Michael Cohen’s lawyer was booed by Megyn Kelly’s audience on Wednesday after he asked for donations to support his client.
Kelly asked attorney Lanny Davis about whether or not his client, Cohen, was prepared to testify before Congress about everything his knows.
Davis replied that Cohen is ‘committed’ to telling the truth.
‘Could I take one opportunity to remind everyone that Michael Cohen has suffered a tragic and difficult experience with his family,’ Davis told viewers during his appearance on Megyn Kelly Today.
Michael Cohen’s lawyer, Lanny Davis (left), was booed by Megyn Kelly’s (right) audience on Wednesday after he asked for donations to support his client
Davis told viewers during his appearance on Megyn Kelly Today that he’s ‘hoping that he will get some help from the American people so he can continue to tell the truth’
‘He’s without resources, and we’ve set up a website called michaelcohentruth.com, that we’re hoping that he will get some help from the American people so he can continue to tell the truth.’
That statement drew laughs and jeers from Kelly’s audience.
‘I don’t know if they’re ready to donate, Lanny,’ Kelly responded.
Davis then retorted: ‘I would say the reaction of your audience may be they are not as interested in getting the truth out about Donald Trump as many other people in the country,’ Davis said.
‘Approximately 60 per cent of the country would not have the reaction of your audience,’ he added.
His last comment brought on the boos from the crowd as Kelly thanked Davis for appearing on the show.
Davis was referring a GoFundMe account that has been set up for Cohen. The page includes a timeline of Cohen’s mission to tell the truth since July.
‘On July 2, 2018, Michael Cohen declared his independence from Donald Trump and his commitment to tell the truth,’ the page reads.
‘On August 21, Michael Cohen made the decision to take legal responsibility and to continue his commitment to tell the truth.
‘Michael decided to put his family and his country first. Now Michael needs your financial help — to pay his legal fees.
Cohen’s lawyer (left) then said: ‘I would say the reaction of your audience may be they are not as interested in getting the truth out about Donald Trump (right) as many other people in the country’
According to the page, ‘The Michael Cohen Truth Fund is a transparent trust account, with all donations going to help Michael Cohen and his family as he goes forward on his journey to tell the truth about Donald Trump.’
More than 1,200 people have donated to the fund, raising more than $46,000 as of Wednesday afternoon.
Cohen pleaded guilty to eight criminal charges and implicated President Donald Trump on Tuesday.
On Wednesday, Trump lashed out at Cohen after his former lawyer implicated him in campaign finance violations, accusing him of making up ‘stories’ in order to get a plea deal.
The president’s longtime lawyer dealt him a bitter political blow as he admitted to felony charges in New York that included making illegal campaign contributions.
At almost the same time, Trump’s former campaign chief Paul Manafort was found guilty of tax and bank fraud by a jury in Virginia.
In his first reaction to the Cohen bombshell, Trump asserted in a series of tweets that his former lawyer’s campaign finance violations were ‘not a crime’.
‘Michael Cohen plead (sic) guilty to two counts of campaign finance violations that are not a crime,’ he tweeted, adding that ‘President Obama had a big campaign finance violation and it was easily settled!’
The 2008 Obama campaign paid a $375,000 fine in 2013 to settle violations of a rule that contributions made 20 days before an election had to be reported within 48 hours.
Cohen’s illegal campaign contributions involved secret hush payments he made on Trump’s behalf during the 2016 campaign to two women who claimed to have had affairs with the Republican candidate.
Trump contrasted Cohen’s actions with those of Manafort, whom he described as ‘such a brave man’.
Trump’s former campaign chief Paul Manafort (pictured) was found guilty of tax and bank fraud by a jury in Virginia on Tuesday
‘I feel very badly for Paul Manafort and his wonderful family,’ Trump wrote. ‘Unlike Michael Cohen, he refused to ‘break’ – make up stories in order to get a ‘deal.”
‘A large number of counts, ten, could not even be decided in the Paul Manafort case. Witch Hunt!’ Trump wrote, referring to the counts on which the jury could not reach a unanimous decision.
He did not have similarly kind words for his ex-attorney.
‘If anyone is looking for a good lawyer, I would strongly suggest that you don’t retain the services of Michael Cohen!’ Trump wrote.
On Tuesday, Cohen detailed how he made pre-election hush payments to porn star Stormy Daniels and Playboy model Karen McDougal. Both claim to have had affairs with Trump.
But in a sensational twist, Cohen also pointed to the president — or ‘individual 1’ — as a co-conspirator, alleging that he acted ‘in coordination and at the direction of a candidate for federal office’ in making those payments.
‘I participated in this conduct with the purpose of influencing the election,’ a visibly crestfallen Cohen told the judge — an admission that puts Trump himself in legal jeopardy.
Unlike Cohen, 69-year-old Manafort did not take a plea deal, choosing to leave his fate to a jury and prompting speculation that he was hoping for a pardon by Trump — something the president has refused to rule out.
Manafort’s case went to the jury on Thursday after 12 days of gripping testimony about hidden bank accounts, betrayal and lavish spending on luxury homes, cars, antique rugs and clothes.
After four days of deliberation, jurors found him guilty of eight counts: five of making false income tax returns, two of bank fraud and one of failure to report foreign bank and financial accounts.