President Donald Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen is siding with the intelligence community against his ex-boss.
Cohen tweeted on Monday: ‘As I said to [ABC’s George Stephanopoulos], “I respect our nation’s intelligence agencies who determined that Russia, had in fact, interfered or meddled in our democratic process.
‘“I repudiate Russia’s effort…and call on all Americans to do the same”.’
Cohen was referring to an interview with Stephanopoulos from two weeks ago – his first to a major television network since federal agents raided his office in April.
‘My wife, my daughter and my son have my first loyalty and always will,’ Cohen told ABC News.
‘I put family and country first.’
President Donald Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen is siding with the intelligence community against his ex-boss
Cohen tweeted on Monday that he believes Russia meddled in the 2016 election – contradicting Trump’s support for President Vladimir Putin’s claim that there was no interference from Moscow
Standing side by side with Vladimir Putin, Trump refused on Monday to blame the Russian leader for meddling in the 2016 U.S. election, casting doubt on the findings of his own intelligence agencies and sparking a storm of criticism at home.
Although he faced pressure from critics, allied countries and even his own staff to take a tough line, Trump spoke not a single disparaging word in public about Moscow on any of the issues that have brought relations between the two powers to the lowest ebb since the Cold War.
Instead, he denounced the ‘stupidity’ of his own country’s policies, especially the decision to investigate Russian interference in the 2016 election.
Just three days ago, the U.S. Justice Department announced an indictment of 12 Russian spies for hacking into Democratic Party computer networks.
Trump’s performance at a joint news conference with Putin in Helsinki stirred a wave of condemnation in the United States, including criticism from within his own Republican Party.
Cohen’s implicit criticism of Trump is the latest sign that he appears to have cut ties with his former client.
This could be bad news for Trump, since Cohen is under federal investigation by authorities in New York for a litany of alleged financial crimes.
Standing side by side with Vladimir Putin (right), Trump (left) refused on Monday to blame the Russian leader for meddling in the 2016 U.S. election, casting doubt on the findings of his own intelligence agencies and sparking a storm of criticism at home
Cohen may also have information relevant to Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s probe into Russia’s alleged meddling in the 2016 elections.
Last week, Lanny Davis, the lawyer representing Cohen, tweeted what could be a threat to Trump and Rudy Giuliani about what his client could share with federal prosecutors.
Davis seemed to challenge Giuliani for saying Cohen should tell the truth to prosecutors, warning the truth matters.
It’s unknown what Cohen, who served as Trump’s fixer and was heavily involved in the 2016 presidential campaign, could tell prosecutors if he cooperates.
Cohen isn’t directly answering whether or not he’d testify but speculation has been building for weeks that the president’s former personal attorney is headed in that direction.
Cohen’s decision to switch lawyers, his explosive interview with ABC News in early July and talk from friends that’s he willing to cooperate is fueling the flames of suspicion.
Cohen has not been charged with any wrongdoing but he is under criminal investigation for potential bank fraud, campaign finance violations, and tax issues – some of which are connected to the non-disclosure agreement he inked with Stormy Daniels, with whom he facilitated a $130,000 payment to cover an alleged affair with Trump.
The White House has denied an affair.
Cohen’s home and office were raided by federal agents in April and his attorneys have been combing through 3.7 million files and hundreds of encrypted messages for privileged information.