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‘Stunning’: New Trump Trial Revelation Shocks Jake Tapper (VIDEO)

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The “stunning” admission that Michael Cohen stole from the Trump Organization visibly shocked CNN’s Jake Tapper on Monday.

Cohen, the lawyer who made out the $130,000 hush money to former porn actress Stormy Daniels, told defense attorney Todd Blanche that he stole $30,000 from former President Donald Trump’s company to get himself bonus money he believed he deserved relating to the reimbursement deal.

“It’s fascinating stuff, and I have to say, I’m still kind of reeling from the revelation that Michael Cohen stole money from the Trump Organization and that wasn’t, at least to my knowledge, that the prosecution didn’t get that out earlier because it’s not as though the prosecution is going to be helped by further evidence that Michael Cohen is a shady character … that was just kind of stunning,” Tapper said.

Chief legal analyst Laura Coates expressed surprise that the prosecution did not point to Cohen’s admission or his reputation as a liar.

“If they can establish Michael Cohen as somebody who is not to be trusted about the amount of money as well, then they might be able to suggest that Donald Trump had no idea what he was truly paying,” Coates said. (Read more from “‘Stunning’: New Trump Trial Revelation Shocks Jake Tapper” HERE)

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Michael Cohen’s Ex-Attorney Contradicts Trump ‘Fixer’s’ Testimony, Gets Ripped by Judge in Fiery Scene at Hush Money Trial

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An attorney who once represented Michael Cohen testified Monday that Donald Trump’s fixer-turned-foe had told him the ex-president “knew nothing” about the hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels — moments before irking the judge by rolling his eyes and muttering on the stand.

Robert “Bob” Costello, the second witness called by Trump’s lawyers at his Manhattan criminal trial, contradicted previous testimony by Cohen that the real estate mogul was aware of the deal to pay Daniels $130,000 to silence her story about having a tryst with him.

“Michael Cohen said numerous times that President Trump knew nothing about those payments, that he did this on his own, and he repeated that numerous times,” claimed Costello, a Trump ally who last week bashed the prosecution’s case in front of Congress.

Cohen also whined to him that “I don’t understand why they’re trying to put me in jail” over nondisclosure agreements, such as the one struck with Daniels, Costello, a former federal prosecutor in New York, added from the stand.

Tensions flared minutes later after Costello grew visibly peeved — muttering under his breath — after Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan sustained several objections from prosecutors to his testimony. (Read more from “Michael Cohen’s Ex-Attorney Contradicts Trump ‘Fixer’s’ Testimony, Gets Ripped by Judge in Fiery Scene at Hush Money Trial” HERE)

Trump’s Attorney Made Swiss Cheese Out of Michael Cohen’s Testimony, Raising Questions of Perjury

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Former President Donald Trump’s defense attorney rebutted Michael Cohen’s testimony during a brutal cross-examination Thursday, which has legal commentators raising the possibility Cohen again committed perjury.

Defense attorney Todd Blanche confronted Cohen on his past lies under oath, including to Congress and a federal judge, asking him whether he took the same oath before testifying then as he did to testify in this trial: a pointed question aimed to raise doubts about his current claims. Cohen’s prospects took a turn for the worse in the final few minutes before lunch break, when Blanche point-blank accused Cohen of lying when he testified Tuesday that he had called Trump’s bodyguard, Keith Schiller, on Oct. 24, 2016, to discuss the matter of paying porn star Stormy Daniels.

“That was a lie!” Blanche nearly shouted at Cohen. “You did not talk to President Trump on that night,” Blanche said. “You talked to Keith Schiller.”

Blanche pointed to text messages Cohen sent minutes before the call asking how he should handle a 14-year-old’s harassing phone calls to him, to which Schiller responded “call me.”

Cohen said he believed he also spoke to Trump. Blanche pushed back, asking how that was possible on a call that only lasted just a minute and 36 seconds. (Read more from “Trump’s Attorney Made Swiss Cheese Out of Michael Cohen’s Testimony, Raising Questions of Perjury” HERE)

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Former Federal Prosecutor Testifies Michael Cohen Told Him He Had ‘Nothing Truthful’ Showing Trump’s Guilt

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Former federal prosecutor Robert Costello testified before Congress Wednesday that Michael Cohen — the star witness in Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s case against former President Donald Trump — told him he had “nothing truthful” implicating Trump of a crime.

Costello, who advised Cohen when he became the subject of investigation by federal prosecutors in the Southern District of New York, told the House Judiciary Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government that Cohen is now on a “revenge tour” against Trump and lacks credibility. His testimony challenges claims Cohen made on the witness stand during Trump’s Manhattan trial.

Cohen testified Monday that Trump both directed him to pay for a nondisclosure agreement with porn star Stormy Daniels and approved of the plan to reimburse him for the payment, which underlies the falsifying business records charges at the center of Bragg’s case.

Cohen said on Tuesday that Costello told him he could set up “backchannel” communications with Trump through his friend, Rudy Giuliani, and the jury saw emails the two exchanged where Costello suggested he could relay messages to Trump. Cohen claimed that he never told Costello “the truth” about Trump’s involvement in the Daniels payment because he did not believe he could be trusted.

(Read more from “Former Federal Prosecutor Testifies Michael Cohen Told Him He Had ‘Nothing Truthful’ Showing Trump’s Guilt” HERE)

‘Mr. Fix-It’ Michael Cohen Bombs on the Stand, Offers No New Evidence to Convict Trump

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By Washington Examiner. Michael Cohen apparently wants a reality show but, if his testimony Monday is any indication, reality is about to sink in for not just Cohen but the prosecutors and the court.

In stoking interest in his own appearance, the former Trump counsel promised the public that they should be “prepared to be surprised.”

Thus far, however, Cohen has offered nothing new and, more importantly, nothing to make the case for Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.

Just before he took the stand, the New York Post revealed that Cohen has been peddling a reality show called “The Fixer,” including working with Colin Whelan, who helped create “Joe Exotic: Tigers, Lies and Cover-Up.” Whelan appears interested to stay within that genre.

The Cohen pitch came with a cheesy promo video where he promised viewers, “I am your fixer.” (Read more from “‘Mr. Fix-It’ Michael Cohen Bombs on the Stand, Offers No New Evidence to Convict Trump” HERE)

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Legal Adviser Declares Jury ‘Will Believe’ an Atoned Michael Cohen

By Washington Examiner. Michael Cohen’s legal adviser declared Monday that the ex-attorney of former President Donald Trump has atoned for his wrongdoing and will be believed by the hush money trial jury.

“Michael and I talked last night, and we recalled the journey that we’ve been on,” legal crisis manager and attorney Lanny Davis told Mika Brzezinski of MSNBC’s Morning Joe. “In late June of 2018, before he went public, I asked him, ‘How is anyone going to believe you after 10 years of lying for Donald Trump?’”

Cohen responded with a show of contrition and an acceptance of the consequences that would follow, according to Davis.

(Read more from “Legal Adviser Declares Jury ‘Will Believe’ an Atoned Michael Cohen” HERE)

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House Intelligence Committee Chairman Calls for Investigation Into Michael Cohen’s Admission of Lying to Congress

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House Intelligence Committee Chairman Michael Turner is asking Attorney General Merrick Garland to investigate Michael Cohen after Donald Trump’s former “fixer” admitted in an ongoing civil fraud trial that he lied to Congress.

Cohen, the 77-year-old ex-president’s onetime lawyer, served a three-year prison term for lying in 2017 to the Senate Intelligence Committee and other crimes — and Turner (R-Ohio) says his freshly admitted untruth dating to 2019 before the House Intelligence Committee may warrant another prosecution.

Cohen testified at Trump’s New York fraud trial on Oct. 25 that “yes” he lied in February 2019 to the House panel — a crime punishable by up to five years in prison — when he said Trump didn’t ask him to inflate his personal financial statements.

Under oath before the committee, Cohen said: “Did he ask me to inflate the numbers? Not that I recall, no” — before testifying in court last month that Trump had done just that.

Cohen testified in the trial, “I was tasked by Mr. Trump to increase the total assets based upon a number that he arbitrarily elected … and my responsibility, along with [then-Trump Organization CFO] Allen Weisselberg, primarily, was to reverse engineer.”

Trump lawyer Alina Habba pressed Cohen on the inconsistency.

“Mr. Cohen, were you being honest in front of the Permanent Select Committee when you testified [in] February … 2019?” Habba asked.

“No,” Cohen said. (Read more from “House Intelligence Committee Chairman Calls for Investigation Into Michael Cohen’s Admission of Lying to Congress” HERE)

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Trump Files Lawsuit Against Michael Cohen Seeking More Than $500 Million

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Former President Donald Trump has filed a 32-page lawsuit against his former attorney, Michael Cohen, alleging he “breached his fiduciary duties owed to Trump” by spreading lies and revealing “confidences.”

Trump’s legal team filed the lawsuit, which seeks more than $500 million in damages, against Cohen Wednesday in the Miami Division of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida.

The complaint and demand for a jury trial, which Fox News first reported, allege that Cohen, who is now disbarred in the state of New York, spread “falsehoods about [Trump] with malicious intent” and that he revealed his former client’s “confidences” in addition to other transgressions:

Defendent [Cohen] breached his fiduciary duties owed to Plaintiff [Trump] by virtue of their attorney-client relationship by both revealing Plaintiff’s confidences, and spreading falsehoods about Plaintiff, likely to be embarrassing or detrimental, and partook in other misconduct in violation of New York Rules of Professional Conduct, including Rules 1.5, 1.6, 1.9, and 8.4.

Defendent breached the contractual terms of the confidentiality agreement he signed as a condition of employment with Plaintiff by both revealing Plaintiff’s confidences, and spreading falsehoods about Plaintiff with malicious intent and to wholly self-serving ends.

(Read more from “Trump Files Lawsuit Against Michael Cohen Seeking More Than $500 Million” HERE)

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Michael Cohen: Trump Is Going to Be Indicted ‘Relatively Soon’

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Former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen said Wednesday on MSNBC’s “The ReidOut” that former President Donald Trump will be indicted for crimes related to the mishandling of classified documents soon.

Cohen said, “I do think there’s going to be an indictment and relatively soon. I believe there will also be congressional hearings with Donald in the hot seat where, you know, either he’ll come in willingly, which I don’t think he will or via subpoena. I mean, the real questions that they have to be asking right now is, you know, where are the documents that were in the empty top secret files that were found at Mar-a-Lago? I mean, that’s really the big question, and who did Donald give them to or show them to.” (Read more from “Michael Cohen: Trump Is Going to Be Indicted ‘Relatively Soon’” HERE)

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Report: Trump’s Children Will Be Indicted ‘Next’

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Donald Trump’s former personal lawyer Michael Cohen predicted Thursday on CNN “Newsroom” that Manhattan prosecutors investigating the Trump Organization will indict former President Donald Trump’s children Ivanka, Donald Jr., and Eric “next.”

Anchor Alisyn Camerota said, “There were other people mentions, other employees, and it sounded like it goes beyond Allen Weisselberg. You think this is bigger than Allen Weisselberg. Who do you think is next to be indicted?”

Cohen said, “Well, I think Matthew Calamari is on the chopping block as well. He received the same type of perks. He received the same perks and benefits that Allen Weisselberg received. On top of that, I also believe there are other members of the Trump Organization, including the children, who are next to come up onto these indictments.” (Read more from “Report: Trump’s Children Will Be Indicted ‘Next’” HERE)

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Report: Why Was Trump’s Ex-Attorney Michael Cohen Eating at a Swank Restaurant While Under House Arrest?

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Michael Cohen — who is still on house arrest — was spotted at fancy French bistro Le Bilboquet on the Upper East Side Wednesday night, after generating a flurry of headlines by eating at the same spot nearly a year ago.

Cohen, 54, pled guilty to campaign finance fraud stemming from hush-money payments to porn actress Stormy Daniels and ex-Playboy model Karen McDougal — as well as tax evasion and lying to Congress — and was sentenced to three years.

He was released from prison in May 2020 due to concerns about coronavirus, and has been serving out the remainder of his sentence — ending in November — under house arrest.

Cohen’s lawyer Jeffrey K. Levine tells us that for Wednesday evening’s dining out, Cohen “got special permission from the BOP [Bureau of Prisons} and RRM [Residential Reentry Management] to eat out. He made a request and it was granted.” (Read more from “Report: Why Was Trump’s Ex-Attorney Michael Cohen Eating at a Swank Restaurant While Under House Arrest?” HERE)

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