Other Michael Cohens Want You To Know That They Are Not That Michael Cohen

Trump supporter Michael D. Cohen (L) and progressive columnist Michael A. Cohen (R) Image by Twitter and YouTube
(JTA) — The FBI’s raid on the offices of President Trump’s personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, has unsettled the White House, the markets — and other men named Michael Cohen.
Twitter users who share the common Jewish moniker with Trump’s attorney were simultaneously amused and abashed as news of their namesake’s legal jeopardy broke around the net.
They included Michael A. Cohen, a columnist for the Boston Globe and frequent critic of the president, who actually had to write about the raid in Tuesday’s paper. “We are in unchartered territory,” he wrote in his column. “On Monday morning, FBI agents raided the office and home of President Trump’s attorney, Michael Cohen (the other one).”
Michael A. Cohen also tweeted about the “other one”:
My latest for @GlobeOpinion on some guy named Michael Cohen, who, as far as I’m aware, does not have a dog named Baxter https://t.co/rGqK4l9eYD
— Michael Cohen (@speechboy71) April 10, 2018
Michael Cohen, who covers sports for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, assured followers that it wasn’t him:
Nobody raided my apartment.
— Michael Cohen (@Michael_Cohen13) April 9, 2018
He was comforted by a follower named Rob Porter, who shares a name with the former White House staff secretary who stepped down following allegations that he had abused his two former wives:
I feel your pain Michael.
— Rob Porter (@RobPorter9) April 10, 2018
Michael E. Cohen, a writer and editor from Santa Monica, California, is even careful to distinguish himself in his Twitter handle:
Been waitin’ a long time for this pun to become operative! https://t.co/3BcZQ6EVG5
— Michael E. Cohen (NOT the Trump lawyer) (@lymond) April 10, 2018
And Canadian podcast maker Michael Cohen tweeted on behalf of all the Michael Cohens whose offices were not raided by the FBI on Monday:
PSA: There are many, many Michael Cohens. Most of us are generally decent people. Please don’t let this one Michael Cohen ruin Michael Cohens for you. #NotAllMichaelCohens
— Michael J. Cohen (@Arkwulf) April 9, 2018
The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
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.
This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a Passover gift today!
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Most Popular
- 1
News Student protesters being deported are not ‘martyrs and heroes,’ says former antisemitism envoy
- 2
News Who is Alan Garber, the Jewish Harvard president who stood up to Trump over antisemitism?
- 3
Politics Meet America’s potential first Jewish second family: Josh Shapiro, Lori, and their 4 kids
- 4
Fast Forward Suspected arsonist intended to beat Gov. Josh Shapiro with a sledgehammer, investigators say
In Case You Missed It
-
Fast Forward Jewish students, alumni decry ‘weaponization of antisemitism’ across country
-
Opinion I first met Netanyahu in 1988. Here’s how he became the most destructive leader in Israel’s history
-
Opinion Why can Harvard stand up to Trump? Because it didn’t give in to pro-Palestinian student protests
-
Culture How an Israeli dance company shaped a Catholic school boy’s life
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
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 comply with the following:
- Credit the Forward
- Retain our pixel
- Preserve our canonical link in Google search
- Add a noindex tag 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.