Trump Allies Will Betray Him, Former Lawyer Predicts: 'So Much Flipping'

Former President Donald Trump's allies will eventually turn on him to avoid prison, his former attorney Michael Cohen said on Sunday.

Cohen's comment came nearly two weeks after FBI agents executed a search warrant for Trump's Mar-a-Lago residence in Palm Beach, Florida, on August 8 to seize classified government documents that were allegedly improperly taken after the then-president left the White House last January.

Trump and his allies quickly denounced the raid, approved by Attorney General Merrick Garland, as being politically motivated and part of a "witch hunt" in accusations similar to those made about other investigations into the ex-president's conduct.

However, Cohen—who served a three-year sentence after pleading guilty to campaign finance crimes conducted while working for Trump—said during an appearance on MSNBC that as walls close in on Trump, there will be "so much flipping" from his allies.

"There's going to be so much flipping. It's going to be like watching a gymnastic event," he said, mocking his former boss. "That's really what we have going on here. Every single person is going to—they all know what happened to me. None of them want to go to prison. You have to be out of your mind to want to go to prison."

Cohen, who became a fierce Trump critic following his imprisonment, blasted the former president for portraying himself as a "victim" and "weaponizing the Department of Justice to go after his critics."

"What's the game plan? He weaponizes the Justice Department to go against his critics. So what does he do? He deflects, which is a prime part of being a narcissist—and turns around and says the Biden administration are right now weaponizing the Justice Department to come after me," he said.

Trump Allies Back Witch Hunt Claims

Experts have speculated the Mar-a-Lago search was based on national security concerns, since some of the documents being held at the Florida property may have included information about nuclear deterrents of technology. Many details, however, about what exactly was uncovered remain unknown.

The Justice Department has publicly sought to avoid politicizing the raid, and President Joe Biden has largely declined to discuss the search—but Trump has cast the raid as an unjust, politicized attack on his presidency. Despite Cohen's warning that his allies would eventually turn on him, they have so far supported his claims.

"This unannounced raid on my home was not necessary or appropriate. It is prosecutorial misconduct, the weaponization of the Justice System, and an attack by Radical Left Democrats who desperately don't want me to run for President in 2024," Trump wrote in a statement following the search.

So far, most of the GOP have made similar claims and defended Trump, with some conservatives even saying that the FBI should be defunded. Republicans, such as Texas Governor Greg Abbott, have criticized the raid.

"Never before has the country seen an Administration go to such extent to use the levers of government to target a former President and political rival," Abbott wrote earlier this month. "This weaponizes power to squelch dissent. Such abuses must have limits."

Newsweek reached out to Trump's office for comment.