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Copyright 2018 NPR. To see more, visit AILSA CHANG, HOST: All right, joining us now to talk more about these legal developments is Joyce Vance. She's a former U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Alabama. Welcome. JOYCE VANCE: Thanks for having me. CHANG: So let's begin with the Cohen plea deal. As a former federal prosecutor, you were responsible for overseeing a number of criminal investigations. Were you surprised that Cohen pleaded guilty at this point in the investigation? VANCE: It seemed early. There's a lot that has to be resolved for a defendant to plead guilty. And of course we don't know everything that's going on behind the scenes. But typically a defendant and his lawyer would want to see the government's case against them and make sure that it was provable before pleading guilty. CHANG: Right. VANCE: So for Cohen to plead today, we have to assume that a lot of that went on behind the scenes. CHANG: And in court today, Cohen said - you know, he admitted to making