Michael Cohen, former personal attorney for President Donald Trump, has reportedly been disbarred. The New York Post ‘s Emily Saul tweeted the news, citing “docs released by the Attorney Grievance Committee.”
The specifics as to why Cohen was disbarred remain unclear as yet, but The New York Post notes that his disbarment comes after his conviction for lying to Congress under oath. Cohen’s false testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee occurred in 2017, and Cohen was convicted of perjury and tax fraud in November of 2018. He was sentenced to two months for tax fraud, to be served concurrently with his three-year sentence for perjury, as CNBC News reported at the time. As of this writing, he has not reported to prison. It remains unclear when he will do so.
In fact, as USA Today noted in August of 2018, a felony conviction in New York brings about an automatic disbarment for any lawyers practicing in the state. Why it took the New York Bar four months — a time spanning his conviction in November of 2018 until now — to disbar him remains unclear.
“[Any lawyer] who shall be convicted of a felony… shall upon such conviction, cease to be an attorney and counsellor-at-law, or to be competent to practice law as such.”
In fact, according to New York Legal Ethics , his disbarment should have taken place the very day of his conviction, without any action by a court or a legal disciplinary agency.
BREAKING: Michael Cohen has been officially disbarred, per new docs released by the Attorney Grievance Committee. Story shortly.
— Emily Saul (@Emily_Saul_) February 26, 2019
Cohen can re-apply for his law license in seven years, or sooner if he is pardoned by his former boss, President Donald Trump. Considering that Cohen is testifying against Trump before Congress, a pardon seems unlikely.
Michael Cohen to accuse Trump of criminal conduct in office: report https://t.co/NhrpKtxVqG pic.twitter.com/H7R3KkUHCp
— The Hill (@thehill) February 26, 2019
As reported early Tuesday by The Inquisitr , Cohen is expected to spend Tuesday testifying before the Senate Intelligence Committee in a closed-door session, and is expected to testify on Thursday — in another closed-door session — before the House Intelligence Committee. On Wednesday, he’ll appear before the House Oversight Committee for public testimony that will likely be broadcast on TV.
What’s more, according to The Inquisitr report cited above, the testimony Cohen will give this week is likely to be “explosive,” as one report put it. Having lied to Congress when he testified in 2017, Cohen is expected to hold nothing back in his testimony this week, including testifying that his 2017 lies and obfuscations came on direct orders from Donald Trump himself.
This is a breaking story. one which will be updated as more information becomes available.
