EXCLUSIVE: Former Trump Lawyer Michael Cohen On NFTs, New Book And More

Michael Cohen, who once served as a lawyer for Donald Trump, has kept busy since his relationship with the president resulted in disbarment and imprisonment.

After being sentenced to three years in prison, Cohen was placed in home confinement given the heightened risk COVID-19 posed to him due to pre-existing health conditions.

Weeks later, Cohen returned to prison after refusing to hold off on publishing a book about Trump.

In light of his second release, Benzinga spoke with the former lawyer to discuss his bestselling tell-all "Disloyal: A Memoir," as well as intentions to auction NFT-backed items connected to the origins of the story, and a new book.

Avery Andon, the founder of ArtGrails, the platform facilitating the transactions, also joined the conversation.

Context: In 2018, Cohen pleaded guilty to financial crimes, lying to Congress and campaign law violations.

“I take full responsibility for each act that I pleaded guilty to — the personal ones to me and those involving the President of the United States of America,” he said at the time. “It was my own weakness and a blind loyalty to this man that led me to choose a path of darkness over light.”

During his sentence, Cohen sought methods to pass time and reflect. The endeavor resulted in a bestseller that unpacks experiences that culminated in his incarceration.

“The book became the culmination of stories I recounted, over my tenure, that gave me the opportunity to be, for the public, a fly on the wall in terms of understanding the narcissistic sociopath that was currently occupying the White House," Cohen told Benzinga.

See Also: Michael Cohen To Sell NFT Of His Prison Badge

Engagement: Cohen felt the details within his book were shocking, so much so he sought methods to bolster transparency of those details. Non-fungible tokens — digital assets represented by data stored on digital ledgers or blockchains — came to mind.

The tokens, which represent digital certificates of ownership, can be bought and sold; ownership can be transferred from one entity on the blockchain to another.

“I started to do more research until I actually became quite knowledgeable,” he said. “It dawned on me that I have all of this information, documentation, and visuals from my time at the Trump Organization, and incarceration, that’s capable of being transformed into NFTs.”

Cohen, unaware if any such combination existed, contacted ArtGrails founder Andon

“This is the first time someone in the political sphere is exploring the release of historic documents and elements in the form of NFTs,” Andon said.

The founder, who prior to ArtGrails launched ArtLife as one of the earlier e-commerce blue-chip art galleries, has been in the space since the early 2010s.

According to him, there is a lot of clutter and exuberance in NFTs; Cohen’s use case is different.

“I think that physical items being linked and the NFT acting as a sort of certificate of authenticity is really where we are ultimately heading. This is an extremely rare offering.”

What’s To Come: Cohen said he's trying to shed light on past political ignorance.

“I’m sitting on a treasure trove of documents,” he said of providing non-biased glimpses into controversial historical events. “This is a precursor to what is yet to come.”

Adding, both interviewees have the impression the utility of NFTs will grow beyond a digital flex, so to speak. From use cases such as the one discussed in this article, to new automobiles having unique and transferable identifiers on the blockchain, they said NFTs will come a form of ownership that never existed before.

“Imagine the Proskauer Rose law firm decides to onboard all their legal documents onto the blockchain, and everyone can access them in a millisecond. That’s where the true utility is,” Andon added.

Cohen ended with a remark about his excitement for 2022.

“My second book, 'Department of Injustice,' will be a forensic dissection of the entire case, from the beginning with the Steele dossier, all the way to the unconstitutional remand of me back to Otisville prison because I refused to waive my First Amendment constitutional right and not publish my first book.”

Photo: Fox News screenshot