Cohen Fueled To Flip By AMI Testimony And To Protect Wife, Please His Father

While Michael Cohen’s attorney maintains that he agreed to work with Cohen over his interest in telling the truth about President Donald Trump, Cohen was apparently fueled to flip by more personal interests, The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday night.

According to people close to Cohen and people familiar with prosecutors’ work who spoke to WSJ, family played a big role in Cohen’s decision. Cohen was reportedly concerned that his wife could be implicated alongside him in charges associated with his financial wrongdoings because she filed taxes jointly with him. He also was motivated by his father’s interests, according to WSJ. Cohen’s father, Maurice Cohen, is a Holocaust survivor.

“Mr. Cohen’s father urged him not to protect the President, saying he didn’t survive the Holocaust to have his name sullied by Mr. Trump,” in the WSJ’s words.

Cohen reportedly also knew that David Pecker, the head of American Media Inc., the company that publishes the National Enquirer, had given prosecutors information about the arrangements Cohen made with women who alleged affairs with Trump. Pecker reportedly gave prosecutors information about Trump’s knowledge of the payments as well.

On top of all that, Cohen was angered by Trump’s efforts to distance himself from his former “pit bull” and the fact that the President had stopped helping him pay his legal fees after the FBI raided his home, hotel and office this spring.