

Followed by:

Cohen cuts a plea deal and spills years of dirt on Trump.

[billd766]

1 hour ago, riclag said:

You must be kidding the dem's claim Mueller has  the evidence no need for a interview, besides a interview will be disputed and go to the SC. Mueller must put a end to it now. Stop PT term,no more suffering for Americans

 

If you want to stop the suffering of Americans, then simply impeach Trump.

 

[thaibeachlovers]

8 hours ago, johnnybangkok said:

It seems that the normally vociferous Trumpers are unusually quiet on TV with this one. Heavens to Betsy could it be that even they are struggling to defend the orange one on this little gem? 

So far there is nothing to talk about. Far as I know, any lawyer client business is privileged, so the rest is just the usual speculation. Most unbiased people will wait and see if anything comes out of it that affects Trump in the slightest, like all the other previous Mueller indictments that have been nothing to do with Russian collusion, which is what Mueller is supposed to be looking into.

[thaibeachlovers]

2 hours ago, billd766 said:

 

If you want to stop the suffering of Americans, then simply impeach Trump.

 

If you think Trump's base would accept that, you have no idea of the consequences of such an action.

[bristolboy]

6 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

If you think Trump's base would accept that, you have no idea of the consequences of such an action.

So what is your idea of the consequences of such an action?

[thaibeachlovers]

4 minutes ago, bristolboy said:

So what is your idea of the consequences of such an action?

Just think ANTIFA, BLM, Occupy etc etc etc and multiply.

Edited July 3, 2018 by thaibeachlovers

[bristolboy]

6 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Just think ANTIFA, BLM, Occupy etc etc etc and multiply.

So, in other words lots of demonstrations and a little violence. I think the USA can handle that. Because if enough evidence is found to impeach Trump, you think that the Congress should back down because of threats? 

[thaibeachlovers]

Just now, bristolboy said:

So, in other words lots of demonstrations and a little violence. I think the USA can handle that. Because if enough evidence is found to impeach Trump, you think that the Congress should back down because of threats? 

You think there is actually evidence that Trump colluded with Russia to influence the election? 

If the Dems get a majority after November, they'd better have more than what has come out of Mueller's investigation if they impeach Trump for something.

If they don't win a majority in the Senate, impeachment will not result in conviction anyway, regardless of what the house does. 

[bristolboy]

1 minute ago, thaibeachlovers said:

You think there is actually evidence that Trump colluded with Russia to influence the election? 

If the Dems get a majority after November, they'd better have more than what has come out of Mueller's investigation if they impeach Trump for something.

If they don't win a majority in the Senate, impeachment will not result in conviction anyway, regardless of what the house does. 

You actually believe you're psychic and know what evidence Mueller has unearthed?

I mean there are some people, not you of course, who are so foolish to believe that if Mueller had discovered something, it would have leaked. This is the kind of self-delusion and wishful thinking that passes for insight amongst certain parties

I'm not claiming that Mueller has uncovered a smoking gun, or, for that matter that there is or  isn't sufficient evidence already to establish that Trump has committed obstruction of justice. I know enough to know that I don't know. But some people seem to share their thoughts only to exemplify the Dunning Kruger effect.

[Trouble]

14 hours ago, Berkshire said:

As much as I admire and respect Bob Mueller, this investigation needs to come to a conclusion and soon.  If not, the crazies on the right will keep chipping away at its credibility.  And then of course, you've got the new Supreme Court justice.  I realize an investigation like this takes time, but time is one thing we ain't got.  Come on Mr. Mueller, let's end this thing!

Everyone wants this investigation concluded except the politicians on the left who want it to go on until the midterm elections.  IF the investigation is concluded with no information as to collusion, the left has nothing.  But I am with you "Come on Mr. Mueller, let's end this thing!"