Michael Cohen claims Trump likely kept top-secret docs as ‘bargaining chip’

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

• Michael Cohen says former President Trump kept classified documents to use as a potential ‘bargaining chip.’
• Trump’s former attorney said his former boss could threaten to release top-secret information to Russia or Iran.
• He added that the documents could be used by Trump as a “get-out-of-jail-free card.”

Michael Cohen said former President Donald Trump kept classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago home as potential bargaining chips that he could leverage if he were ever at risk of going to jail.

“My belief is that he was going to use it as a bargaining chip, as a get-out-of-jail-free card,” Cohen said on CNN. “The second that they put him in handcuffs, he’ll turn around and say, ‘You don’t seem to understand. I have the documentation showing, for example, where our nuclear launchpads are, or other information — sensitive national security information.” 

In the CNN interview on Monday, host Alisyn Camerota asked Cohen if he thought any of the documents Trump kept at Mar-a-Lago were mementos.

“I’m sure some of it was Kim Jong Un love letters, or a letter he may have received from Vladimir Putin about his Miss Universe pageant, something that he can show off if he ever felt he needed to have that document,” Cohen, a former Trump’s personal lawyer, said.

The FBI conducted a search warrant at Trump’s Florida estate on August 8. The feds removed 11 sets of classified documents that officials believe were related to nuclear weapons. The warrant says the Justice Department is investigating whether Trump broke three federal laws, including the Espionage Act.

The former president has denied all wrongdoing and claimed that he declassified all the documents found at his estate. Trump can be sentenced to ten years in jail if convicted of violating the Espionage Act.

Cohen openly rejoiced after the FBI’s Mar-a-Lago raid, saying Trump was finally being “held accountable.” He speculated that the possible informant who tipped off the FBI about the documents could be one of Trump’s children or his son-in-law, Jared Kushner.

Cohen also speculated that the former president’s next move would be to find a scapegoat. He even suggested that this would likely be one of Trump’s former personal lawyers — Rudy Giuliani.

When contacted for comment, a Trump spokesperson told Insider: “Michael Cohen is a disbarred felon who was found guilty of nearly a dozen charges, including lying to a congressional committee, which makes him the perfect guest for CNN.”

Cohen served as Trump’s personal lawyer and close confidante from 2006 to 2018.

In 2018, Cohen was investigated for illegal hush-money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels. He pleaded guilty to felonies including tax evasion, campaign finance violations, and bank fraud. He was sentenced in December 2018 to three years in prison and was disbarred by the New York Supreme Court in February 2019.

Source: Insider