Lanny Davis: Trump views Cohen as ‘greatest threat to his presidency’

Attorney Lanny Davis said Sunday that the “incessant attacks” President Trump has leveled against Trump’s former attorney Michael Cohen are because Trump views Cohen as the “greatest threat to his presidency.”

“This pattern of incessant attacks on my client and his family show what the American people have already witnessed: that Donald Trump sees Michael Cohen, and I would say justifiably, as the greatest threat to his presidency and what could be criminal and impeachable actions,” Davis said on MSNBC’s “Kasie DC.”

{mosads}The comments from Davis come just days after it was announced that Cohen, who once served as Trump’s personal attorney, would publicly testify before the House Oversight and Reform Committee.

Trump, who has repeatedly criticized Cohen since he agreed to cooperate with investigators, said Saturday on Fox News that his ex-lawyer was taking this step in order “to get his sentence reduced.”

He added that “he should give information maybe on his father-in-law, because that’s the one that people want to look at.”

The comments raised alarms from a trio of top House Democrats, who on Sunday released a statement warning Trump against “any action to obstruct” oversight efforts from lawmakers. 

Davis accused Trump of trying to “intimidate a witness” with his statements about Cohen’s father-in-law. He also said that “I and most Americans have no idea about what Trump is fantasizing about in demonizing the father-in-law of Cohen.”

Cohen pleaded guilty to several federal charges, including one count of lying to Congress, last year. He was sentenced to three years in jail in December.

He has been cooperating with special counsel Robert Mueller’s team and provided it with information about the Trump Organization and his contacts at the White House. 

Davis said there is info that Cohen will likely be unable to testify publicly about. But he predicted that he would discuss “the lying, the immorality” and “the willingness to abuse people who work for him” from Trump.