MICHAEL Cohen's career as a prominent New York attorney ended after he pleaded guilty to multiple felonies.
Once known as being a "fixer" for Donald Trump, he was disbarred in the state of New York and ended up behind bars as a result.
Who is Michael Cohen?
Michael Cohen is a former lawyer who worked for Trump from 2006-2018.
Cohen was also the vice president of the Trump Organization and a board member of the Eric Trump Foundation.
Additionally, from 2017 to 2018, he was deputy finance chairman of the Republican National Committee.
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Cohen's law career began in the early 1990s after he graduated from the Thomas M. Cooley Law School in Lansing, Michigan.
Before joining Trump's team, he was a supporter of the Democratic Party, previously voting for former President Barack Obama in 2008, according to ABC News.
Despite Cohen being a member of the Democratic Party, he said in a 2011 interview with the outlet that he was "prepared to put the fact that I voted for Obama to the side," amid Trump's decision to run for office.
Cohen continued to stick by Trump, serving as a self-described "fixer" and it was not until March 9, 2017, that Cohen became an official member of the Republican Party.
However, he re-registered as a Democrat in October 2018 in an effort to distance himself from the twice-impeached former president, according to The Guardian.
Why did he go to prison?
Cohen went to prison for arranging payments to silence women who claimed to have had affairs with Trump and for lying to Congress in 2016.
Additionally, on August 21, 2018, he pleaded guilty to "charges of tax evasion, making false statements to a federally-insured bank, and campaign finance violations," according to the United States Attorney's Office.
His sentencing stemmed from special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian interference in the election.
In November 2018, Cohen entered a second guilty plea for lying to Congress about efforts to build a Trump Tower in Moscow.
Upon pleading guilty to the charges, he was sentenced to a three-year jail stint and ordered to pay $50,000 for tax evasions and campaign violations.
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Cohen began serving his sentence in May of 2019 in a federal prison in Otisville, New York but was put on house arrest in 2020 due to coronavirus concerns, however, he was caught violating furlough as he was spotted dining at an Upper East Side restaurant in New York City.
He was then sent back to prison by the Federal Bureau of Prisons after he refused to hold off publishing his book during the remainder of his sentence, according to The New York Times.
In November 2021, Cohen was freed from prison after completing his three-year stint.
Speaking outside of a New York federal courthouse upon his release, he said he wanted to work with law enforcement to "ensure that others are held responsible for their dirty deeds and that no one is ever believed to be above the law."
"My release today in no way negates the actions I took at the direction of and for the benefit of Donald J. Trump," Cohen said.
"But it also does not negate the behavior of the Justice Department, Bill Barr, the Southern District of New York Prosecutors, Judge William H. Pauley the third, or Donald himself, in my initial incarceration and prosecution.
"I will continue to provide information testimony documents and my full cooperation on all ongoing investigations," he declared.
Trump was later indicted on charges connected to the hush money scandal, and Cohen began testifying for the prosecution on May 13, 2024.
What did he say about Trump in his memoir Disloyal?
In Cohen’s tell-all book, Disloyal, he revealed Trump also committed tax fraud and lied to Melania Trump to cover up his affairs with other women.
“From golden showers in a sex club in Vegas, to tax fraud, to deals with corrupt officials from the former Soviet Union, to catch and kill conspiracies to silence Trump’s clandestine lovers, I wasn’t just a witness to the president’s rise—I was an active and eager participant,” Cohen claimed.
In the book, written from Otisville Federal Prison, Cohen also admits he “ripped off” Trump’s business partners on his behalf.
He writes, “I stiffed contractors on his behalf, ripped off his business partners, lied to his wife Melania to hide his sexual infidelities, and bullied and screamed at anyone who threatened Trump’s path to power."
The book was later released on September 8, 2020.
Is Michael Cohen married?
Throughout the course of Cohen's downfall, his wife, Laura Shusterman, stood by his side.
The pair tied the knot in 1994 and have been together ever since.
Shusterman is of Ukrainian descent and the daughter of Fima Shusterman, who reportedly introduced Cohen to Trump, according to Newsweek.
At this time, additional details on Shusterman are unclear because she often stays out of the spotlight.
Since tying the knot, the pair have welcomed two children: a daughter, Samantha, and a son, Jake.
