“I don’t agree with those who demonize or vilify the FBI. I respect the FBI as an institution, as well as their agents,” Cohen said. “When they searched my hotel room and my home, it was obviously upsetting to me and my family. Nonetheless, the agents were respectful, courteous and professional. I thanked them for their service and as they left, we shook hands.”
“Simply accepting the denial of Mr. Putin is unsustainable,” he said.
CNN has reached out to the White House for comment on the interview. The President’s legal team declined to comment.
Discussing the ABC interview on CNN’s “New Day,” CNN Chief Legal Analyst Jeffrey Toobin said Cohen’s interview “clearly implies that he will make a deal with the government if there are charges against him and testify, cooperate, rather than sort of hold the line for Donald Trump.
“It leaves, of course, many questions unanswered. Will charges be filed? It certainly looks that way given the context of how this unfolded,” Toobin said.
Toobin added that if Cohen cooperates with authorities, that could affect the Russia investigation as well, which is separate from the federal probe into his business dealings.
“If you are a cooperating witness with the federal government, you cooperate with all of the federal government,” Toobin said. “There is no way he could cut a deal with the Southern District that would not involve also cooperating with Mueller. Law enforcement doesn’t work that way.”
‘I am not a villain of this story’
Trump’s longtime lawyer previously said he acted on his own volition in paying Daniels and that he did not plan on repayment from Trump. But in his new interview with ABC News, he held back.
“I want to answer. One day I will answer,” he told Stephanopoulos. “But for now, I can’t comment further on advice of my counsel.”
Asked about how he would respond to Trump’s legal defense attempting to discredit his work, Cohen said that he wouldn’t be “a punching bag.”
“I am not a villain of this story, and I will not allow others to try to depict me that way,” he added.
CNN’s Evan Perez, Jamie Ehrlich, MJ Lee, Kara Scannell Eli Watkins and Gloria Borger contributed to this report.
Source : Nbcnewyork