Cohen Might Not Have Turned on Trump if Giuliani Hadn’t Blown Him Off

The president’s lawyer says he didn’t respond in part to avoid witness tampering.

Douglas Christian/ZUMA

Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.

President Donald Trump might have avoided his falling out with his former personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, had it not been for lapses in communication, the New York Times reports.

According to interviews and communications obtained by the paper, Cohen’s loyalty to Trump began to flag after the president’s legal team curbed communication with Cohen and a legal adviser, Robert Costello. Cohen was still reportedly seeking a way to avoid turning on his former boss, even after FBI raids of Cohen’s home, hotel, and office. But Trump’s lead attorney, Rudy Giuliani, didn’t respond to overtures from Costello, in part because he says he did not want to do anything that could be perceived as witness tampering.

The lack of communication began to take a toll on Cohen, who initially stayed on Trump’s side but grew increasingly anxious, particularly after the administration did not commit to offering a presidential pardon should he need one.

“It seemed like an unfortunate but sensible decision,” Costello, who had advised Cohen but not been formally retained, told the Times of the Trump team’s lack of communication with Cohen. “The more I look back at it, the more I wonder if it was inevitable that Michael was going to crack.”

Costello texted Giuliani in June, letting him know that Cohen needed some type of reassurance.

“Basically he needs a little loving and respect booster,” Costello wrote in a text to Giuliani. “He is not thinking clearly because he feels abandoned.”

Cohen never got the “respect booster” he sought in the case against him about hush money paid to adult film actress Stormy Daniels. He turned on his old boss, calling him a “racist,” “con man,” and “cheat,” during congressional testimony. He alleged that behind closed doors, Trump often said disparaging things about black people, and he said the president used money from his foundation to purchase a painting of himself.  

AN IMPORTANT UPDATE

We’re falling behind our online fundraising goals and we can’t sustain coming up short on donations month after month. Perhaps you’ve heard? It is impossibly hard in the news business right now, with layoffs intensifying and fancy new startups and funding going kaput.

The crisis facing journalism and democracy isn’t going away anytime soon. And neither is Mother Jones, our readers, or our unique way of doing in-depth reporting that exists to bring about change.

Which is exactly why, despite the challenges we face, we just took a big gulp and joined forces with The Center for Investigative Reporting, a team of ace journalists who create the amazing podcast and public radio show Reveal.

If you can part with even just a few bucks, please help us pick up the pace of donations. We simply can’t afford to keep falling behind on our fundraising targets month after month.

Editor-in-Chief Clara Jeffery said it well to our team recently, and that team 100 percent includes readers like you who make it all possible: “This is a year to prove that we can pull off this merger, grow our audiences and impact, attract more funding and keep growing. More broadly, it’s a year when the very future of both journalism and democracy is on the line. We have to go for every important story, every reader/listener/viewer, and leave it all on the field. I’m very proud of all the hard work that’s gotten us to this moment, and confident that we can meet it.”

Let’s do this. If you can right now, please support Mother Jones and investigative journalism with an urgently needed donation today.

payment methods

AN IMPORTANT UPDATE

We’re falling behind our online fundraising goals and we can’t sustain coming up short on donations month after month. Perhaps you’ve heard? It is impossibly hard in the news business right now, with layoffs intensifying and fancy new startups and funding going kaput.

The crisis facing journalism and democracy isn’t going away anytime soon. And neither is Mother Jones, our readers, or our unique way of doing in-depth reporting that exists to bring about change.

Which is exactly why, despite the challenges we face, we just took a big gulp and joined forces with The Center for Investigative Reporting, a team of ace journalists who create the amazing podcast and public radio show Reveal.

If you can part with even just a few bucks, please help us pick up the pace of donations. We simply can’t afford to keep falling behind on our fundraising targets month after month.

Editor-in-Chief Clara Jeffery said it well to our team recently, and that team 100 percent includes readers like you who make it all possible: “This is a year to prove that we can pull off this merger, grow our audiences and impact, attract more funding and keep growing. More broadly, it’s a year when the very future of both journalism and democracy is on the line. We have to go for every important story, every reader/listener/viewer, and leave it all on the field. I’m very proud of all the hard work that’s gotten us to this moment, and confident that we can meet it.”

Let’s do this. If you can right now, please support Mother Jones and investigative journalism with an urgently needed donation today.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate