Donald Trump’s completely unhinged call to Fox & Friends this morning is already having real world implications for his longtime personal attorney Michael Cohen. In short, the man who Cohen said he’d “take a bullet for” just threw him under the bus and then backed up over him again. Here’s what Trump had to say about Michael Cohen during the interview.
BRIAN KILMEADE: Talk about Michael Cohen. Yesterday through his attorney he will be taking the fifth. What is your reaction to that being that you work with him for a couple decades as your attorney.
DONALD TRUMP: I do. A good person, Brian, you know Michael. Michael has been on your show a lot.
BRIAN KILMEADE: We know.
DONALD TRUMP: Michael is a good person. Let me tell you Michael is in business, he is really a businessman, a fairly big business as I understand it. I don't know his business but this doesn't have to do with me. Michael is a businessman. He has got a business. He also practices law. I would say probably the big thing is his business and they're looking something having to do with his business. I have nothing to do with his business I can tell you. He is a good guy --
BRIAN KILMEADE: Isn't his business your attorney, Mr. President?
DONALD TRUMP: I have many attorneys. Just so you understand. I have attorneys, sadly I have so many attorneys you wouldn't even believe it. But Michael is somebody --
STEVE DOOCY: Mr. President, how much of your legal work was handled by Michael Cohen?
DONALD TRUMP: A percentage of my overall legal work, a tiny, tiny little fraction but Michael would represent me and represent me on some things. He represents me like with this crazy stormy Daniels deal, he represented me. You know, from what I see, he did absolutely nothing wrong. There were no campaign fund --
AINSLEY EARHARDT: Why is he pleading the fifth.
DONALD TRUMP: Because he has got other things. He has businesses. From what I understand they're looking at his businesses. And I hope he is in great shape. But he has got businesses and his lawyers probably told him to do that. But I'm not involved and I'm not involved -- I've been told I'm not involved. Came out of the newspaper. I've been told I'm not involved.
Emphasis added. Donald Trump is now claiming Michael Cohen did very little legal work for him. He also admitted Michael Cohen was representing him in the Stormy Daniels’ case, a direct contradiction of his comments to reporters on Air Force One in early April. Why is this a problem? Because Cohen is trying to claim attorney-client privilege for all of his conversations and communications with Donald Trump, Sean Hannity and Elliot Broidy , another billionaire embroiled in a hush money payoff to a former Playboy model [Edit: the Trump Organization was listed as the third client.] In fact, federal prosecutors are already seizing on Donald Trump’s comments.
Donald Trump’s own comments may very well render his own attorney’s strategy completely useless! They were trying to get privilege for mountains of documents. The FBI seized and imaged eleven different electronic devices. They seized material from Cohen’s home, office, hotel room and even his safety deposit box. Thanks to Donald Trump, prosecutors will likely be feasting on these materials sooner than later.