In an interview with CNN’s Chris Cuomo, Michael Cohen‘s lawyer Lanny Davis suggested that his client may have information to offer special counsel Robert Mueller.
Cohen pleaded guilty to eight counts of various financial crimes. The charges include campaign finance violations stemming from hush money payments to porn actress Stormy Daniels and ex-Playboy model Karen McDougal.
The 51-year-old Cohen said in federal court in New York on Tuesday that he made the payments in co-ordination with U.S. President Donald Trump, who wasn’t named in court documents, to influence the election. Both Daniels and McDougal claim Trump had affairs with them, while Trump denies both allegations.
Davis suggested on Twitter shortly after the guilty plea was entered that Trump should face criminal charges for directing Cohen to make the payments.
Later that evening, during an interview on CNN’s Cuomo Prime Time, Davis added that Cohen might be willing to provide information about the president to investigations in both Washington, D.C., and New York City.
“I do believe that he has information about Mr. Trump that would be of interest both in Washington and in New York City,” he said in the interview.
When asked by Cuomo whether that information would be useful to Mueller, Davis responded, “I do believe so, but we’ll see.”
Mueller’s team, which is looking into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, came across some of the evidence against Cohen in the course of its investigation and referred the matter to federal prosecutors in New York.
Earlier, Davis made similar comments on MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow Show.
“Mr. Cohen has knowledge on certain subjects that should be of interest to the special counsel and is more than happy to tell the special counsel all that he knows,” he said.
He went on to suggest that Trump had knowledge of the hotly debated 2016 Trump Tower meeting as well as advance knowledge of Russian intelligence officers hacking the Democratic National Committee.
Cohen’s sentencing will take place on Dec. 12, and he’ll likely serve between four to five years in prison.
Less than an hour before Cohen’s guilty plea was announced, former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort was found guilty on eight counts of various financial crimes, including bank fraud, tax fraud and hiding foreign bank accounts. He faces a maximum of 80 years in prison.
—With files from the Associated Press