More than 1.3 million pieces of potential evidence seized from President Trump’s personal lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen earlier this year were turned over to federal prosecutors Monday, USA Today reports. The bulk transfer was reported by court-appointed special master Barbara Jones, who has been reviewing the material to determine if any of it should be withheld from authorities as privileged communications between attorney and client. The information was seized in April as part of a federal inquiry into Cohen’s business dealings. Among the transactions federal investigators are reviewing is a $130,000 hush money payment that Cohen made to porn star Stormy Daniels, who has claimed to have had an affair with Trump. The payment was authorized on the eve of the 2016 presidential election.
The disclosure comes after Cohen, in an interview with ABC News, appeared to distance himself from the president. Cohen said that he did not share Trump’s animosity toward Justice Department special prosecutor Robert Mueller and did not dismiss the possibility of cooperating with the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election. “My wife, my daughter and my son have my first loyalty and always will,” Cohen said. “I put family and country first.” After the FBI’s raid on Cohen offices and home, Trump seemed to raise the prospect that the government was seeking to turn the attorney into a witness against him. Asked how he might respond if the president or his legal team tries to discredit him, Cohen said, “I will not be a punching bag as part of anyone’s defense strategy. I am not a villain of this story, and I will not allow others to try to depict me that way.”