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Michael Cohen on the Trump Trial: Prepare To Be Surprised (Politico Q&A) [View all]
By RYAN LIZZA
04/12/2024 05:00 AM EDT
Three of Trump’s four criminal trials — the ones in Washington, Florida and Georgia — seem hopelessly stalled. But on Monday in New York, the “hush money” case is set to begin. And Cohen is the star witness — the man who paid Stormy Daniels to keep quiet about her alleged affair with Trump. Trump then reimbursed Cohen and, as Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg alleges in his 34-count indictment, falsified records about those payments to “conceal criminal activity.”
Trump’s defense is simple: You can’t trust Cohen. So what does Cohen have to say on the eve of the first criminal trial of a former president, someone who happens to be his one-time boss and mentor? A lot.
Q: I’ve heard you say that people are wrong when they say that this is the weakest of the four cases against Trump. Tell me if I’ve got that right?
A: What I’ve said consistently is that for whatever the reason might be, the American public treats these four indictments like it’s the Kentucky Derby. Everybody’s handicapping and picking and choosing which one is the most offensive and violative of law. I will concede right now that the January 6th insurrection is more grotesque in terms of illegal behavior than this specific case — campaign finance, hush money, we’ll call it business record fraud. That’s what I prefer to call it: the “business record fraud” case. Then you have the failure to return top-secret documents, showing them to people who do not have proper clearance to see [and] that places America’s national security in jeopardy. Yes, that is more abusive towards the law than the campaign finance-business record fraud case. And I will even turn around and say that the Fani Willis case — attempting to overturn a free and fair election [in Georgia] — is more of a grotesque abuse of the law than the Alvin Bragg case. Nevertheless, the campaign finance — the business record fraud — is a crime, and if it was you or anybody else, they would already have been indicted, the case would have already proceeded and chances are they would have already been convicted and sentenced.
04/12/2024 05:00 AM EDT
Three of Trump’s four criminal trials — the ones in Washington, Florida and Georgia — seem hopelessly stalled. But on Monday in New York, the “hush money” case is set to begin. And Cohen is the star witness — the man who paid Stormy Daniels to keep quiet about her alleged affair with Trump. Trump then reimbursed Cohen and, as Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg alleges in his 34-count indictment, falsified records about those payments to “conceal criminal activity.”
Trump’s defense is simple: You can’t trust Cohen. So what does Cohen have to say on the eve of the first criminal trial of a former president, someone who happens to be his one-time boss and mentor? A lot.
Q: I’ve heard you say that people are wrong when they say that this is the weakest of the four cases against Trump. Tell me if I’ve got that right?
A: What I’ve said consistently is that for whatever the reason might be, the American public treats these four indictments like it’s the Kentucky Derby. Everybody’s handicapping and picking and choosing which one is the most offensive and violative of law. I will concede right now that the January 6th insurrection is more grotesque in terms of illegal behavior than this specific case — campaign finance, hush money, we’ll call it business record fraud. That’s what I prefer to call it: the “business record fraud” case. Then you have the failure to return top-secret documents, showing them to people who do not have proper clearance to see [and] that places America’s national security in jeopardy. Yes, that is more abusive towards the law than the campaign finance-business record fraud case. And I will even turn around and say that the Fani Willis case — attempting to overturn a free and fair election [in Georgia] — is more of a grotesque abuse of the law than the Alvin Bragg case. Nevertheless, the campaign finance — the business record fraud — is a crime, and if it was you or anybody else, they would already have been indicted, the case would have already proceeded and chances are they would have already been convicted and sentenced.
Read more: https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2024/04/12/michael-cohen-trump-trial-surprise-00151868
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