Jake Tapper Responds to Michael Cohen’s Suggestion That He Could Be a Target of Trump’s Revenge: ‘That Has Occurred to Me’

Michael Cohen knows all too well that his former boss, ex-President Donald Trump, has a vengeful streak – but during an appearance on CNN, he warned anchor Jake Tapper that he could be a target of Trump too.

During The Lead with Jake Tapper on Monday, Tapper welcomed Cohen on to talk about the former president, his civil trial, and his current bid to retake the White House (by any means necessary). When asked about the recent report in The Washington Post about Trump using the U.S. Justice Department to do his bidding against his perceived enemies during his possible next presidency, Cohen told Tapper that he could very well be one of them:

Tapper: What do you make of this Washington Post report that Trump and his allies are looking, if he if he becomes president again, to use the levers of government, the Justice Department, to punish critics and opponents? And are you worried that he would target you?

Cohen: Well, 100%. First of all, he already did. December 14th, I’m going before the appellate court on the case of Michael Cohen versus the United States Government, where he and Bill Barr, Department of Justice and the Bureau of Prisons, that they conspired to infringe upon my First Amendment constitutional right, making me the very first political prisoner held by my own country, because I wouldn’t waive my First Amendment constitutional right, not publish my book Disloyal, not do television appearances, not do media, etc.

If anybody thinks that this is a one-off, if Donald Trump becomes President of the United States again, it’s not just going to be me being the very first person that this happened to. There’s going to be a multitude of people, possibly yourself included, Jake.

Tapper’s response was not one of surprise: “That has occurred to me.”

Cohen, who famously turned against Trump after serving as his lawyer and fixer for years, until 2018 when he raided by the FBI over his Russian connections and then fired by Trump. Cohen then testified against his former boss in the Stormy Daniels hush money trial, served time in a federal prison until 2021, and has been a vocal critic ever since.

Watch the video above via CNN.