President Trump‘s former longtime attorney Michael Cohen resents the president’s use of him as a “punching bag” and has hit a “reset button” on his relationship with both the president and the media, his attorney said Wednesday.
“He had to hit a reset button,” Lanny Davis, who is representing Cohen as he defends himself from an investigation into possible bank fraud and campaign finance violations, told The Washington Post. Davis is a columnist for The Hill.
“He had to say he respected the FBI. He had to say he believed the intelligence agencies that Russia meddled in the election,” he continued. “He had to describe the Trump Tower meeting as extremely poor judgment at best. And, ultimately, he said, ‘I’m not going to be a punching bag anymore,’ which he had been when he said, ‘I’ll take a bullet.’ ”
Investigators uncovered more than 100 recordings made by Cohen, including one obtained by CNN that contained a conversation between the two men detailing payments to an ex-Playboy model who claims an affair with the president. – READ MORE
[divider][/divider]Michael Cohen could face new professional and legal challenges for leaking a secretly recorded conversation with his former client Donald Trump — a risky move that could cause problems with the state bar, future clients and even investigators.
But the move could cause problems for Cohen beyond the president’s angry tweets, as experts raise questions of ethical violations.
“He is increasing the amount of baggage associated with his credibility by the day,” white-collar criminal defense attorney for Ifrah Law and former DOJ official Jim Trusty told Fox News.
The president and his legal team were put on defense by the release of the tape, as they scrambled to claim the garbled conversation did not — as some suggested — show Trump discussing a cash payoff. But Trump’s team also fired back by hammering Cohen for recording the conversation without Trump’s consent. The president, on Wednesday, tweeted: “What kind of lawyer would tape a client? So sad!”
Trusty told Fox News it is indeed “unheard of” for an attorney to record a client without the client’s permission — and questioned whether Cohen would be able to get future clients after this.
“It raises gigantic issues as to the ethics of it, and as a practical matter, whether any client is going to walk in that door after knowing Cohen surreptitiously recorded his biggest client,” Trusty said, noting that Cohen “betrayed” Trump.
Trusty speculated that Cohen’s decision to record Trump could “somehow be an insurance policy” to “protect himself should he find himself in harm’s way.”
“Whether it actually serves that purpose is a totally different question,” Trusty said.
Trump lawyer Rudy Giualiani suggested to the Washington Examiner that Cohen could face professional discipline over the tapes.
“I don’t think we have to do anything about that,” Giuliani said. “I think the bar association will.”- READ MORE
[give_form id=”79809″] [contentcards url=”http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/398924-cohen-says-he-wont-be-a-punching-bag-for-trump-anymore” target=”_blank”]