President Donald Trump’s former personal attorney Michael Cohen, in a newly-surfaced phone call with comedian Tom Arnold, walked back segments of his plea agreement with federal prosecutors.
By: Harry Cherry
“There is no tax evasion,” Mr. Cohen reportedly said in the recording provided to the Wall Street Journal.
Cohen complained in the recorded phone call about the fact that a federal judge sentenced him to three years in prison.
“You would think that you would have folks, you know, stepping up and saying, ’You know what, this guy’s lost everything,” he said.
Cohen lamented about the assets which he’s lost since being indicted.
“My family’s happiness, and my law license,” Cohen lamented. “I lost my business … my insurance, my bank accounts, all for what? All for what? Because Trump, you know, had an affair with a porn star? That’s really what this is about.”
Cohen told Tom Arnold that he entered a guilty plea to a slew of federal charges because prosecutors had him “on campaign finance,” and threatened to charge his wife with crimes if he did not plead guilty. He told The Jewish Voice in a recent interview that federal prosecutors threatened to bring criminal charges against his wife if he didn’t enter into a plea agreement.
“I love this woman, and I am not going to let her get dragged into the mud of this crap,” he told Arnold. “And I never thought the judge was going to throw a three-year fricking sentence.”
Lanny Davis, one of Michael Cohen’s attorneys and legal advisers, told the Wall Street Journal that Cohen has “taken responsibility for his crimes,” and will report to prison next month, as planned.
“While he cannot change the past, he is making every effort to reclaim his life and do right by his family and country. He meant no offense by his statements,” Davis told the Journal.
Talking about embattled attorney Michael Avenatti, Cohen said in the recorded phone call that Avenatti “lied about him” every day.
Avenatti has been accused in New York of trying to extort Nike for $20 million dollars and is accused by federal prosecutors in California of committing bank fraud, wire fraud, and stealing millions of dollars from a mentally ill client.
“Look at what’s happening to Avenatti – it’s called karma boomerang,” Cohen told Tom Arnold. “The guy lied about me every single day, right? And the world loved it.”
Arnold told The Journal that he recorded the conversation because Michael Cohen “tapes everything,” adding that he wanted to remember what exactly they discussed.
Michael Avenatti was also charged with committing tax fraud and bankruptcy fraud and faces hundreds of years in prison if convicted of all charges against him in New York and California
