Michael Cohen, President Trump’s longtime former personal attorney, has switched parties to become a Democrat.
According to his attorney Lanny Davis, Cohen changed his registration from Republican to Democrat in order to distance “himself from the values of the current” administration.
“Today, @MichaelCohen212 returning to the #Democratic Party another step in his journey that began with the @ABC @GStephanopolous Cohen putting family and country first -distancing himself from the values of the current Admin,” he tweeted.
2-Today, @MichaelCohen212 returning to the #Democratic Party another step in his journey that began with the @ABC @GStephanopolous Cohen putting family and country first -distancing himself from the values of the current Admin - Can’t wait for his first interview! #StayTuned
— Lanny Davis (@LannyDavis) October 11, 2018
As noted by Davis, this is not the first time he has changed his party affiliation.
“He was a registered Democrat before 2017, when he became a Republican after being asked, and agreeing to become, deputy chairman of the Republican National Committee’s finance committee with Steve Wynn serving as chairman,” Axios’s Jonathan Swan reports.
Cohen, who once said he’d take a bullet for Trump, pleaded guilty in August to eight federal charges of bank fraud, tax fraud and campaign finance law violations.
The move came just ahead of Friday’s deadline in New York to register to vote in the midterm elections, which, despite pleading guilty, he will still be able to do since his sentencing date is in December, according to NBC News.
"In New York state, the forfeiture of the right to vote doesn't follow the felony conviction but follows the felony incarceration," Erika Lorshbough, legislative counsel for the New York Civil Liberties Union, told NBC News.