Judge strikes down Michael Cohen’s last ditch effort at avoiding a plea deal

| 5:30 pm EDT June 15, 2018
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Earlier this week, major news outlets reported that Michael Cohen was preparing to cut a plea deal against Donald Trump, and that Cohen would be arrested within days if he didn’t cut a deal. Last night Cohen made an utterly bonkers last ditch move aimed at tilting things in his favor, so he perhaps wouldn’t have to cut a deal. But today a judge promptly struck down Cohen’s gambit.

Last night Michael Cohen filed a motion for a restraining order to prevent Stormy Daniels’ attorney Michael Avenatti from discussing him during television interviews. This move was nothing short of bizarre, considering the much bigger things Cohen was supposed to be dealing with, and Avenatti predictably had plenty to say about it. Today the judge told Cohen to take a hike, according to an announcement from Avenatti. So what does this tell us, and where does this leave us?

Even if Michael Cohen has decided to cut a plea deal, as ABC News reported, it’s not shocking to see him take one last desperate swing like this. At this point he had nothing left to lose. Within a few days, Cohen will either have to surrender himself for arrest as part of his plea deal, or he’ll be forcibly arrested on felony charges. If he does cut a deal, it’ll include a multi-year prison sentence – so he’s screwed either way.

Now that the judge has shot down Michal Cohen’s Plan Z, we’ll see what he does next. We still believe the earlier reporting that he’s preparing to cut a plea deal, because his only option – facing trial and likely spending the rest of his life in prison – is a far worse one. As Palmer Report has explained, Donald Trump cannot magically pardon his way out of this mess. So if Cohen is counting on a pardon, he’s even more of an idiot than we thought.