Civil rights attorney Lisa Bloom thinks that the reason Michael Cohen is publicly changing his defense strategy on Good Morning America and vowing to put his “family and country first” is that he wants to make his former boss “grovel” and pay his legal fees.

She said that if Cohen wanted to he could simply cooperate with special counsel Robert Mueller‘s Russia investigation without making public statements. She suggested instead that President Donald Trump has everything to do with it. Whether it’s pushing Trump to exercise presidential pardon power, pay off legal fees, or threatening to flip, it all adds up to “mak[ing] Trump grovel,” she said.

Let’s think about why Cohen, lawyered up and a lawyer himself, would make this deliberate move.

I say it’s to make Trump grovel, promise to pay his legal fees and pardon him, or he flips.

If he wanted to cooperate with Mueller, he could. No need for public statements. https://t.co/saWNvFYPQ7 — Lisa Bloom (@LisaBloom) July 2, 2018

“Let’s think about why Cohen, lawyered up and a lawyer himself, would make this deliberate move.I say it’s to make Trump grovel, promise to pay his legal fees and pardon him, or he flips,” Bloom tweeted. “If he wanted to cooperate with Mueller, he could. No need for public statements.”

Bloom was reacting to Cohen’s Monday interview with George Stehpanopoulos in which Cohen said he was loyal to his family and America, plus that he would 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,” he said.

Bloom was not alone in her assessment of Cohen’s motives.

Stormy Daniels‘ attorney Michael Avenatti also mentioned legal bills and said there was nothing to stop Cohen from cooperating with investigators.

Mr. Cohen is trying to get Trump to pay his legal bills & is playing games. If he has info & truly loves this country then he needs to come forward NOW. There is nothing stopping him. If not, it will be obvious he lied to the public in an effort to paint himself as a good guy. — Michael Avenatti (@MichaelAvenatti) July 2, 2018

Avenatti said Cohen was “playing games” and “trying to get Trump to pay his legal bills.”

“If he has info & truly loves this country then he needs to come forward NOW. There is nothing stopping him. If not, it will be obvious he lied to the public in an effort to paint himself as a good guy,” he said.

The speculation about Cohen’s legal bills and his ability, for example, to pay them ramped up when his attorneys Stephen Ryan and Todd Harrison announced they would no longer represent him. But Cohen has since hired Guy Petrillo, the former leader of the criminal division at the Southern District of New York (SDNY), which is the U.S. Attorney’s office currently pursuing Cohen.

[Image via Drew Angerer/Getty Images]

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