Nick Akerman, a former assistant special Watergate prosecutor, suggested Michael Cohen may have agreed to do an interview with ABC as a way to shake Trump surrogates from harassing him.
During a discussion Monday evening on MSNBC, Akerman said he doubted the assertion by Michael Avenatti, porn star Stormy Daniels’ lawyer, that the interview was conducted as a way for Cohen to telegraph to President Trump that he needs to pay his legal bills or he’s going to “flip.”
“It’s not so clear to me that he’s trying to get Trump to pay his legal bills,” Akerman posited. “It’s also very possible that he’s being harassed, he’s being pressured by all the various Trump surrogates to keep his mouth shut. And maybe this is his way of saying to the president I’m my own person, I’m going to do what I want and what’s best for me. It may be a way for him to get everybody off his back.”
ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos conducted the off-camera interview with Cohen on Saturday. Excerpts were revealed on Monday in which Cohen said his “first loyalty” is to family and his country, an indication he may be prepared to provide damaging information on his former client, Trump.
Several legal experts, including Fox News legal analyst Andrew Napolitano, expressed their shock at why Cohen, who is in the midst of a vast investigation for potential bank fraud and violations of campaign finance, would choose to sit down for such an interview.
Akerman argued that there is “no reason” for Cohen to say what he did in public.
“I am a defense lawyer. I would never allow my client to do this on national TV. I really don’t see what the upside is here at all,” Akerman said.
