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Donald Trump.
- President Donald Trump said Thursday that his longtime attorney Michael Cohen only handled a "tiny fraction" of his legal work.
- Cohen is currently under federal investigation.
- The next hearing in his case is set for Thursday afternoon.
President Donald Trump on Thursday suggested that his longtime attorney Michael Cohen only handled a small portion of his overall legal work as the criminal investigation involving the lawyer now centers on how much of the evidence obtained by the government in a series of raids falls under attorney-client privilege.
During a Thursday interview with the hosts of "Fox and Friends," Trump said Cohen only handled a "tiny, tiny fraction" of his "overall legal work."
The FBI conducted the raids earlier this month as part of a criminal investigation into whether Cohen violated campaign finance laws or committed bank fraud, The Washington Post reported. Prosecutors haven't specifically revealed what they are looking into in relation to Cohen, though they said in a court filing that "the crimes being investigated involve acts of concealment."
Cohen is said to have been a cause for worry in the White House in recent weeks. People close to Trump have suggested Cohen is likely to "flip," or cooperate with the government by providing information about others in exchange for a lesser punishment. Cohen has not been charged with a crime.
Cohen, who for years has been a close friend and adviser to Trump, has expressed intense loyalty to the president. He once reportedly said he would "take a bullet" for Trump, and he has handled sensitive matters related to him, including paying the porn star Stormy Daniels $130,000 shortly before the 2016 election to ensure her silence about an alleged affair with Trump.
In the Thursday morning interview, Trump suggested the investigation into Cohen was connected to his business dealings and less-so to his legal career.
"Michael is in business, he is really a businessman, a fairly big business, as I understand it," Trump said. "I don't know his business, but [the investigation] doesn't have to do with me."
Cohen "also practices law," Trump said, but "I would say probably the big thing is his business, and they're looking something having to do with his business."
Though Trump said Cohen's legal work for him is minimal, he did note that the lawyer "represents me on some things ... like with this crazy Stormy Daniels deal."
"I've been told I'm not involved" in the investigation, Trump said. "From what I understand, they're looking at his businesses."
A hearing is set for Thursday
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Michael Cohen.
Trump and Cohen don't see eye-to-eye on the appointment of a special master. The special master, an outside third party who would initially review the documents seized by the government during the FBI's raids, would determine what falls under protected attorney-client privilege and what does not, and what can be used by the prosecution against Cohen.
Any raid of an attorney's office is done as a last-resort option by the Justice Department, which per protocol feared that documents would be destroyed if they were to be sought in any other way.
After initially seeking to have Cohen be the one to review the documents, his attorneys have sought the appointment of a special master. At the same time, Trump requested initial review of the documents, brushing back against the appointment of a special master.
The government, meanwhile, is against the appointment of a special master, insisting that what is known as a "taint team" of prosecutors can effectively do the initial document review. The case, they argue, does not present special circumstances that differentiate it from other cases in which a taint team is protocol.
Wood was not warm to Trump's side, saying she's open to the taint team or a special master. Both Cohen's attorneys and federal prosecutors have submitted a list of possible special masters. Observers told Business Insider that the judge was more likely to select one of the government's nominees, which are all retired judges from the Southern District of New York. Cohen's team submitted a group of former federal prosecutors.