Michael Cohen is expected to face his former boss Donald Trump in a Manhattan courtroom on Tuesday when he takes the stand in the New York attorney general’s $250 million fraud lawsuit against the former president.
Cohen told The Post he was not afraid to confront Trump, 77, at the 60 Center St. courthouse, adding he would arrive around 10 a.m. and would be the second witness called by the AG’s attorneys on Tuesday.
“As for Donald’s presence in the courtroom, it won’t affect me either,” he said Monday.
A source close to Trump said the 45th president is also expected to arrive around 10am
It will be his third stint in Manhattan Supreme Court since the trial of Attorney General Letitia James’ suit began on Oct. 2.
The 2024 Republican presidential front-runner – who has maintained his innocence and denounced the case as a politically motivated witch hunt – attended two days last week and three days in the first week of the trial.
The hearing was adjourned on Monday because of the COVID disclosures on both sides, sources said.
Cohen — Trump’s former personal lawyer and “fixer” — will take the stand after the former president’s lawyers finish their cross-examination of William “Bill” Kelly, general counsel for Mazars USA.
Donald Trump leaves court after the morning session of his civil trial.Steven Hirsch
Kelly is expected to testify about the Trump Organization allegedly withholding valuations from Mazars, his longtime accounting firm, and about the company’s decision to cut ties with the former president and his real estate company in February 2022.
James — who claims Trump and his company fraudulently inflated the value of his assets for years to gain a business advantage — launched his investigation following Cohen’s testimony about his former boss before Congress in February 2019.
Cohen, who served as vice president of the Trump Org and special counsel to Trump from 2006 to 2018, was sentenced to three years in prison following his guilty plea to campaign finance violations, tax and bank fraud and lying to Congress in 2018.
Michael Cohen said “the presence of Trump in the courtroom, it will not affect me either.” William Farrington
Convicted criminals are expected to be key witnesses in the AG’s case.
The AG’s attorneys, during opening statements earlier this month, played what they called a damning video clip in which Cohen said the former president coached him and former Trump Org chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg to lie about the value of Trump’s real estate empire to meet. the number of choices.
“Let’s say it says he’s worth $6 billion. Well, he wanted to be higher on the Forbes list, and he then said, ‘I’m not actually worth $6 billion. I’m worth seven. In fact, I think it’s actually worth eight now, with everything that’s going on,’” Cohen said in an April 23 deposition clip.
“Allen and I were tasked with taking assets, increasing each of those asset classes to cover that $8 billion,” Cohen added.
Trump in court for his trial.Steven Hirsch
It’s unclear whether cross-examination of Cohen will begin Tuesday but if the opening is any indication, Trump’s lawyers are likely to aggressively attack his credibility.
“The government is relying on its conspiracy evidence on serial liars,” Trump’s lawyer Chris Kise has claimed.
Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron – who decided the trial without a jury – has found Trump liable on James’ primary fraud claim for making “undeniably” false claims to obtain favorable terms with the bank.
The AG is seeking at least $250 million in fines and to effectively end Trump’s ability to conduct business in New York.
Additional reporting by Larry Celona
Categories: Trending
Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
