2016 ELECTION/LEGAL/MICHAEL COHEN/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/TRUMP PEOPLE: “President Trump’s allies sought to discredit his former attorney, Michael Cohen, after a week of escalating clashes that raised the question of how much Mr. Cohen may be prepared to divulge about his former boss. Rudy Giuliani, Mr. Trump’s lawyer, called Mr. Cohen a ‘pathological manipulator’ and ‘a liar’ on Fox News following reports Mr. Cohen is prepared to allege Mr. Trump knew about a meeting during the 2016 campaign in which his eldest son sought damaging information about Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton. Last week, Mr. Trump said that he had no prior knowledge of the meeting at Trump Tower with a Russian lawyer, which Donald Trump Jr. had attended in the hope of collecting negative information about Mrs. Clinton. Mr. Cohen’s reported willingness to contradict the president widens a growing rift between the two men and suggests he is prepared to cooperate with the government and share details about Mr. Trump’s personal and professional dealings. Faced with this prospect, Mr. Trump’s attorneys and associates have sought to depict Mr. Cohen as a flawed witness whose word can’t be trusted. Mr. Cohen joined the Trump Organization as a lawyer in 2006 and ultimately transitioned into his self-described role as Mr. Trump’s fixer, a position that gave him a unique window onto Mr. Trump’s practices.”
–Brett Forrest and Peter Nicholas, “Trump Allies Take Aim at Michael Cohen After Fallout,” The Wall Street Journal, July 29, 2018 11:59 pm