2020, the election campaigns have begun

[robkelk]

AP: Trump won't leave office peacefully, his former lawyer Cohen claims in upcoming book

Earlier in the day, Cohen had released the book's foreword, writing of his estranged former boss, "He wouldn't mind if I was dead."

In the foreword, dated in March, Cohen writes he's "certain that Trump knows he will face prison time if he leaves office," pointing to legal problems that continue to swirl around the president, including an apparent investigation into Trump Organization tax claims.

"Trump will never leave office peacefully," Cohen writes. "The types of scandals that have surfaced in recent months will only continue to emerge with greater and greater levels of treachery and deceit. If Trump wins another four years, these scandals will prove to only be the tip of the iceberg."

Nothing that Dems haven't been saying all along, but this comes from a lawyer who used to work directly for the Nicknamer-in-Chief.

As with testimony he gave to Congress before heading to prison, Cohen writes in the book that Trump was interested in pursuing a hotel project in Moscow well into the 2016 presidential campaign despite denying ties to Russia.

"I know because I personally ran that deal and kept Trump and his children closely informed of all updates, even as the candidate blatantly lied to the American people," says Cohen.

Since becoming president, Cohen says, Trump has "become the worst version of himself."

The U.S. government dropped its effort to silence Cohen late last month after an agreement was reached between government lawyers and Cohen lawyer Danya Perry that lifted a ban on Cohen speaking publicly.

That last sentence sounds like a First Amendment violation to me.