Washington, D.C. (New York Daily News) — Michael Cohen thinks he might soon swap his pinstripes for jail stripes.
The longtime attorney and personal fixer to President Trump expects to be put in cuffs any day now, possibly opening up his top client to legal complications, a person familiar with the matter said Tuesday.
Cohen has been telling friends he fears his arrest is imminent, the source told the Daily News. Cohen remains under federal investigation for bank fraud and campaign finance violations, potential offenses that resulted in FBI raids at his Manhattan home, hotel room and office in April.
Cohen, 51, did not immediately return a request for comment.
Federal agents stormed into Cohen’s domiciles on April 9 and seized a cache of records, including communications between him and Trump, according to court papers.
A former White House official said Trump is likely concerned about the prospect of Cohen in cuffs.
“Trump should be super worried about Michael Cohen,” the ex-official told Vanity Fair, which first reported Cohen’s fears of a potential arrest. “If anyone can blow up Trump, it’s him.”
Cohen has worked for Trump in various capacities since 2011. Cohen’s aggressive legal tactics and tough-talking demeanor resulted in his being nicknamed Trump’s “bulldog.”
He has been making damning headlines ever since it was revealed in January that he brokered a hush agreement between Trump and porn star Stormy Daniels.
Daniels, 39, accepted $130,000 from Cohen in exchange for signing the contract, which bars her from speaking publicly about allegedly having sex with Trump in 2006.
Michael Avenatti, who represents Daniels in a lawsuit seeking to void the hush agreement, said news of Cohen’s imminent arrest confirms his predictions.
“It looks like once again I’m about to be proven right,” Avenatti told The News Tuesday afternoon, noting he said last month that Cohen would be indicted within 90 days. “He’s going to be charged with a number of crimes.”
Cohen’s potential arrest comes at a precarious time for Trump.
Special counsel Robert Mueller continues to investigate allegations of collusion between the President’s campaign and Russia, and earlier produced federal indictments against four Trump associates.
Cohen has also landed on Mueller’s radar.
Multiple companies with business before the federal government pumped millions of dollars into Cohen’s shadowy consulting firm, Essential Consultants, shortly after Trump’s election. One of the companies was Columbus Nova, a Manhattan-based investment firm whose primary client is Viktor Vekselberg, a sanctioned Russian oligarch who has reportedly been interviewed by Mueller’s investigators.
Trump wouldn’t rule out pardoning Cohen when asked about his scandals last week.
“I haven’t even thought about it,” the President told reporters at the White House. “I haven’t thought about any of it. It’s certainly far too early to be thinking about that.”
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