A report that former-Trump attorney Michael Cohen has met with investigators at the Manhattan D.A.’s office seven times has raised eyebrows. And it’s got the star witness of the Watergate saga thinking that a Trump indictment is just days away:
John Dean, Nixon’s former White House counsel, described “a cancer on the presidency,” including obstruction of justice, during a 1973 Watergate Committee hearing. Historians say his testimony was key in forcing Richard Nixon’s resignation.
On Wednesday, Dean shared a report about Cohen’s extensive cooperation with New York prosecutors and tweeted, “It is only a matter of how many days until DA Vance indicts Donald & Co.”
Cohen told Reuters on Wednesday that Manhattan D.A. Cy Vance, Jr. obtained the prosecutor’s equivalent of the “holy grail” when a recent Supreme Court ruling forced Trump’s accountants at Mazars USA LLP to hand over millions of pages of documents, including Trump’s tax returns.
Reuters helps contextualize:
“The Manhattan district attorney said in an August filing that the office is investigating “possibly extensive and protracted criminal conduct” at the Trump Organization, though he has not fully disclosed the scope of the probe. In a September filing, he said “mountainous” misconduct allegations could justify a grand jury probe into possible tax fraud, insurance fraud and falsification of business records.”
The investigation began when prosecutors learned that Cohen paid adult film actress Stormy Daniels $130,000 in hush money to discourage her from talking about an affair with Trump.
On Friday morning, news broke the 66-year-old Vance will not seek re-election next January. His successor will likely finish overseeing the Trump investigation, which the former president calls “political persecution” and a “fishing expedition.”