CNN’s Gloria Borger: Source close to Cohen says he has ‘the goods’

CNN chief political analyst Gloria Borger on Thursday said a source close to Michael Cohen told her that Cohen has “the goods” on his former boss, President Trump. 

” ‘Michael has the goods,’ ” Borger said on CNN, reading her source’s quote. ” ‘He has extremely valuable information.’ “

Gloria Borger according to her sources: “Michael [Cohen] has the goods. He has extremely valuable information.” pic.twitter.com/ddRy3Fawzj

— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) November 29, 2018

Cohen, Trump’s longtime fixer and attorney, pleaded guilty Thursday for misstatements he made to Congress while testifying about his contacts with Russians during the 2016 presidential campaign.

Cohen appeared in a federal court in Manhattan after reaching a plea deal with special counsel Robert Mueller, who is investigating ties between Trump’s presidential campaign and Russia. According to court documents, Cohen pleaded guilty to making a false statement about the effort to build a Trump Tower in Moscow during the 2016 presidential campaign. He also said that he made false statements about the timing of the project.

“And so this clearly goes beyond the Trump Tower Moscow … although that is crucial and important,” Borger said on CNN. “But if Michael Cohen is talking, and we know how close he was to Trump at certain points, how loyal he has been to Donald Trump, and we also know the things that were being asked in the grand jury.”

“I think Michael Cohen, who was the man who said he would take a bullet for the president, has now become Brutus to the president,” Borger said. “Because he has this need now to, his people say, tell the truth and come clean and is no longer in the business of protecting Donald Trump, which is what he did for all those years.” 

Cohen has reportedly spent more than 70 hours in interviews with Mueller’s office since he pleaded guilty to multiple federal crimes in August. He indicated in court that he had violated campaign finance laws at the direction of then-candidate Trump. 

The violation stemmed from a $130,000 “hush money” payment to adult-film star and director Stormy Daniels in exchange for her silence about an alleged 2016 affair with Tump. 

Mueller’s team is reportedly working on its long-awaited final report.