Michael Cohen Gives Trump $130,000 Hush-Money Case Deference as He Seeks a Pardon
Updated
Updated · The Washington Post · Aug 21
Michael Cohen Gives Trump $130,000 Hush-Money Case Deference as He Seeks a Pardon
3 articles · Updated · The Washington Post · Aug 21
Summary
Michael Cohen used “boss” and “sir” in a highly deferential 77 WABC interview with Donald Trump, a stark reversal from the 2019 congressional testimony in which he called him a racist, conman and cheat.
A pardon bid appears to be driving the rapprochement: Cohen, who served prison time over the $130,000 Stormy Daniels payment, has submitted an application and compared his treatment to Trump’s as Justice Department “weaponization.”
Trump rewarded that turn by praising Cohen for having “recanted everything,” while Cohen let his claims on Iran, the border, polls and the economy pass without challenge and joined his attacks on major media outlets.
The reunion follows a relationship that collapsed in 2018 after Cohen’s guilty plea and cooperation against Trump, turning one of Trump’s fiercest former insiders into his latest public critic-turned-ally.