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Report: Cohen’s Lawyer Approached Trump’s Legal Team About Pardon

Then-attorney Stephen Ryan reportedly raised the possibility after Cohen was raided by FBI.

A lawyer for Michael Cohen approached President Trump’s attorneys and “raised the possibility of a pardon” after Cohen was raided by the FBI in April 2018, The Wall Street Journal reports. Cohen’s attorney, Stephen Ryan, reportedly discussed the possibility while he was working alongside Trump’s lawyers to review files taken during the raid and determine if any of them violated attorney-client privilege. Sources told the Journal that Trump’s legal team—including Jay Sekulow, Rudy Giuliani, and Joanna Hendon—dismissed the idea of pardoning Cohen. However, Giuliani reportedly left the possibility of a future pardon open. Cohen, Trump’s former personal attorney, told the House Oversight Committee last week under oath that he had “never asked for, nor would I accept, a pardon from Mr. Trump.” The Journal notes there was no indication Cohen personally asked for a Trump pardon himself. A spokeswoman for Cohen said he stood by his testimony. Giuliani told the newspaper he always told people who inquired about pardons the president was “not going to consider” any at the time but, “Whatever happens in the future, that is his prerogative.”