Michael Cohen, Donald Trump’s former personal attorney, said there was a simple explanation for the former president’s decision to refuse to pay legal fees for some of those accused alongside him.
“Donald is an idiot,” he told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins. “Let me be very clear about paying money: he really is an idiot.”
Former Trump attorney Jenna Ellis, who helped in his failed attempt to overturn the 2020 election and was charged alongside him in the Georgia criminal case, said the former president does not bear the costs of their defense.
And former Trump attorney and New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who has also been charged for his role in trying to undermine democracy, has reportedly traveled to Florida to solicit money for his defense but didn’t get much.
Cohen said that decision could haunt the former president.
“He hasn’t learned it yet…three people you don’t want to scrutinize like that: your lawyer, your doctor and your mechanic,” he told Collins. “Because one way or another you’re going to go down the hill and there will be no brakes.”
He said Giuliani in particular should work with investigators.
“He has to say something,” Cohen said. “And he needs to speak before everyone else does.”
When asked if Trump made a mistake in not paying Giuliani’s defense, Cohen replied, “Absolutely.”
Cohen was Trump’s stalwart fixer for years, but eventually turned on him when he cooperated with investigators and pleaded guilty to campaign finance violations, lying to Congress and other charges – which he said he did , had done everything for Trump.
He was sentenced to three years in prison and has been a persistent Trump critic ever since.
See more of his conversation with Collins below: