Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen admitted in court Monday that he stole from the Trump Organization, further damaging the disbarred lawyer’s credibility and at least leaving the jury unable to reach a verdict. legal experts told FOX News Digital.
“After last week’s cross-examination, I think Michael Cohen’s credibility as a witness has already been significantly undermined,” Heritage Foundation senior legal fellow Zach Smith told Fox News Digital in a phone interview. “If there had been any doubt in the minds of the jurors, I think today’s testimony would have been even more damaging.”
“That leaves you with two questions. One, didn’t the prosecution know about this before they put Michael Cohen on the stand? I doubt that. But… If they didn’t know, that’s its own problem. But if they did know this, they chose to put Michael Cohen on the stand anyway. In some ways, it’s even more shocking, since even Michael Cohen has admitted to stealing, which begs the question of what credibility the Trump Organization can expect from him. It’s for my own benefit,” Smith continued.
Cohen admitted in Monday’s testimony that he stole $30,000 from the Trump Organization by inflating payments to technology companies that provided services to the organization. Cohen paid former Trump Organization chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg $50,000 out of his own pocket to tech company Red Finch in 2017, a payment that still needs to be repaid. He said that there was.
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Former President Donald Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen is scheduled to testify Monday. (Yuki Iwamura/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
In 2017, Weisselberg and Cohen allegedly repaid Cohen $420,000 for a $130,000 payment to former porn star Stormy Daniels and a $50,000 payment to Red Finch. I calculated it. Mr. Cohen’s payments to Mr. Daniels were 2016 election This is to quell her claims about her alleged relationship with Trump.
But Cohen said in court Monday that he only paid Redfinch $20,000. That means he pocketed $30,000 at the time of repayment.
“You stole from the Trump Organization, right?” Trump’s lawyer, Todd Blanche, asked Cohen on Wednesday morning.
“Yes, sir,” Cohen replied.
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He testified that the Trump Organization believed he had paid in full and was still being reimbursed even though he had not.
Michael Cohen is cross-examined by defense attorney Todd Blanche in President Trump’s criminal trial on charges that he falsified business records to hide money he paid to hush porn star Stormy Daniels in 2016. , former President Donald Trump listens as he is asked about the oath. This courtroom sketch from Manhattan State Court on May 16, 2024 in New York City, USA. (Reuters/Jane Rosenberg)
“Did you lie to Weisselberg about how much money Redfinch needed?” Blanche asked Cohen, and Cohen admitted that he had said yes.
“Did you repay the Trump Organization? the money you stole From them? asked Blanche.
“No, sir,” Cohen replied.
Cohen said late Monday that accepting the $30,000 was “almost self-help,” claiming he took the funds because he was “angry” that his bonus had been cut.
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“I was angry about the reduction in my bonus and felt like I was helping myself,” Cohen said.
“Having my bonus cut by two-thirds was very upsetting to say the least,” he later added.
In comments to Fox News Digital, Smith continued that the confession in court could influence the jury’s verdict in the case.
Michael Cohen, the defendant in New York City, is facing former President Donald Trump’s criminal trial on charges of falsifying business records to hide money paid to hush porn star Stormy Daniels in 2016. Cross-examined by defense attorney Todd Branch in Manhattan state court. 14, 2024 in this courtroom sketch. (Reuters/Jane Rosenberg)
“Even if we don’t get an outright acquittal, at the very least, I think it’s very likely that we’ll get a hung jury in this case. And remember the reason for Michael Cohen’s testimony. This is extremely important because Alvin Bragg would have to incorporate what would normally be a bookkeeping misdemeanor into this felony. [He has to] “Essentially, these bookkeeping violations show that they were done to facilitate or conceal this other violation, which appears to be a campaign finance violation,” Smith said.
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Trump was indicted on 34 counts of first-degree falsification of business records in the case. Prosecutor Alvin Bragg told jurors that Trump not only falsified business records related to payments to Stormy Daniels, but also in furtherance of another crime: conspiracy to promote or prevent an election. You must prove that you have falsified your identity.
Former President Donald Trump speaks to the media after leaving the court during his trial on charges of concealing hush money payments in Manhattan Criminal Court in New York City, April 22, 2024. Former President Donald Trump faces 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in his first criminal case to go to trial. (Brendan McDiarmid Pool/Getty Images)
“If he can’t do that, then the bookkeeping charges themselves are just misdemeanors, and the statute of limitations has run on those misdemeanors. That’s why Michael Cohen’s testimony is so important. I have to say this to you: The fact that Alvin Bragg and his team relied so heavily on Michael Cohen that he became, in some ways, the linchpin of the case is really shocking, to be honest.
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Mr. Smith was joined by fellow legal experts who were sounding on Monday that Mr. Cohen’s admission to the theft further eroded his credibility. Monday’s comments came after Mr. Cohen had already been repeatedly labeled by legal experts as a “fraud” and a liar. Cohen is a disbarred lawyer who was sentenced to three years in prison in 2018 after pleading guilty to charges including campaign finance fraud and lying to Congress.
“It was a very tough morning for a person to admit that he stole money from customers and then announce that he wanted to run for Congress. It’s going to be a campaign unlike anything we’ve ever seen before. People usually go into Congress. Wait for the in front They are committing serious felonies,” FOX News contributor Jonathan Turley posted on X. But again, Cohen can argue that Congress cannot corrupt him. . . He was corrupt even before he went to Congress. ”
In testimony Monday, Cohen said he was considering a potential run for Congress because he has the “highest name recognition.”
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FOX News Legal Editor Kelly Kupek Urban On Monday, he said the defense’s cross-examination of Michael Cohen was a “complete disaster for the state.”
“We learned that he stole from Donald Trump while he was negotiating a repayment plan, which we heard directly from him on stage last week. In fact, he pocketed thousands of dollars on top of that,” Urban said.
“It’s a pretty big deal to show that he actually stole from the Trump Organization even though the organization had a contract to pay him $35,000 a month,” Fox News Contributor Andy McCarthy told Fox News’ Bill Hemmer on “America’s Newsroom.” “…he was profiting from the fact that he was the president of a private practice in the United States….He became very rich from this arrangement.”
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Asked whether Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg could prosecute Cohen for admitting to stealing from the Trump Organization, Smith said that ultimately the statute of limitations had run out in New York state. He said it would depend on whether Mr. Cohen entered into an immunity agreement.
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Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg arrives at Manhattan Criminal Court in New York on Tuesday, April 16, 2024. Donald Trump returns to a New York courtroom on Tuesday. A judge is working to find a jury to decide whether the former president is guilty of criminal charges that he allegedly falsified business records to cover up a sex scandal during the 2016 campaign. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
“We also need to know whether any immunity was offered in exchange for his testimony. Of course, that information should have been turned over to the defense…because of course it would have to do with the weight of his testimony. “Whether a jury can trust him or not, there’s more information we need to know before we know if he can technically be indicted,” Smith said.
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“But certainly he admitted the crime under oath, and unless there is some kind of immunity or scope, or unless the statute of limitations has expired or something like that, he would normally face criminal charges. .”
