Cohen is the president's longtime confidant and former personal attorney. Michael Cohen, President Trump’s longtime confidant and former personal attorney, has resigned from his post as deputy finance chair of the Republican National Committee's Finance Committee, sources close to the RNC told ABC News. In his resignation letter to Ronna McDaniel, the RNC chair, Cohen cited the ongoing special counsel investigation as one reason for his departure. ABC News has reviewed the email. “This important role requires the full time attention and dedication of each member. Given the ongoing Mueller and SDNY investigations, that simply is impossible for me to do,” he wrote. Cohen also criticized the administration's policy of separating migrant children from their parents at the southern border, the first time he’s distanced himself from the president. "As the son of a Polish holocaust survivor, the images and sounds of this family separation policy is heart wrenching,” Cohen wrote. “While I strongly support measures that will secure our porous borders, children should never be used as bargaining chips." Cohen on Tuesday hired New York lawyer Guy Petrillo to represent him in a federal investigation headed up by the Southern District of New York.<doc-sep>Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump's longtime lawyer, resigned from his job at the Republican National Committee on Wednesday. In a letter to RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel reviewed by ABC News, Cohen said he resigned because of the ongoing investigations he has found himself swept up in and because of the president's much-maligned family-separation policy at the US-Mexico border. Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump's longtime lawyer, resigned as the deputy finance chairman of the Republican National Committee's finance committee, sources close to the RNC told ABC News on Wednesday. In doing so, Cohen criticized the president's much-maligned family-separation policy at the US-Mexico border in a rare rebuke of his old boss. In a resignation letter to RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel reviewed by ABC News, Cohen said he was departing in part because of the multiple investigations he has found himself tied up in. Cohen is a person of interest in the special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 US election, and he is the focus of a criminal investigation in the Southern District of New York into possible campaign-finance violations, bank fraud, wire fraud, illegal lobbying, and other potential crimes. "This important role requires the full time attention and dedication of each member," Cohen wrote, according to ABC News. "Given the ongoing Mueller and SDNY investigations, that simply is impossible for me to do." Cohen then criticized Trump's immigration policy. "As the son of a Polish holocaust survivor, the images and sounds of this family separation policy is heart wrenching," Cohen wrote. "While I strongly support measures that will secure our porous borders, children should never be used as bargaining chips." Outrage over the policy, which began just weeks ago, has reached a fever pitch as images and audio of children crying at detention facilities after being forcibly removed from their parents have emerged. Children are being held in the facilities as their parents are prosecuted on charges of illegal entry into the US, a misdemeanor. The Trump administration has called it a "zero tolerance" policy for illegal entry into the US. It prioritizes prosecution for adults who enter illegally, causing any children they're traveling with to be immediately taken from them. The administration views the policy as both a deterrent for illegal entry and a possible negotiating chip for the president to secure the hardline immigration legislation for which he clamors. More than 2,000 children have been separated from their parents at the border since the policy was implemented, according to the Department of Homeland Security. An RNC official told Business Insider that McDaniel accepted Cohen's resignation, adding that he had been "inactive on the committee for several months." On Tuesday, Cohen hired Guy Petrillo, a former top prosecutor with the US Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York, as his new lawyer. Some experts said this hiring could be a sign he is willing to cooperate with investigators.<doc-sep>An RNC official confirmed to CNBC the departure of Cohen, the third scandal-related resignation of a top GOP fundraising official this year. The official said Cohen, whose resignation had been accepted by Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel, "has been inactive on the committee for several months." He also cited in that resignation email the distraction from a separate inquiry by special counsel Robert Mueller , who is investigating Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, and possible Trump campaign collusion with that meddling. Cohen quit as the Republican National Committee's deputy finance chairman in part because it "simply is impossible" to give that post "full time attention and dedication" as he faces a criminal investigation by federal prosecutors in New York, he said in an email obtained by ABC News. Cohen, in the same email obtained by ABC News, also called out the Trump administration for instituting a policy of separating children from parents who cross the U.S.-Mexico border illegally. "As the son of a Polish holocaust survivor, the images and sounds of this family separation policy is heart-wrenching," Cohen wrote. "While I strongly support measures that will secure our porous borders, children should never be used as bargaining chips." Trump on Wednesday signed an executive order that he says would keep immigrant families together if they are detained after crossing the Mexico border. Cohen's criticism of the president's policy is striking. He has been known as a hardcore Trump loyalist. But in recent weeks, speculation has grown that Cohen will agree to cooperate with federal investigators and possibly give them information about Trump in a bid to limit his legal exposure. CNN reported Wednesday that Cohen has let friends know he is prepared to turn over information about Trump to prosecutors. "He knows a lot of things about the President and he's not averse to talking in the right situation," a Cohen friend told CNN. "If they want information on Trump, he's willing to give it." Another friend quoted by the news site said, Cohen "feels let down by [Trump] and isolated by him." Cohen did not return a request for comment from CNBC. Venture capitalist Elliott Broidy resigned as deputy finance chairman of the RNC in April. His departure came shortly after The Wall Street Journal revealed that Broidy, who is married, had agreed to pay a Playboy Playmate $1.6 million after she claimed to have been impregnated by him. Sources have told CNBC that Cohen was paid $250,000 for negotiating and handling that deal for Broidy. In February, the RNC's then-national finance chairman, casino mogul Steve Wynn, resigned after a Journal report revealed that he had been accused of sexual misconduct. Cohen, 51, is being investigated by prosecutors in New York for a variety of business-related dealings, as well as a $130,000 hush money payment he made to porn star Stormy Daniels shortly before Election Day 2016. Daniels says the payment was made to keep her quiet about an affair she had with Trump a decade before. Files related to Daniels were among the documents seized April 9 by FBI agents during a raid on Cohen's apartment and office, as a well as on a hotel room where he and his family were staying during renovations of their residence. The White House has denied the president had sex with the actress. Cohen, who has not been charged, reportedly has hired a new criminal defense lawyer, Guy Petrillo, to represent him as prosecutors continue their probe. Petrillo previously served as chief of the criminal division of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York, the same division now investigating Cohen.<doc-sep>
(CNN) — President Donald Trump’s longtime personal attorney Michael Cohen has stepped down from a role with the Republican National Committee, multiple sources confirmed to CNN on Wednesday. An RNC official said chairwoman Ronna McDaniel accepted Cohen’s resignation as deputy finance chairman, marking the latest in a string of high-profile departures from the organization’s finance committee. Former casino mogul Steve Wynn resigned as finance committee chairman in January as he faced allegations of sexual misconduct. And another deputy finance chairman, Elliott Broidy, stepped down from his role in April amid reports that he paid off a Playboy playmate with whom he had an affair. Cohen’s resignation was first reported by ABC News. Cohen declined to comment for this story. Cohen faces a criminal investigation into his business dealings, including a hush money payment he made before the election on Trump’s behalf to porn actress Stormy Daniels, although he has not been charged with a crime. Cohen has also been under scrutiny by special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation. Cohen cited those ongoing probes in a resignation email to McDaniel obtained by CNN. “This important role requires the full time attention and dedication of each member,” Cohen wrote. “Given the ongoing Mueller and (Southern District of New York) investigations, that simply is impossible for me to do.” Cohen also criticized the Trump administration’s “zero tolerance” policy that has resulted in the separation of children from their families at the US-Mexico border. “As the son of a Polish holocaust survivor, the images and sounds of this family separation policy is heart wrenching,” Cohen wrote. “While I strongly support measures that will secure our porous borders, children should never be used as bargaining chips.” McDaniel had previously defended Cohen’s role with the committee in spite of his mounting legal troubles. “Michael Cohen has not been charged with anything, he’s under investigation,” McDaniel told CNN in April after the FBI raided Cohen’s office. “I believe in due process, I’m sure you do too, so we’ll see what happens.” Although he retained his title, Cohen had not been active on the committee for several months, the RNC official said Wednesday.