Michael Cohen makes strange move ahead of his plea deal

| 11:45 pm EDT July 12, 2018
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Michael Cohen is going to cut a plea deal. We know this because Cohen keeps telegraphing it with his words and deeds. We know this because Cohen’s newly hired attorney keeps hinting at it on Twitter. We know this because Cohen’s friends keep outright telling the media that it’s going to happen. Why hasn’t it happened yet? You’d have to ask Cohen. But today he made a rather strange move which could be interpreted as a sign that he’s getting his affairs in order.

One of the narratives we keep hearing from Michael Cohen is that he’s broke, he can’t afford to pay his own legal defense bills, and he’s outraged that Donald Trump won’t pay his legal bills. Cohen has substantial assets, but his taxi cab company is failing, and his real estate investments aren’t going any better. So why is Cohen suddenly buying a multimillion dollar New York City apartment?

We know what you’re thinking: Vladimir Putin bought it for him in an attempt at keeping him quiet. But that’s not how these things work. People like Cohen who have substantial assets, even if they’re deeply in debt, often still manage to obtain loans for new purchases like this. Someone owes them a favor, or someone is a sucker, you name it, broke “rich” people find ways to keep getting new loans (just ask Trump, who has been broke since the 2008 crash). So what does this have to do with Cohen cutting a plea deal?

The Wall Street Journal says that Michael Cohen may have bought this new apartment in order to offset the tax burden from an apartment he previously sold. But that would seemingly give him until the end of the year. So why would he stop in the middle of a legal crisis in order to buy a house? It sounds like he’s trying to get his affairs in order before he cuts his deal, because at that point everything about his life will suddenly change.