Michael Cohen’s lawyer Lanny Davis this week set up a GoFundMe page to raise money for his client’s mounting legal fees... and people are actually donating. In fact, the campaign has raised almost $140,000 of the targeted $500,000. “Michael decided to put his family and his country first. Now Michael needs your financial help — to pay his legal fees,” the page states. “The Michael Cohen Truth Fund is a transparent trust account, with all donations going to help Michael Cohen and his family as he goes forward on his journey to tell the truth about Donald Trump.”<doc-sep>A GoFundMe page to cover the legal expenses for former Trump attorney Michael Cohen was launched on Wednesday with a goal of raising $500,000. Lanny Davis, Cohen's lawyer and an opinion contributor for The Hill, is listed as the administrator of the page, titled the "Michael Cohen Truth Fund." The page had racked up more than $20,000 in donations as of 9:20 a.m. Wednesday. "Michael decided to put his family and his country first. Now Michael needs your financial help — to pay his legal fees," the page description states. ADVERTISEMENT The donations will help Cohen "as he goes forward on his journey to tell the truth about Donald Trump Donald TrumpTrump lashes out after grand jury seated for New York criminal probe Schumer tees up vote on Jan. 6 commission bill Senators struggle to save Jan. 6 commission MORE," the page states. Cohen on Tuesday pleaded guilty to bank fraud, tax fraud and campaign finance law violations in the Southern District of New York. While reviewing the charges, Cohen told the judge that he made two six-figure payments to women at the direction of a candidate for federal office, essentially implicating the president. Cohen did not refer to Trump by name during the proceedings, but his comments match the accounts of payments to adult-film star Stormy Daniels and Playboy model Karen McDougal. Both women have said they were paid to remain quiet about alleged affairs with the president. Prosecutors additionally alleged Cohen failed to disclose $4.1 million in reported income, which allowed him to obtain various loans which he would otherwise have not have been able to access. Cohen was released on $500,000 bond. He is due back in court for sentencing on Dec. 12. Davis has said in the aftermath of Cohen's plea that his client is not hoping for, nor would he accept, a pardon from Trump. Davis said Cohen would also be willing to share what he knows with special counsel Robert Mueller Robert (Bob) MuellerSenate Democrats urge Garland not to fight court order to release Trump obstruction memo Why a special counsel is guaranteed if Biden chooses Yates, Cuomo or Jones as AG Barr taps attorney investigating Russia probe origins as special counsel MORE. Trump on Wednesday morning offered his first public comments on Cohen's plea, recommending against retaining the services of his long-time personal fixer. "If anyone is looking for a good lawyer, I would strongly suggest that you don’t retain the services of Michael Cohen!" Trump tweeted.<doc-sep>The morning after a very newsy day for President Donald Trump’s former associates, Michael Cohen’s lawyer was letting the world know his client was not interested in a pardon from Donald Trump. Lanny Davis made the rounds on the morning show circuit Wednesday to insist his client—a man who once said he’d take a bullet for Trump—believed the president to be a criminal and was not interested in any more connection with him. “I know that Mr. Cohen would never accept a pardon from a man that he considers to be both corrupt and a dangerous person in the oval office,” Davis told NPR. “And [Cohen] has flatly authorized me to say under no circumstances would he accept a pardon from Mr. Trump.” Advertisement Davis went on to criticize what he sees as Trump’s abuse of his power to pardon, which, he said, the president uses “to relieve people of guilt who committed crimes, who are political cronies of his.” Advertisement Advertisement He added: “Mr. Cohen is not interested in being dirtied by a pardon from such a man.” What Cohen is interested in, his attorney made clear, was another form of help. Davis also set up a GoFundMe page, or as he calls it, a “Truth Fund,” on Tuesday “to help Michael Cohen and his family as he goes forward on his journey to tell the truth about Donald Trump.” The page is asking for $500,000 in donations and has so far raised around $32,000. Advertisement Davis’ comments Wednesday made for a more personal and direct attack on the president. The night before, just after his client pleaded guilty to eight counts in a federal court of charges related to tax evasion and campaign finance, Davis focused more on the information Cohen might have of value to the Mueller investigation. Speaking to Rachel Maddow on Tuesday night, Davis said that Cohen was ready to help Mueller: Mr. Cohen has knowledge on certain subjects that should be of interest to the special counsel and is more than happy to tell the special counsel all that he knows, not just about the obvious possibility of a conspiracy to collude and corrupt the American Democracy system in the 2016 election—which the Trump tower meeting was all about—but also knowledge about the computer crime of hacking and whether or not Mr. Trump knew ahead of time about that crime and even cheered it on. * Advertisement Advertisement Davis told Maddow that the public should expect to now see “a liberated Michael Cohen speaking truth to power.” Davis also told ABC’s George Stephanopoulos on Wednesday that there are “certainly” more tapes and that Trump “committed a criminal act that corrupted our democracy.” In court, Cohen didn’t refer to Trump by name but instead referenced “a federal candidate for office.” In the plea document, he said he had been working to “influence the election” on behalf of someone called “Individual-1,” who later became president of the United States. Cohen has accused Trump of directing him to use hush money to stifle the stories of Karen McDougal and Stormy Daniels, who have both said they had affairs with Trump. Advertisement On Wednesday morning, Trump had something to say about that: If anyone is looking for a good lawyer, I would strongly suggest that you don’t retain the services of Michael Cohen! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 22, 2018<doc-sep>
Former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen pleaded guilty to eight federal crimes on Tuesday and said he made illegal campaign contributions on Trump's behalf. A new crowdfunding campaign is looking to raise money for Cohen's legal fees as he continues his "commitment to tell the truth." The campaign had raised over $25,000 three hours after it was made public. It had raised $10,000 in the first half an hour. Cohen's lawyer Lanny Davis publicly launched the "Michael Cohen Truth Fund" on TV Wednesday morning. A GoFundMe campaign to raise money for the legal fees of former Donald Trump lawyer Michael Cohen raised $10,000 in less than half an hour. The campaign page, called the "Michael Cohen Truth Fund," states that it wants to help Cohen with his "commitment to tell the truth." Cohen's lawyer and Former White House Special Counsel Lanny Davis is behind the campaign. The campaign had raised over $25,000 three hours after Davis' promoted it on TV. Cohen pleaded guilty on Tuesday to eight federal crimes, and said that he made illegal campaign and corporate contributions "at the direction of the candidate" and "purpose of influencing the election." Cohen did not mention Trump but name, but Cohen pleaded guilty to making illegal campaign contributions to the Trump campaign on the same day that he facilitated a $130,000 payment to porn star Stormy Daniels. (You can read a more detailed account of the court case here.) Davis made the GoFundMe campaign public in an interview on MSNBC's Morning Joe on Wednesday. Lanny Davis plugged the campaign on MSNBC, saying Cohen needed help to tell the truth about Trump. MSNBC He said: "In order to get Michael to be able to help, we need help on this fund, MichaelCohenTruthFund.com, we ask everybody to help Michael Cohen tell the truth about Donald Trump." His plug was made at 7.11 a.m. EDT. By 7.41 a.m. its total had increased from less than $100 to more than $11,800. "On August 21, Michael Cohen made the decision to take legal responsibility and to continue his commitment to tell the truth," the campaign page stages. "Michael decided to put his family and his country first. Now Michael needs your financial help -- to pay his legal fees. "The Michael Cohen Truth Fund is a transparent trust account, with all donations going to help Michael Cohen and his family as he goes forward on his journey to tell the truth about Donald Trump."