'Wrong you idiot': The judge Jonathan Turley claims just 'slammed Michael Cohen' died in 2021

Michael Cohen, former Donald Trump lawyer and fixer, on Wednesday was denied a lift on his supervised release after a federal judge concluded he "likely committed perjury" during his "his 2018 guilty plea before U.S. District Judge William Henry Pauley III."

Shapiro Chair of Public Interest Law at Georgetown University and legal analyst Jonathan Turley responded to Judge Jesse Furman's decision via X (formerly Twitter), writing, "U.S. District Judge William Henry Pauley III slammed Michael Cohen today in saying that he has clearly committed 'perjury.' The court noted that there are 'two possibilities: one, Cohen committed perjury when he pleaded guilty before Judge Pauley or, two, Cohen committed perjury in his October 2023 testimony. Either way, it is perverse to cite the testimony, as Schwartz did, as evidence of Cohen’s ‘commitment to upholding the law.'"

Turley was right about the outcome of Cohen's hearing, but he was wrong about one thing: Judge Pauley passed away nearly three years ago.

READ MORE: Michael Cohen’s attempt to 'play both sides' results in perjury charge: federal judge

The Georgetown Law professor was immediately corrected by several legal experts on social media.

Former US Attorney Preet Bharara replied, "Judge Pauley died in 2021."

Democracy Docket founder Marc Elias echoed Bharara, noting the judge passed away three years ago, but added, "So, if he slammed anyone in court today that would be really big news."

Conservative lawyer and legal analyst George C. Conway reacted to Turley's tweet by sharing a screenshot a Reuters July 2021report with the headline: "Manhattan federal judge William Pauley dies at 68."

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University of Texas School of Law professor and writer Steve Vladeck commented, "'This guy here is dead!' 'Cross him off, then.'"

Additionally, Michael Cohen himself reacted to Turley's comment, writing, "Wrong you idiot (@JonathanTurley). Judge Pauley didn’t make the statement, Judge Jesse Furman did. Pauley is deceased. You’re as sloppy as the corrupt SDNY and MAGA morons. Read the decision of Judge Engoron (pg 43) that emphatically stated Michael Cohen Told The Truth. #PUTZ"

Cohen shared a screenshot of a statement from his lawyer E. Danya Perry, dated March 20, 2024. The statement reads:

While Judge Furman delivered an important win for Michael Cohen, we take exception to one aspect of Judge Furman's decision as it relates to Mr. Cohen's previous testimony. That characterization, although not a judicial determination, is both factually inaccurate and legally incorrect. Judge Furman did not have a front seat to the testimony at the lengthy trial before Judge Engoron, who emphatically declared that "Michael Cohen told the truth." And Judge Furman ignores that Mr. Cohen has never disputed the underlying facts of his conduct, and also what many of Judge Furman's own colleagues on the bench have long noted: that defendants often feel compelled to agree to coercive plea deals under severe pressure. That is exactly what happened.

The win Perry is referring to is that Furman did decide against imposing sanctions on Cohen "after he mistakenly gave his lawyer fake legal citations concocted by Google Bard, an artificial intelligence program, for a motion the lawyer was preparing on Mr. Cohen’s behalf," according to The New York Times.

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