Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Fast Forward

Trump Inner Circle Would Really Like To Stop Talking About Michael Cohen

Michael Cohen is becoming an outcast within the Trump administration.

The Daily Beast reported on Monday that several Trump administration figures have taken pains to avoid talking to and about Cohen since his controversy over a six-figure payment to silence President Trump’s alleged mistress during the 2016 campaign grew into a larger scandal surrounding his offer of White House access to corporate clients with business before the federal government.

Cohen’s lawyer, David Schwartz, continues to also serve as his spokesman, but his TV appearances have receded since late March after he declared with “100 percent” certainty that the president had not reimbursed Cohen for a $130,000 payment to porn star Stormy Daniels. He later refuted the claim, as the president confirmed that that was not the case.

Senior White House officials continue to dodge Cohen-related questions in interviews, instead referring related questions to attorneys representing Cohen and Trump. Two prominent allies of the president, who also know Cohen well, told The Daily Beast they’ve begun ignoring or declining requests from cable news bookers to discuss Cohen on-air. “It’s time to keep a distance,” one of these people said.

Numerous other Trump associates, veterans of the 2016 campaign and White House surrogates said they’re avoiding any phone contact with Cohen out of concern that his line might be tapped, and that direct interaction could involve them in the scandal.

The feds, Trump allies say, are treating Cohen as if he were a sketchy mafia lawyer. The White House wants nothing to do with him, and begrudges him for imperiling the Trump presidency with his antics (whether sanctioned by Trump or not). The president, according to the Daily Beast, remains privately skeptical that Cohen won’t end up turning state’s witness on him due to the threat of serious jail time.

Contact Alyssa Fisher at [email protected] or on Twitter, @alyssalfisher

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.

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

With your support, we’ll be ready for whatever 2025 brings.

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.