Mueller’s Team Asked About Cohen’s Personal Dealings While Working At Trump Org
Image by Getty Images
Special counsel Robert Mueller’s team has questioned witnesses about whether President Trump’s former attorney Michael Cohen conducted separate personal business while employed by the Trump Organization — even after the FBI raided Cohen’s office and hotel, CNBC reported Tuesday.
The Forward exclusively reported in April that Cohen had indeed conducted his taxi medallion business using his Trump Organization email address going back at least a decade.
Cohen pleaded guilty on Aug. 21 to eight federal charges, including campaign finance violations and tax and bank fraud connected to cab businesses in New York and Chicago.
“People who were questioned about Cohen told CNBC that they told investigators they had no knowledge of any personal business the former Trump lawyer may have done while an employee of the Trump Organization,” the station reported.
But Cohen conducted an intra-family medallion transfer with the New York Taxi and Limousine Commission using his Trump Organization email address back in 2009, according to documents obtained by the Forward through a freedom of information request.
The company created to control that medallion, N.Y. Funky Taxi Corp., was connected to questionable loans Cohen received from Sterling National Bank, according to state records. Some of the loans referenced in Cohen’s guilty plea came from Sterling.
Cohen and Trump had a major falling out after the FBI raid and Cohen started to hint he would be willing to provide damaging information on the president.
He later testified during his guilty plea that Trump directed him to make illegal hush-money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels and former Playboy playmate Karen McDougal, both of whom claimed that they had had affairs with the future president.
Experts told CNBC that Mueller may still think Cohen has information on potential campaign collusion with Russian agents.
The Manhattan district attorney’s office is also considering state charges against the Trump Organization for its reimbursement to Cohen for his $130,000 payment to Daniels, the New York Times reported.
Contact Ben Fractenberg at fractenberg@forward.com or on Twitter, @fractenberg
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
