When it comes to seminal moments in the Russia investigation that we will one day look back upon, Tuesday could be one.
The New York Times is reporting that Michael Cohen's business partner, Evgeny Freidman (a.k.a. the Taxi King), has reached a plea deal with prosecutors and will cooperate with the government on state and local cases:
A significant business partner of Michael D. Cohen, President Trump’s personal lawyer, has quietly agreed to cooperate with the government as a potential witness, a development that could be used as leverage to pressure Mr. Cohen to work with the special counsel examining Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.
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He appeared in court in Albany on Tuesday and pleaded guilty to a single count of evading only $50,000 worth of taxes; he faces five years of probation if he fulfills the terms of his agreement, the judge, Patrick Lynch of Albany County court, said during the roughly 20-minute proceeding.
Both the timing and the circumstances are key. Freidman faced allegations that he failed to pay $5 million in taxes, including four counts of tax fraud and one of grand larceny. As part of the deal, he will serve no jail time. That suggests that he has been able to provide information of some value when it comes to Cohen, who is widely seen as a target for prosecutors to, in turn, flip against Trump.
“Do you understand the nature of the benefit your attorneys have accomplished on your behalf?” Judge Patrick Lynch asked Freidman on Tuesday, a question that should frighten both Cohen and President Trump's legal team.
The Times report does not say whether Freidman has agreed to inform specifically on Cohen, but it's not difficult to connect the dots. Freidman was first charged in June, but he has only now reached a plea deal as the noose has steadily tightened around Cohen's neck. And this isn't just an acquaintance; this was a business partner in an industry where Cohen's conduct has come under a microscope. If anybody knows about what Cohen has done wrong, Freidman may have been the most likely candidate — especially if Cohen did keep Trump in the dark about his Stormy Daniels payment and other matters.
Cohen's case isn't being handled by special counsel Robert S. Mueller III's team of investigators but instead by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York, which received a referral from Mueller's team before raiding Cohen's office and home last month. But any plea deal could involve informing for the Mueller investigation. Just as it has been clear that former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort was a target for flipping against Trump, Cohen's fate seems to revolve around whether he might be pressured into taking a deal, like Freidman was.
Cohen has said that won't happen, and Trump wagered last month that Cohen won't flip. But it looks increasingly like we're about to find out just how much pressure Cohen can withstand.