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Jump to: 2017; 2018; 2019;
Undated: Michael Dean Cohen (born August 25, 1966) is a former American attorney and convicted felon who was a lawyer for Donald Trump from 2006 until May 2018.[2]
Cohen was a vice-president of The Trump Organization and a counsel to Trump, often being described as Trump's "fixer".[3][4] He previously served as co-president of Trump Entertainment and was a board member of the Eric Trump Foundation, a children's health charity.[5] From 2017 to 2018, Cohen was deputy finance chairman of the Republican National Committee.[6][7]
Trump employed him until May 2018, a month after the Special Counsel investigation began. The investigation led to him pleading guilty on August 21, 2018, to eight counts of campaign finance violations, tax fraud, and bank fraud. Cohen said he violated campaign finance laws at the direction of Trump and "for the principal purpose of influencing" the 2016 presidential election.[8] In November 2018, Cohen made a second guilty plea for lying to a Senate committee about efforts to build a Trump Tower in Moscow.[9][10] In December 2018, he was sentenced to three years in prison and ordered to pay a $50,000 fine.[1]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Cohen_%28lawyer%29
-- 2017 --
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May 30: President Donald Trump’s longtime personal attorney has turned down a request to be interviewed and provide documents in the congressional probe into Russian interference into the 2016 election.
Michael Cohen, who worked at the Trump Organization until January and remains the president’s private counsel, confirmed Tuesday he would not cooperate with congressional inquiries as they examine contacts between Trump’s circle of aides and Russian officials.
"I declined the invitation to participate as the request was poorly phrased, overly broad and not capable of being answered,” Cohen told POLITICO via text message. He did not specify which House or Senate panels had sought him out as part of their investigations.
https://www.politico.com/story/2017/05/30/michael-cohen-decline-congressional-russia-investigation-238945
-- 2018 --
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April 10: A Brief History of Michael Cohen’s Criminal Ties
From the Russian mob to money launderers, Trump’s personal attorney has long been a subject of interest to federal investigators
https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/a-brief-history-of-michael-cohens-criminal-ties-628875/
April 26: Last week, thanks to a report from Wall Street Journal, we learned that Donald Trump loves humiliating Michael Cohen. In that story, early Trump campaign advisers Sam Nunberg and Roger Stone detailed what they deemed an abusive relationship between the embattled president and the lawyer who fancies himself Trump’s personal Ray Donovan. Stone summed up the dynamic between the attorney—who is now under criminal investigation related to hush payments he made on behalf of Trump—and client thusly: “Trump goes out of his way to treat [Cohen] like garbage.”
Now sources in Cohen’s world are sharing their own stories regarding the years of mistreatment Trump is said to have inflicted on his friend and confidant.
https://www.spin.com/2018/04/trump-humiliated-michael-cohen-bar-mitzvah/
May 22: Who Did Playboy Model Shera Bechard Really Have an Affair With?
You may recall that a few weeks ago a judge ordered Trump lawyer/fixer Michael Cohen to reveal all his clients. It turned out he had only three: Donald Trump, Sean Hannity, and … Elliott Broidy. What’s more, he only represented Broidy on one thing: a hush money payment to a Playboy model he had an affair with, some of which was used to pay for an abortion. When that was revealed, Broidy immediately confessed in a surprisingly workmanlike statement and that was that.
The whole thing seemed odd, leading Paul Campos to make the case that it was actually Donald Trump who had the affair, with Broidy taking the fall for him. Campos made a decent case, but it was purely speculative and quickly dropped out of sight.
... it sure seems a helluva lot more likely that Campos was right. It always seemed odd that Broidy had paid Shera Bechard $1.6 million for her silence, considering that an affair with a guy like Broidy was hardly front-page news. However, an affair with Trump would be front-page news, and this was right in the middle of Broidy’s big campaign to get Trump to help him out with the Qatar business. What better way to ingratiate yourself with Trump than to offer to cover this up for him?
Is this true? I’m not sure we’ll ever know. But it seems pretty plausible.
https://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2018/05/who-did-playboy-model-shera-bechard-really-have-an-affair-with/
June 20: Michael Cohen resigns from RNC committee post
https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/michael-cohen-resigns-rnc-committee-post/story?id=56033406
July 23: Michael Cohen Prosecutors Get 12 Audio Recordings to Review
U.S. prosecutors probing Michael Cohen are reviewing 12 audio recordings seized in an April raid of the home, office and hotel room of President Donald Trump’s former lawyer and fixer.
The president is heard on only one of the 12 recordings, according to people familiar with the matter. The others are of individuals discussing Trump, according to the people, who declined to comment on confidential details of the investigation.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-07-23/cohen-prosecutors-get-12-audio-recording-to-review-in-probe
April 18: The Company Michael Cohen Kept
A distinctive pattern emerged early in Cohen’s career, according to an examination by WNYC and ProPublica for the Trump, Inc. podcast: Many of the people who crossed paths with Cohen when he worked in Queens and Brooklyn were disciplined, disbarred, accused or convicted of crimes.
Cohen, 51, has always emerged unscathed — until now. Last week, his Rockefeller Center office was raided by federal agents, as were his home, hotel room, safety deposit box, and two cell phones. Cohen is under criminal investigation by federal prosecutors in the Southern District of New York. According to court papers, investigators are examining whether he committed fraud and showed a “lack of truthfulness.”
https://www.wnycstudios.org/story/trump-inc-podcast-company-michael-cohen-kept
June 13: Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump’s longtime confidant and former personal attorney, is likely to cooperate with federal investigators, as his lawyers are expected to leave the case, sources said.
To date, Cohen has been represented by Stephen Ryan and Todd Harrison of the Washington and New York firm, McDermott, Will & Emery LLP, but a source representing this matter has disclosed to ABC News that they are not expected to represent him going forward. Ryan declined to comment.
A source familiar with the matter tells ABC News that among the reasons for Cohen’s change in counsel is a fee dispute.
No replacement counsel has been identified as of this time.
https://abcnews.go.com/US/trump-lawyer-michael-cohen-cooperate-attorneys-leave-case/story?id=55861988
August 21: President Donald Trump’s onetime attorney and personal fixer, Michael Cohen, told a federal court on Tuesday that he had paid off two women to silence them before the 2016 election at Trump’s "direction," and admitted that the payments were illegal.
Cohen admitted he paid an adult film star hush money "at the direction of" a candidate running for federal office, a reference to Trump. He said the payment was intended to keep her from talking about an affair she said she had with the billionaire in 2006.
The payment came at a particularly sensitive moment, after the release of an Access Hollywood outtake in which Trump boasted about sexually assaulting women and less than a month before the election that carried Trump to the White House.
Cohen pleaded guilty to eight charges, including allegations that the payments violated campaign finance laws and unrelated charges that he lied to banks to obtain improper loans and lied to the government to avoid paying taxes.
Deputy U.S. Attorney Robert Khuzami said Cohen decided, as a lawyer, that he was above the law and would pay a "very, very serious price" for his actions.
The 51-year-old Cohen said in court that he made the payments in coordination with Trump, who wasn't named, to influence the election.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2018/08/21/michael-cohen-former-trump-lawyer-feds-reach-plea-deal/1053562002/
August 22: Federal prosecutors claimed Cohen concealed more than $4 million from the IRS and, in 2016, made $280,000 in payments to two women who planned to speak publicly about their affairs with a "presidential candidate."
Deputy U.S. attorney Robert Khuzami said in a statement outside the courthouse that Cohen sought reimbursement for the payments from the candidate's company. Khuzami called that a "sham." Khuzami declined to name the candidate — but court documents describe "Individual-1" as someone "who at that point had become the president of the United States."
In all, Cohen pleaded guilty to five counts of tax evasion; one count of making false statements to a financial institution; one count of willfully causing an unlawful corporation contribution; and one count of making an excessive campaign contribution at the request of a candidate.
Cohen's sentencing is scheduled for Dec. 12, with bail set at $500,0000. The government calculates he should spend between 51 and 63 months in prison.
The news came the same hour that Mr. Trump's former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, was also found guilty on eight counts related to financial fraud.
Cohen's attorney said that if Cohen is guilty of violating campaign finance law, so is the president.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/michael-cohen-plea-deal-details-today-2018-08-21/
August 23: There’s a dark history to the campaign finance laws Michael Cohen broke — and that should worry Trump
https://theconversation.com/theres-a-dark-history-to-the-campaign-finance-laws-michael-cohen-broke-and-that-should-worry-trump-102024
August 24: Michael Cohen sets up GoFundMe page for legal costs
Michael Cohen is sticking his hand out and asking the public for help paying for his legal defense, and one anonymous donor already has ponied up $50,000.
Through his lawyer, Donald Trump's former "fixer" says collecting contributions through a GoFundMe page set up after his guilty plea this week is the only way to ensure the truth comes out about the president.
It's also the latest sign that Cohen is broke.
Trump's former personal lawyer owes at least $1.4 million to the IRS after pleading guilty Tuesday to tax evasion, campaign finance violations and bank fraud, and has racked up millions of dollars in debt. Because of his plea, he is being forced to give up his New York City taxi medallions, which have shrunk in value as Uber and Lyft shake the industry.
http://www.startribune.com/michael-cohen-sets-up-gofundme-page-for-legal-costs/491626281/
August 24: Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg granted immunity in Cohen probe
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/08/24/longtime-trump-organization-cfo-weisselberg-granted-immunity-in-cohen-probe-dj-citing-sources.html
August 29: Michael Cohen is resigned to going to prison to protect his family
[A] friend who is in close touch with Cohen said Cohen ultimately determined that he simply had no choice but to plead guilty, and he became almost singularly focused on protecting his wife and the well-being of his family. Prosecutors in New York threatened Trump's ex-lawyer with numerous more counts that could have also implicated his wife, and also raised the possibility of his assets being seized, according to a separate source familiar with the events leading up to Cohen's indictment.
"I don't think it was such a great deal, but he had to take it because there could have been liability on the part of his wife," that friend said.
https://www.cnn.com/2018/08/29/politics/michael-cohen-is-resigned-to-going-to-prison-to-protect-his-family/index.html
September 7: Elliott Broidy Seeks ‘Emergency Stay’ to Keep Playboy Model’s Salacious Suit from Going Public
The details of former Playboy Playmate Shera Bechard‘s lawsuit against Republican fundraiser Elliott Broidy over a $1.6 million non-disclosure agreement (NDA) that Michael Cohen facilitated will surface Friday in all its lurid detail — or so we thought.
As Bloomberg reported earlier, a Los Angeles judge ordered the sealed complaint to be made public, but Broidy is now petitioning for an emergency stay, citing the irreparable harm such a release would cause.
https://lawandcrime.com/high-profile/the-graphic-details-of-playboy-models-lawsuit-against-elliott-broidy-are-going-to-come-out/
October 11: Michael Cohen, President Trump's former attorney who until June served as the Republican Party’s deputy finance chair, today changed his party registration from Republican to Democrat, according to a knowledgeable source.
The move fits a pattern of Cohen publicly breaking from the man for whom he once said he’d take “a bullet.” Cohen went online around noon to the Albany-based New York State Board of Elections to make the change, according to the source.
... Cohen has been signaling his break with Trump for months now, after Trump didn't lift a finger to defend him from charges of campaign finance violations over Cohen's payments of hush money to keep two women quiet about their affairs with Trump.
This isn't the first time Cohen has changed his party registration. He was a registered Democrat before 2017, when he became a Republican after being asked, and agreeing to become, deputy chairman of the Republican National Committee’s Finance Committee with Steve Wynn serving as chairman. (Wynn stepped down amid sexual misconduct allegations.)
https://www.axios.com/michael-cohen-becomes-democrat-a73c59a5-2000-4f8f-b4d5-29d66deda15c.html
November 2: Michael Cohen Says Trump Repeatedly Used Racist Language Before His Presidency
As he awaits sentencing, Trump’s former lawyer says that he wants to clear his conscience and warn voters about what he sees as the president’s true nature in advance of the midterm elections.
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2018/11/michael-cohen-trump-racist-language
November 29: Three Remarkable Things About Michael Cohen's Plea
These developments would, under normal circumstances, end a presidency.
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2018/11/three-remarkable-things-about-michael-cohens-plea/577015/
December 7: Prosecutors call for 'substantial term' in prison for Michael Cohen
https://variety.com/2018/politics/news/prosecutors-michael-cohen-donald-trump-1203084550/
December 12: Michael Cohen gets 3 years, says Trump's 'dirty deeds' led him to 'choose darkness'
Cohen had pleaded guilty to nine federal charges of tax evasion, violating campaign finance laws, lying to banks and to Congress.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/michael-cohen-gets-3-years-cases-involving-stormy-daniels-lying-n946956
December 13: Twitter Users Taunt Michael Cohen For Newly Ironic Anti-Hillary Clinton Tweet
"There's a Michael Cohen tweet for everything," one Twitter user noted.
Michael Cohen was sentenced to 36 months in federal prison Wednesday, nearly 36 months after the former attorney for President Donald Trump posted a tweet that, under the circumstances, is very, very ironic.
On Dec. 19, 2015, Cohen tweeted to Hillary Clinton:
When you go to prison for defrauding America and perjury, your room and board will be free!
Cohen deleted the tweet this past August, according to Time.com, but considering he’s now the one getting free room and board, many Twitter users decided to repost it on his behalf.
https://www.huffingtonpost.com.au/2018/12/12/twitter-users-taunt-michael-cohen-for-newly-ironic-anti-hillary-clinton-tweet_a_23616626/
December 16: President Donald Trump's former longtime lawyer Michael Cohen has been sentenced to three years in prison after pleading guilty to a list of federal crimes he committed while employed by the president. Cohen's sentencing culminates a months-long controversy surrounding his fraudulent conduct during the 2016 election. Here's the full timeline of events ....
https://www.businessinsider.com/michael-cohen-trump-timeline-hush-money-payments-2018-8
December 17: In talks with Mueller, Michael Cohen is adamant: He's never been to Prague
Michael Cohen’s collaboration with Special Counsel Robert Mueller hasn’t prompted him to shift from one of the most famous denials in the 28-month Trump-Russia investigation.
He’s never been to Prague, his lawyer, Lanny Davis said Sunday night. “Ever. Never.”
The Prague trip was the most sensational of a number of Russian collusion charges from former British spy Christopher Steele and his Democratic Party-financed dossier. The dossier became mandatory reading for FBI agents as they launched an investigation into the Trump campaign and obtained at least one wiretap based on its unproven allegations.
In his telling, Mr. Steele said then-Trump attorney Cohen secretly traveled to Prague in August 2016, in the heat of the campaign against Hillary Clinton, to meet with Vladimir Putin aides and pay cash to cover up a conspiracy to hack Democratic Party computers. [see December 27 article]
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2018/dec/17/michael-cohen-adamant-mueller-hes-never-been-pragu/
December 19: New secret filing in case of former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen placed in NY federal court vault
Someone on Wednesday filed a document saying something in connection with a criminal case against President Donald Trump's former personal lawyer, Michael Cohen.
But who filed it and what it says are a mystery.
The document, which is sealed from public view, was "placed in vault" at U.S. District Court in Manhattan, according to a docket entry.
The filing came a week after Cohen, 52, was sentenced to three years in prison for his guilty pleas in cases brought separately by federal prosecutors in New York, and by the office of special counsel Robert Mueller.
Cohen is due to surrender to prison on March 6.
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/12/19/-filing-in-case-of-former-trump-lawyer-michael-cohen.html
December 27: Cell signal puts Cohen outside Prague around time of purported Russian meeting
https://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/investigations/article219016820.html
December 28: Michael Cohen says 'Mueller knows everything,' denies new report about alleged Prague meeting
... close observers of special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia probe can't stop talking about whether Cohen has ever visited Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic.
The visit would be noteworthy because of where it was first reported: a salacious document that has become a central talking point for those following the Russia investigation.
Christopher Steele, a former British spy, wrote in his infamous but unverified intelligence dossier compiled during the 2016 election that Cohen traveled to the city in August of that year to meet with "Kremlin officials" to discuss possible payments for hackers working against Trump's electoral rival Hillary Clinton.
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/12/28/the-michael-cohen-prague-accusation-continues-after-sentencing.html
-- 2019 --
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January 10: Michael Cohen, Trump's former lawyer, to testify publicly before Congress
https://www.cnn.com/2019/01/10/politics/michael-cohen-testify-congress/index.html
January 11: Michael Cohen to publicly testify over Donald Trump’s alleged ties to Russia
Michael Cohen is getting ready to dish the dirt on his former boss Donald Trump, in a move that could really help the Democrats.
https://www.news.com.au/finance/work/leaders/michael-cohen-to-publicly-testify-over-donald-trumps-alleged-ties-to-russia/news-story/4f1cf8ff56d0464e886e068e24262a67
January 13: Who is Michael Cohen's father-in-law? Trump says he should be investigated
Cohen's father-in-law, Fima Shusterman, reportedly loaned millions to a Chicago cab company owner, who was mentioned in the FBI warrants used to raid Cohen's home and office. In the interview, Trump described the raid as a break-in. [also see January 14 article]
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/who-is-michael-cohens-father-in-law-trump-says-he-should-be-investigated
January 13: Three newly empowered Democratic House committee chairmen, alarmed by statements over the weekend by President Trump about his former lawyer’s planned testimony before Congress, cautioned on Sunday that any effort to discourage or influence a witness’s testimony could be construed as a crime.
The warning, a stark and unusual message from some of Congress’s most influential Democrats, underscores the increasing legal and political peril facing Mr. Trump. Democrats are beginning their own investigations of him as the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, appears to move toward a conclusion in his investigation into the Trump campaign’s ties to Russia and potential obstruction of justice by Mr. Trump.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/13/us/politics/trump-cohen-testimony.html
January 13: The Democratic chairmen of three House panels called on President Donald Trump to cease what they said are “efforts to discourage, intimidate, or otherwise pressure” his former personal attorney and fixer, Michael Cohen, “not to provide testimony to Congress.”
“The president should make no statement or take any action to obstruct Congress’ independent oversight and investigative efforts including by seeking to discourage any witness from testifying in response to a duly authorized request from Congress," the statement from Cummings, Nadler and Schiff said.
Trump’s comments mark the latest in a bitter exchange between the two since Cohen flipped on his former boss, a man for whom Cohen once said he “would take a bullet,” and began cooperating with state and federal prosecutors in a handful of investigations against Trump.
https://www.yahoo.com/gma/democrats-warn-trump-not-discourage-intimidate-michael-cohen-234511206.html
January 13: Lanny Davis: Cohen to describe Trump’s 'lies, immorality and willingness to abuse people' in Congressional testimony
President Trump’s former attorney Michael Cohen is set to testify before Congress in February, and Cohen’s adviser Lanny Davis says Cohen will describe Trump’s 'frightening' behavior as he addresses lawmakers.
https://www.msnbc.com/kasie-dc/watch/lanny-davis-cohen-to-describe-trump-s-lies-immorality-and-willingness-to-abuse-people-in-congressional-testimony-1425163331514
January 14: Michael Cohen Is Trump’s ‘Greatest Threat,’ Defense Lawyer Lanny Davis Warns
The defense lawyer said Trump’s “demonizing” of Cohen’s family shows the president is scared.
President Donald Trump is continuing to bash Michael Cohen, but defense attorney Lanny Davis said that’s because the former fixer is “the greatest threat” to his old boss.
“Donald Trump sees Michael Cohen, and I would say justifiably, as the greatest threat to his presidency and what could be criminal and impeachable actions as president,” Davis, who represents Cohen, told MSNBC’s Kasie Hunt on Sunday.
Davis slammed Trump for Saturday’s Fox News interview in which the president attacked Cohen and his father-in-law as Cohen prepares to publicly testify before Congress next month. Trump claimed Cohen, his longtime personal lawyer, is lying “to get a sentence reduced” and vaguely referenced possible wrongdoing by his father-in-law as “the money in the family.”
“I and most Americans have no idea what President Trump is fantasizing about in demonizing the father-in-law of Michael Cohen ― the father of his wife ― and he won’t even tell us,” Davis said.
The president’s “pattern of incessant attacks” show he feels the walls are closing in, Davis added.
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/lanny-davis-trump-michael-cohen_us_5c3c5066e4b0e0baf53ee043
February 28: Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., was observed discussing his threatening tweet about Michael Cohen with President Trump Wednesday evening.
According to Edward-Isaac Dovere, a staff writer at the Atlantic, Gaetz spoke to the president, who was in Hanoi, Vietnam for talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, over the phone.
"I was happy to do it for you. You just keep killing it," Gaetz was overhead saying.
The night before Cohen's testimony before the House Oversight Committee on Wednesday, Gaetz asked Cohen on Twitter, "Do your wife & father-in-law know about your girlfriends? Maybe tonight would be a good time for that chat. I wonder if she’ll remain faithful when you’re in prison. She’s about to learn a lot..."
Gaetz later deleted the tweet and apologized for comments many regarded as threatening to Cohen. Gaetz's apology came in response to a statement from Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., that admonished Gaetz for his comments and suggested they be examined by the House Ethics Committee.
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/matt-gaetz-overheard-telling-trump-about-threatening-michael-cohen-tweet-i-was-happy-to-do-it-for-you
March 2: President Trump's former personal lawyer named names when he testified before the House oversight committee on Wednesday. He told the panel about Trump Organization personnel with knowledge of what Cohen alleged are criminal or questionable actions within the business.
Cohen's knowledge about the inner workings of the Trump Organization is expansive. The former lawyer, now disbarred in the state of New York, once maintained an office close to Trump's in New York City's Trump Tower.
https://www.npr.org/2019/03/02/699309857/who-from-trump-world-do-house-democrats-likely-want-to-talk-to-next
March 2: Trump's friend David Pecker, ... CEO of American Media Inc., which publishes the National Enquirer, would have AMI "catch and kill" stories that might be embarrassing for Trump by paying people involved for the exclusive rights to them — but never publishing them.
That's what happened with former Playboy model Karen McDougal before Election Day in 2016 ...
But there was evidently a great deal more to the relationship between Trump and Pecker/AMI than the McDougal case, Cohen said. Pecker's company worked many times to buy embarrassing stories about Trump, even ones that weren't true, which enabled AMI to compile a "treasure trove" of potentially damaging material.
Cohen was so interested in what AMI had accumulated that when Pecker was negotiating to potentially take another important publishing job, Cohen wanted to buy the Trump archive on behalf of his client to ensure it was kept safe.
Who else would know about the "treasure trove" and these practices? Former National Enquirer editor Barry Levine would, Cohen said, as well as a vice president of AMI, Dylan Howard.
https://www.npr.org/2019/03/02/699309857/who-from-trump-world-do-house-democrats-likely-want-to-talk-to-next
May 6: Cohen was mentioned in Mueller's report more than 800 times.
Cohen pleaded guilty to financial crimes, allegations that he facilitated a combined $280,000 in hush money payments to two women, and also for lying to Congress about the length of time Trump was trying to reach a deal in Moscow to build a skyscraper there. Trump has long denied sexual encounters with the women.
Five men in Trump's orbit have pleaded guilty or been convicted of an array of offenses and another faces a trial later this year. Among the Trump aides, Cohen's three-year term is second only to the 7.5-year sentence handed out to former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, who was convicted of several financial crimes.
https://www.voanews.com/a/one-time-trump-fixer-michael-cohen-heads-to-prison/4905684.html
-- 2020 --
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