Former FBI counsel praises 'significant color' Michael Cohen brought to testimony

14 May 2024

Donald Trump's hush money/falsified business records trial continued to move along at a rapid pace on Monday, May 13, when the prosecution called Michael Cohen — Trump's former personal attorney and fixer — to the stand. Cohen's testimony followed testimony from Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg Jr.'s other star witnesses, including adult film performer Stormy Daniels, National Enquirer Publisher David Pecker and former Trump White House advisor Hope Hicks.

During an appearance on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" the following day, legal expert Andrew Weissmann laid out some reasons why he thought Cohen's testimony went well for the prosecution.

The former federal prosecutor and ex-FBI general counsel told MSNBC colleagues Willie Geist and Jonathan Lemire, "One of the sort of small pieces that really should be shocking is Michael Cohen confirming that not only was there sort of this catch-and-kill component to the deal with David Pecker, but also, he said: We disseminated false stories, and we got the stories before they were printed and could pass on them and shape them and edit them. So, he gave examples of that involving Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio and Hillary Clinton, where they actually saw the headlines and the stories and gave comments and directed how those stories should appear."

The legal analyst continued, "That is shocking. You know, it's one thing to have media outlets accuse you of being biased or favoring one side or the other. But this idea that you'd have a private agreement to sort of both catch and kill stories that would denigrate one candidate and disseminate negative stories against another is truly sort of the stuff that happens in Russia and other autocratic systems."

When Lemire asked Weissmann if he thought Cohen came across as "credible" or "believable" during his testimony, Weissmann responded, "So, I was there yesterday. I thought he did really well."

The former federal prosecutor explained, "I thought he was what you want a witness to be. He was calm. He answered just the questions that were asked…. He added some, I thought, significant color. For instance, there was a psychological component to his testimony when he was asked: When you'd go into Donald Trump and he would say, you know, you did a good job or that was fantastic, how did you feel? And he said it made me feel like I was on top of the world."

Weissmann added, "The emotion in his voice — you really understood this sort of father/son relationship. That this was a really close bond, from Michael Cohen's perspective."

But Weissmann predicted that Trump's defense team will go after Cohen with a vengeance when they cross examine him.

Weissmann said of Trump's lawyers, "Obviously, they have a lot to work with. They can point out all of the ways that he has lied and committed other crimes. He's lied under oath, and he's also committed crimes not just for Donald Trump. That's clear. But he's also committed crimes on his own, unrelated to Donald Trump. And he's going to have to eat that as well."

Watch the full video below or at this link.

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