Michael Cohen’s lawyer on Tuesday asked why President Donald Trump isn’t also facing criminal charges over the hush payments that his client pleaded guilty to executing.
Lanny Davis — who is representing Cohen, Trump’s longtime personal lawyer — lashed out in a statement after Cohen struck a plea deal on several charges, including two related to payments made to women to stay silent about damaging stories during the 2016 presidential campaign.
“If those payments were a crime for Michael Cohen, then why wouldn’t they be a crime for Donald Trump?” Davis said in a statement.
The payments described in court line up with payoffs made to adult-film actress Stormy Daniels and ex-Playboy model Karen McDougal. Both of the women claim to have had an affair with Trump. The president has denied the claims.
Speaking later on CNN, Davis suggested to Don Lemon that Cohen has information on collusion that special counsel Robert Mueller would be interested in.
“He feels liberated,” Davis said of Cohen’s state of mind now.
While speaking in federal court, Cohen said that he was directed by Trump to make the payments “for the purposes of influencing the election.”
In total, Cohen pleaded guilty on eight counts,slate of eight tax evasion, financial fraud and campaign finance charges.
“This is Michael fulfilling his promise made … to put his family and country first and tell the truth about Donald Trump,” Davis said.
Cohen, during an interview on July 2 with ABC’s George Stephanopoulos, said that his wife, daughter and son and the United States “have my first loyalty.”