Lawyers tried to discredit Michael Cohen — but now Trump wants to claim he told the truth
Donald Trump finally revealed what Michael Cohen said that made him think he was declared "innocent" during his New York fraud trial this week.
In a Truth Social post on Sunday, Trump ranted against Attorney General Letitia James and Judge Arthur Engoron, two of his top foes, whom he has called everything from "crazy" to "racist."
Over the past several days, Trump has claimed that Cohen was a "STAR witness chocking like a dog," misspelling "choking." After the moment in court, Trump stormed out of the room and told the cameras he had just "won" his case. Finally, he explained what he meant.
"Their Star Witness admitted he lied, 'TRUMP did not Inflate Values,'" Trump explained.
What he means is that Trump personally didn't write out the numbers he wanted. In fact, both CFO Allen Weisselberg and Cohen testified that Trump would ask the men to ensure his net worth was higher, knowing that it would be a lie and they'd have to figure out how to make it work.
There's just one problem with that, Trump's lawyers spent their entire questioning of Cohen saying that he couldn't be trusted, he "lied under oath," he was a "known liar," and more. They can't have it both ways. Either Cohen is a liar, or he gave testimony that confirmed Trump's innocence, but it can't be both.
Cohen explained on the stand during the attorney general's office redirect that Trump was like a mafia boss who ordered people to do things or fix things, so he was never the one whose hands were committing a crime.
"Donald and his sycophantic lawyers are conflating two different parts of the testimony and for the purpose of trying to create an alternative narrative," Cohen told Raw Story in a comment on Sunday.
He explained that Trump is conflating two different stories into the same. One is that Cohen confessed to lying when he pleaded guilty to tax fraud in 2018. Cohen has always maintained he never committed tax fraud and instead. He was pressured into a plea deal after the Southern District of New York claimed they were going to indict Cohen and his wife, Cohen said in court citing the infamous "Petrillo Memo." Trump's lawyers tried to make Cohen out to be discredited because of that 2018 lie. Trump in his Truth Social post is negating that by claiming Cohen is credible.
On the stand, Trump's lawyers also tried to claim that what Cohen testified to Congress in 2019 was false, but that doesn't work out in Trump's favor either. Cohen said to Congress that Trump inflated assets, but he also said that there was no "tape" of Trump watching sex workers urinate on a hotel bed in Russia. Cohen also disputed the Trump "love child" story when speaking to Congress. So, if Trump thinks everything Cohen said to Congress was a lie, it doesn't do much in his favor.
"Also, I have a 100% Disclaimer Clause (reader beware!), and Financial Statements are Conservative," Trump also said. It is his ongoing claim that he put in his financial statements that everything he said could have been a lie, assuming it would protect him against litigation.