GOLDBERG: He’s of a type that I’ve recognized in the past as one not suited to stand up to the rigors of jail life. And don’t forget, he’s under pressure not just from his own personality, but from his family. They don’t see Michael as taking pressure or a fall for somebody else. And if the government requires a certain kind of cooperation, or gives out a hint as to what could be necessary, the record has shown …

BURNETT: So you think he’s of weak character, basically?

GOLDBERG: I do think so. I think in many ways, and it’s difficult to say this, prison has a racial overtone. And a person like Michael doesn’t see himself walking down Broadway while people are clamoring, ‘you’re going to be my wife.’ And so he’s under pressure from his family to try to figure out what it would take to bring the government aboard as his sponsor.

BURNETT: So you’re saying Michael Cohen, it sounds like you believe, did do something wrong, that there could be something criminal here—he wouldn’t be worried about jail otherwise. But you don’t think that he would have the goods on the president—he would simply say what they wanted to hear to get out of his own prison [sentence], which you believe he very fairly could have deserved?

GOLDBERG: I don’t say that the government has importuned to say certain things that are not true, but a witness in Michael’s position is able to glean what it would take to get a letter of cooperation from the government and thereby avoid a lengthy prison term.