Michael Cohen Will Take The Fifth In Stormy Daniels Case

Image by Getty Images

By Eric Beech April 25, 2018

President Trump’s lawyer Michael Cohen said he will assert his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination in connection with a lawsuit filed by adult-film star Stormy Daniels.

In an extraordinary filing in a California federal court, Cohen said he decided to invoke his constitutional right after the FBI raided his home, office and hotel room two weeks ago.

“I will assert my Fifth Amendment rights in connection with all proceedings in this case due to the ongoing criminal investigation by the FBI and US Attorney for the Southern District of New York,” Cohen said.

Cohen is seeking to have a civil lawsuit filed by Daniels put on hold until the criminal issues are resolved. The judge in that case said last week that he will need more time to decide.

The remarkable declaration suggests Cohen is in much deeper legal trouble — and it may spill over to President Trump.

There have also traditionally been severely negative public reaction to public figures who take the Fifth in high-profile cases.

The FBI search was partly a referral by the Office of Special Counsel, Robert Mueller, who is investigating alleged Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election and possible collusion with the Trump campaign. Russia denies meddling in the election and Trump has denied any collusion.

Last month, Daniels sued Trump and Cohen to end a non-disclosure agreement related to a $130,000 payment she received from Cohen before the 2016 election to keep quiet about her alleged one-night stand with Trump a decade earlier.—Reuters

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.

Readers like you make it all possible. We’ve started our Passover Fundraising Drive, and we need 1,800 readers like you to step up to support the Forward by April 21. Members of the Forward board are even matching the first 1,000 gifts, up to $70,000.

This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism, because every dollar goes twice as far.

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO