Donald Trump's former lawyer Michael Cohen told MSNBC's Katie Phang on Saturday that the former president "will be held accountable" in the New York hush money case against him.
Trump is facing up to 34 felony charges regarding the alleged falsification of business records and concealing hush-money payments to adult film actress Stormy Daniels during his 2016 presidential campaign. Daniels, whose legal name is Stephanie Clifford, was paid $130,000 in a deal arranged by Cohen to keep quiet about an alleged affair with Trump.
The former president has pleaded not guilty to all charges and claims that the case is politically motivated against him as he is the presumed GOP 2024 presidential nominee. He also denies the affair with Daniels.
The case brought by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg was set to go to trial on March 25, but Judge Juan Merchan ruled on Friday that the trial be delayed for 30 days after an additional 100,000-plus pages of pretrial discovery were produced by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ).
Appearing on The Katie Phang Show on Saturday, Cohen said: "Donald will be tried in this case, no doubt in my mind.
It's gonna be based on the determination of the jury, not on me, not on any of the witnesses. It's gonna be looked at based upon the credibility of the witnesses, but more important than the credibility of the witnesses is the documentary evidence which, if the jury believes so will ultimately show, that he is guilty of the charges that are being brought against him. And my prediction is that Donald Trump will be held accountable."
When asked about Cohen's comments, Trump's campaign spokesperson told Newsweek via email on Sunday: "Michael Cohen is a proven and self-admitted liar and loser."
Newsweek reached out to Cohen via text message for comment.
Cohen, who served prison time after pleading guilty to eight criminal counts including tax fraud and making false statements to a bank; and campaign finance violations stemming from his work with Trump, has become an outspoken critic of the former president.
He previously testified at a civil fraud trial against Trump in New York and is expected to be a key witness in Bragg's case against the former president.
As Trump continues to campaign for president, he must also juggle the criminal indictments, four in total, against him. He also has to come up with $454 million by March 25 while he appeals the ruling in his civil fraud trial.
The cost of Trump's legal troubles is piling up as he recently had to post a nearly $92 million bond while appealing the civil defamation lawsuit that former Elle columnist E. Jean Carroll filed against him and won.
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Rachel Dobkin is a Newsweek reporter based in New York. Her focus is reporting on politics. Rachel joined Newsweek in ... Read more
