A longtime legal adviser to President Donald Trump warned him last week that personal attorney Michael Cohen would cooperate with federal prosecutors if he is slapped with criminal charges, The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday.
"Michael will never stand up [for you]" if charged by the government, Jay Goldberg, 85, who represented Trump in the 1990s and early 2000s, said he told the president Friday.
On a scale of 100 to 1, where 100 is fully protecting the president, Cohen "isn’t even a 1," Goldberg said he told Trump.
Goldberg, who has practiced law for more than five decades, told the Journal that Trump called him Friday — speaking for about 15 minutes — to seek advice on a response to the FBI's recent seizure of documents from Cohen's offices.
The White House confirmed the Trump-Goldberg call, the Journal reported, though neither Cohen nor his lawyer responded to requests for comment.
Agents confiscated the materials in an April 9 raid on Cohen's Manhattan law office and a hotel suite where he was temporarily staying.
The search warrants used were based in part on information provided by Mueller's investigators.
Among the documents taken were those relating to a $130,000 payment Cohen made in October 2016 to former adult-film actress Stormy Daniels regarding an alleged sexual encounter with Trump in 2006.
The president slammed the FBI raid as a "disgrace" and ripped it on Twitter:
In their Friday conversation, Goldberg told the Journal he warned Trump he was under more jeopardy than the Mueller probe because of the volume of documents seized and how they could be used to extract Cohen's testimony.
He also warned Trump that Cohen could agree to wear a wire to try to record conversations with him.
"You have to be alert," Goldberg said he told the president. "I don't care what Michael says."
Cohen tweeted the day before the FBI raid that "I will always protect our @POTUS" — and Goldberg told the Journal that Trump said Friday that his lawyer and personal friend was "very strong."
Goldberg also told the Journal he advised Trump against sitting for an interview with Mueller, saying "talking is a certain trap.
"Don't ever do it."
In addition, Trump asked Goldberg whether he should fire Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who appointed Mueller. The adviser said he should.
According to the Journal, Goldberg discussed his call with Trump in a two-hour interview in his New York apartment — and he emphasized Trump had broken no laws.
Still, tough organized-crime figures can flip under government pressure, Goldberg said, referencing an infamous informant who brought down New York boss John Gotti in the 1990s.
"The mob was broken by 'Sammy The Bull' Gravano caving in out of the prospect of a jail sentence."
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