CNN senior legal analyst Elie Honig on Thursday explained how uncommon it is for the prosecution to have a “star witness” that is so biased against former President Donald Trump.
Trump’s former attorney Michael Cohen took the stand for cross-examination again Thursday after sparring with the former president’s defense attorney Todd Blanche on Tuesday about the witness’ motives and credibility. Honig said Cohen’s bias and motives for testifying against his former boss make him an “unusual” star witness for Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg. (RELATED: Former US Attorney Says Alvin Bragg’s Team Is Making Major Error By Keeping Michael Cohen On Stand)
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“I … think it‘s important people understand just how unusual of a star witness Michael Cohen is,” Honig said. “I mean, on the one hand, he’s not trying to work off time. Most cooperators are looking at 15 year sentences and this testimony will be their key to get out early. That‘s the way it works. That’s not really an issue with Cohen. It was early on, but to have this kind of personal animus, this type of personal ambition about the guy getting convicted and sent to prison is really, really unusual. And making money.”
Blanche on Tuesday asked Cohen about his hopes that cooperating with investigators would lead to a sentence reduction as well as the money he made from his book, media appearances and podcast, where he frequently discusses Trump. The defense attorney also noted Cohen’s vocal desire for Trump to be convicted, with the jury seeing a t-shirt from the witness’ podcast store showing Trump in an orange jumpsuit behind bars.
Blanche starts questioning Cohen about his prior times testifying under oath.
Blanche: Was the oath that you took every single time, the same oath that you took Monday morning in this courtroom?
Cohen: Yes
Blanche highlights the times Cohen lied.
— Katelynn Richardson (@katesrichardson) May 16, 2024
Blanche pointed out Cohen donned this shirt on his TikTok live stream. Judge Juan Merchan on Friday directed prosecutors to tell Cohen to cease making public statements regarding Trump and the case.
Cohen’s credibility has come under intense scrutiny in part because of his multiple admissions of lying under oath. The former attorney testified Monday that Trump directed him to make the payment for a nondisclosure agreement with porn star Stormy Daniels, and consented to the reimbursement plan pertaining to the falsification of business records charges in Bragg’s case.
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