On Thursday, defense attorneys for former President Donald Trump conducted a rigorous cross-examination of Michael Cohen, Trump’s former lawyer, during his testimony in Trump’s hush money trial. Cohen faced intense questioning from defense lawyer Todd Blanche, who used Cohen’s own words against him.
During the cross-examination, Blanche referenced a March 30, 2023, interview Cohen gave to CNN. In the interview, Cohen likened his legal battle with Trump to the biblical story of David and Goliath, claiming he had Trump, whom he referred to as “Goliath,” on his back. When asked by Blanche if he made that statement, Cohen confirmed it.
Blanche also played a clip from Cohen’s podcast where Cohen expressed his feelings about Trump facing criminal prosecution. Cohen mentioned that the idea of Trump going through the booking process filled him with both delight and sadness, calling it an embarrassment to the presidency. This clip highlighted a contrast with Cohen’s demeanor in court.
Further, Blanche cited an October 23, 2020, podcast where Cohen expressed his hope that Trump would end up in prison, and stated his desire for revenge. When asked if he took credit for Trump’s indictment, Cohen admitted that he did, reaffirming this when asked again.
Blanche also pointed out that Cohen had repeatedly insulted Trump on his podcasts and in interviews, including calling him derogatory names. Cohen acknowledged these statements, including referring to Trump as “dumba** Donald” in a response to a Truth Social post by Trump.
GAETZ: “We watched Michael Cohen get dog walked through the series of lies he’s told. There is literally no branch of government that Michael Cohen has not lied to. He lied to investigators, he lied to the judge…he lied to the United States Congress…”
— ALX 🇺🇸 (@alx) May 16, 2024
During testimony Chen admitted that he couldn’t remember all the lies he told that were part of his perjury charge in 2018.
“There were a couple of different lies?” Blanche asked. “That’s correct,” Cohen responded. When asked about which lies he told during that previous testimony, Cohen said he couldn’t remember them all.
“What was the other lie?” Blanche said.
“I don’t recall. I think those were the two,” Cohen said
“You lied under oath, correct?” Blanche asks.
“Yes sir,” Cohen says.
“And you lied again when you met with the special counsel on August 7, (2018), correct?” Blanche asks.
“Correct,” Cohen says.
“You said you were accepting responsibility for those lies, for lying to Congress. But in fact, you repeatedly said — and even said this morning, and even this week — that the reason why you lied was because of your loyalty to President Trump,” Blanche said.
“I worked with a joint defense agreement and we crafted the two-page document in order to stay on message — the message we all knew Mr. Trump wanted, including Mr. Trump’s attorney at the time,” Cohen replied.
“So are you saying you’re accepting responsibility, or blaming the joint defense agreement?” Blanche followed up.
“Accepting responsibility, I read it and I submitted it to the committee,” Cohen said on the stand.
That was devastating folks.
