Washington (CNN)President Donald Trump’s lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, said Monday that he does not know whether Trump would ever pardon Michael Cohen, the President’s embattled ex-lawyer currently under criminal investigation.
“Nobody should proceed on the assumption that President Trump’s going to pardon. Nobody. They should make the decisions about their lives based on the fact that they’ve got to deal with whatever the government is offering them or not offering them, how honest or dishonest they want to be,” the lawyer continued. “Now on the other hand, if the President believes an unjust situation happens, of course, like any other President, he’ll pardon.”
In April,
authorities raided Cohen’s home, office and hotel room as part of an investigation into his business dealings and efforts during the 2016
campaign to suppress negative stories about Trump. He has not been charged with any wrongdoing, but his closeness to Trump has raised questions about whether he could be pardoned, though Cohen
has recently told friends he is pessimistic the President would offer him one.
Trump and Giuliani’s views of Cohen
have soured recent weeks, especially after it was revealed that several audio recordings between the President and his former confidant were among evidence produced from the raids. Last week, CNN
aired the audio of one of the recordings, which
features then-presidential candidate Trump discussing with Cohen how they would buy the rights to a Playboy model’s story about an alleged affair Trump had with her years earlier. Trump has denied the affair allegation.
Giuliani, speaking to CNN on Monday, said he “wouldn’t pardon him if he did that to me.”
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