Michael Cohen, President Trump’s former personal lawyer, has new legal representation as he faces federal court proceedings in New York after his previous attorneys wrapped up their work with him last Friday, according to a report.
Cohen has hired Guy Petrillo, who headed the criminal division of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of New York from 2008-2009. He’s making the move as prosecutors from that same office investigate Cohen’s business dealings, per Vanity Fair.
Until last Friday, Stephen Ryan and Todd Harrison of the Washington and New York law firm McDermott, Will & Emery LLP had served as Cohen’s attorneys in the matter before U.S. District Court Judge Kimba Wood in Manhattan. That same day, Cohen faced a deadline to review documents seized in FBI raids of his office, home and hotel room.
Ryan and Harrison, who Vanity Fair reports are considered document review experts, spearheaded Cohen’s case for about a year and oversaw the examination of the more than 3.7 million seized materials to make claims of attorney-client privilege.
The raids, conducted in April after a referral from special counsel Robert Mueller, caused concern for Trump because they targeted communications between Cohen and his presidential client.
Many speculated the legal team shake-up was an indication Cohen would cooperate with authorities. However, sources told Vanity Fair that the shift from Ryan and Harrison to Petrillo is part of an overarching strategy to defend himself in against any potential allegations.
Cohen has not been charged with a crime, but investigators are probing whether he broke tax or campaign finance laws.
