Michael Cohen’s lawyer, Guy Petrillo, said Cohen has been treated unlike other defendants by prosecutors, noting that « Mr. Cohen had the misfortune to have been counsel to the President. »
From CNN’s Erica Orden
Michael Cohen’s lawyer, Guy Petrillo, said Cohen has been treated unlike other defendants by prosecutors, noting that « Mr. Cohen had the misfortune to have been counsel to the President. »
Cohen long served as the President’s personal attorney and Trump’s « fixer. » Cohen even once boasted he would « take a bullet » to protect his longtime boss.
Petrillo, in court today, said Cohen wants to cooperate but that « he’s wary of a long term cooperation agreement. »
« He wants both to remove himself and remove his family from the glare of the cameras, » he said.
From CNN’s Erica Orden
Michael Cohen’s lawyer Guy Petrillo, addressing the court, said that his client « came forward to offer evidence against the most powerful person in our country, » alluding to Cohen’s testimony about President Trump.
Cohen, Petrillo said, couldn’t « anticipate the full measure of attack that would be made against him » by both the President and « partisans and citizens who happen to be aligned with the President. »
Petrillo said special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election « is of utmost national significance, no less than seen 40 years ago in Watergate. »
Petrillo also noted Cohen’s actions « stand in profound contrast to the decision of some others not to cooperate and allegedly to double deal while pretending to cooperate. »
CNN caught up with Michael Cohen’s in-laws, Fima and Ania Shusterman, as they made their way to court this morning.
