Michael Cohen reports to federal prison next week to begin his three-year sentence, and Jeffrey Toobin of the New Yorker caught up with him beforehand. One thing that's clear: The former fixer for Donald Trump is miffed that he ended up being the one in prosecutor's crosshairs. “You are going to find me guilty of campaign finance, with McDougal or Stormy, and give me three years—really?” he says. “And how come I’m the only one? I didn’t work for the campaign. I worked for him. And how come I’m the one that’s going to prison? I’m not the one that slept with the porn star.” The profile traces Cohen's history with Trump, along with Cohen's own personal financial success in the taxi medallion business with his father-in-law. In fact, it's that connection—Cohen's desire to protect his wife, Laura—that played a big role in Cohen's guilty plea, he tells Toobin.
The issue: In their investigation of Cohen, prosecutors discovered that he had understated his income by $4 million from 2012 to 2016, and the tax returns had been co-signed by his wife. “If they would have asked me to plead guilty to the Lufthansa heist, I would have pled guilty to that, too,” Cohen tells Toobin. “She’s the love of my life. What am I going to do? You think I’m going to let them bring her into this craziness? Not a chance.” Cohen further hurt his chances of avoiding prison by refusing to cooperate fully with Southern District prosecutors—he agreed to answer some questions, but with that office, immunity is an all-or-nothing deal, explains Toobin. As a result, Cohen starts his sentence on May 6. Parole is not a possibility, meaning that even with good behavior, he'll have to serve a minimum of about 30 months. Read the full story. (More Michael Cohen stories.)
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