Rosie O’Donnell reveals she’s helping Michael Cohen with his ‘spicy’ tell-all book against Trump

Rosie O’Donnell revealed that she’s helping Michael Cohen, Trump’s former lawyer and ex-supporter, with his ‘spicy’ tell-all book aimed exposing the president.   

In an interview with The Daily Beast, O’Donnell said she first became amicable with Cohen after she visited him in jail.

‘I wrote him a letter the day that Trump got impeached. I found his inmate number online,’ O’Donnell said.

‘He always looked to me like someone from my neighborhood. He grew up on Long Island like I did, he’s a few years younger, and he reminds me of my brothers. 

‘I look at this guy and go, “How did he fall under the spell of that charlatan?”‘

Actress Rosie O’Donnell (pictured) said she helped former Trump-lawyer Michael Cohen with his tell-all book

Cohen, 53, was sentenced to three years in federal prison after pleading guilty to tax evasion and campaign finance violations in December 2018. 

He confessed to prosecutors that he orchestrated a hush payment of $130,000 on behalf of Trump to adult film actress Stormy Daniels, who was Trump’s alleged mistress, before the 2016 presidential election. 

For 12 years, Cohen acted as Trump’s first line of defense against a bevy of reporters, accusers and other foes of the president. 

This included O’Donnell, whose feud with Trump spanned years involved the president threatening to sue her.  

O’Donnell wrote a letter to Cohen expressing her appreciation that he finally pushed back at his former boss. 

‘When he’s being impeached and you’re sitting in jail for doing exactly what the boss told you to do, it’s mind-boggling to me,’ she wrote in the letter. 

Michael Cohen (pictured), Trump's former personal lawyer, was so moved by a letter from O'Donnell that he cried

Michael Cohen (pictured), Trump’s former personal lawyer, was so moved by a letter from O’Donnell that he cried 

‘I want you to know that I realize you were involved wholeheartedly in all the attacks on me since 2007, and I forgive you, and I want to thank you for finally telling the truth about him.

‘No matter how long it took you, you’ll be known and respected for that as much as any horror you’ve committed through him.’

Cohen was ‘so moved by the letter that he started crying.’

In a letter written back to O’Donnell, Cohen confessed it ‘had been bothering him all this time, because he couldn’t believe all the things he did to everyone—including me—at Trump’s direction was now being done to him.’

The two exchanged more letters before O’Donnell decided to visit him in prison.

O’Donnell said the two discussed several things, including how he became involved with Trump and his aspirations to write a tell-all book.  

Michael Cohen reportedly begun shopping a tell-all book

President Trump has reportedly attempted to stop Cohen from writing the book

Michael Cohen (left) has reportedly begun  shopping a tell-all book about working as Donald Trump’s lawyer for 12 years

‘I went there and I sat for six hours and talked to him,’ O’Donnell told The Daily Beast.   

‘He told me what chapters he was doing in his book, and on my way home, I was writing about what had happened between us, and I gave him my breakdown of things that should be in chapters.’

O’Donnell, who has written several bestselling memoirs, began helping Cohen flesh out his vision.

‘I said, “You should tell this story as a chapter, you should tell this story as a chapter,”‘ O’Donnell said, adding that reader might see the book before the 2020 election.

‘He’s in the midst of writing it, and is nearly done writing it, and hopes that it’ll be out before the election,’ she said.

She added that the book is ‘pretty spicy.’  

Meanwhile, Cohen’s early release from prison on Friday was unexpectedly halted. 

He asked officials to be released from prison over fears of contracting COVID-19 amid the pandemic. 

 Michael Cohen’s expected early release from minimum security prison is HALTED as Donald Trump tries to stop longtime fixer from writing a tell-all book

Michael Cohen, the former personal lawyer to President Donald Trump, will not be released from prison this week to serve the remainder of his term in home confinement, a source familiar with the matter said on Friday.

The news comes after it was revealed Trump Organization lawyer Charles Harder wrote Cohen to assert that his non-disclosure agreement prohibits him from writing a tell-all memoir as he is intending. 

Asked if President Trump intervened to stop Cohen’s release, new White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany replied Friday, ‘No, absolutely not.’ 

The Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) had previously informed Cohen that he would be getting out of the federal minimum security prison in Otistville, New York, on Friday due to the coronavirus pandemic, his lawyers said.  

Michael Cohen, the former personal lawyer to President Donald Trump, will not be released from prison this week to serve the remainder of his term in home confinement, a source familiar with the matter said on Friday

Michael Cohen, the former personal lawyer to President Donald Trump, will not be released from prison this week to serve the remainder of his term in home confinement, a source familiar with the matter said on Friday

Cohen’s prison sentence is due to expire in November of 2021. 

Reuters and other media reported last month that Cohen was set to be freed from a minimum-security camp at Otisville, New York on May 1. 

He had pressed to be released early due to the coronavirus pandemic, which has hammered New York and surfaced in prisons nationwide.

ABC News reported on Friday that Cohen’s anticipated release had been ‘rescinded.’ 

Cohen's conviction stemmed from hush money payments he directed to pornographic film star Stormy Daniels

Cohen’s conviction stemmed from hush money payments he directed to pornographic film star Stormy Daniels

The source said it was unclear now whether Cohen would be released early. The source did not know the reason for the change of plans.

The Federal Bureau of Prisons did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Manhattan U.S. Attorney’s office declined to comment.

Cohen’s lawyer, Roger Adler, did not respond to a request for comment on Friday. Earlier in the week he told Reuters he ‘remained hopeful’ that Cohen would be released, but that only BOP could make that decision.

Cohen, 53, pleaded guilty in 2018 to campaign finance violations and lying to Congress, among other charges. He began serving his sentence last May.

The charges stemmed from hush money payments to pornographic film star Stormy Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal, who claimed they had affairs with Trump. The president has denied having the encounters. 

Cohen maintains he deserves early release for telling investigators about the president’s misdeeds.

In court papers, prosecutors say Cohen has offered no evidence that he provided them with substantial assistance of the kind that warrants a significant reduction in sentence. And they say Congressional testimony does not earn a reduction either.

Cohen pleaded guilty in 2018, abandoning his longtime position of loyalty to Trump. 

He later met with federal and state prosecutors in New York and with the office of special counsel Robert Mueller, telling them he had lied to Congress to protect Trump.

Prior to Cohen’s sentence, Mueller’s team of investigators described his help to their probe, but prosecutors in Manhattan made it clear that Cohen wanted to help them only on his terms, unwilling to submit to the demands that he reveal all of his crimes and cooperate fully and honestly.

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk