President Donald Trump’s current attorney Rudy Giuliani was quick to respond on Wednesday to a bombshell story that said Michael Cohen admitted over a March phone call he didn’t know was being recorded that he pleaded guilty to a “lie” in the Southern District of New York (SNDY).
Giuliani shared the WSJ story, saying, “Poetic justice for a disbarred lawyer who surreptitiously recorded his client and numerous others including Chris Cuomo.”
Cohen did, indeed, surreptitiously record conversations with Trump. One such conversation related to the Karen McDougal hush payment.
In a follow-up tweet, Giuliani said, in part: “Since Cohen began composing for the Angry Democrats he has demonstrably lied under oath in his guilty plea and his testimony to Elijah ‘I’ll throw the book at you’ Cummings.”
As Law&Crime reported earlier, actor and comedian Tom Arnold handed the Wall Street Journal proof of the surreptitiously recorded conversation, in which Cohen basically said the tax evasion and bank fraud charges he pleaded guilty to were BS. During the phone call, Cohen also complained that he has lost everything just to cover up the Stormy Daniels affair for Trump. Cohen also pleaded guilty in the SDNY to campaign finance violations that he said Trump “directed.”
The recording raised new questions about Cohen admitting in court that he took “full responsibility for each act that I pled guilty to,” which would include the charges he referred to on the call as “a lie.”
“There is no tax evasion,” Cohen said. “And the [home equity line of credit or Heloc]? I have an 18% loan-to-value on my home. How could there be a Heloc issue? How? Right? […] It’s a lie.”
“My family’s happiness, and my law license […] 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 continued.
Cohen attorney Lanny Davis did tell the Journal that Cohen has “taken responsibility for his crimes and will soon report to prison to serve his sentence.”
“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 added.
Law&Crime reached out to Cohen’s legal team for comment and they responded with the same statement as above.
[Image via Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images]
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