According to a new report, Michael Cohen was fishing for a pardon last year after the FBI raided his home and businesses.
The issue of a pardon reportedly was brought up as both his attorneys and Trump’s attorneys were working together to figure out what documents were protected by attorney-client privilege.
Here’s more:
NY POST – Michael Cohen’s lawyer talked about a potential pardon with attorneys for President Trump last spring — and now the discussions are part of a sweeping investigation by House Democrats, according to a report Tuesday.
Attorneys for both sides met weeks after the FBI raided Cohen’s home, office and hotel room in April 2018 as part of its probe into campaign finance crimes, the Wall Street Journal reported.
The pardon conversation came up as Cohen’s lawyer at the time, Stephen Ryan, and Trump’s lawyers were working together to determine whether the files that were seized were protected by attorney-client privilege.
But the president’s legal team — including Jay Sekulow, Rudy Giuliani and Joanna Hendon — slapped down the idea, even though Giuliani left open the possibility that Trump could grant a pardon in the future.
“I always give the same answer, which is, ‘The president is not going to consider any pardons at this time and nobody should think that he is,’” Giuliani told the Journal, declining to say whether Cohen’s lawyer contacted him.
He said he tells lawyers, “Whatever happens in the future, that is his [Trump’s] prerogative.”
Even if Trump were considering a pardon back then, I think that ship sailed once Cohen began throwing Trump under the bus.
And this latest spectacle in the House oversight hearing has pretty much guaranteed that Trump won’t be bailing him out of his prison time.
Interestingly enough, Cohen said in his testimony that he never asked Trump for a pardon, nor would he accept one:
In testimony before Congress last week, Cohen — who pleaded guilty to a variety of crimes including campaign finance violations for paying hush money to two women to allegedly protect Trump — insisted he’s never requested a pardon from his former boss.
“I have never asked for, nor would I accept, a pardon from President Trump,” Cohen said.
A spokeswoman for Cohen said that he “stands by his testimony before the House Oversight Committee.”
Ok looking past the notion that he may have lied about it for a second, who in their right mind wouldn’t accept a presidential pardon? I don’t buy that for one second. What’s he gonna do, fight to stay in prison after if a pardon is issued?
Well, truth is he’s not gonna have to worry about any of that now.