In New Interview, Former Trump Attorney Asserts His Loyalty to Family and Country – NOT Trump

So I’ve been tracking the evolution of Michael Cohen from subservient doormat for Donald Trump to whatever this new stage of development is, where he asserts himself in the best interest of himself and his family. It’s a wonder to behold, actually.

Let’s keep in mind of Trump’s former “fixer” that he described himself as the guy who would “take a bullet” or “do anything” to protect Trump.

Recent reports that have made their way public are that Cohen is ready to talk. He’s not Trump’s lawyer, anymore, and maybe he’s ready to roll (providing there’s anything to roll with).

It’s not like the signs aren’t there. In his first very public proclamation of his freedom from the Trumposphere that held him in orbit for a decade, Cohen sat with ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos for an exclusive interview, and he’s not exactly toeing the Trumpian line.

In April, Cohen’s home, office, and hotel room were raided. Dozens of electronics and millions of documents were seized. They even pieced together documents they found in the office shredder.

They weren’t playing around.

While he has yet to be charged with anything, he’s facing possible wire and bank fraud charges, as well as charges of campaign finance law violations, related to the $130,000 payoff to Trump’s former mistress, porn star Stormy Daniels.

Today’s interview with Stephanopoulos pretty much solidifies the notion that Cohen has no intention of going down with the Trump ship.

When I asked Cohen directly what he would do if prosecutors forced him to choose between protecting the president and protecting his family, he said his family is “my first priority.”

Cohen added: “Once I understand what charges might be filed against me, if any at all, I will defer to my new counsel, Guy Petrillo, for guidance.”

But when I pointed out to Cohen that he wasn’t repeating past vows to “take a bullet” and “do anything” to protect the president, the longtime Trump loyalist left little doubt about where he stands now, saying simply: “To be crystal clear, my wife, my daughter and my son, and this country have my first loyalty.”

Petrillo has not taken full control over Cohen’s case, yet, but that is expected to happen in the coming days. A joint defense agreement between Cohen and Trump that allowed for their lawyers to share whatever documents or information they had with each other comes to a screeching halt once Petrillo is on the job.

Is Cohen, so often seen as Donald Trump’s patsy, prepared for the struggle that begins if he should find his interests and those of his former client’s in conflict?

When I asked Cohen how he might respond if the president or his legal team come after him — to try and discredit him and the work he did for Mr. Trump over the last decade — he sat up straight. His voice gained strength.

“I will not be a punching bag as part of anyone’s defense strategy,” he said emphatically. “I am not a villain of this story, and I will not allow others to try to depict me that way.”

He’s probably not going to sit by and be called a low-level coffee boy, either.

You get the sense that Michael Cohen is very aware of the potential legal peril his work on behalf of Trump has put him in. Nobody can blame him for being particularly wary of saying the wrong thing, now.

I asked Cohen if the president directed him to make that payment or promised to reimburse him. In the past, Cohen has said that he acted on his own initiative.

Not this time.

“I want to answer. One day I will answer,” he said. “But for now, I can’t comment further on advice of my counsel.”

To be fair, Trump really threw him under the bus, on this one. After the $130,000 payment, made a month before the 2016 election, oddly enough (Especially odd, considering the affair was a decade earlier), was discovered, Cohen released a statement, signed by Daniels, claiming there was no affair or payoff.

Shortly after, he reversed course, but maintained Trump knew nothing of the payments, including their purpose.

It was Trump who casually contradicted Cohen, sometime afterwards.

That is when it became an issue that federal prosecutors determined needed a closer look.

On the recommendation of special counsel Robert Mueller, the investigation of Cohen began.

Trump was not a happy camper.

After federal agents searched Cohen’s New York properties, Trump described the raid as a break-in, an “attack on our country, in a true sense. It’s an attack on what we all stand for.”

In fact, the president took to Twitter in what looked like some sort of emotional break from reality to rage over the raid.

Oddly enough, the actual subject of the raid is handling it much better.

“I don’t agree with those who demonize or vilify the FBI. I respect the FBI as an institution, as well as their agents,” Cohen told me. “When they searched my hotel room and my home, it was obviously upsetting to me and my family. Nonetheless, the agents were respectful, courteous and professional. I thanked them for their service and as they left, we shook hands.”

Cohen also refused to criticize the Mueller investigation.

“I don’t like the term witch hunt,” he said, adding that he condemned Russia for interfering in the 2016 election.

“As an American, I repudiate Russia’s or any other foreign government’s attempt to interfere or meddle in our democratic process, and I would call on all Americans to do the same,” he said.

And in a direct rebuttal to President Trump, who sent out a tweet last week repeating Vladimir Putin’s claim that Russia did not interfere in our election, Cohen added this: “Simply accepting the denial of Mr. Putin is unsustainable.”

“I respect our nation’s intelligence agencies’… unanimous conclusions,” he said.

Sanity. So rare from someone so intimately tied to Donald Trump.

Cohen still denies that he had any part in the Russian interference in the 2016 election. He pointed out that the Steele dossier was incorrect in saying he went to Prague.

As for the now-infamous June 2016 Trump Tower meeting between Donald Trump Jr. and several Trump campaign team members with a Russian attorney, Cohen agrees that it was a dumb move.

“I believe it was a mistake by those from the Trump campaign who did participate,” he said. “It was simply an example of poor judgment.”

When I asked Cohen if President Trump knew about that meeting before it happened, he declined to answer.

“I can’t comment under advice of my counsel due to the ongoing investigation by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of New York,” Cohen said.

Understandable.

What we do know about that meeting, at least, is that President Trump fed his son a line of bull to repeat to those questioning him about the meeting, from aboard Air Force One. It was information determined to be untrue, and he knew it.

This is Cohen’s time, however, and you have to wonder if he really does know where all the bodies are buried.

When I asked if he had any regrets about how he handled any of the matters under investigation, he said “as an attorney and as an employee, I tried to make good faith judgments in the past. I also acknowledge that I am not perfect. I would prefer not to be in this situation at all, obviously.”

This interview, he hopes, will be a first step towards his ultimate goal: “Resolution.”

“I want to regain my name and my reputation and my life back,” he said.

And regaining a spine and walking upright after a decade of serving Trump is probably going to feel pretty sweet, as well.