Michael Cohen — who was the longtime personal attorney and "fixer" for former president Donald Trump — is calling on Judge Juan Merchan and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg to take action to further muzzle Trump ahead of his hush money trial.
During a Friday evening appearance on MSNBC, Cohen spoke about what his life has been like since Trump turned up the heat on his one-time confidant. As one of the prosecution's star witnesses in the trial, Cohen is expected to take the stand and give testimony proving that Trump orchestrated the hush money scheme he allegedly carried out ahead of the 2016 presidential election. However, Cohen told host Joy Ann Reid that even after Judge Merchan issued a gag order prohibiting Trump from directly attacking witnesses, he has experienced a slew of death threats from Trump supporters.
"It's witness intimidation and it's harassment," Cohen said. "What is his goal? Again, it's to incite these followers within which to prevent me from appearing before... the Manhattan district attorney, in this upcoming trial. He does not want to face accountability at any cost."
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Cohen referred to a post Trump made to his Truth Social account just hours before Merchan issued his gag order earlier this week. In the post — which Cohen called "incoherent" — the former president suggested without evidence that Attorney General Merrick Garland was coercing Judge Merchan to oversee the trial against his wishes. He also said that attorney Mark Pomerantz (whose firm assisted the Manhattan DA's office in its investigation of Trump's finances in 2022) and Cohen were "death," without explaining what he meant.
"D.A. Bragg fought everyone about trying this “no crime” case, but Crooked Joe Biden’s “Thugs” pushed him to go forward, and pushed him hard. They wanted him to go after ME, Crooked’s Political Opponent. He just didn’t want to do it," Trump wrote on Tuesday. "He eventually agreed to do the 'case' that he never wanted to do. Pomerantz and Cohen were 'death.' Now their hope is that Judge Juan Merchan, who should be recused, will pull them through. STOP THE STEAL!"
"The amount of death threats that I've gotten after the post he put out, the hate I'm receiving on social media from his supporters, is intensified as well after that tweet," Cohen told Reid on Friday. "He knows what he's doing. And I think it's incumbent on the Manhattan DA, along with whatever Judge Merchan is capable of doing to do something to protect not just staff, not just his own child, but all of the witnesses that are being asked to testify."
In Trump's trial, which is scheduled to begin on April 15, the former president is facing 34 felony counts of falsifying business records relating to a $130,000 payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels in exchange for her silence about an affair they had in 2006. Bragg elevated what is normally a misdemeanor charge to a felony charge by arguing that the payment was in fact an illegal campaign contribution, since it was allegedly done for the purposes of advancing his bid for the presidency.
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According to the indictment, Cohen made the initial $130,000 payment, and was reimbursed by Trump as a "retainer" for legal costs. However, Cohen disputes that there was a retainer, and made it clear that it was made explicitly to prevent Daniels from going to the media in the deciding weeks of the campaign cycle and potentially derailing Trump's presidential ambitions.
For his role in the plot, Cohen himself was sentenced to three years in federal prison for both submitting false documents relating to the hush money payment and for other crimes, including tax evasion. He was released in 2021.
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