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Michael Cohen began his career as a private injury lawyer in 1992, but his business interests quickly expanded as he built a large real estate portfolio and a business that specialized in the New York City taxicab trade. In the 2000s, Cohen began working for future President Donald Trump, where he earned a reputation for loyalty and ferocity. His work on behalf of Trump during the 2016 campaign, including the payment of $130,000 to adult film star Stormy Daniels, along with his possible involvement in attempts to cover-up purported collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russian government, landed Cohen in the crossfires of the investigation being led by special counsel Robert Mueller. In August 2018, Cohen pleaded guilty to tax evasion and bank fraud, while also claiming that he made illegal campaign contributions under the direction of Trump. He began serving a three-year prison sentence in May 2019.
Later, Cohen's lawyer, Davis, copped to being the one who had informed the media about Trump's supposed knowledge of the meeting, though he admitted that "the only person who could confirm that information is my client.".
In early 2018, it was revealed that Cohen paid Stephanie Clifford, also known by her adult film name Stormy Daniels, $130,000 in the fall of 2016. The payment was made with regards to Daniels’ claim of a 2006 affair with Trump.
Cohen sued Daniels for breaking the terms of a non-disclosure agreement related to the payment, and Daniels countersued, alleging the NDA was invalid because it had never been signed by Trump.
Cohen also described how Trump often understated his net worth for tax purposes and instructed him to threaten someone to prevent the release of potentially damaging information. His statements were met with significant pushback from the president's supporters, who sought to discredit him as a liar and convicted felon.
Cohen was named in the Steele dossier, a controversial document compiled by Christopher Steele, a former British intelligence officer, which alleges a conspiracy between the Russian government and Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign. Among its claims are that Cohen traveled to Prague in the summer of 2016 to facilitate a cover-up (including cash payments) of illicit operations.
The club has been accused of being a base of operation for several Russian-American gangsters, and in the 1980s, Cohen’s uncle (the primary owner) was accused of providing medical advice to members of the notorious Lucchese crime family.
Cohen went to prison for arranging payments to silence women who claimed to have had affairs with President Trump and for lying to Congress in 2016.
In Cohen’s tell-all book, Disloyal, he revealed Trump also committed tax fraud and lied to Melania to cover-up his affairs with other women.
In 2010, Cohen briefly campaigned for a seat in the New York State Senate.
Michael Cohen is an American lawyer, who worked for Donald Trump from 2006 to 2018. After joining Trump in 2006, Cohen went on to become a close confidant of Trump. In 2008, he became the COO of ‘Affliction Entertainment,’ a MMA promotion company, in which Donald Trump had a major financial stake. Revelations regarding Cohen carrying out various payouts to keep people from talking about Trump landed Cohen in trouble. In 2018, an investigation led by the FBI culminated in Cohen pleading guilty to eight counts of bank fraud, tax fraud, and campaign finance violations. On October 11, 2018, Cohen re-registered himself as a Democrat.
After graduating high school, Cohen went to ‘The American University,’ from where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1988. Thereafter, he went to ‘Thomas M. Cooley Law School’ from where he earned his Juris Doctor degree (JD) in 1991.
Michael Dean Cohen was born on August 25, 1966, in Long Island, New York, US, into a Jewish family to Sondra and Maurice Cohen. His father, who had survived the Holocaust, worked as a surgeon, while his mother was a nurse. Cohen was raised in the town of Lawrence and attended the ‘Lawrence Woodmere Academy,’ an independent school situated in Woodmere.
On August 21, 2018, Cohen surrendered to the FBI. He subsequently pleaded guilty to eight criminal offences, including five counts of tax evasion. His sentence was scheduled for December 12, 2018, with the judge ruling that he can be released on $500,000 bail. After the conviction, Cohen’s lawyer Lanny Davis went on to say that his client is ready to reveal everything he knows about Trump. On October 11, 2018, Cohen re-registered himself as a Democrat.
Michael Cohen began his career in 1992, when he started practising personal injury law. In 2006, Cohen joined hands with a law firm, before joining Donald Trump’s organization. He eventually became a close confidant of Trump as he helped Trump in obtaining control over the condominium board at the ‘Trump World Tower.’ In 2008, he became the COO of ‘Affliction Entertainment,’ an MMA promotion company. Over the next few years, he continued showing his support for Trump.
Michael Cohen got married to Laura Shusterman in 1994. Cohen and Shusterman have a daughter named Samantha Blake Cohen. After graduating high school, Samantha attended the ‘University of Pennsylvania.’
In January 2017, a private intelligence report, ‘The Trump–Russia dossier,’ was published. The report claimed that Cohen had spoken to a few Russian officials in Czech Republic. It also claimed that Cohen had promised the Russian officials a hefty sum of money if they succeed in hacking the ‘Democratic National Committee’ (DNC). However, Cohen denied having a conversation with Russian officials, which led to a probe.