NYT: The Dirt on Cohen

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For most American politicians, that article in December 2015 would hardly have been welcome news. But Mr. Cohen, whose role as personal lawyer and fixer for President Trump has been firmly rooted in the transactional world of his boss, saw opportunity. He emailed an old friend who had been talking about seeking Kremlin support to build a Trump Tower in Moscow, and sent him the article.

“Now is the time,” Mr. Cohen wrote. “Call me.”

Mr. Cohen’s efforts put him under scrutiny in the Trump-Russia inquiries and hinted at the somewhat murky space he occupied in the Trump Organization, where his precise duties were unclear. Since then, a series of disclosures have revealed the unusual range of Mr. Cohen’s portfolio.

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Mr. Trump’s long-held desire to build a Trump property in Russia found new life when Felix Sater, a friend of Mr. Cohen’s and a longtime associate of Mr. Trump’s, surfaced with a fresh proposal. He exchanged emails and phone calls with Mr. Cohen in late 2015 saying that he had a prospective developer lined up, and that he could use his contacts in Russia to garner Kremlin support for the project.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/10/us/politics/michael-cohen-trump.html