Speculation over the possibility that President Donald Trump’s former attorney could cooperate with Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into the president intensified on Monday, as details of ABC‘s in-depth interview with Michael Cohen came to light.
Cohen, who is under federal investigation for potential campaign finance violations and bank fraud regarding the payment he has claimed he personally made to adult film star Stormy Daniels on behalf of Trump in October 2016, told Stephanopoulos that shielding the president from the Mueller investigation is far from his top priority.
“My wife, my daughter, and my son have my first loyalty and always will,” Cohen told Stephanopoulos Saturday at a New York hotel in a 45-minute off-camera discussion. “I put family and country first.”
The declaration was a far cry from earlier statements made by Cohen. Last year, he told Vanity Fair that he would “take a bullet” for his longtime client.
Stephanopoulos gave details of the interview on “Good Morning America.”
Cohen gave the interview shortly after hiring former federal prosecutor Guy Petrillo as his new attorney—bringing to an end an arrangement between his lawyers and Trump’s in which the two legal teams shared information.
When Stephanopoulos asked Cohen what he would do should Trump try to discredit him as he has with many of his opponents, Cohen was clear.
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