As the ubiquitous Michael Avenatti turned up in California this week to file a lawsuit against Michael Cohen and Keith Davidson, alleging that the two lawyers had “colluded” to take advantage of his client, Stormy Daniels, a different sort of legal drama was playing out on the East Coast. While Avenatti prepared to file suit and mount another media blitz, Davidson was otherwise occupied. He was in New York City to speak with federal investigators for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District, who have their own vested interest in the Cohen-Daniels relationship, according to a person familiar with the situation. (David Wedge, a spokesman for Davidson, said he could not comment on an ongoing investigation. On Thursday evening, he filed a defamation claim against Daniels and Avenatti, as well as a separate claim against Cohen, for allegedly illegally recording phone calls with Davidson.)

In April, federal agents had raided Cohen’s home, hotel room, and office, seizing his safety-deposit box, more than a dozen electronic devices, and thousands of documents pertaining to a $130,000 payment Cohen made to Daniels, just days before the 2016 election, to buy her silence about an alleged affair with Donald Trump. (The president has repeatedly denied any sexual relationship with Daniels.) Shortly thereafter, federal agents contacted Davidson, and he began cooperating with prosecutors. Wedge, at the time, said in a statement that Davidson was asked to provide “certain limited electronic information. He has done so and will continue to cooperate to the fullest extent possible under the law.” (A spokesman for the S.D.N.Y. had no comment.)

Davidson’s trip to New York to speak with prosecutors this week appears to be the next step in this process as the investigation continues. Cohen’s attorneys have been spending hours each day combing through the documents federal agents seized in April, racing to meet a June 15 deadline that Judge Kimba Wood set in court last week for Cohen to delineate which communications he believes should be protected by attorney-client privilege. That’s about a month earlier than Cohen’s attorneys had asked for. In court last week, one told Wood that they’re working so hard that associates are sleeping on couches in their office, and one associate had to be sent home for a hand tremor he developed from lack of sleep.

Other legal intrigues have appeared to raise the pressure on Cohen, too. Two weeks ago, The New York Times reported that one of Cohen’s business associates, Evgeny Freidman, a Russian immigrant who managed taxi medallions for Cohen, cut a generous deal with prosecutors. Freidman was facing four counts of criminal tax fraud and one of grand larceny—charges that could carry a maximum penalty of 25 years in prison each—but was ultimately sentenced to just 5 years probation and required to pay a fine. The Times noted that Freidman could potentially share what he knows about Cohen’s business dealings with federal prosecutors in New York and with Special Counsel Robert Mueller, who referred the Cohen investigation to the Southern District.

Those close to Cohen have downplayed Cohen’s relationship with Freidman. “I think the plea was overblown,” one longtime friend told me. “He was friends with Michael and managed his medallions. He is involved with so many shady characters that he could be cooperating on a number of things. Michael knows this is being overplayed like all the other stuff has been overplayed.” The morning after the news broke last month, Cohen himself tweeted that he is “one of thousands of medallion owners” who use management companies to operate their medallions. “Gene Freidman and I are not partners and have never been partners in this business or any other.”