Donald Trump’s one-time attorney and fixer Michael Cohen was asked Saturday if the former president will try to shield his children from the intensifying probes into the Trump Organization or the Jan. 6 insurrection. Cohen laughed: “Not a chance.”
Cohen even claimed to Alex Witt on MSNBC that Trump once told him that if one or the other ever had to go to prison over the family business, “make sure” it’s Donald Jr., not daughter Ivanka, because his son “would be able to handle it.” Cohen added: “Donald cares only about Donald, more than he would care about his children.”
Trump family loyalty could become a key issue as the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection appears increasingly interested in questioning those closest to Trump, including his children.
In another investigation involving the Trump Organization Eric Trump and Trump Organization Chief Financial Officer Allen Weisselberg invoked their Fifth Amendment rights against self incrimination more than 500 times when questioned by the New York attorney general’s office for its investigation into the company’s finances, according to a court filing.
Now the Jan. 6 House committee wants to interview Ivanka Trump about her reported pleas to her dad to do something about the violence that erupted at the Capitol last Jan. 6, and call off his supporters.
Asked if she will try to protect her father in the Jan. 6 probe or in business investigations, Cohen responded: “Very much like her father, Ivanka is interested only in Ivanka.”
She hasn’t yet publicly responded to the committee’s request earlier this week that she voluntarily discuss events surrounding the insurrection. But a spokesperson noted that she appealed to Trump supporters on Jan. 6 to end the violence. She did, however, initially refer to rioters in a tweet that day as “American patriots” — before deleting it.
Screen Shot/Twitter/Ivanka Trump
Asked about the likelihood that Ivanka will cooperate with the select committee or the investigations into the Trump Organization, Cohen replied: “I think the answer to that is slim to none, and slim left the building.”
In the key legal mess currently involving the Trump family, Cohen agreed with New York Attorney General Letitia James’ allegations in a court filing earlier this week of Donald Trump’s brazenly inflated valuations of his properties that worked to his advantage for loans.
“It was my experience that Mr. Trump inflated his total assets when it served his purposes, and deflated his assets to reduce his real estate taxes,” Cohen testified before House lawmakers in 2019.
James has subpoenaed the former president, Ivanka and Donald Trump Jr., demanding their testimony in connection with her civil investigation into the family’s business practices.
Cohen completed his three-year sentence for campaign finance violations while working for Trump, lying to Congress and other offenses in November.
He has sued Trump, former U.S. Attorney General William Barr and federal prison officials, claiming his home confinement, which began in May 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic, was suspended weeks later in retaliation for a tell-all book he was writing about the then president.
Check out Cohen’s full interview in the video clip up top. He begins to talk about Ivanka Trump’s unlikely cooperation in various investigations beginning at 5:45.
