Following news of Michael Cohen‘s new plea deal with Special Counsel Robert Mueller, his longtime friend Donny Deutsch hinted that while he’s in hot water for admittedly lying to Congress, he remains a key Russia probe source from President Donald Trump‘s inner circle.

Appearing on MSNBC Thursday night, Deutsch told host Ari Melber that Trump was “owned” by Russian President Vladimir Putin, with shady business dealings that will be remembered long after his administration ends.

Emphasizing his friend’s role, Deutsch said, “Cohen will be pivotal as the guy that was there front and center for ten years with this business enterprise, with this criminal enterprise, with this criminal family. You’re going to see Michael Cohen be a real linchpin here.”

Earlier in the day, it was reported that Cohen wasn’t truthful about the timeline of Trump’s consideration of building one of his namesake towers in Moscow, previously claiming talks ended in January 2016. In reality, those talks continued into June 2016.

Behind Cohen’s decision to flip on his former boss, Deutsch said, was his change of priorities, placing Trump further down on the list.

“We watched him turn,” Deutsch recalled. “We watched him all of a sudden say, ‘No, I need to help myself, help my family, my country.'”

Now, Deutsch told Melber, Cohen “finally feels that he is kind of on the other side.”

“Yes, he made mistakes and yes, he is going to pay for them. But going from being seen as a bad guy to maybe a guy that’s trying to do the right thing.”

Watch the clip above via MSNBC.

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