Michael Cohen’s forthcoming book promises to offer an inside look at the Trump crime family much as “The Valachi Papers” offered a first-hand account in the 1960’s of Mafia activities in the U.S.
On Thursday, Cohen released online the foreword to "Disloyal, A Memoir" which Trump’s former lawyer, fixer and consigliere began writing while serving a three-year sentence at the Otisville Federal Prison in New York after pleading guilty to campaign finance charges and lying to Congress.
The Associated Press reported that the book is scheduled to be released on Sept. 8 by Skyhorse Publishing.
In the foreword, Cohen described the fear he felt on February 24, 2019 when he was en route to Washington, D.C. to testify against Trump before both houses of Congress. He said he had received death threat and even contemplated suicide.
“When I started working for Trump I had been a multi-millionaire lawyer and businessman, and now I was broke and broken; a convicted, disgraced and disbarred former attorney about to testify against the President ...”
The White House called the book "fan fiction" in a statement after the foreword to Cohen’s book was posted online.
"He readily admits to lying routinely but expects people to believe him now so that he can make money from book sales," the statement said. "It’s unfortunate that the media is exploiting this sad and desperate man to attack President Trump."
Cohen wrote that “Trump had colluded with the Russians, but not in the sophisticated ways imagined by his detractors. I also knew that the Mueller investigation was not a witch-hunt.
“Trump had cheated in the election, with Russian connivance, as you will discover in these pages, because doing anything—and I mean anything—to “win” has always been his business model and way of life.”
Cohen noted that Trump had “blatantly lied to the American people” during the campaign when he said he had no business dealings with Russia. At the time, Cohen was helping Trump pursue a major real estate deal in Moscow.
Trump “attempted to insinuate himself into the world of President Vladimir Putin and his coterie of corrupt billionaire oligarchs. I know because I personally ran that deal and kept Trump and his children closely informed of all updates.”
Cohen said that for more than a decade his life was entwined with Trump’s.
“In some ways, I knew him better than even his family did because I bore witness to the real man, in strip clubs, shady business meetings, and in the unguarded moments when he revealed who he really was: a cheat, a liar, a fraud, a bully, a racist, a predator, a con man.”
He added that Trump has lots of hangers-on and acquaintances but “no true friends.”
Trump has “lived his entire life avoiding and evading taking responsibility for his actions. He crushed or cheated all who stood in his way, but I know where the skeletons are buried because I was the one who buried them. ...”
“When Trump wanted to reach Russian President Vladimir Putin, via a secret back channel, I was tasked with making the connection in my Keystone Kop fashion. I stiffed contractors on his behalf, ripped off his business partners, lied to his wife Melania to hide his sexual infidelities, and bullied and screamed at anyone who threatened Trump’s path to power. From golden showers in a sex club in Vegas, to tax fraud, to deals with corrupt officials from the former Soviet Union, to catch and kill conspiracies to silence Trump’s clandestine lovers, I wasn’t just a witness to the president’s rise—I was an active and eager participant.”
Cohen said he didn’t expect readers to like him.
“But permit me to make a point: If you only read stories written by people you like, you will never be able to understand Donald Trump or the current state of the American soul. ... As anyone in law enforcement will tell you, it’s only gangsters who can reveal the secrets of organized crime. If you want to know how the mob really works, you’ve got to talk to the bad guys. I was one of Trump’s bad guys.”
Cohen added that as he sat in his prison cell writing his memoir, he became “even more convinced that Trump will never leave office peacefully.”
“The types of scandals that have surfaced in recent months will only continue to emerge with greater and greater levels of treachery and deceit. If Trump wins another four years, these scandals will prove to only be the tip of the iceberg. I’m certain that Trump knows he will face prison time if he leaves office, the inevitable cold Karma to the notorious chants of “Lock Her Up!”
He observed that Trump “projects his own sins and crimes onto others, partly to distract and confuse but mostly because he thinks everyone is as corrupt and shameless and ruthless as he is.”
He concluded: “One last thing I can say with great confidence, as you turn the page and meet the real real Donald Trump for the first time: This is a book the President of the United States does not want you to read.”
Cohen was released from prison to home confinement in May due to coronavirus fears. He was returned to prison in July after disclosing that he planned to publish the book.
A judge ordered his release last month after his lawyers filed a lawsuit alleging that the Justice Department had ordered him taken back into custody in retaliation for the book. Federal prosecutors dropped their effort to silence Cohen late last month, lifting a ban on Cohen speaking publicly.
