Trump lawyer tries to forged Cohen as a liar in cross-examination
Not surprisingly, Trump lawyer Alina Habba is attempting to forged Michael Cohen as a liar, as he’s the important thing witness in New York lawyer common Letitia James’s civil fraud case in opposition to the ex-president.
She’s additionally tried to catch Cohen in a lure admitting to perjury. (Mendacity beneath oath, which is perjury, constitutes against the law.)
She particularly honed in on Cohen’s disavowal Tuesday of his guilt in a number of crimes he did, in reality, admit to 5 years in the past.
“There was no tax evasion. At greatest, it could possibly be characterised as a tax omission. I’ve by no means in my life not paid taxes,” Cohen had insisted, noting that he’d spoken out in opposition to this cost many occasions. Cohen stated there have been crimes he did plead responsible to that he dedicated, however not all the things.
“I needed to right the document as a result of when all of this began, it was overwhelming, the quantity of misinformation, disinformation, mal-information about me was overwhelming and massive,” Cohen stated. He additionally disavowed arranging the cost to Karen McDougal, which he admitted to throughout his first plea continuing.
“I acknowledged my complicity within the Stormy Daniels matter, however…I by no means paid Karen McDougal,” Cohen stated Tuesday. “I used to be tasked to evaluation paperwork to make sure that Trump was protected.”
Habba repeatedly requested Cohen whether or not he dedicated “perjury” throughout his responsible plea earlier than the late Manhattan federal court docket decide William Pauley.
After legal professionals on each side went head-to-head about whether or not Habba may use the phrase ‘“perjury,” Engoron instructed them to proceed with out the time period. She finally obtained her level throughout, with out the linguistic showmanship.
“Yesterday was the primary time you admitted, in open court docket, that you simply lied to Decide Pauley, right?”
“In open court docket?” Cohen stated. “Sure.”
Before Cohen returned to the witness stand several minutes ago, judge Engoron–who fined Trump $5000 for violating a gag order that barred Trump from commenting about him or his staff–said he was just alerted to comments that appeared to violate said order yet again.
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“It was just brought to my attention that the Associated Press reported…Mr Donald J Trump just stated the following to the press gaggle outside the courtroom: ‘This judge is a very partisan judge with a person who is very partisan sitting alongside him, perhaps even much more partisan than he is.’”
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“It’s really easy for the public or anyone to know who that person is,” Engoron said, referring to the law clerk whom Trump previously disparaged.
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“This recent statement–assuming the Associated Press is correct– obviously was intentional. I stated the last time that any future violations would be severely punished,” Engoron said. “Again, I should ask the question: Why should there not be severe sanctions for this blatant, dangerous disobeyl of a clear court order?”
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Trump lawyer Chris Kise insisted “His whole commentary related to Mr Cohen and his credibility as a witness. We’re certainly aware of the order.”
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Engoron didn’t appear to buy the explanation, saying that the word “alongside” strongly suggested Trump was referring to his clerk. “I’ll take the whole matter under advisement,” Engoron said.
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Habba’s cross has also tried to paint Cohen as a spurned friend desperate to save his own skin.
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She asked Cohen whether he ever told Robert Costello, who was once a longterm Trump ally, “I don’t have anything on Donald Trump. I swear to god I don’t have anything on Donald Trump.
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“I don’t recall that.”
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“Do you recall that you told him that you would do – excuse my French – whatever the F it takes to avoid jail time?”
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“I don’t recall that, either.”
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Habba later intimated that Cohen was upset at Trump for not giving him a top White House position. She showed a series of spring 2017 texts between Cohen where someone listed as “Person 4” speculated about Trump’s chief-of-staff pick.
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“Keep guessing, dopey,” Cohen said.
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“Stop!!! You!” Person 4 replied, writing shortly thereafter: “OMG Please be true. Are you serious? You need to.”
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“He needs to ask, I would never,” Cohen responded.
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“You were never given a position in the White House, were you, Mr Cohen?”
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“I was given the position that I asked for. There’s no shame in being personal attorney to the president.”
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Court has now broken for the mid-morning break.
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Not surprisingly, Trump attorney Alina Habba is trying to cast Michael Cohen as a liar, as he’s the key witness in New York attorney general Letitia James’s civil fraud case against the ex-president.
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She’s also tried to catch Cohen in a trap admitting to perjury. (Lying under oath, which is perjury, constitutes a crime.)
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She specifically honed in on Cohen’s disavowal Tuesday of his guilt in several crimes he did, in fact, admit to five years ago.
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“There was no tax evasion. At best, it could be characterized as a tax omission. I have never in my life not paid taxes,” Cohen had insisted, noting that he’d spoken out against this charge many times. Cohen said there were crimes he did plead guilty to that he committed, but not everything.
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“I wanted to correct the record because when all of this started, it was overwhelming, the amount of misinformation, disinformation, mal-information about me was overwhelming and enormous,” Cohen said. He also disavowed arranging the payment to Karen McDougal, which he admitted to during his first plea proceeding.
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“I acknowledged my complicity in the Stormy Daniels matter, but…I never paid Karen McDougal,” Cohen said Tuesday. “I was tasked to review documents to ensure that Trump was protected.”
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Habba repeatedly asked Cohen whether he committed “perjury” during his guilty plea before the late Manhattan federal court judge William Pauley.
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After lawyers on both sides went head-to-head about whether Habba could use the word ‘“perjury,” Engoron instructed them to proceed without the term. She eventually got her point across, without the linguistic showmanship.
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“Yesterday was the first time you admitted, in open court, that you lied to Judge Pauley, correct?”
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“In open court?” Cohen said. “Yes.”
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Michael Cohen is back on the stand.
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Trump lawyer Alina Habba, after wishing him “good morning”, said she reminded Cohen that he was still under oath.
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“True,” Judge Arthur Engoron said plainly from the bench.
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She’s asking Cohen about the many felonies he pleaded guilty to in 2018.
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Within moments, the attorney general’s office took issue with these questions, as Habba on Tuesday repeatedly asked him about this.
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“We did this yesterday,” Colleen Faherty, a lawyer for the attorney general, said.
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Good morning from downtown Manhattan, where Michael Cohen is expected to soon return to the witness stand in Donald Trump’s New York state civil fraud trial.
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Cohen’s testimony at the 60 Centre Street courthouse stems from New York attorney general Letitia James’s lawsuit against the ex-president. Her civil claim maintains that Trump unlawfully inflated values of his properties on financial statements when it suited him.
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Cohen, the onetime Trump fixer who in 2018 pleaded guilty to a plethora of federal crimes related to his ex-boss, repeatedly implicated him in financial wrongdoing on Tuesday. When proceedings resume this morning, Trump attorney Alina Habba will continue her cross-examination.
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Here are the key points of Cohen’s testimony against Trump on Tuesday.
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Trump wanted to “reverse-engineer” his net worth.
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Cohen testified that Trump wanted him and Weisselberg to figure out a way for him to have the net worth he wanted. Per Cohen: “I was tasked, by Mr Trump, to increase the total assets based upon a number that he arbitrary selected, and my responsibility, along with Allen Weisselberg predominately, was to reverse-engineer the various different asset classes, increase those assets, in order to achieve the number that Mr Trump had [requested] .”
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Cohen and Weisselberg altered monetary statements “by hand” to provide Trump his desired internet price.
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Throughout conferences when Cohen and Weisselberg mentioned Trump’s financials, he would make calls for about what they need to be. Trump, Cohen stated, “would have a look at the whole belongings and he would say, ‘I’m truly not price $4.5bn, I’m actually price extra like six.’
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“He would then direct Allen and I to return to Allen’s workplace and return after we achieved the desir[ed] objective.” Cohen stated he and Weisselberg would go line-by-line on the monetary assertion and “mark it up by hand … in in a position to get the whole asset quantity that Mr Trump requested us to attain”.
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Trump allegedly had ultimate management over enterprise operations
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The New York lawyer common’s workplace is working onerous to show that Trump and his inside circle conspired in defrauding lenders and insurers with inflated property valuations. Cohen’s testimony places Trump on the middle of constructing choices that enabled this alleged wrongdoing. Trump, he stated, made choices about his desired internet price, how he’d current himself to insurers–and which of his underlings would perform his needs. “All the ultimate choices had been finished by Mr Trump,” Cohen stated.
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Proceedings will kick off round 9.30am ET. We can be offering dwell protection as they progress.
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Key occasions
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Decide In Trump Case Will Weigh Potential Gag Order Violation
Earlier than Cohen returned to the witness stand a number of minutes in the past, decide Engoron–who fined Trump $5000 for violating a gag order that barred Trump from commenting about him or his staff–said he was simply alerted to feedback that appeared to violate stated order but once more.
“It was simply dropped at my consideration that the Related Press reported…Mr Donald J Trump simply acknowledged the next to the press gaggle exterior the courtroom: ‘This decide is a really partisan decide with an individual who may be very partisan sitting alongside him, maybe even far more partisan than he’s.’”
“It’s very easy for the general public or anybody to know who that particular person is,” Engoron stated, referring to the legislation clerk whom Trump beforehand disparaged.
“This current statement–assuming the Related Press is correct– clearly was intentional. I acknowledged the final time that any future violations can be severely punished,” Engoron stated. “Once more, I ought to ask the query: Why ought to there not be extreme sanctions for this blatant, harmful disobeyl of a transparent court docket order?”
Trump lawyer Chris Kise insisted “His complete commentary associated to Mr Cohen and his credibility as a witness. We’re definitely conscious of the order.”
Engoron didn’t seem to purchase the reason, saying that the phrase “alongside” strongly recommended Trump was referring to his clerk. “I’ll take the entire matter beneath advisement,” Engoron stated.
Proper earlier than recess, Trump’s lawyer particularly pointed to Cohen’s use of the previous president for private achieve and media content material.
Habba asks whether or not Cohen has "vital animosity" — stretching out these phrases into their respective syllables — towards Trump.
Cohen pauses a bit earlier than stating bluntly, sure.
— Adam Klasfeld (@KlasfeldReports) October 25, 2023
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Habba asks whether or not Cohen has “vital animosity” — stretching out these phrases into their respective syllables — towards Trump.
Cohen pauses a bit earlier than stating bluntly, sure.
— Adam Klasfeld (@KlasfeldReports) October 25, 2023
Q: Your profession has shifted from the follow of legislation to leisure and media, is that right?
A: Are you able to outline leisure and media?
Q: Positive. You’ve got made a profession of publicly attacking President Trump, haven't you?
A: Sure.
— Adam Klasfeld (@KlasfeldReports) October 25, 2023
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Q: Your profession has shifted from the follow of legislation to leisure and media, is that right?
A: Are you able to outline leisure and media?
Q: Positive. You’ve got made a profession of publicly attacking President Trump, have not you?
A: Sure.
— Adam Klasfeld (@KlasfeldReports) October 25, 2023
After she repeats a variation of the query, Cohen says he additionally goes after different folks.
— Adam Klasfeld (@KlasfeldReports) October 25, 2023
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After she repeats a variation of the query, Cohen says he additionally goes after different folks.
— Adam Klasfeld (@KlasfeldReports) October 25, 2023
Habba exhibits Cohen his comment about Trump at all times being a subject of debate on his podcast "Mea Culpa."
"Each podcast sooner or later has him included in it."
Morning recess.
— Adam Klasfeld (@KlasfeldReports) October 25, 2023
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Habba exhibits Cohen his comment about Trump at all times being a subject of debate on his podcast “Mea Culpa.”
“Each podcast sooner or later has him included in it.”
Morning recess.
— Adam Klasfeld (@KlasfeldReports) October 25, 2023
Trump lawyer makes an attempt to color Cohen as spurned, determined pal
Habba’s cross has additionally tried to color Cohen as a spurned pal determined to save lots of his personal pores and skin.
She requested Cohen whether or not he ever informed Robert Costello, who was as soon as a longterm Trump ally, “I don’t have something on Donald Trump. I swear to god I don’t have something on Donald Trump.
“I don’t recall that.”
“Do you recall that you simply informed him that you’d do – excuse my French – regardless of the F it takes to keep away from jail time?”
“I don’t recall that, both.”
Habba later intimated that Cohen was upset at Trump for not giving him a high White Home place. She confirmed a collection of spring 2017 texts between Cohen the place somebody listed as “Individual 4” speculated about Trump’s chief-of-staff decide.
“Maintain guessing, dopey,” Cohen stated.
“Cease!!! You!” Individual 4 replied, writing shortly thereafter: “OMG Please be true. Are you severe? It’s essential to.”
“He must ask, I might by no means,” Cohen responded.
“You had been by no means given a place within the White Home, had been you, Mr Cohen?”
“I used to be given the place that I requested for. There’s no disgrace in being private lawyer to the president.”
Courtroom has now damaged for the mid-morning break.
Habba’s cross-examination of Cohen has spiraled from showmanship to campy theatrics as she has repeatedly nitpicked the previous Trump fixer’s feedback, all the way down to his diction.
Throughout these exchanges–and squabbles with opposing counsel–Habba would increase the amount of her voice at key moments to make a degree.
Whereas legal professionals will be theatrical–and lots of the greatest are–Cohen’s refusal to take guff contributed to the abject zaniness characterizing moments of this morning’s proceedings.
“I’ve answered each query that you really want, why are you screaming at me?” Cohen stated.
When Habba requested Cohen whether or not James initiated the investigation due to his feedback on Trump, she pointed towards the state’s high prosecutor, who raised her hand from the primary row of the gallery.
“You’re welcome,” Cohen stated to the courtroom. The courtroom erupted into laughter.
“You’re welcome?” Habba stated. “That’s telling.”
“I used to be being comical,” Cohen stated shortly thereafter.
At one other level, when Habba requested Cohen concerning the AG’s investigation, he stated: “You possibly can ask Ms. James.”
“Objection,” James stated from the gallery, prompting chuckles.
Listed here are a few of the newest pictures of key folks returning to court docket for Trump’s civil fraud trial.
Trump lawyer tries to forged Cohen as a liar in cross-examination
Not surprisingly, Trump lawyer Alina Habba is attempting to forged Michael Cohen as a liar, as he’s the important thing witness in New York lawyer common Letitia James’s civil fraud case in opposition to the ex-president.
She’s additionally tried to catch Cohen in a lure admitting to perjury. (Mendacity beneath oath, which is perjury, constitutes against the law.)
She particularly honed in on Cohen’s disavowal Tuesday of his guilt in a number of crimes he did, in reality, admit to 5 years in the past.
“There was no tax evasion. At greatest, it could possibly be characterised as a tax omission. I’ve by no means in my life not paid taxes,” Cohen had insisted, noting that he’d spoken out in opposition to this cost many occasions. Cohen stated there have been crimes he did plead responsible to that he dedicated, however not all the things.
“I needed to right the document as a result of when all of this began, it was overwhelming, the quantity of misinformation, disinformation, mal-information about me was overwhelming and massive,” Cohen stated. He additionally disavowed arranging the cost to Karen McDougal, which he admitted to throughout his first plea continuing.
“I acknowledged my complicity within the Stormy Daniels matter, however…I by no means paid Karen McDougal,” Cohen stated Tuesday. “I used to be tasked to evaluation paperwork to make sure that Trump was protected.”
Habba repeatedly requested Cohen whether or not he dedicated “perjury” throughout his responsible plea earlier than the late Manhattan federal court docket decide William Pauley.
After legal professionals on each side went head-to-head about whether or not Habba may use the phrase ‘“perjury,” Engoron instructed them to proceed with out the time period. She finally obtained her level throughout, with out the linguistic showmanship.
“Yesterday was the primary time you admitted, in open court docket, that you simply lied to Decide Pauley, right?”
“In open court docket?” Cohen stated. “Sure.”
Cohen returns to the witness stand
Michael Cohen is again on the stand.
Trump lawyer Alina Habba, after wishing him “good morning”, stated she reminded Cohen that he was nonetheless beneath oath.
“True,” Decide Arthur Engoron stated plainly from the bench.
She’s asking Cohen concerning the many felonies he pleaded responsible to in 2018.
Inside moments, the lawyer common’s workplace took difficulty with these questions, as Habba on Tuesday repeatedly requested him about this.
“We did this yesterday,” Colleen Faherty, a lawyer for the lawyer common, stated.
Donald Trump has entered the courtroom. He appeared ahead as he walked and took his seat on the protection desk with out fanfare.
Courtroom was referred to as to order a number of moments earlier than his arrival; legal professionals have been discussing housekeeping issues with the decide.
Michael Cohen returns to witness stand in Trump fraud case
Good morning from downtown Manhattan, the place Michael Cohen is predicted to quickly return to the witness stand in Donald Trump’s New York state civil fraud trial.
Cohen’s testimony on the 60 Centre Avenue courthouse stems from New York lawyer common Letitia James’s lawsuit in opposition to the ex-president. Her civil declare maintains that Trump unlawfully inflated values of his properties on monetary statements when it suited him.
Cohen, the onetime Trump fixer who in 2018 pleaded responsible to a plethora of federal crimes associated to his ex-boss, repeatedly implicated him in monetary wrongdoing on Tuesday. When proceedings resume this morning, Trump lawyer Alina Habba will proceed her cross-examination.
Listed here are the important thing factors of Cohen’s testimony in opposition to Trump on Tuesday.
Trump needed to “reverse-engineer” his internet price.
Cohen testified that Trump needed him and Weisselberg to determine a method for him to have the web price he needed. Per Cohen: “I used to be tasked, by Mr Trump, to extend the whole belongings based mostly upon a quantity that he arbitrary chosen, and my accountability, together with Allen Weisselberg predominately, was to reverse-engineer the assorted totally different asset courses, improve these belongings, so as to obtain the quantity that Mr Trump had [requested] .”
Cohen and Weisselberg altered monetary statements “by hand” to provide Trump his desired internet price.
Throughout conferences when Cohen and Weisselberg mentioned Trump’s financials, he would make calls for about what they need to be. Trump, Cohen stated, “would have a look at the whole belongings and he would say, ‘I’m truly not price $4.5bn, I’m actually price extra like six.’
“He would then direct Allen and I to return to Allen’s workplace and return after we achieved the desir[ed] objective.” Cohen stated he and Weisselberg would go line-by-line on the monetary assertion and “mark it up by hand … in in a position to get the whole asset quantity that Mr Trump requested us to attain”.
Trump allegedly had ultimate management over enterprise operations
The New York lawyer common’s workplace is working onerous to show that Trump and his inside circle conspired in defrauding lenders and insurers with inflated property valuations. Cohen’s testimony places Trump on the middle of constructing choices that enabled this alleged wrongdoing. Trump, he stated, made choices about his desired internet price, how he’d current himself to insurers–and which of his underlings would perform his needs. “All the ultimate choices had been finished by Mr Trump,” Cohen stated.
Proceedings will kick off round 9.30am ET. We can be offering dwell protection as they progress.