Michael Cohen, Donald Trump’s former personal attorney, said on Monday that Trump’s inability to find funding for his $454 million judgment in his New York civil fraud case “places our national security in jeopardy” if that money comes from, say, Russia or Qatar.
As the Washington Post reported earlier on Monday, Trump’s current lawyers have come up empty-handed after approaching 30 or more suretors.
“As Americans, we should be very concerned about where that money is coming from,” Cohen told MSNBC’s Michael Steele. “What if, hypothetically, the money is coming from Saudi Arabia or from Qatar? Or through a backdoor channel of Russia? That now leaves a potential presidential candidate owing a foreign entity, all at the expense of America’s national security. This is no joke.”
As the presumptive GOP presidential nominee, Trump will be given security briefings by U.S. intelligence agencies, despite the fact that he is facing a separate trial in Florida for allegedly violating the Espionage Act and mishandling classified documents, NBC News reported earlier this month.
Added Cohen, “This places our national security in jeopardy and continues to make Donald Trump the single most dangerous thing in America to our national security and democracy.”
Steele speculated that Trump could be selling state secrets to foreign powers to cover his own legal expenses: “That could potentially make him dangerous. Is he going to be out there looking at how he can backdoor some cash?”
“He doesn’t care where the money comes from as long as he gets it, even if that places our national security in risk,” Cohen said. “He’s already shown documents to individuals over at Mar-a-Lago who did not have clearance to view them.
“I will tell you that making Trump president was the absolute worst idea that I ever had. Bar none,” the lawyer said.
Watch the full MSNBC segment in the video above.
