Michael Cohen, President Donald Trumps personal lawyer walks down Park Avenue in New York June 15, 2018 after leaving his hotel. - Timothy A. Clary | AFP | Getty Images

Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump’s embattled former lawyer, distanced himself from his longtime boss in an interview with ABC News. “I put family and country first,” Cohen told ABC’s George Stephanopoulos in an off-camera interview published Monday. Even when Stephanopoulos said he pointed out that Cohen had said little in Trump’s defense, Cohen skirted the opportunity to discuss the president. “To be crystal clear, my wife, my daughter and my son, and this country have my first loyalty,” Cohen said. It’s a marked shift in tone for Cohen, who had previously touted his role as Trump’s loyal and pugnacious fixer. But after FBI agents raided his properties in April, seizing thousands of items and sparking a lengthy court battle even before any charges have been filed, Cohen has reportedly been more amenable to working with federal prosecutors, ABC reported.

Cohen’s lawyers recently completed their own review of the seized materials, concluding that more than 12,000 documents are protected by attorney-client privilege and therefore cannot be turned over to prosecutors. But ABC reported that once Cohen’s new attorney, Guy Petrillo, takes the helm, an agreement to share information between lawyers for Cohen and Trump will come to an end. Petrillo did not immediately respond to CNBC's request for comment. Cohen’s willingness to deal with the feds could have a major impact on special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe of potential coordination between the Trump campaign and Russia, which in just over one year has already lodged charges against more than 20 people and companies and collected five guilty pleas. Stephanopoulos said he asked Cohen repeatedly if he was considering cooperating with prosecutors in their probe. Cohen responded that if he is charged with anything he would defer to Petrillo for advice. According to Cohen’s current lawyer in the case, Stephen Ryan, the raids came in part from a referral by Mueller to federal attorneys for the Southern District of New York. The New York Times reported that Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who oversees the special counsel’s probe, signed off on the raids.

'I will not be a punching bag'