A former ally of President Trump turned “resistance” hero, Michael Cohen, is on a press tour to plead for a pardon from President Biden before he leaves office. 

Cohen, who at one time worked as a “fixer” for Trump and said he would “take a bullet” for his old boss, apparently believes he is “in danger” from the 47th president unless he gets a pardon. And he is taking his case to cable television in the final days of Mr. Biden’s administration.

To help his case, he is seeking to liken his position to that of the 46th president’s son, Hunter Biden, who received a sweeping pardon in December. 

The disbarred lawyer first made his case for clemency during an interview on MSNBC’s “The Weekend” Saturday. He said, “I put in the application for a presidential pardon because I believe that Joe Biden has the same responsibility to me that he had to his own son.

“And I would expect that the same exact pardon that he gave his son has to go to me and to anybody else that’s on that enemies list, whether they want it or not — because I assure you, solitary confinement, where I did 51 days, sucks,” he added.

The show’s host and former Biden aide, Symone Sanders, said she agrees with Cohen’s concern about being placed on a Trump “enemies list.” However, she said she was “struck” by Cohen comparing himself to Hunter Biden. She said, “I don’t necessarily think that’s your best way to go get a pardon. I mean, Hunter Biden is the president’s last surviving son.”

Cohen interjected, “I’m somebody’s son also, by the way.”

“Agreed. You are somebody’s son. But I mean, to be very clear, you’re not the president’s son. And he pardoned Hunter primarily because that is his son, I think,” Ms. Sanders shot back.

Cohen also was interviewed by MSNBC’s Chris Hayes, where he spoke about his desire to be pardoned by the sitting president. On Wednesday, his interview with  Jesse Jackson Jr. will be released, where he also talked about a potential presidential pardon. 

In 2018, Cohen pleaded guilty to campaign finance violations and tax evasion charges related to hush money payments made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 election. In May 2024, he testified that Trump was involved in the scheme to pay hush money to the adult film actress so she would not speak about a sexual encounter with the then-presidential candidate. 

Trump was convicted of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in that case, making him the first current or former president convicted of a felony. 

President Biden has faced criticism for his use of the pardon power during his final days in office. In December, he commuted 1,500 sentences and pardoned 39 people. Two days before Christmas, he commuted the death sentences of 37 people, including a man convicted of killing a police officer, and replaced them with life-in-prison sentences. 

Another pardon was the one for Hunter Biden, who was convicted of felony tax and firearm charges, despite the president’s previous promises not to do so. The president said in a statement announcing his decision that he believed the “raw politics has infected” the decision to charge his son and that there was a “miscarriage of justice.” 

In a final report, the special counsel involved in the Hunter Biden case, David Weiss, said, “The president’s characterizations are incorrect based on the facts in this case.”

Several reports have indicated that Mr. Biden may be planning more acts of clemency, even for people who have not been accused of a crime or convicted of one but are seen as individuals who might be targeted by the Trump administration. Politico reported in December that some of the individuals include members of the January 6 committee, such as Congresswoman Liz Cheney, or Dr. Anthony Fauci. Not mentioned in Politico’s list of potential names for a pre-emptive pardon: Cohen.

RealClearInvestigations also reported that the Justice Department’s pardon database shows that the former IRS contractor who leaked the tax records of Trump and other wealthy individuals to the New York Times, Charles Edward Littlejohn, also has a “pending” request for a commutation of his sentence. 

While Cohen is making the press rounds pleading for a pardon, some individuals who have been considered potential candidates for clemency have explicitly said they do not want one. Another former congressman and member of the January 6 committee, Adam Kinzinger, told CNN he does not want a pardon, saying he did nothing wrong. 

Mr. Biden told reporters last week that he is still considering the potential of issuing pre-emptive pardons.