JUSTICE DEPARTMENT/LEGAL/MICHAEL COHEN/RUSSIA/TRUMP PEOPLE: “A New York taxi kingpin and business partner of President Donald Trump’s attorney Michael Cohen has agreed to cooperate with the government, The New York Times reported Tuesday [5-22-18]. The Times said the agreement for Evegny ‘Gene’ Freidman would allow him to avoid jail time and would have him work with prosecutors in both the state and federal investigations. Word of the Freidman agreement came just days after news broke that Jeffrey Yohai, the son-in-law of former Trump campaign chief Paul Manafort, had reached a plea agreement. Freidman, known as New York’s ‘Taxi King,’ was indicted on state charges last year by then-New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, who alleged Freidman and others failed to pay $5 million in MTA surcharges between 2012 and 2015. Freidman’s agreement, given his ties to Cohen as a business partner, may put still more pressure on the Trump associate and attorney, who faced federal raids in April before the Justice Department announced it had been conducting a months-long investigation into him.”
-Eli Watkins, “NYT: Michael Cohen’s ‘taxi king’ business partner to cooperate with government,” CNN Politics, CNN.com, May 22, 2018 6:21 pm