Why Robert Mueller Is Taking Aim At Michael Cohen, Trump’s Jewish Wingman

Michael Cohen Image by Getty Images

By Nathan Guttman March 7, 2018

While not a direct target of special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation, Michael Cohen, Trump’s private attorney, is getting a lot of attention from the team investigating Russia’s involvement in the 2012 elections.

The Washington Post is reporting that Mueller’s team has requested documents and interviewed witnesses relating to Cohen and his interactions. One of the issues Mueller is exploring relates to Cohen’s role in negotiating, during the presidential campaign, a possible Trump building project in Moscow. Another is a proposal for a diplomatic settlement to the Russia-Ukraine dispute which Cohen received from a Ukrainian contact shortly after Trump took office.

In a separate report, the Daily Beast has learned that Cohen had received information from a closed-door hearing held by the House Intelligence Committee into the Russian case. Cohen, himself a witness who testified before the committee, got news of a testimony provided by an aide to Senator John McCain regarding the now famous Steel dossier. It is not known how Cohen got the information, but it’s clear that closed-door testimonies should not have been divulged to other parties in the investigation.

Contact Nathan Guttman at [email protected] or on Twitter @nathanguttman

Nathan Guttman, staff writer, was the Forward’s Washington bureau chief. He joined the staff in 2006 after serving for five years as Washington correspondent for the Israeli dailies Haaretz and The Jerusalem Post. In Israel, he was the features editor for Ha’aretz and chief editor of Channel 1 TV evening news. He was born in Canada and grew up in Israel. He is a graduate of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

A message from our Publisher & CEO 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.

The coming year promises to be filled with more complex and historic developments. We are entering an era where independent, fact-based Jewish journalism will be more important than ever. We need to be ready for whatever 2025 will bring, and with your help, we can be.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO