Donald Trump stepped up his attacks on his former lawyer and mediator Tuesday morning, alleging that Michael Cohen asked him three times for a presidential pardon.
Cohen is a key witness as prosecutors build their case against Trump for more than $130,000 paid to silence adult film star Stormy Daniels.
Security has been tightened around the Lower Manhattan court complex as a grand jury considers indicting the former president.
Trump turned to Truth Social in an effort to undermine Cohen’s credibility.
“Remember, Michael Cohen was an attorney who also represented clients other than myself, and did business transactions for himself, like Taxi Cab Medallions, etc. He had nothing to do with his outside business,” Trump posted.
Former President Donald Trump tried Tuesday to undermine the credibility of Michael Cohen, his former mediator and now a key witness in the case against him in New York.
Trump used his social media platform to raise questions about Cohen’s motives
“On three separate occasions, Cohen has asked me to grant him a presidential pardon for actions related to these outside interests.
‘I said, correctly, “NO”. Some time later, he became a false narrator and began to lie about the facts.”
In 2017, Cohen pleaded guilty to tax fraud (among other charges) related to the income from his taxi business.
Trump revealed over the weekend that he expected to be arrested Tuesday, though aides have since said he was responding to leaks and media reports rather than a formal plan for his surrender.
Instead, reports suggest that the grand jury has not yet finished hearing the evidence and that another witness may be called on Wednesday.
On Monday he heard from Robert Costello, a lawyer with close ties to Trump advisers.
Analysts said it was a last chance to steer the grand jury away from an indictment after he publicly said he had information to undermine Cohen’s testimony.
“If they want to go after Donald Trump and they have solid evidence, so be it,” Costello told reporters. “But Michael Cohen is far from hard evidence.”
Trump and Cohen in happier times. The then-Republican presidential candidate appeared with his personal lawyer during a campaign stop in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, in September 2016.
On Monday night, Trump also posted a video on Truth Social, condemning the ‘witch hunt’ against him and criticizing Stormy Daniels.
Either way, Cohen is at the center of the case.
Cohen made the $130,000 hush payment to Daniels, 44, during Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign to ensure his silence.
Trump has always denied having an affair.
Cohen says he made the payment at Trump’s request using his own money from a home equity line of credit and that Trump later reimbursed him.
However, the payments were allegedly reported as legal fees in Trump’s business records, which could mean they amount to an unreported campaign contribution.
The allegations came to light while Trump was in office, prompting a federal investigation.
And in 2017, Cohen pleaded guilty to eight federal charges, including tax evasion, fraud and campaign finance violations, telling a court in Manhattan that Trump had ordered him to make the payments.
The New York Police Department set up barricades around the Lower Manhattan court complex on Monday.
That puts your credibility as a witness in the crosshairs.
Costello said that Cohen had previously said that he had not used Trump’s money for the payment.
“The bottom line is that Michael Cohen told us that he was approached by Stormy Daniels’ attorney and Stormy Daniels had negative information that she wanted to sue Trump,” he said. “So Michael Cohen decided for him, that’s what he told us, for him, to see if he could handle this.”
For his part, Cohen said it was a classic Trump tactic to launch a public relations campaign against witnesses with negative information about him.
“It’s a typical Donald J. Trump move out of the playbook,” Cohen told MSNBC on Monday night. ‘Find out how you’re going to muddy the water to the best of your ability, denigrate the person, belittle them.’
