Politics

Former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen takes the train to Washington to talk to special counsel Robert Mueller's team

Key Points
  • Michael Cohen, the former personal lawyer for President Donald Trump, took a train to Washington from New York with his lawyer Guy Petrillo to talk to investigators from the office of special counsel Robert Mueller.
  • Cohen's meeting with Mueller's team was just the latest in a series of sit-downs the attorney has had with the special counsel's office since pleading guilty in August to federal criminal charges.
  • Two crimes were related to a $130,000 hush-money payment Cohen made to porn star Stormy Daniels on the eve of the 2016 presidential election, purportedly at Trump's behest.
Michael Cohen, former personal attorney for U.S. President Donald Trump, exits the Loews Regency hotel and walks toward a taxi cab, July 27, 2018 in New York City.Ā 
Drew Angerer | Getty Images

Michael Cohen, the former personal lawyer for President Donald Trump, took a train Monday to Washington from New York to talk to investigators from the office of special counsel Robert Mueller.

A person familiar with the matter, who declined to be named, told CNBC that Cohen visited Washington with criminal defense lawyer Guy Petrillo to speak with Mueller's team.

Cohen's meeting with Mueller's team was only the latest in a series of sit-downs the attorney has had with the special counsel's office since pleading guilty in August to federal criminal charges. Those included campaign contribution violations related to payments to two women, purportedly at the behest of Trump. That case was brought by federal investigators in the Southern District of New York, not Mueller's team.

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On Monday, an ABC News reporter caught Cohen on video walking through the Union Station railroad complex on Capitol Hill in Washington, accompanied by Petrillo.

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Cohen did not respond to a series of questions fired at him during the video, including ones asking why he was in Washington, whether he was meeting with Mueller, or whether he was going to "meet with the president."

Cohen kept a deadpan look on his face during all the questions except for the last, when he was asked how his train ride was.

"The train was great," Cohen cracked, flashing a grin.

Petrillo did not immediately respond to a request for comment from CNBC.

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Mueller is investigating Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, possible coordination between the Kremlin and the Trump campaign, and potential obstruction of justice by Trump himself.

The president has repeatedly called Mueller's investigation a "witch hunt" and denied any wrongdoing by him or his campaign.

The White House also has denied Trump had an affair with porn star Stormy Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, or with former Playboy model Karen McDougal. Cohen paid $130,000 to Daniels on the eve of the 2016 presidential election for her silence about the alleged tryst with Trump. McDougal received $150,000 that same year from the publisher of the Trump-friendly supermarket tabloid The National Enquirer, which did not publish her account of a relationship with the president before Election Day.

Last week, Trump forced out Attorney General Jeff Sessions and installed Matthew Whitaker as acting attorney general in his place. The president had often publicly criticized Sessions for recusing himself from the Russia probe.

Whitaker's appointment put him in charge of Mueller's case. It also led to calls by a number of members of Congress to allow the special counsel to complete his work unimpeded.

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Cohen is due to be sentenced Dec. 12 in U.S. District Court in Manhattan on charges of tax evasion, making false statements to a bank, and the two campaign contribution violations.

When he pleaded guilty, he did so without an explicit agreement to cooperate with prosecutors in hopes of reducing his potential criminal sentence.

But his voluntary cooperation with Mueller's team, as well as other meetings Cohen has reportedly had with federal prosecutors in New York and with New York state law enforcement officials, could win him leniency from the sentencing judge.