Attorney Lanny Davis touted a GoFundMe website to help his client Michael Cohen "tell the truth about Donald Trump" on Wednesday, and he said Trump's behavior in Helsinki was a "turning point" for his view toward his former boss.
Trump's former lawyer and fixer pleaded guilty to multiple charges on Tuesday, including tax and bank fraud. He implicated Trump in a campaign finance violation charge by saying he paid hush money to two women who claimed to have had affairs with Trump at his behest, and Cohen said he took the actions to influence the 2016 election.
Davis appeared on "Morning Joe" amid a flurry of media appearances, and he requested financial assistance for his client.
"He and his family are suffering," Davis said. "He is asking for help. We've set up a website, MichaelCohenTruthFund.com, to help him tell the truth about Donald Trump. We need help, and Michael is asking for anybody interested in helping him to go to this website that we've just set up ... We do ask everybody who is interested in Michael being able to tell the truth to help him out."
The account had raised more than $30,000 in less than 12 hours as of Wednesday morning, with a goal of $500,000.
"Morning Joe" host Mika Brzezinski asked Davis why it took Cohen "so long to flip." Davis pointed to Trump's panned remarks alongside Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki last month, where he appeared to side with Putin over U.S. intelligence officials on their conclusion of the Russian interference campaign.
"It was evolutionary," Davis said. "I can tell you that Helsinki was a significant turning point as he worried about the future of our country, with the President of the United States aligning with somebody who everybody in his intelligence community who he appointed, including Dan Coats, said that Putin interfered and tried to help Trump get elected, and Trump is the only one left denying that, and that shook up Mr. Cohen."
Davis said Cohen would also have information of interest to Special Counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation, although he wouldn't specify what it was for fear of interfering with the probe.