Michael Cohen returned to the witness stand on Wednesday for the second day of his testimony in the civil business fraud trial of his former employer, Donald Trump. During his first day of testimony, Cohen had stated that he and other key executives at Trump’s company had inflated the estimated values of their employer’s holdings in order to match the net worth that Trump had set “arbitrarily”.
Trump’s lawyer, Alina Habba, then proceeded to cross-examine Cohen, emphasizing his federal criminal convictions and attempting to portray him as a liar, particularly regarding his guilty pleas in 2018 to tax evasion and lying on a bank loan application. Cohen maintained that he did not actually commit those crimes and instead described his conduct as a matter of omissions and failure to correct paperwork.
On Wednesday, Habba continued to question Cohen in an effort to discredit his testimony. She highlighted the fact that Cohen had admitted to lying under oath in a courthouse next door.
Cohen is a key witness in the civil case brought against Trump by New York Attorney General Letitia James. James alleges that Trump habitually exaggerated the value of his real estate holdings on financial documents in order to obtain loans and insurance, and to make deals. Trump has denied any wrongdoing and claims that James, a Democrat, is targeting him for partisan reasons.
Cohen worked as Trump’s lawyer and fixer for many years before his 2018 prosecution, guilty pleas, and prison term for offenses that included lying to Congress and making illegal contributions to Trump’s campaign. Cohen has said he orchestrated payments to the women at Trump’s direction, though Trump has denied the women’s stories.
The two men had not been in the same room together in five years until Tuesday. Cohen called it a “heck of a reunion”. After the court session, Trump dismissed Cohen as a “disgraced felon”.
Cohen is also expected to be an important prosecution witness in a criminal trial scheduled for next spring in which Trump is accused of falsifying business records. Trump is facing four criminal prosecutions in New York, Florida, Georgia, and Washington.
Trump attended several days of the proceedings and declared that he was “happy with the way it’s going” and that “we have the facts on our side”. Trump is expected to testify later in the trial.
Michael Cohen’s testimony in the civil trial of his former employer, Donald Trump, has provided an intriguing insight into the inner workings of Trump’s business empire. Cohen’s testimony has highlighted the lengths that Trump and his team went to in order to inflate the estimated values of their holdings and to mislead banks and others. Trump’s lawyer has been working to discredit Cohen’s testimony, emphasizing his criminal convictions and attempting to portray him as a liar.
Cohen is a key witness in the civil case brought against Trump by New York Attorney General Letitia James, and is expected to be an important prosecution witness in the upcoming criminal trial. Trump has denied any wrongdoing and claims that James is targeting him for political reasons. Trump attended several days of the proceedings and declared that he was “happy with the way it’s going”.
The trial has provided a fascinating insight into the world of Donald Trump’s business dealings and the lengths that he and his team went to in order to mislead banks and others. It remains to be seen what the outcome of the trial will be, but it is clear that Michael Cohen’s testimony has been an important part of the proceedings.
