Michael Cohen, former lawyer and fixer to President Donald Trump released the foreword of his upcoming tell-all book, Disloyal, about his behind the scenes dealings for the president on Thursday. Describing Trump as “a cheat, a liar, a fraud,” to name a few, Cohen promises his upcoming book will shed light on the president’s shady business dealings, including allegations that Trump cheated to win the 2016 election. “I know where the skeletons are buried because I was the one who buried them,” writes Cohen, who spent a lot of time with Trump behind closed doors and set up his communications with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
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“Trump had colluded with the Russians, but not in the sophisticated ways imagined by his detractors,” Cohen claims. “Trump had cheated in the election, with Russian connivance, as you will discover in these pages, because doing anything — and I mean anything — to ‘win’ has always been his business model and way of life.”
This might sound familiar, as Trump has long been accused of colluding with Russians during the 2016 election. Now, four years later, voting rights for millions of Americans are under attack, as in-person polling places shut down in counties nationwide while Trump is starving the US Postal Service of the resources it needs to ensure mail-in voting, with just ten weeks until the election. And Cohen's tell-all — coming at the heels of his prison sentence — is reinvigorating a demand for answers.
The White House responded to Cohen’s upcoming book calling it “fan fiction.” White House deputy press secretary Brian Morgenstern added, “[Cohen] readily admits to lying routinely but expects people to believe him now so that he can make money from book sales.”
Americans watched the investigation into the president’s 2016 win unfold over two years as his opponents in Congress launched an investigation into possible Russian interference in the election. While the president repeatedly told the American public there was no collusion and that he had no dealings with Russia, Cohen writes, “He attempted to insinuate himself into the world of President Vladimir Putin and his coterie of corrupt billionaire oligarchs. I know because I personally ran that deal and kept Trump and his children closely informed of all updates.”
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But this isn't the only bit of salacious information Trump's former fixer is divulging. Cohen further outlines his own involvement in Trump’s affairs, saying that he doesn’t just know about them, but actively worked alongside the president to orchestrate and cover up his misdeeds. Cohen writes about his own involvement in snubbing contractors and business partners on Trump’s behalf, and lying to Melania about the president’s sexual affairs.
Despite once being Trump’s “pitbull and personal attorney,” as he describes himself, Cohen notes that while the president might have millions of Twitter followers and acquaintances, Trump also has no friends.
Cohen, for his part, pleaded guilty in 2018 for campaign finance violations, among other infractions, including payments to two women who alleged having affairs with the president before he was elected. He was sentenced to three years in a minimum security prison, where he reportedly wrote the majority of his book on yellow legal pads. He has not yet revealed when the book will be published in-full, or who will be publishing it, though many — including government officials — anticipate the accounts he details to be a possible great impact on the upcoming election.