President Trump’s longtime attorney Michael Cohen went for an upscale Midtown lunch Wednesday, as it was revealed that the FBI agents who raided his office and hotel room earlier this week sought communications he had with Trump about the infamous “Access Hollywood” tape.
Cohen lunched with TV commentator Donny Deutsch on the top floor of Barneys on Madison Ave. near 60th St. The embattled Trump lawyer ignored shouted questions from reporters as he exited the exclusive department store, and paid more mind to members of the media than the controversy surrounding the $130,000 payment he made to porn star Stormy Daniels shortly before the 2016 election.
“Before you knock each other over, we’re all good?” Cohen asked, as reporters chased him down E. 61st St.
After Cohen went back into hiding at the nearby Loews Regency Hotel, CNN reported that the federal agents who stormed his office on Monday sought any communications he had with Trump about the hot mic recording in which the President bragged about being able to “grab” women “by the p—y.” The damning recording was made public about a month before the election and prompted Trump to issue an unusual apology.
It was not clear what role Cohen, 51, might have played in regards to the recording, but sources said the federal search warrant for his Rockefeller Center office seeks any evidence showing that he tried to prevent it from becoming public.
In addition to “Access Hollywood” material, FBI agents confiscated emails, business records and documents relating to a payment that Cohen issued to Daniels 11 days before Trump’s election.
Daniels says she took the cash in exchange for keeping mum about having sex with Trump in 2006. The 39-year-old X-rated actress is currently battling Trump and Cohen in court over a nondisclosure agreement she says should be nulled because Trump never signed it.
Agents also seized records from Cohen’s office relating to a payment to Playboy model Karen McDougal, who alleges that she had an affair with Trump in 2006 as well.
Prosecutors at the U.S. attorney’s office in Manhattan are looking into whether Cohen’s payoffs could have violated federal election laws, as they were issued during the campaign. Trump could be in legal trouble if he in any way coordinated or had knowledge of the Daniels payment, which Cohen admitted to issuing earlier this year.
Since Monday’s FBI raid, Trump has spent his time attacking special counsel Robert Mueller, calling his team of investigators “the most biased group of people I’ve ever seen.” The President also wouldn’t rule out firing Mueller.
To add to Cohen’s laundry list of legal woes, the Daily News reported Wednesday that the presidential fixer owes nearly $54,000 in unpaid state taxes for his taxi medallions. Cohen owns at least 32 medallions and has failed to pay mandatory dues for several of them, according to state Department of Taxation and Finance records.
Cohen delivered a one-word rebuke when a News reporter asked him Wednesday afternoon if he was worried about the situation he has found himself in.
“No,” he said before getting into a car and speeding off.
