MSNBC's Donny Deustch spoke to his friend Michael Cohen after his explosive testimony against President Donald Trump.
The former Trump Organization attorney testified to the House Oversight Committee about his decade-long work for the president, which included lies, threats and shady payoffs, and Deutsch told "Morning Joe" how Cohen felt after the daylong hearing.
"Obviously he was exhausted," Deutsch said. "I said, 'How do you think you did?' He said, 'I'm really happy.' I said, 'What would you change?' He said, 'I wouldn't change anything.'"
Cohen had to prove himself credible after previously lying to Congress about his work for the president, and Deutsch said the former attorney accomplished that.
"Where Michael won the game stunningly is two points," Deutsch said. "If it comes down to a he said-she said, do you believe Trump or do you believe Cohen, where one guy has said all along, he told me to give me the payments, he paid me, Trump said no, and there you have the evidence."
"To me what gave him his credibility is where he exonerated Trump," he added.
Cohen was asked about a rumored elevator surveillance recording of Trump allegedly striking his wife Melania, but Cohen said he did not believe such a tape existed and doubted the president would even do that.
"It would have been easy for him to say I've heard of a tape, I've never seen it," Deutsch said. "Not only did he not say there's no such tape, but he went one step further (and) said, 'Mr. Trump would never hit Mrs. Trump.' Same thing with the pee tape, it would have been very easy -- he goes, 'It does not exist.' Same thing, do you have direct knowledge of collusion? 'No, I don't.'"
Deutsch also praised Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), whom he also criticized as "extremely dangerous to the Democratic Party," for her pointed questioning of Cohen.
"She really had a mission, and she knows this ends up in the (Southern District of New York), and her line of questioning about taxes, about inflation of assets, about insurance fraud, is the one that's going to obviously invite more witnesses in," Deutsch said. "This was the opening act, and I've said this ad nauseam -- this ends up in the Southern District, this ends up in a Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act."
"I thought this was a great day for Cohen, I thought it was a great day for America," he added. "It was a stunningly poor day for the Republicans."
