Cohen Offers to Turn Over Hard Drive Files in Leniency Bid

(Bloomberg) -- President Donald Trump's former personal lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen is giving congressional Democrats more information in an effort to seek their help to delay the start of his three-year prison sentence next month -- or even reduce it.

Cohen's lawyers Lanny Davis, Michael Monico and Carly Chocron wrote to lawmakers Thursday that Cohen has recently been able to access a hard drive with 14 million files from his computers and telephones that they believe have significant value to investigators. On Friday, Davis sent a 133-page letter with further documents supporting his February testimony to Congress, as well as financial statements reviewed by Trump's accountants.

The still-promised files consist of all emails, voice recordings, images and attachments from Cohen's computers and phones dating from as long ago as 10 years, they write. The documents provided Friday detail Cohen's earlier testimony and provide guidance on how that could be used to make a case against Trump.

“Working alone, Mr. Cohen has only had the time to go through less than 1 percent of the drive, or approximately 3,500 files,” they wrote, which has led them to believe the material “has significant value to the various congressional oversight and investigation committees.” Cohen needs more time and support to go through the remaining 14 million filed to hand them over to lawmakers, they added.

Friday's memo says Cohen has additional evidence of “possible crimes,” including fraudulent insurance claims, the “mishandling or misappropriation of tens of millions” given to Trump's inaugural committee, and possible campaign finance violations by the Republican National Committee, “including possibly illegal conduiting of illegal substantial donations to the RNC” by foreign nationals, including from China.

Read the files:

• Thursday letter
• Friday memo

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Cohen has a month before he goes to prison, and “time is no longer a luxury he is capable of,” his lawyers wrote.

The lawyers asked for something in return for their client -- a letter from the lawmakers documenting that “Mr. Cohen substantially cooperated with Congress voluntarily and has continued to do so,” and “that the substantial trove of new information, documents, recordings, and other evidence he can provide requires substantial time with him and ready access to him by congressional committees and staff to complete their investigations.”

Davis, Monico and Chocron said they hope authorities will consider “this total picture of cooperation by Mr. Cohen, verified by your letter and the important new evidence he has made available or could make available” and support granting Mr. Cohen a reduced prison term. Cohen is also continuing his cooperation with federal prosecutors in Manhattan, as well as the New York attorney general and state tax authorities, his lawyers said.

‘Additional Areas'

The letter goes on to point out that Cohen's recent public and closed-door testimony to congressional committees already “has triggered additional areas for investigation by law enforcement authorities and the Congress.”

“For example,” the lawyers said, “based upon Mr. Cohen's continued cooperation and assistance regarding Mr. Trump's personal financial statements, Congress found a basis to seek at least six years of Mr. Trump's corporate and personal tax returns.”

Yet Cohen is the only person from the Trump Organization who has been prosecuted, the lawyers wrote. “The actions against Mr. Cohen appears to be selective prosecution and the sentence imposed is a disproportionate one,” according to a statement sent out separately from the letter by Davis.

Earlier: Cohen Accuses Trump of Misdeeds in Contentious House Hearing

Their letter doesn't describe how Cohen was able to “access” the hard drive, or whether it has been among material held by U.S. prosecutors.

Alleged Affairs

Cohen has pleaded guilty to charges of illegal campaign contributions related to payments to two women who alleged that they had affairs with Trump.

He also pleaded guilty to lying to Congress about a proposed Trump Tower in Moscow, saying the Trump Organization had stopped pursuing the deal early in 2016 when the efforts actually continued well into that election year.

Cohen said Trump “knew of and directed” negotiations for the project in Moscow “throughout the campaign and lied about it.”

Before Cohen's Feb. 27 testimony to the Oversight Committee, Trump posted a tweet that included accusations that “he is lying in order to reduce his prison time.”

Cohen's appearance before the Oversight Committee was televised nationally. During his day of testimony he laid out a series of allegations against his former boss as the panel's Republicans assailed him as a convicted liar out to hurt the president and gain publicity. The next day and week, he testified privately before the Intelligence Committee.

There was no immediate response from the chairmen of the Oversight or Intelligence Committees to the letter sent on Cohen's behalf. The chairmen of the Judiciary and Financial Services Committees also received copies.

--With assistance from Greg Farrell, Steven T. Dennis and Shahien Nasiripour.

To contact the reporter on this story: Billy House in Washington at bhouse5@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Kevin Whitelaw at kwhitelaw@bloomberg.net, Heather Smith

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