Michael Cohen on Thursday celebrated former President Trump’s guilty verdict in his hush money trial, arguing that accountability is “exactly what America needs right now.”
“34 charges, one after the other, we have been found guilty. This is accountability and this is exactly what America needs right now. We need to hold all those who break the law accountable, because we’ve always said no one is above the law and today’s verdict proves that,” Cohen said in an interview with MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow on Thursday.
Trump was found guilty on Thursday on all 34 charges of falsifying business records, making him the first former U.S. president to be convicted of a crime.
The allegations stem from Cohen, Trump’s former personal lawyer and former representative for the president, paying back hush money to porn actress Stormy Daniels to keep quiet about her alleged affair with the former president.
Cohen was one of several witnesses called to the stand and was the prosecution’s star witness.
When asked how he felt after the verdict, Cohen replied, “I feel relieved,” and said he was not surprised by the verdict.
“This has been six years in the making,” he added, “so this is a six-year process to finally achieve accountability.”
The former president is scheduled to be sentenced on July 11, just four days before the 2024 Republican National Convention in Milwaukee this summer. He could face prison time, although first-time offenders for crimes like Trump’s are rarely jailed.
Shortly after the guilty verdict, President Trump called the case a “rigged and disgraceful trial.”
“The real verdict will be made by the American people on November 5th. They know what happened here, everybody knows what happened here,” Trump said Thursday.
Former President Trump’s lawyer, Will Scharf, said the former president’s legal team is “considering all options” in appealing the conviction.
