Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump’s former longtime personal attorney, confidant and fixer, is not seeking a pardon for his crimes, according to Cohen attorney Lanny Davis.
In a flurry of interviews Wednesday morning, Davis insisted that his client, who pleaded guilty Tuesday to violating campaign finance laws during the 2016 presidential election at the direction of Trump himself, is committed to telling the truth.
“He will not [seek a pardon from Trump], and does not want anything from Donald Trump,” Davis said on ABC’s “Good Morning America,” adding that his client is prepared to speak to special counsel Robert Mueller, who is investigating whether Trump’s campaign colluded with Russia and whether he obstructed justice.
“What he knows that he witnessed will be of interest to the special counsel,” Davis said of Cohen. “He will tell the truth to everybody who asks him about Donald Trump.”
Appearing on MSNBC Tuesday night, Davis claimed that Cohen could tell Mueller about “the obvious possibility of a conspiracy to collude.”
Tuesday’s extraordinary developments were notable because they directly implicate the president. Cohen pleaded guilty to making campaign payments, at Trump’s direction, to silence two women who have said they had extramarital affairs with Trump.
Cohen reached the plea deal with federal prosecutors in New York. However, as Trump’s former fixer and confidant, he would likely be a person of interest in Mueller’s probe, having handled Trump’s business affairs for many years.
Responding to the news on Wednesday, Trump lambasted his former lawyer.
Cohen once claimed that he would “take a bullet for Trump,” but the plea deal on Tuesday was a culmination of steps in recent months that suggest Cohen has turned on his former boss.
Davis said Cohen experienced a “complicated evolution” in his relationship with Trump.
“He’s turned his life from what he did for Donald Trump, much of which he now regrets, and would love to do re-dos,” Davis said on NBC’s “Today” show.
Throughout his television appearances, Davis repeatedly promoted a legal fund established “to help [Cohen] tell the truth about Donald Trump,” urging viewers to contribute.
“He and his family are suffering. He is asking for help,” Davis said Wednesday on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.”
This post has been updated with a tweet from Trump and more comments from Davis.