2026年5月21日 / 美国东部时间下午7:41 / 哥伦比亚广播公司新闻
雅各布·罗森 司法部记者
曾为特朗普担任律师后转而批评他、并因替总统办事而入狱的迈克尔·科恩周四对哥伦比亚广播公司新闻表示，他正计划申请司法部新设立的“反武器化基金”资金。
“我正在自行推进相关流程，完成后会直接向司法部提交申请信，”科恩在短信中对哥伦比亚广播公司新闻说道。
这一备受争议的17.76亿美元基金于本周早些时候宣布，将向那些声称司法系统被“武器化”针对他们的人提供经济赔偿。该基金是特朗普总统与司法部达成和解协议的一部分，旨在解决特朗普针对国税局提起的诉讼——该诉讼源于特朗普的纳税申报单被泄露。
他表示自己申请该基金是因为他认为促使特朗普起诉政府的问题“与我所遭遇的情况完全相同”。
“特朗普发起100亿美元诉讼的依据，与影响我的诉讼依据完全一致——这让我失去了律师执照、我的生意、财务状况、家庭幸福、商业关系和机遇，”科恩说道。
科恩表示他仍在撰写寻求救济的申请信草稿。哥伦比亚广播公司新闻获取的草稿部分内容显示，科恩写道：“如果反武器化基金真的旨在支持那些被出于政治动机的执法策略、选择性起诉、政府泄密、权力滥用和蓄意毁坏名誉所摧毁的个人，那么没有比我所遭遇的情况更典型的例子了。”
美国全国广播公司新闻率先报道了科恩申请该基金的计划。
科恩是2016年特朗普当选总统前最信任的法律顾问之一。他常被称为特朗普的私人“中间人”，还曾自称“愿意为总统挡子弹的人”。如今他已是直言不讳的特朗普批评者。
2018年，科恩因承认参与安排向指称与特朗普有染的女性支付款项的竞选财务违规行为，被判处三年监禁。他还因就特朗普大厦莫斯科项目提案向国会撒谎而被加判两个月监禁，该项指控由特别检察官罗伯特·米勒提出。在量刑听证会上，科恩称他对特朗普的忠诚导致他“选择了黑暗而非光明的道路”。
“我的弱点可以说是对唐纳德·特朗普盲目的忠诚，我没有勇气质疑并拒绝他的要求，这就是我的软弱之处，”科恩在量刑听证会上说道。
2024年，科恩在纽约州针对特朗普的刑事诉讼中作证，特朗普后来因与科恩刑事指控核心相关的向女性支付款项一事伪造商业记录罪名成立。特朗普长期否认与这些女性有染，并否认存在任何刑事不当行为。
科恩在庭审中作证称，特朗普在2016年竞选总统期间，会定期收到关于掩盖其不雅传闻的工作进展通报，并亲自批准了相关伪造记录的计划。
这并非科恩首次就他认为的政府虐待行为寻求救济。五年前，他起诉联邦政府和特朗普，声称自己在2020年新冠疫情期间被突然取消居家监禁，被迫重返监狱，这是因他批评总统而遭到报复。一名法官以先前的法院判例为由驳回了他的诉讼。
科恩是已知首批表示计划申请“反武器化基金”的特朗普批评者之一。
司法部周一在一份声明中表示，“提出索赔没有党派要求”，谁能获得救济将由总检察长任命的五人小组决定。
其他有兴趣申请该基金的人士中不乏特朗普盟友，包括前特朗普顾问迈克尔·卡普托，他于周二向司法部申请270万美元，成为已知的首位申请人。一些1月6日国会山骚乱事件的被告也暗示可能会提出申请。
该基金遭到两党议员和道德监督机构的批评。进步派组织“华盛顿公民责任与道德”称其为“总统任期历史上最厚颜无耻的自我交易行为”。
司法部为该基金进行了辩护，代理总检察长托德·布兰奇将其与政府设立的其他和解基金相提并论，并辩称该基金将纠正“多年来的武器化行为”。
议员们就“反武器化基金”表态
https://www.cbsnews.com/video/republican-lawmakers-seek-clarity-trumps-anti-weaponization-fund/
共和党议员寻求就特朗普“反武器化基金” clarify 细节
(04:31)
Trump lawyer-turned-critic Michael Cohen says he’s applying for “anti-weaponization fund” claim
May 21, 2026 / 7:41 PM EDT / CBS News
By Jacob Rosen Justice Department Reporter
Michael Cohen, a Trump lawyer-turned-critic who served prison time due to his work for the president, is planning to apply for money from the Justice Department’s new “anti-weaponization fund,” he told CBS News on Thursday.
“I am working through the process on my own and will submit the letter directly to the DOJ once completed,” Cohen told CBS News in a text message.
The controversial $1.776 billion fund was announced earlier this week, offering financial compensation to people who allege the legal system was “weaponized” against them. It’s part of a settlement between President Trump and the Justice Department to resolve a lawsuit brought by the president against the Internal Revenue Service over the leaking of Mr. Trump’s tax returns.
He said he is applying because he believes the issues that prompted Mr. Trump to sue the government are “identical to what had happened to me.”
“The basis for which Trump instituted the $10 billion action are the same causes of action that have affected me as well—has cost me my law license, my businesses, finances, family happiness, business relationships and opportunities,” Cohen said.
Cohen said that he is still working on a draft of his letter seeking relief. In a portion of his draft obtained by CBS News, Cohen wrote: “If the weaponization fund truly exists to support individuals destroyed by politically motivated law enforcement tactics, selective prosecution, government leaks, abuses of power and intentional destruction of reputation then there is perhaps no clearer example than what happened to me.”
NBC News was first to report on Cohen’s plan to apply for the fund.
Cohen was among Mr. Trump’s most trusted legal advisers before he became president in 2016. He was often referred to as Mr. Trump’s personal “fixer,” and once described himself as “the guy who would take a bullet for the president.” He is now a loud Trump critic.
Cohen was sentenced to three years in prison in 2018 after he pleaded guilty to campaign finance violations related to payments he arranged to women alleging affairs with Mr. Trump. He was also sentenced to two months in prison for lying to Congress over a proposed Trump Tower Moscow project, a charge brought by special counsel Robert Mueller. At his sentencing, Cohen claimed his loyalty to Mr. Trump led him to “take a path of darkness instead of light.”
“My weakness can be characterized as a blind loyalty to Donald Trump, and I was weak for not having the strength to question and to refuse his demands,” Cohen said at his sentencing.
In 2024, Cohen testified in a New York state criminal case against Mr. Trump, who was later convicted of falsifying business records related to the same payments to women that were at the center of Cohen’s criminal charges. Mr. Trump has long denied having affairs with the women and denied any criminal wrongdoing.
Cohen testified at trial that the president received regular updates on efforts to cover up salacious stories about him when he ran for president in 2016 and personally signed off on a scheme to falsify records related to them.
This would not be the first time that Cohen has sought relief for what he views as mistreatment by the government. Five years ago, he sued the federal government and Mr. Trump, alleging he was abruptly taken out of a COVID-era home confinement program in 2020 and forced to return to prison in an act of retaliation due to his criticism of the president. A judge dismissed his lawsuit, citing prior court precedents.
Cohen is among the first known Trump critics to signal plans to apply for the “anti-weaponization fund.”
The Justice Department said in a statement Monday that “there are no partisan requirements to file a claim,” and decisions on who will get relief will be determined by a panel of five people appointed by the attorney general.
Many of the other figures who have taken an interest in applying are Trump allies, including former Trump adviser Michael Caputo, who became the first known applicant when he asked the Justice Department for $2.7 million on Tuesday. Some Jan. 6 riot defendants have also suggested they may apply.
The fund has drawn criticism from members of both parties and from ethics watchdogs. The progressive Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington called it “the most brazen act of self-dealing in the history of the presidency.”
The Justice Department has defended the fund, with acting Attorney General Todd Blanche comparing it to other settlement funds created by the government and arguing it would remedy “years and years of weaponization.”
Lawmakers react to “anti-weaponization fund”
https://www.cbsnews.com/video/republican-lawmakers-seek-clarity-trumps-anti-weaponization-fund/
Republican lawmakers seek clarity on Trump’s “anti-weaponization fund”
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