President Trump’s former personal attorney and fixer Michael Cohen said the president is “guilty of the same crimes” that landed him in federal prison, according to the Associated Press, who obtained an early copy of Cohen’s tell-all memoir.
In the book, titled “Disloyal: The True Story of the Former Personal Attorney to President Donald J. Trump,” Cohen accused the president of corruption and fraud, according to an excerpt released last month.
Cohen pleaded guilty to campaign finance violations in 2018 and turned on Trump amid his legal ordeal, testifying before Congress and accusing the president of ordering him to make payments to two women who claimed they had affairs with Trump.
According to the AP, Cohen refers to himself as the “star witness” of a hush-money conspiracy that could lead to charges against the president once he’s out of office.
“It never pays to settle these things, but many, many friends have advised me to pay,” Trump said, according to Cohen. “If it comes out, I’m not sure how it would play with my supporters. But I bet they’d think it’s cool that I slept with a porn star.”
Cohen said Trump is an “organized crime don” and “master manipulator” whom he once admired.
“I care for Donald Trump, even to this day,” Cohen writes, “and I had and still have a lot of affection for him.”
Before Cohen turned on Trump, he was known for threatening media outlets, journalists and others with lawsuits when they let out any potentially damaging information.
“I confess I never really did understand why pleasing Trump meant so much to me,” Cohen said. “To this day I don’t have the full answer.”
Cohen reportedly writes in the book that after Trump called people crossing the border from Mexico rapists and murderers during his campaign launch in 2015, the then candidate’s children asked Cohen to convince Trump to drop out of the race because his rhetoric was “killing the company.”
Trump reportedly dismissed the concerns, claiming he “will never get the Hispanic vote.”
“Like the blacks, they’re too stupid to vote for Trump. They’re not my people,” Trump said, according to Cohen.
Cohen also accused Trump of sexual misconduct and saying particularly crude comments. He reportedly told Cohen that he could “have all” of the Miss Universe contestants if he wanted to.
During a trip to Trump’s New Jersey golf club in 2012, Cohen caught him leering at his 15-year-old daughter.
“When did she get so hot?” Trump said, according to Cohen.
Cohen’s book is scheduled to be released Tuesday.