Michael Cohen remains a valuable witness in Trump civil fraud case — 'flaws and all': legal expert

26 October 2023

Michael Cohen, Donald Trump's former personal attorney and fixer, was once so devoted to the ex-president that he said he would have "taken a bullet" for him. But these days, Cohen is a scathing critic of Trump and repeatedly slams him as a corrupt and dangerous authoritarian.

On Tuesday, October 24, Cohen testified in New York State Attorney General Letitia James' civil fraud case against Trump. James alleges that the Trump Organization seriously inflated the value of its real estate assets — and Justice Arthur Engoron, assigned to the case, has agreed with her. Now, in a bench trial, it's a question of what types of sanctions Trump's company will face.

MSNBC legal analyst Lisa Rubin examines Cohen's testimony in an article published on October 25, stressing that despite his "flaws" as a witness, his testimony is important to the case.

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Trump's legal team, as expected, has attacked Cohen's credibility in the courtroom. Cohen has served time in federal prison because of illegal acts he committed while working for Trump, and he was disbarred in New York State.

"In essence, Cohen testified in a more gentle and subtle way to what Trump lawyer Alina Habba more dramatically and directly forced him to admit on cross: that, in pleading guilty in 2018, he testified under oath to conduct he now disavows," Rubin explains. "Habba then presented Cohen with the trial witness' version of Sophie's choice: either he was lying then, under oath, to a federal judge or he is lying now. Cohen, unabashed, confirmed that he lied then."

Rubin adds, however, that despite his "flaws" in court, it made sense for James to use him as a witness against the Trump Organization.

Rubin argues, "Given his messiness on the stand — something any watcher of cable news could have anticipated — why then would the attorney general call Cohen?.... Specifically, Cohen's account is that Trump himself not only intended to misrepresent his net worth, but was the architect of that fraud. Put another way, Cohen was in the rooms where it happened — and he might be the only person who will testify truthfully to what went down. That's why the AG’s office took the risk of offering Cohen, flaws and all, as a witness."

Read Lisa Rubin's full analysis for MSNBC at this link.

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