Cohen insists Trump will ‘flip’ on family in New York probe: ‘Don’t take me. Take Melania!’

Former president brands his former personal fixer a ‘lying, discredited low life’

Donald Trump’s former attorney and personal fixer Micheal Cohen has said he thinks the former president will “flip on” his family to protect himself during New York’s criminal probe into the Trump Organization

In an appearance on MSNBC on Wednesday, Mr Cohen, who turned on Mr Trump after admitting to tax evasion and campaign finance violations in 2018, insisted the president would throw his wife and even his children under the bus.

In response to a question from host Joy Reid as to whether the Trump children should be getting their own lawyers, Mr Cohen said: “They have to ... I believe that they do need it and I’m going to tell you why.”

“I think Donald Trump is going to flip on all of them ... including his children,” Mr Cohen revealed, prompting Ms Reid to react in shock.

He added: “I really believe that Donald Trump cares for only himself and he realises that his goose is cooked.”

The comments come in the wake of the news that New York’s attorney general, Letitia James, has escalated her civil investigation into the Trump Organization and is now investigating the former president in a criminal capacity.

“We are now actively investigating the Trump Organization in a criminal capacity, along with the Manhattan DA,” a spokesperson for the New York attorney’s office said on Tuesday.

The office had already been investigating Mr Trump over whether the Trump Organization manipulated the value of assets on his properties. The wide-ranging Manhattan criminal probe was prompted by Cohen in 2019 after he made the allegations while testifying to Congress.

Cohen, who was sentenced to three years in prison in 2018 following his guilty plea, is now a vocal critic of Mr Trump and went on to insist that the former president would attempt to shift the blame if something incriminating was found in the investigation.

“He’s going to turn on his accountant and point the finger,” Cohen continued. “He’s going to say ‘Don Jr handled that, Ivanka handled that. Melania. Don’t take me. Take Melania!’’

He added: “See this is the problem, it’s never ever Donald Trump. It’s always somebody else ... He’s going to tell them to take everyone except for himself.”

Mr Trump’s sons Donald Trump Jr and Eric Trump hold positions as executive vice presidents at the Trump Organization. Ivanka Trump, who served as senior White House advisor to Mr Trump during his time as president, also previously served as an executive vice president.

The former president has condemned the investigation as “desperate” and a continuation of “the greatest political Witch Hunt in the history of the United States”.

He lambasted Cohen in a statement on Wednesday as a “lying, discredited low life, who was not listened to or given credibility by other prosecutorial offices, and sentenced to three years in prison for lying and other events unrelated to me.”

The Independent has contacted the Trump Organization for comment.