Donald Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen fears ex-President will ‘exact revenge on anyone who has done him wrong’ and his re-election could be a ‘problem for America’s democracy’
Donald Trump’s former personal lawyer Michael Cohen says he is terrified the ex-president will exact terrible revenge “on everyone who wronged him” if he is re-elected.
Cohen, 57, told Good Morning Britain that he fears for both his safety and his life, and is currently considering leaving the US if Trump becomes president again.
“You don’t know Donald Trump. I do. Don’t listen to my words. Listen to his words. He will take revenge on everyone who has wronged him.
“There’s a lot of people on that list. It’s not just me. They are judges, they are lawyers, they are citizens. They’re prosecutors. They’re members of Congress.
“He will take revenge on anyone he can.”
Donald Trump (photo, left) and Michael Cohen previously had a good working relationship
Cohen admits he paid hush money to adult actress Stormy Daniels (photo)
The former attorney, who was barred from practicing law in New York state in 2019 after pleading guilty to arranging payments to adult actress Stormy Daniels and lying to Congress, said he is unsure that putting Trump in jail would make him disappear.
“I want him to be held accountable, but I am very concerned that if Donald Trump is actually locked up in an institution, he would sell or give away national security secrets for a bag of tuna or a book of stamps.
“My greater concern is the protection and security of America.
“So let them put him in a very serious situation of house arrest. But to put him in an institution, consider that he was briefed on national security issues every day for four years.
“I care more about America than seeing Donald Trump behind bars.”
Cohen, 57, (pictured) told Good Morning Britain that he fears for both his safety and his life
A grinning Michael Cohen, 57, was seen in court for the fourth week of Trump’s $250 million fraud trial
Michael Cohen came face to face with former client and friend Donald Trump on Tuesday as he took the stand in the former president’s $250 million fraud trial.
Michael Cohen came face to face with former client and friend Donald Trump on Tuesday as he took the stand in the former president’s $250 million fraud trial.
Cohen was sent to prison for three years for financial crimes and lying to Congress.
He admitted to the New York Times in 2018 that he paid Stormy Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, $130,000 out of his own pocket to silence her after she allegedly had an affair with Donald Trump.
He also admitted buying the rights to a negative story about Donald Trump from US tabloid The National Inquirer involving former Playboy model Karen McDougal, who claimed she and Trump had an affair from 2006 to 2007.
Cohen pleaded guilty to lying to Congress about obtaining Russian government support for a planned Trump Tower in Moscow during the 2016 presidential election.
He admitted to making false statements to hinder the US investigation into the case and help Trump.
In a speech to the court, Cohen claimed he broke the law on behalf of the former president
Cohen told the court he violated campaign finance laws by making a hush-money payment to former playmate Karen McDougal (pictured) to ‘ensure Trump was protected’
Cohen alleged in his memoir, Disloyal, that Trump made several racist comments against Nelson Mandela and Barack Obama
“I made these statements to be consistent with (Trump’s) political message and out of loyalty to (Trump), Cohen told the federal court in 2018.
The verdicts came after Cohen and Trump had been feuding in the press for years after publicly feuding with each other.
Trump has repeatedly called Cohen a “thug,” a “rat” and a “liar.” Meanwhile, Cohen once claimed that if people want to get under the former president’s shoes, “it’s not by saying he’s a narcissistic sociopath, or that he’s definitely not 6 feet tall and he doesn’t weigh 215 pounds, but you go after your wallet.
“Once you start hitting that bank book, that’s what really hits him.”
Cohen even published a memoir in 2020 in which he talked about his time with Trump. In it, he alleged that the former president had made racist comments against South African President Nelson Mandela and former President Barack Obama.
He also alleged that Trump would consistently make cruel and demeaning comments to his own family and members of his personal staff.
The public feud has continued years after they ended their working relationship.
Last month, Cohen stood against Trump when he told a New York court that he needed to boost the former president’s finances by “reverse-engineering” his assets to “reach the number that Mr. Trump has told us to do.”