Michael Cohen takes his last best shot, and it gives something away about the evidence against Donald Trump
If you’re wondering why Michael Cohen still hasn’t officially cut a plea deal, even after ten days of major media outlets reporting that he’s already decided to flip, and a federal judge handing down a devastating ruling against him, we may have our answer. Cohen and what’s left of his legal defense team are taking one last big desperate swing.
On Friday, the judge-appointed Special Master ruled that of the hundreds of thousands of pieces of evidence seized in the FBI raid of Michael Cohen’s office, only eight of those pieces of evidence counted as correspondence between Cohen and his legal clients. In other words, pretty much everything seized in the raid is going to be handed over to federal prosecutors, giving them a mountain of evidence for nailing Cohen. Now Cohen’s legal team is trying to challenge this – and so is Trump’s team.
In an almost laugh-out-loud move, Cohen and Donald Trump and their respective lawyers are trying to claim that twelve thousand of the pieces of evidence are in fact covered under attorney client privilege, according to an NBC News report. This isn’t going anywhere, because the court has already determined that only eight pieces of evidence qualified. But it’s the kind of desperate legal filing you make when you’ve lost, and there’s nothing else to try. It also gives something away – about Trump.
Donald Trump’s legal defense team only has legal grounds to ask for evidence to be excluded if that evidence involves Trump. Because Trump’s team is insisting that twelve thousand pieces of evidence are privileged, it means that twelve thousand pieces of evidence involving Trump were seized during the Cohen raid. These may include emails, tape recordings, financial records, you name it. Trump just gave away that the raid hit the jackpot. If you’re wondering when Cohen is going to get it over with and officially flip, keep an eye out for when the judge predictably strikes down this hopeless filing; that could be the last straw.
