Encyclopedia · Biography
Roy Cohn
Attorney, former Joseph McCarthy aide, and lawyer for Donald Trump
Personal / institutional details
- Full name
- Roy Marcus Cohn
- Born
- February 20, 1927 · New York City
- Died
- August 2, 1986 · Bethesda, Maryland
- Occupation
- Attorney
- Career
- Federal prosecutor; chief counsel to Sen. Joseph McCarthy; private attorney
- Professional discipline
- Disbarred in 1986
Roy Cohn was an American attorney who gained prominence as a prosecutor and chief counsel to Senator Joseph McCarthy and later represented high-profile private clients including Donald Trump.
Early legal career
Cohn worked on the federal prosecution of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, then became chief counsel to McCarthy during the 1950s anticommunist investigations. He left McCarthy’s staff in 1954 and practiced law in New York.
Trump and Stone
Cohn represented Donald Trump and his family’s business from the 1970s in matters including a federal housing-discrimination suit. Reporting based on interviews with contemporaries identifies him as a mentor and professional adviser to Trump. Political consultant Roger Stone met Trump through Cohn around 1979, making the Cohn–Stone–Trump relationship a documented historical bridge.
Later years
Cohn was disbarred in 1986 and died that year. The Clinton Presidential Library’s finding aid states that he had political ties to Ronald Reagan and participated in Reagan’s 1980 campaign. A decades-old contact should not be treated as evidence of present institutional coordination.
References
- https://www.clintonlibrary.gov/research/archives/finding-aids/roy-cohn-prosecuting-attorney
- https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/former-mccarthy-aide-showed-trump-how-to-exploit-power-and-draw-attention/2016/06/16/e9f44f20-2bf3-11e6-9b37-42985f6a265c_story.html
- https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2018/politics/paul-manafort-roger-stone/?noredirect=on
Where this subject appears in The Story
Read the historical narrative and follow its linked names and organizations back into the Encyclopedia.
Documented connections
These are specifically described relationships in public records. A shared institution, appointment or event does not by itself demonstrate coordination or wrongdoing.
- Donald Trump (person) — lawyer/client and mentor: Cohn represented Trump in New York and was described as his legal mentor · 1970s–1986
- Roger Stone (person) — political personal introduction: Cohn introduced Stone to Donald Trump; Cohn and Stone were acquainted during Stone’s Reagan-era work · circa 1979–1980
- Ronald Reagan (person) — campaign political relationship: Clinton Presidential Library records describe Cohn’s Reagan ties and work on 1980 campaign · 1980