Actions are fueling concern in the president's inner circle that Michael Cohen may cooperate with prosecutors
WASHINGTON — President Trump’s personal attorney, Michael Cohen, has dropped lawsuits against the company that compiled a dossier alleging the Trump campaign coordinated with the Russians in 2016, and the online news site that published it. Those actions are fueling concern in the president’s inner circle that Cohen may cooperate with prosecutors.
With court battles on several fronts, Cohen is under intense legal pressure.
Attorney Jay Goldberg says he warned Mr. Trump in a phone call this weekend that Cohen’s legal problems could be a liability for the president.
“To avoid jail, Michael could do what so many witnesses do — he could add to the facts, he could change the facts, he could implicate the president when the president has done nothing,” Goldberg said.
Sources tell CBS News that Cohen expects to be charged in connection with the FBI raid last week in Manhattan.
Investigators seized 10 boxes of documents and electronic communications from Cohen’s office, home and hotel room.
Over the years, Cohen has become known as Mr. Trump’s fixer.
Cohen did not respond to CBS News’ requests for comment Thursday nor did his attorney. In recent weeks his legal fight over a payment to adult-film star Stormy Daniels has launched him into the spotlight.
On Friday, his attorneys will be in a Los Angeles courtroom asking for a 90-day delay in the case.
Scott Frederickson, a former federal prosecutor, says material uncovered in civil cases are routinely used by prosecutors to make criminal cases.
“In white collar criminal defense, the strategic choice is always made: protect the client in the criminal case first,” Frederickson said. “And second, don’t expose this person to further potential charges in the civil lawsuit by forcing him to testify.”
President Trump was named in the Cohen search warrants, but CBS News has learned Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein has told the White House that Mr. Trump is not a target in that investigation.
