Michael Cohen sending a clear message to Trump by speaking 'real truth,' sources say

Michael Cohen, the President's former fixer and ultimate loyalist, is sending a clear signal to President Donald Trump and his attorney, Rudy Giuliani, that "the truth is not you or your client's friend," according to sources with knowledge of Cohen's thinking

Posted 1:43 p.m. Jul 9, 2018 — Updated 1:43 p.m. Jul 9, 2018

Gloria Borger

and

Dana Bash (CNN)

(CNN) — Michael Cohen, the President's former fixer and ultimate loyalist, is sending a clear signal to President Donald Trump and his attorney, Rudy Giuliani, that "the truth is not you or your client's friend," according to sources with knowledge of Cohen's thinking

Two sources familiar with Cohen's thinking say he has "hit the reset button" and is continuing his commitment to speak the "real truth."

In particular, the same sources say Giuliani is wading into dangerous territory when he asks Cohen to "tell the truth" about the Trump Tower meeting with Donald Trump Jr. and Russian meddling in the election.

In television interviews Sunday, Giuliani expressed confidence that Cohen does not have any potentially incriminating information to share with prosecutors, saying he had "zero" worries.

"I do not expect that Michael Cohen is going to lie," Giuliani said on CNN's "State of the Union." "I think he's going to tell the truth, as best he can, given his recollection. And, if he does that, we're home-free."

Giuliani reiterated in a text to CNN Monday morning, "the truth will set you free. The President did nothing wrong with Michael Cohen. Everything has been a dead-end because there is nothing there."

These sources would not comment on whether Cohen's attorney, Guy Petrillo, has been meeting with prosecutors in New York and referred inquiries about any potential case to Petrillo.

The sources made it clear that, in his interview with George Stephanopoulos on ABC two weeks ago, Cohen carefully chose the areas to distinguish himself from the President: First, one source said, "why did (Cohen) say I respect the FBI? ... Who has said the FBI is a corrupt institution? The President."

Next, Cohen spoke about the Trump Tower meeting, which both the President and Giuliani have claimed is a non-event, hinting that Cohen knows more about the meeting than he has previously said, the source said.

Cohen, in the interview, also specifically raised the point that he believes the intelligence communities over Trump.

"If you link them all together, you can see that Cohen is not anyone's punching bag," says one source. "He is exercising his discretion to send a direct message between the eyes to the President of the United States."

Cohen is saying, this source adds, that he is "no longer talking a bullet for you (Trump), no longer a flunky." It is, this source says, "his July 4th moment."

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