Michael Cohen, President Trump’s former personal lawyer, will likely cooperate with federal prosecutors in New York who are investigating his business dealings, according to a report.
The news follows speculation Cohen will no longer be represented by Stephen Ryan and Todd Harrison of the Washington and New York law firm, McDermott, Will & Emery LLP, in federal court proceedings in Manhattan before U.S. District Court Judge Kimba Wood, per ABC News. The report said a replacement counsel has not been identified.
But sources told the Wall Street Journal that Cohen was yet to make up his mind about cooperating with authorities.
Cohen’s home, office, and hotel room were raided by the FBI on April 9 as part of an investigation spearheaded by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of New York after it received a referral from the office of special counsel Robert Mueller. Cohen has not been charged with a crime, but investigators are reportedly probing whether he broke tax or campaign finance laws.
The raids caused concern for President Trump because they reportedly targeted communications between Cohen and his presidential client.
Parties to the case have until Friday to complete their review of the more than 3.7 million seized materials and make claims of attorney-client privilege. Ryan and Harrison will stop representing Cohen after that review is complete, according to the Journal.
Judge Wood appointed an impartial special master to assist in the review of the documents and decide whether they will be privileged and, therefore, off limits to federal prosecutors.
Rudy Giuliani, a member of Trump’s outside legal counsel, said on May 6 that Cohen was no longer on the president’s legal team.
