Last week, former fixer to President Donald Trump, Michael Cohen, mended fences with his former boss, going back to what he once called a “cult.”
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After federal investigators raided Cohen and his relationship with Trump collapsed, Cohen cooperated with prosecutors and became an important witness in civil and criminal cases against Trump, including Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s hush-money prosecution and New York Attorney General Letitia James’s civil-fraud case.
Writing for Zeteo’s morning newsletter, Asawin Suebsaeng argued that it’s clear Cohen never underwent a genuine moral transformation, so much as shifted allegiances when it suited him. After coming out hard against Trump for years, Cohen was hoping that he would be pardoned by President Joe Biden, revealed journalist Tara Palmeri when speaking to CNN.
“This is absolutely about a pardon,” she said flatly. “He was very angry when he didn’t get one. You even heard him again, back on MS NOW saying, ‘I’m someone’s son, too’ after Hunter Biden got a pardon and he didn’t. He then created this proposal to pardon all nonviolent felons, 70 million, including himself. This was something he proposed during the Biden administration.”
Suebsaeng noted that many people in political media were taken in by Cohen’s “schtick of turning on the president and earnestly seeing the error of his mean and Trumpy ways.”
The Zeteo reporter said now that the two seem to have patched up their relationship, as the enforcer and fixer, Cohen could become part of Trump’s ongoing efforts to go after his political enemies.
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Sources cited by the report say Trump White House and Justice Department appointees have discussed using Cohen as a potential witness if the federal government pursues criminal cases against James and Bragg, potentially alleging civil-rights violations against Trump.
Suebsaeng argued that even weak cases could serve a political purpose by burdening targets with investigations, legal expenses and public pressure.
Still, the report emphasizes that there are some major obstacles. Some Trump advisers reportedly doubt Cohen’s credibility and say he’s an unreliable witness. Attorney General Todd Blanche previously attacked Cohen’s credibility when he was working as Trump’s personal defense lawyer.
Trump’s administration attempted to charge James with a mortgage application discrepancy. His DOJ also charged former FBI Director James Comey for taking a photo of seashells on a beach that read “86-47.” Trump also pressured local prosecutors to target Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Ca.) in Maryland, but the U.S. attorney never did it.
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Cohen has sought a federal pardon, which Trump could grant.
