Michael Cohen has hired Guy Petrillo, a former federal prosecutor, to represent him in the criminal investigation by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York, Vanity Fair reported Tuesday.
"As far as a criminal case going forward in the Southern District, he's going to want a New York attorney who came from the Southern District," a longtime Cohen friend told the magazine.
Vanity Fair also cited "two people with knowledge of the situation" in its report.
Petrillo, 57, a New York attorney who has represented clients in civil and criminal cases brought by the federal government, headed the Southern District's criminal division from 2008 to 2009.
Neither Cohen nor Petrillo responded to requests for comment.
Cohen parted ways last week with the law firm of McDermott, Will & Emery.
The firm, according to Vanity Fair, specialized in reviewing documents and was charged with sifting through the 3.7 million documents seized by FBI agents in April.
Agents raided Cohen's hotel room, apartment and office April 9, armed with search warrants based on information provided in part from Russia special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation.
The review process for the documents ended Friday.
Cohen has not been charged, and the legal changes ignited rumors that he might flip against President Donald Trump.
The president last week told reporters "I always liked Michael" — though some Cohen supporters told Vanity Fair the statement could work against Trump, as his former attorney "holds all the cards in the situation."
"That one line had to be the dumbest thing [Trump’s] ever said," one person "familiar" with Cohen's thinking told the magazine.
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