Michael Cohen as Trump’s hush money trial star witness is ‘pretty frustrating’: Kerri Kupec Urbahn
Fox News legal editor Kerri Kupec Urbahn and former federal prosecutor Andrew Cherkasky react to former President Trump’s hush money trial kicking off in New York.
Michael Cohen, former President Trump's ex-lawyer turned foe, announced Wednesday that he will not comment publicly on Trump anymore until after he testifies at his trial.
Trump’s historic trial kicked off last week, where he faces 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree. The case revolves around an accusation that he improperly reimbursed former lawyer Michael Cohen for a $130,000 payoff in 2016 to porn star Stormy Daniels to stay silent about an alleged affair with Trump, which Trump denies.
"Despite not being the gagged defendant, out of respect for Judge Merchan and the prosecutors, I will cease posting anything about Donald on my X (formerly Twitter) account or on the Mea Culpa Podcast until after my trial testimony," Cohen wrote in a post Wednesday. "See you all in a month (or more)."
Cohen, once a loyal fixer for Trump, turned against him and has called his old boss a "cheat," "liar" and threat to the United States. On his podcast, he said, "I am the canary in the coal mine for millions of Americans mesmerized by Trump."
Michael Cohen, President Trump's onetime lawyer, has announced that he will not post anything about his former employer on his X account or podcast. (Getty Images)
Cohen's announcement was met with a mixed response online.
"Hang in there, my friend. Thank you for once again stepping up and doing the right thing. You're a brave dude," popular left-wing commentator Majid Padellan, otherwise known as "Brooklyn Dad Defiant," told Cohen.
"If you don't post.. you can't lie," radio host Joe Pagliarulo wrote. "So, that's good."
"Wise move Michael," actor Mike Hamill wrote. "Much appreciated."
JUDGE WON'T SANCTION MICHAEL COHEN FOR CITING FAKE CASES IN AI-GENERATED LEGAL FILING
Trump is the first former president to ever face criminal charges, and he has called the case brought by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, a Democrat, "political persecution." The alleged crime in the case is not making a hush money payment, but rather that Trump knowingly made a campaign expenditure in far excess of legal limits that wasn't properly reported.
Michael Avenatti, the former attorney for Stormy Daniels, criticized the gag order against Trump in New York by Judge Juan Merchan in a phone interview with Fox News Digital, and has been harshly critical of Cohen's ability to speak out about the case ahead of the trial.
"I know what it's like when the government comes for you," he told Fox News Digital in a phone interview from prison this week. "Regardless of how smart you are or what your resources are, you have little to no hope of prevailing, even if you're a former president of the United States. And I think what is happening to Trump right now is wrong, and it's outrageous. And that is far more important to me than whether I agree with somebody about political views or not, or whether they're a Republican or Democrat."
Trump has called Cohen's credibility as a witness into question numerous times over the past few months. (Yuki Iwamura/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Trump has called Cohen's credibility as a witness into question numerous times over the past few months.
Cohen, who had previously pleaded guilty to tax and campaign finance violations and is currently under supervised release, has repeatedly sought to have his sentence reduced. In his most recent attempt, Cohen provided his attorney with fabricated case citations he later admitted were generated by Google's AI chatbot, formerly known as Bard.
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Fox News' David Rutz and Chris Pandolfo contributed to this report.
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