BBG brought up the possibility of a sweetheart deal for Cohen when he pled guilty in order to bootstrap the predicate for what we see now.
I mentioned that IIRC his lawyer was Lanny Davis, crony to the Clintons so just now I began digging a bit.
1)
https://forward.com/news/408703/5-things-to-know-about-lanny-davis-michael-cohens-jewish-lawyer/ 2) CNN
12:06 p.m. ET, February 27, 2019
Cohen says his lawyer is representing him for free (for now)
Michael Cohen, responding to questions about who is paying his lawyer Lanny Davis, said he is working for free.
Rep. Jody Hice asked if liberal activist Tom Steyer is paying for Davis to represent Cohen.
"Not that I'm aware of," Cohen responded.
Here's how the rest of the exchange went down:
Hice: "Who is paying Lanny Davis?
Cohen: "At the moment, no one."
Hice: "He is doing all this work for nothing?"
Cohen: "Yes, sir, and I hope so."
Later, Rep. Jim Jordan asked if Cohen plans to pay Davis in the future.
"When I start to earn a living," Cohen responded.
Jordan said he has "never known a lawyer to wait three years to get paid."
3) Getting warmer:
https://www.cnn.com/politics/live-news/michael-cohen-sentencing/index.html4) IIRC the campaign finance violation guilty plea was horseshit, and with Lanny Davis at his side smelled to me at the time as a way to lay a predicate for going after Trump in return for lenient sentencing and gratitude from the Clinton and Obama machines.
https://www.cnn.com/2018/08/21/politics/michael-cohen-plea-deal-talks/index.html 
