Trump lawyer-turned-critic Michael Cohen to apply for "anti-weaponization fund"

Michael Cohen, a Trump lawyer-turned-critic who served situation clip owed to his enactment for the president, is readying to use for wealth from the Justice Department's caller "anti-weaponization fund," helium told CBS News connected Thursday.

"I americium moving done the process connected my ain and volition taxable the missive straight to the DOJ erstwhile completed," Cohen told CBS News successful a substance message. 

The controversial $1.776 cardinal money was announced earlier this week, offering fiscal compensation to radical who allege the ineligible strategy was "weaponized" against them. It's portion of a colony betwixt President Trump and the Justice Department to resoluteness a suit brought by the president against the Internal Revenue Service implicit the leaking of Mr. Trump's taxation returns.

He said helium is applying due to the fact that helium believes the issues that prompted Mr. Trump to writer the authorities are "identical to what had happened to me."

"The ground for which Trump instituted the $10 cardinal enactment are the aforesaid causes of enactment that person affected maine arsenic well—has outgo maine my instrumentality license, my businesses, finances, household happiness, concern relationships and opportunities," Cohen said.

Cohen said that helium is inactive moving connected a draught of his missive seeking relief. In a information of his draught obtained by CBS News, Cohen wrote: "If the weaponization money genuinely exists to enactment individuals destroyed by politically motivated instrumentality enforcement tactics, selective prosecution, authorities leaks, abuses of powerfulness and intentional demolition of estimation past determination is possibly nary clearer illustration than what happened to me."

NBC News was archetypal to study connected Cohen's program to use for the fund.

Cohen was among Mr. Trump's astir trusted ineligible advisers earlier helium became president successful 2016. He was often referred to arsenic Mr. Trump's idiosyncratic "fixer," and once described himself arsenic "the feline who would instrumentality a slug for the president." He is present a large Trump critic.

Cohen was sentenced to 3 years successful prison successful 2018 aft helium pleaded blameworthy to run concern violations related to payments helium arranged to women alleging affairs with Mr. Trump. He was besides sentenced to 2 months successful situation for lying to Congress implicit a projected Trump Tower Moscow project, a complaint brought by peculiar counsel Robert Mueller. At his sentencing, Cohen claimed his loyalty to Mr. Trump led him to "take a way of acheronian alternatively of light." 

"My weakness tin beryllium characterized arsenic a unsighted loyalty to Donald Trump, and I was anemic for not having the spot to question and to garbage his demands," Cohen said astatine his sentencing.

In 2024, Cohen testified successful a New York authorities transgression lawsuit against Mr. Trump, who was aboriginal convicted of falsifying concern records related to the aforesaid payments to women that were astatine the halfway of Cohen's transgression charges. Mr. Trump has agelong denied having affairs with the women and denied immoderate transgression wrongdoing.

Cohen testified astatine proceedings that the president received regular updates connected efforts to screen up salacious stories astir him erstwhile helium ran for president successful 2016 and personally signed disconnected connected a strategy to falsify records related to them.

This would not beryllium the archetypal clip that Cohen has sought alleviation for what helium views arsenic mistreatment by the government. Five years ago, helium sued the national authorities and Mr. Trump, alleging helium was abruptly taken retired of a COVID-era location confinement programme successful 2020 and forced to instrumentality to situation successful an enactment of retaliation owed to his disapproval of the president. A justice dismissed his lawsuit, citing anterior tribunal precedents.

Cohen is among the archetypal known Trump critics to awesome plans to use for the "anti-weaponization fund."

The Justice Department said successful a connection Monday that "there are nary partisan requirements to record a claim," and decisions connected who volition get alleviation volition beryllium determined by a sheet of 5 radical appointed by the lawyer general.

Many of the different figures who person taken an interest successful applying are Trump allies, including erstwhile Trump advisor Michael Caputo, who became the archetypal known applicant erstwhile helium asked the Justice Department for $2.7 cardinal connected Tuesday. Some Jan. 6 riot defendants have also suggested they whitethorn apply.

The money has drawn criticism from members of some parties and from morals watchdogs. The progressive Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics successful Washington called it "the astir brazen enactment of self-dealing successful the past of the presidency."

The Justice Department has defended the fund, with acting Attorney General Todd Blanche comparing it to different colony funds created by the authorities and arguing it would remedy "years and years of weaponization."