President Donald Trump's biggest fear is that his tax returns would be released because of fears they will reveal details that could lead to his facing penalties for fraud, his former personal attorney Michael Cohen said Wednesday.
"[They will show] the fact that he doesn't report the income that he claims, his wealth is not as significant, and I imagine they were probably lenient in how they took deductions," Cohen, who appeared on CNN's "New Day" to promote his memoir "Disloyal," commented. "His biggest fear is if that tax return was released, there's a whole slew of accountants and forensic accountants that will rip through it and he will end up with a massive tax bill, fraud penalties, fines, and possibly even tax fraud."
Democrats have been calling for Trump, since during his candidacy for president, to release his tax returns, which is a common practice for candidates, but he has refused, citing an IRS audit.
Cohen was sentenced to three years in prison for charges of campaign finance violations and lying to Congress but was released earlier this year because of the coronavirus pandemic.
On Wednesday, he also accused Trump of downplaying the coronavirus pandemic for economic reasons.
"He wanted to ensure that the economy stayed strong because that's basically his entire campaign. It's all about the economy. So if the coronavirus actually created a problem, as it has, and that the economy is now in the toilet, this is now a negative reflection on Trump," said Cohen.
Meanwhile, Cohen was known as Trump's "fixer" for some time, but he said Wednesday that job duty has shifted for the most part to Attorney General William Barr, and to Rudy Giuliani "to an outside extent."
"What a terrible shame, taking an illustrious career and throwing it right down the toilet, all for what?" he said of Barr. "I don't know why most of these Republicans refuse to stand up when they know fundamentally what he's saying is a lie and morally it's wrong."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.