ABC’s Jon Karl: ‘If There’s One Person Who Could Take Donald Trump Down, It’s Michael Cohen’

STEPHANOPOULOS: Yes. And he repeated that in our interview.

And, Jon, meantime the president has been seething all week long also about those raids Monday on his personal attorney Michael Cohen. In another tweet this morning, saying, “attorney/client privilege is dead.” The White House is worried about these raids.

KARL: And the president is deeply concerned about these raids. That’s why President Trump himself took the initiative after the raids to call Michael Cohen. Make no mistake about this, the legal team for the president is more worried about Michael Cohen than they are about Robert Mueller.

And part of that fear is what they don’t know. They truly, George, have no idea what are in his files. And part is what they do know. Michael Cohen was the president’s fixer. When the president had an issue, a problem, Cohen fixed it, no questions asked. And there are worries, the biggest worry of all for the president’s legal team and for those close to the president is the idea that Michael Cohen could turn state’s witness, that he could cooperate with prosecutors against his former boss.

If there is one person who could take Donald Trump down, it is Michael Cohen. That is something that somebody close to the president told ABC News just a few weeks ago, even before the raid.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Stakes are very high. And, Pierre, the Cohen investigation is being done by the U.S. attorney, Southern District of Manhattan, but it’s very connected to the Mueller investigation.

THOMAS: Indeed, George. Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, the man who oversees the special counsel’s investigation, referred the Cohen case to prosecutors in the Southern District of New York. And that has drawn the president’s wrath.

George, I’ve never seen anything quite like this. Every day Rod Rosenstein walks into office wondering if he’s going to be fired. Sources say he’s at peace with whatever happens, that while he’s loyal to the administration, he’s more loyal to the training he has as a prosecutor and the rule of law.

When there’s enough evidence suggesting further investigation, it’s going to be investigated. And Democrats are telling me if Rosenstein is fired, it will be the beginning of a constitutional crisis — George.

STEPHANOPOULOS: OK. Pierre, Jon, thanks very much.