Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Fast Forward

Trump’s ‘Jewish Wingman’ Michael Cohen Lashes Out At ‘Fake News’ Of Russia Connection

Michael Cohen, Donald Trump’s personal lawyer and “Jewish wingman,” is feeling the heat over his reported role in a back channel between the White House and Russia.

Cohen was named as a key player in a New York Times story about an effort to enlist now-deposed National Security chief Michael Flynn in a deal to help resolve the Ukraine civil war, in exchange for Russia maintaining de facto control over rebel-held regions.

A deal could lead to sanctions being lifted against Russia.

Cohen, who has business and family ties through his wife to Ukraine, told the Times he delivered a proposal from a sometime business partner in the region, Felix Sater, to Flynn’s White House office.

But he later backtracked on that assertion and told the Washington Post he merely accepted the proposal and told Sater to send it to Flynn, branding the Times report “fake news.”

The papers say Cohen could be one of the figures close to Trump whom American intelligence suspects maintained contact with Russia during the presidential campaign, contacts that Trump has mocked as “fake news.”

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.