Scaramucci visits friend and fellow Trump critic Michael Cohen in prison

For years they both stridently defended Donald Trump before recently turning against him. Through it all they've remained friends and now possible allies in an attempt to unseat their old boss in the 2020 election.

We're talking about Anthony Scaramucci and Michael Cohen, who form one of the political world's more enduring and entertaining relationships. And it continued this Friday as "The Mooch" made a foray to the Federal Correctional Institution in Otisville, New York, to visit Cohen, who is serving a three-year sentence for various crimes committed as Trump's long-time lawyer and fixer.

They spent several hours together early Friday afternoon, FOX Business has confirmed. The exact nature of their conversations could not be determined, but in a text message to FOX Business Scaramucci confirmed the meeting but explicitly stated the conversation had nothing to do with Trump.

"I went to see Michael as a friend," Scaramucci wrote, adding that Cohen has "bigger fish to fry" than dishing dirt on Trump, including getting his sentence reduced. "I'm not sure how I can help with that. His legal team is working on it."

Scaramucci added: "Pretty simple stuff. I grew up in a neighborhood and we don't back away from our friends when they have issues."

Lanny Davis, Cohen's attorney, declined comment.

Cohen and Scaramucci have followed a strikingly similar path on the way to becoming key members of the Trump resistance effort. They're both Long Island natives who have known each other inside and outside the Trump orbit over the years.

Scaramucci, for his part, is a hedge-fund salesman and Trump fundraiser. He may be best known for serving as the president's communications director for 11 tumultuous days before being fired when an explicative-laced interview with a reporter was made public.

GET FOX BUSINESS ON THE GO BY CLICKING HERE

Still, for most of the first three years of the Trump presidency, Scaramucci defended his old boss with unusual vigor, often on Trump-hostile cable TV shows. Just a year ago, Scaramucci came out with a fawning account of Trump's path to the presidency entitled, "Trump, The Blue-Collar President," and in July he co-hosted a dinner that featured Donald Trump, Jr. He was slated to be a significant fundraiser for Trump's re-election.

Then, in August, Scaramucci abruptly joined the Trump opposition effort and began a series of attacks against the president on the same cable shows where he once lauded and defended the commander-in-chief. Mooch attributed his about-face to accumulative alleged evils on the part of the president; he says Trump is unfit to hold the highest office in the land.

TRUMP SAYS BEING PRESIDENT HAS COST HIM $2B-$5B

In fact, Scaramucci recently told Vanity Fair's Gabe Sherman that he now plans to play an active effort to defeat the president in next year's presidential election even going door-to-door to convince suburban women to cast their vote against Trump.

Cohen's conversion from loyal soldier to Trump critic was equally stark. During his many years as Trump's lawyer, there seemed to be no task that Cohen wouldn't pursue on the part of the famed real estate investor turned reality TV star he affectionately called "boss." Cohen threatened reporters writing unflattering stories about Trump and facilitated hush-money payments to Trump's alleged mistresses, including one to porn star Stormy Daniels that violated campaign-finance laws and led to his jail sentence.

Cohen's relationship with the newly minted leader of the free world helped him secure a number of lucrative consulting contracts.

But as his legal issues began to mount, Cohen's business dealings faltered, and a publisher pulled a lucrative deal to write a pro-Trump book.

That's when he became a staunch Trump critic, attacking his former boss as a sleazy businessman involved in corrupt dealings in testimony before the House Intelligence Committee.

ANTHONY SCARAMUCCI: MANY MEMBERS OF TRUMP'S STAFF THINK TWEETS WERE 'RACIST'

Because he's behind bars, Cohen can't go door-to-door like Scaramucci to defeat Trump, but as FOX Business has reported, he's told his jail-house visitors that he intends to pitch another book, this one with a decidedly anti-Trump message.

In his testimony, Cohen suggested he had additional information that could damage Trump, including details on Trump’s business dealings in Russia and how the then-businessman manipulated his net worth to avoid paying taxes. This information would obviously be valuable for opposition researchers during the campaign.

Scaramucci is one of several high-profile visitors to have gone to Otisville to chat with Cohen.

In May, as Cohen was headed to the big house, Scaramucci told TheWrap: "I'm good friends with Michael Cohen. I talked to him the day before he left for jail. I just wished him well and I'll go visit him, 100%. I don't walk away from my friends."

Inmates have limitations on the number of visitors they can receive to "10 people I think every two months," Scaramucci added. "So I asked his wife to put me on the list."

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE ON FOX BUSINESS