In April 2018, Michael Cohen received an email from a lawyer that told him that he can “sleep well” because he has “friends in high places.” This email came after supposed “back channel” communications with Rudy Guiliani, who is President Trump’s lawyer, in which the pardon issue was brought up.
Trump’s former personal attorney, Michael Cohen, was sentenced to three years in jail for committing multiple crimes. Among his crimes are two campaign-finance violations as well as one count of lying to Congress.
Now, he’s under the microscope again for his testimony on Capitol Hill, in which he said that he “never asked for, nor would” accept a pardon from President Trump. As always, Cohen seems to be changing his tune.
Lanny Davis, one of the lawyers defending Cohen, has admitted that Cohen “directed his attorney” to find out about a possible pardon from Trump. Following an FBI raid on Cohen’s home, hotel room, and office, Cohen’s former lawyer, Stephen Ryan, apparently discussed the pardon issue with Trump’s lawyers. Trump’s legal team has already ruled out the option of giving Cohen a pardon.
Cohen also asked another lawyer to speak to President Trump’s legal team. The attorney, Robert J. Costello, had over a dozen conversations with Giuliani about the issue, which were described as “a back channel of communication.”
Apparently, Cohen received an email from Costello that said: “Sleep well tonight, you have friends in high places.” This email came after an email exchange between Costello and Giuliani. Reportedly, a part of the email exchange was Costello asking Giuliani if President Trump would be willing to put a pardon “on the table” for Cohen.
Even though Costello had advised Cohen that it was too early to speak about pardons with Trump’s team, he did it anyway. According to Guiliani, though, when Costello asked about the pardon Guiliani said that President Trump was unwilling to have a discussion about pardons. “He got a little annoyed. I got the message. You only have to tell me once, Rudy,” said Costello.
According to the Associated Press, Guiliani confirmed that Costello contacted him after the FBI raided Cohen’s properties last year. “My answer was the president is not going to consider or give any pardons now. As I have said in the past, the president has the right to, and that doesn’t mean he won’t consider it when the investigation is over,” explained Guiliani.
Now, due to “possible violations of federal criminal law,” federal prosecutors are requesting copies of the communications between Cohen and Guiliani. “We have documents to back our position up, and are preparing to provide these to the U.S. Attorney’s office, who has asked for them,” said Costello in a statement.
Costello added at the end of his statement that Cohen’s description of the discussions about President Trump’s pardon was “utter nonsense.” That’s not surprising, considering that it’s coming from Cohen, who continuously seems to be getting caught “stretching the truth.”
