Can somebody tell us why Cohen felt a need to fudge on when the tower discussions ended? Before his election, Trump had every right to talk with Russians about a real estate investment. It would have been a private deal.
Frankly, I don’t think Cohen is a very good lawyer. New York is full of these types. He may be good at day to day stuff, including dealings with bureaucracy, but he’s not somebody who is up to national level dealings.
He’s basically an expeditor, that is, a person you hire to make sure your bureaucratic dealings go well...they’ll submit applications for you, turn up to defend them, etc. They’re very important in a bureaucratic culture such as New York. They’re all over the place in Europe and in fact you can take special courses designed to prepare you for this career track.