Donald Trump’s former fixer Michael Cohen mistakenly gave lawyers fake legal citations generated by artificial intelligence, the New York Times reported Friday.
Cohen said in unsealed court papers that Google Bard created the citations used in a motion provided to a federal judge in Manhattan, the Times reported.
Cohen was asking for an early end to court supervision after he pleaded guilty to campaign finance violations in 2018, served his time in prison and complied with release conditions, the report noted.
Cohen explained in the filing he was unaware of the risks of using AI, according to the report.
“[Cohen] did not realize that Google Bard was a generative text service that, like ChatGPT, could show citations and descriptions that looked real but actually were not,” the sworn declaration reportedly stated.
According to the Times, Cohen casts some of the blame on lawyer David M. Schwartz for using the cases “without even confirming that they existed.”
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This revelation could echo in the criminal courtroom where Trump will face felony charges that he falsified records to pay hush money to adult film actress Stormy Daniels, reporter Benjamin Weiser argues.
“Mr. Cohen is expected to serve as the star witness,” Weiser writes. “The former president’s lawyers have long attacked Mr. Cohen as a serial fabulist; now, they will have a brand-new example.”
Earlier this month, federal judge Jesse M. Furman uncovered the three decisions cited by Schwartz and demanded an explanation if the attorney was unable to produce them.
Cohen's attorney E. Danya Perry, founding partner of Perry Law, provided Raw Story with a statement calling the matter an "honest mistake."
"The filings show that Mr. Cohen did absolutely nothing wrong," said Perry. "He relied on his lawyer, as he had every right to do. Unfortunately, his lawyer appears to have made an honest mistake in not verifying the citations in the brief he drafted and filed."
This story was updated Dec. 29 at 3 p.m. to include comment from E. Danya Perry.
