Jul 5, 2018

Michael Cohen retains former Clinton lawyer Lanny Davis

Alayna Treene

Lanny Davis, former special counsel to Bill Clinton. Photo: Sean Gallup/Getty Images

Lanny Davis, counsel to former President Bill Clinton, told the New York Times' Maggie Haberman Thursday that he has been retained by former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen to help defend him against federal prosecutors in their investigation into alleged violations of election law and possible crimes related to his business dealings.

Davis said in a statement that Cohen "deserves to tell his side of the story — subject ... to the advice of his counsel." He added that he recognized Cohen's "sincerity" when he told ABC that he will "put family and country first" over any allegiance to Trump. Davis joins attorney Guy Petrillo in representing Cohen.

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Coronavirus spreads to more countries, and U.S. ups its case count

Data: The Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins, the CDC, and China's Health Ministry. Note: China numbers are for the mainland only and U.S. numbers include repatriated citizens.

The novel coronavirus continues to spread to more nations, and the U.S. reports a doubling of its confirmed cases to 34 — while noting those are mostly due to repatriated citizens, emphasizing there's no "community spread" yet in the U.S. Meanwhile, Italy reported its first virus-related death on Friday.

The big picture: COVID-19 has now killed at least 2,359 people and infected more than 77,000 others, mostly in mainland China. New countries to announce infections recently include Israel, Lebanon and Iran.

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Orion Rummler

Wells Fargo agrees to pay $3 billion to settle consumer abuse charges

Clients use an ATM at a Wells Fargo Bank in Los Angeles, Calif. Photo: Ronen Tivony/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

Wells Fargo agreed to a pay a combined $3 billion to the Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday for opening millions of fake customer accounts between 2002 and 2016, the SEC said in a press release.

The big picture: The fine "is among the largest corporate penalties reached during the Trump administration," the Washington Post reports.

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