Michael Cohen Tweets Support For Intelligence Agencies, Not Trump

Former personal attorney for President Donald J. Trump Michael Cohen made a rare appearance on Twitter on Monday. In an intriguing post he offered what was certainly an indirect criticism of his former boss’s performance at the Helsinki press conference Trump held with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Cohen seemed to contradict Trump by saying that he agrees with the U.S. intelligence community’s conclusion that Russia interfered in the 2016 election.

Cohen tweeted on Monday afternoon:

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“As I said to @ABC @GStephanopoulos, “I respect our nation’s intelligence agencies who determined that Russia, had in fact, interfered or meddled in our democratic process. I repudiate Russia’s effort…and call on all Americans to do the same.”

After Trump’s historically bad press conference performance yesterday the harsh criticism has come from all quarters.  John McCain called Trump “disgraceful.” Former CIA Director John Brennan called it “treasonous.” Chuck Schumer demanded to know what blackmail material Putin is holding over Trump. Many Republican leaders pretended like they didn’t even know anybody named Donald Trump, so anxious were they to distance themselves from the president’s comments.

But for Trump’s old “fixer” Michael Cohen to weigh in with critical comments is especially important because of all the people listed only Cohen has the ability to turn state’s witness and testify about Donald Trump’s crimes in court.

In recent weeks Cohen has seemed especially intent on promoting the idea that he is not a traitor and had nothing to do with any conspiracies or collusion with Putin and Russia. It almost seems like he cares more about that than about all the many financial crimes he might soon be indicted for.

Michael Cohen rarely uses Twitter, so the fact that he posted something yesterday is important.  Clearly he is continuing to distance himself from the president, a strategy that became very clear during his interview with George Stephanopoulos from ABC News. Apparently he wanted to remind the world that he is still alive and that he may soon cut a deal with federal and/or state prosecutors in exchange for testimony against Donald Trump.

The fact that Cohen has not been in the news much lately speaks volumes about what may be going on behind the scenes. Many people believe that the lack of news — along with Cohen’s recent hiring of two new high-profile attorneys — means that there are private negotiations for Cohen’s plea deal going on in private. 

On thing that is clear right now is that Michael Cohen is no longer a friend or even a supporter of Donald Trump, which may spell trouble for the president if it means Michael Cohen has decided to “flip” and cooperate with the Mueller probe.

Leo Vidal

I am a lifelong Democrat with a passion for social justice and progressive issues. I have degrees in writing, economics and law from the University of Iowa.