now this is weird…
https:// www.myajc.com/news/trump-lawyer-michael-cohen-says-his-family-not-the-president-claim-his-first-loyalty/v1U3iVIAWjOCV1SUM8mOHO/
Trump lawyer Michael Cohen says his family, not the president, claim his first loyalty
The comments to ABC by the president’s former fixer suggest a willingness to cooperate with federal prosecutors, even if it undercuts Trump’s interests.
WASHINGTON —
President Donald Trump faced a mounting legal threat from his onetime lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen on Monday, as Cohen signaled in a new interview his willingness to cooperate with federal prosecutors, even if doing so would undercut the interests of the president.
Cohen's allies suggested in recent weeks that the Manhattan lawyer felt abandoned by the president as he faced a federal investigation of his personal finances.
But a 45-minute off-camera interview with ABC News' George Stephanopoulos published Monday represented a distinct escalation, a message to investigators that he is ready to deal.
"My wife, my daughter and my son have my first loyalty and always will," Cohen told Stephanopoulos, according to a story posted Monday morning on the network's website.
Reminded that he had previously vowed to "take a bullet" or "do anything" to protect the president, Cohen said Trump is not his top priority: "To be crystal clear, my wife, my daughter and my son, and this country have my first loyalty," he said.
Cohen complained to friends last month that Trump refers to their relationship in the past tense and that he is being forced to pay his own legal bills. He also sees himself as "collateral damage," one person who spent time with him in June said.
No moment in the investigation infuriated Trump more than the raid on Cohen's home, office and hotel room, several officials said.
Cohen is under intensifying scrutiny from federal prosecutors in Manhattan who are examining his business practices, as well as from Special Counsel Robert Mueller, who is investigating episodes involving Cohen as part of his probe of Russian interference in the 2016 election.
Lawyer Alan Dershowitz, who has at times been supportive of Trump through the special counsel investigation, said Cohen probably had several audiences in mind during the interview.
"The president has the option of pardoning him, the prosecutor has the option of giving him immunity. The Southern District has the option of giving him a deal," he said. "The one big mystery is whether he knows anything that can be helpful to the prosecutors or hurtful to the president." White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders referred questions about Cohen's interview to Trump's lawyer Rudy Giuliani, who did not return calls for comment Monday.
Some in Trump's orbit said the interview was a miscalculation if it was an attempt to reach out to the president - whom Cohen had served since 2007 — for attention, financial support or even a pardon that would end Cohen's legal predicament.
"I think it's a cry for help and a cry for attention," said one person close to the Trump Organization who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the criminal probes. "Every time the story dies down, he seems to want to reignite it."
Cohen, said another person close to the company who spoke on the same condition, had never been given major responsibilities at the real estate company that served as Trump's springboard to the White House.
"Is anyone at the Trump Organization lying awake at night worrying that Michael is flipping? No," the person said.
Trump himself has insisted to associates in recent months that Cohen was only a minor player in his business.
Cohen did not respond to requests for comment Monday from The Washington Post.
The new assessments of his role in Trump's world stand in contrast to years of company profiles that depicted Cohen as a close adviser entrusted with all manner of sensitive and personal tasks, and as a confidant not just of Trump but of his eldest children, Donald Jr., Ivanka and Eric.