Monday, June 18, 2018

Michael Cohen's attorneys flee as it appears that Donald Trump's fixer is fixin' to flip

US President Donald Trump's personal lawyer Michael Cohen(C) leaves the US Courthouse in New York on April 26, 2018. - US President Donald Trump acknowledged on Thursday that his personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, represented him in a "deal" involving porn star Stormy Daniels. Trump had previously denied knowledge of a $130,000 payment Cohen made to Daniels that she claims was to prevent her from talking about their alleged 2006 affair.Trump, in a wide-ranging telephone interview with "Fox and Friends," admitted for the first time that Cohen represented him in a "deal" with Daniels, who has filed a lawsuit seeking to have the "hush agreement" negotiated by Cohen thrown out. (Photo by HECTOR RETAMAL / AFP)        (Photo credit should read HECTOR RETAMAL/AFP/Getty Images)

ABC News is reporting that the lawyers for Donald Trump’s personal attorney, porn star fixer and reporter threatener have left the building. With a hearing coming up on Friday, the law firm that has represented Cohen to this point has quit. No one has replaced them.
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.
Hard. As in unraveling a series of shadowy LLCs that seems to have functioned not just for paying off porn stars, but accepting money from governments and corporations intent on buying influence in the Trump White House. That hard.
Hard as in Cohen was involved in exactly the sort of money laundering through real estate sales that has kept Trump afloat since his last bankruptcy
Hard as in Cohen doesn’t just know where a lot of the skeletons are buried, he was the guy holding the shovel.
And it’s going to be difficult to explain this in the form of “the legal expenses were getting to be too much for Cohen” because Donald Trump has been picking up the tab on Cohen’s legal expenses, spending nearly a quarter of a million by the end of April. Those funds for Cohen’s defense came from Trump’s campaign, even though Cohen never held any official role in either the 2016 or 2020 campaigns.
Friday’s hearing day for Cohen is also the day when Trump campaign chair Paul Manafort is due back in court to justify why he shouldn’t be locked up for violating his bond through witness tampering.

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