Michael D. Cohen appears to want the world to know that as former boss Donald Trump is besieged by investigations into Russian influence on the 2016 election and into alleged, pre-election hush payments to women who claimed they'd had affairs with the president, the attorney vows to do what's right.

Rev. Al Sharpton appeared Friday on "MSNBC Live with Ali Velshi" and spoke of his morning meeting with Cohen: "He kept saying to me over and over again, 'Reverend, I’m going to do what’s right for the country, I’m going to do what’s right for my family.'"

Sharpton said he's known Cohen as Trump's right-hand man for nearly 20 years, and that the president's former personal attorney requested the meeting "several days ago." The symbolic breaking of bread, Sharpton said, is a signal to Trump as the reverend and the president have previously been adversaries on social justice issues.

I have known Rev for almost 20 years. No one better to talk to! https://t.co/3XEoHqhQyU — Michael Cohen (@MichaelCohen212) July 20, 2018

"I think the fact that, Ali, out of all of the people he could have reached out to reaching out to me in and of itself was sending a signal to President Trump and probably to prosecutors..." Sharpton told Velshi.

"What I sensed from him was that he is really trying to be very clear that he’s independent of Mr. Trump," Sharpton said. "And that he’s going to tell the truth whatever the truth is."

Cohen feels abandoned by Trump, the Reverend added.

Offered an opportunity to refute or clarify Sharpton's account, Cohen's attorney, Lanny J. Davis, said via email, "We respect Rev. Sharpton’s support and encouragement of Michael Cohen to put his family and country first and tell the truth."

Cohen's office and hotel room were raided in the spring and his phone calls were logged by the FBI in a U.S. Department of Justice probe of those alleged hush payments as possible violations of campaign finance law.

As Trump's self-described fixer, it's widely believed Cohen could have a lot of information for investigators. Earlier today multiple reports stated that Cohen had a recording of the president-elect discussing a $150,000 payment to a former Playboy model who alleged she had an affair with Trump.