OddsFrontTrump says he would consider granting Michael Cohen a presidential pardon
The president has reopened the possibility of clemency for his former lawyer after years of hostility and a recent public reconciliation.
A pardon moves from speculation to presidential consideration
President Donald Trump said on September 9 that he would consider pardoning Michael Cohen, his former personal lawyer and longtime fixer. The statement is not a grant of clemency and creates no legal change by itself. It is nevertheless a fresh development because Trump publicly acknowledged that Cohen’s application could receive favorable consideration after years in which the two men treated each other as adversaries.
The Guardian reported that Cohen has submitted an application to the White House, although he said he did not personally ask Trump for a pardon. Trump made his comment while departing for the Republican Party’s midterm convention in Dallas. The timing places the possible pardon inside a highly political setting, but the available evidence does not establish that a decision has been made or that the application has completed White House review.
The federal convictions remain the central issue
Cohen pleaded guilty in 2018 to federal offences that included campaign-finance violations connected to a payment to Stormy Daniels, tax offences, bank fraud and lying to Congress. He received a three-year sentence and served more than a year in custody before completing the remainder under home confinement. A presidential pardon could address federal consequences from those convictions, but it would not erase the historical fact of conviction or automatically affect unrelated state proceedings.
The relationship between Trump and Cohen has changed sharply. Cohen became a prominent witness against Trump and testified in the New York hush-money case, while Trump repeatedly attacked his credibility. More recently, the pair appeared together in a friendly radio interview. Cohen has said he wants to move beyond their feud, though he has not clearly withdrawn all of his prior sworn testimony.
The formal act has not happened
White House clemency records illustrate the difference between presidential consideration and an executed pardon. A June proclamation granting clemency to former congressman Stephen Buyer expressly invoked the president’s constitutional authority and directed the attorney general to issue the certificate. No comparable document naming Cohen had been published when Trump spoke.
What matters next is whether the White House completes a review and issues a signed clemency instrument. Until then, the story is about a changed presidential position rather than a completed use of executive power. Any conditions, scope or legal effect would depend on the language of an eventual proclamation or clemency warrant.