Stephen Colbert just discovered why Donald Trump may not be able to pardon Michael Cohen
Lawyer Michael Avenatti and Stephen Colbert

During Wednesday night’s “Late Show,” host Stephen Colbert spoke with Stormy Daniels’ attorney Michael Avenatti about the ongoing legal battle ensnaring Donald Trump and his longtime personal lawyer Michael Cohen—and learned of a significant development in the adult film star’s case against Cohen.


Avenatti presented Colbert with a copy of the incoming $130,000 wire payment made to Daniels by Cohen, which Trump’s attorney Rudy Giuliani on Wednesday admitted the president personally repaid.

As Avenatti explained, the wire transfer was made via the First Republic Bank in San Francisco, CA from Cohen’s “fabricated” entity—and that’s where the Trump team appears to have erred.

“That’s an important piece of evidence for the following reason,” Avenatti said. “There’s a certain attorney general in the state of California—you may have heard his name, his is name is Xavier Becerra. He’s not a big fan of the president.”

“And this document may, in fact, give him jurisdiction over certain criminal acts associated with this payment,” the lawyer continued. “And, in fact, if the attorney general of the state of California were to bring charges, President Trump could not pardon Michael Cohen for those charges.”

Watch the video below, via CBS: