Trump's 'sworn enemy' is witness in next trial — and he intends to destroy him: expert
February 20, 2024
Donald Trump's one-time fixer Michael Cohen is the former president's "sworn enemy" — and the former president "will stop at nothing" to destroy him, according to a MSNBC legal analyst.
Lisa Rubin appeared on MSNBC's "Deadline White House" on Tuesday to discuss Trump's upcoming criminal court case linked to accusations that he paid hush money to an adult film star to cover up an affair before the 2016 presidential election.
And she reminded viewers of Trump's belief in "the importance of Michael Cohen."
She pointed to Trump's $355 million fraud case in Manhattan civil court — and the way his team put the focus on the credibility of Cohen as a witness.
"Trump's folks said at this last trial that ... Cohen 'was the star witness,'" Rubin said. "That oversells Cohen's importance in that case. There was so much documentary evidence, so much so that Judge [Arthur] Engoron at one point said the amount of evidence they have could fill this courtroom."
Host Alicia Menendez asked if Cohen's credibility concerns would haunt him in the hush money case, to which Rubin replied, "Yes and no," explaining that it will impact how the judge and the defense deal with Cohen but that Engoron saw Cohen as a credible witness — and that suggests the next judge will, too.
"I saw someone honest, relaxed," she said of his fraud trial testimony. "Does that matter to Donald Trump? Not one bit. Michael Cohen is his sworn enemy. He will stop at nothing to destroy his credibility. He will continue to accuse him of lying on the stand, and that will be a particularly rough cross-examination."
Cohen has made similar claims about Trump, pointing to his own prosecution after which he spent time in prison for paying cash to the actress, Stormy Daniels, despite saying he was little more than the negotiator and bagman for Trump.
In his book "Revenge: How Donald Trump Weaponized the U.S. Department of Justice Against His Critics," Cohen accused Trump of using the Justice Department and Bureau of Prisons in an attempt to intimidate Cohen into fear and silence.
In Nov. 2023, Trump demanded Cohen turn over all of his electronics and information in the hush money case, saying he needed it for his defense. New York District Attorney Alvin Bragg filed a response to Trump's motion asking that his case be tossed out of court — and accused the defendant of demanding special treatment because he was a presidential candidate.
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Speaking to Alicia Mendez over the weekend, Cohen explained the ways in which Trump and his allies continued attacks on his personal credibility.
He gave props to Engoron for a line about Cohen having more credibility in testifying than the likes of Donald Trump Jr. or Allen Weisselberg.
"Remember, I have testified before seven congressional committees, the [Robert] Mueller team, the Manhattan district attorney, the attorney general, been on the grand jury, on the trial for that case and soon to be on the witness stand for the Manhattan D.A. case," Cohen explained. "I've continuously told the same story, and the story is a truthful story. All of my information is predicated both on documentary evidence and corroboration from others."
Rubin also warned that the judge presiding over the case, Judge Juan Merchan, will be more of a no-nonsense judge in the vein of Judge Lewis Kaplan, who presided over the E. Jean Carroll judgment.
See the full comments from Rubin below or at the link here.
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