Donald Trump’s former personal attorney Michael Cohen said, in his view, Manhattan prosecutors have enough evidence to indict and convict the former president as part of the office’s investigation into the hush money payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels.
“I promise you and I promise the American people that all the information that is needed in order to create the indictment, to get a prosecution and a conviction, is in the hands of the district attorney,” Cohen told ABC News Anchor George Stephanopoulos on Friday.
Cohen’s remarks come just days after he testified before a Manhattan grand jury investigating the $130,000 hush money payment made to Daniels during Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign to keep her quiet about an affair they had years before.
Cohen also told ABC News he is “absolutely” prepared for cross-examination in a potential trial, adding he is not worried about allies of Trump attacking his testimony.
“The facts are the facts. The truth is the truth and the truth will always rise so I’m not worried about anything that they want to come at me with,” Cohen said.
The former president has repeatedly denied the allegation and his attorneys have framed the funds as an extortion payment. Trump has denied knowledge of the payment and pinned the blame on Cohen since news of it first surfaced in 2018.
As speculation about an impending Trump indictment grows, the Trump campaign put out a new statement on Thursday, attacking the Manhattan DA’s office and arguing that Trump is innocent.
“President Donald J. Trump is completely innocent, he did nothing wrong, and even the biggest, most Radical Left Democrats are making that clear,” Steven Cheung, a spokesperson for his campaign, said in a statement. “From Russia, Russia, Russia, to the Mueller Hoax, to Impeachment Hoaxes 1 and 2, and even the Unlawful Mar-a-Lago Raid, Democrats have investigated and attacked President Trump since before he was elected — and they’ve failed every time.”
An indictment against Trump in the case would be historic as no former American president has ever been indicted before.
“Do you think justice will be served?” Stephanopoulos asked during the Friday morning interview.
“I know it will be,” Cohen replied.
When asked about his biggest regret, Cohen said it was taking the job Trump offered him in 2007.
“I was working for a man who ultimately became president of the United States, and, yes, there are things that we did that were wrong — for example, the hush-money payment — but I never expected that democracy would be on the line as a direct result of the former president,” Cohen added.
May This Be So
Listened to a short podcast this morning from Elie Honig who said that, even if eventually convicted, which is no sure bet, Trump would be highly unlikely to ever do jail time for this specific offense. He felt that an indictment for this particular offense would be a big deal because it would be a first (former president and all that), but at the same time it would be very anti-climactic this long after the offense was committed.
Well at least somebody is in trouble… I woulda thought we’d have the nads to indict trump but the ICC sucked it up and did their job. This could have Jack Smith’s fingerprints all over it.
ICC issues war crime arrest warrant for Putin
By Kathleen Magramo, Jack Guy, Aditi Sangal, Adrienne Vogt, Leinz Vales and Matt Meyer, CNN
Updated 12:29 p.m. ET, March 17, 2023
… … … … … … … …
Ya know… Was thinkin’ of all the civilians they killed
There’s something to be said for expediency when you reach the point that witnesses start dying of old age.
Momentum is what we need.