Michael Cohen, Donald Trump’s former personal attorney, is anticipated to be a key witness for Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg in the ex-president’s ‘hush money’ case. However, a recent report suggests that Cohen may be causing difficulties for the prosecutors.
As he gears up to testify, Cohen, the former Trump fixer responsible for arranging a $130,000 payment to Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election, presents a series of challenges for the prosecution.
The DA’s office is not only working to restrict his communication about the case but also dealing with problematic testimony that could potentially tarnish Cohen’s image in front of the jury, as reported by Newsweek.
“Michael Cohen is a complete mess as a witness for the prosecution in the current state fraud trial,” former federal prosecutor Michael McAuliffe told the outlet.
Trump is facing 34 felony charges of falsifying business records linked to the payment made to Daniels. Prosecutors assert that Trump, along with Cohen and former publisher David Pecker, devised a scheme to sway the 2016 presidential election by concealing adverse stories about Trump, including Daniels’ allegations of an affair with the then-Republican nominee.
Trump has entered a plea of not guilty and refuted Daniels’ accusations. In a 2018 letter signed by Daniels, she also said the affair never happened.
“Cohen has loomed large over the trial that’s been taking place in the Manhattan Criminal Court. Trump was fined $9,000 for violating his gag order, which bars him from attacking any ‘foreseeable witnesses’ and jurors after the former president railed against Cohen and Daniels outside the courtroom,” the outlet noted further.
Cohen, who has emerged as a prominent critic of Trump following their split, continues to engage in discussions about the case despite being scheduled to testify in the trial.
Recently, Cohen took to X (formerly Twitter) to refer to Trump as “Von ShitzInPantz,” accusing him of acting out of desperation. In addition to his social media activity, Cohen has been addressing Trump and the trial in his nightly TikTok livestreams, making sarcastic comments like “Trump 2024? More like Trump 20-24 years.” Reports suggest that Cohen is profiting from these livestreams.
McAuliffe pointed out that Cohen’s history of statements about Trump and his “eccentric publicity stunts” have diminished his credibility as a reliable source of evidence.
“By constantly puffing up his anticipated role as a Trump-slayer, he makes it much less possible to be one,” McAuliffe said.
The prosecution faces a tough challenge in building their case on Cohen, whose tarnished reputation presents obstacles.
During the opening statements and jury selection, prosecutors directly addressed this issue by carefully detailing Cohen’s history of dishonesty, not only with the media but also in court and before Congress.
“Will you keep an open mind?” lead prosecutor Joshua Steinglass asked prospective jurors about Cohen’s “baggage.”
Meanwhile, Trump’s attorneys have looked to undercut Cohen’s credibility, telling jurors that the former lawyer is “obsessed” with Trump “even to this day” and that he’s attempting to blame his friend-turned-foe for “virtually all of his problems.”
Team Trump also used Cohen’s public remarks and podcasts about Trump to argue that the former fixer’s “entire financial livelihood” depends on Trump’s “destruction.”
“You cannot make a serious decision about President Trump under the lying words of Michael Cohen,” Trump attorney Todd Blanche told the jury last week.
Even if jurors were able to put aside their preconceptions about Cohen at the start of the trial, Newsweek acknowledged that the testimony about the former Trump loyalist has been unpleasant.
Numerous witnesses have described Cohen as difficult to work with, and Gary Farro, Cohen’s former banker at First Republic, stated that he had seen no signs of any wrongdoing when he set up the LLC account for Daniels’ payment.
Farro stressed that if he had suspected Cohen of creating a shell company, he would not have allowed the account for Essential Consultants LLC to be opened.
He also mentioned that if the bank had known that Cohen’s transaction would benefit a political candidate or an adult film star, they would have conducted more thorough checks.
Farro testified that such transactions might be delayed or even blocked entirely due to this information, Newsweek added.
