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Michael Cohen, who has been involved in legal proceedings against former President Donald Trump, has admitted to having a financial interest in the trial’s outcome. He has mentioned that he talks about the trial on his podcasts and on TikTok, which generates revenue for him.
Furthermore, he said that the result of the trial—whether Trump is found guilty or not—would not influence his conversations about it, even though he thinks that if Trump is found not guilty, it will improve his material because it will provide him with more material to discuss.
Cohen also testified that he helped pitch a TV show about his life called “The Fixer,” is considering a run for Congress, and may write a third book.
“Whether Mr. Trump is ultimately determined innocent or guilty is not going to affect whether I speak about it or not,” Cohen said. “It’s better if he’s not (found guilty), for me, because it gives me more to talk about in the future.”
Throughout the trial, Cohen has also faced doubts about his credibility, as defense attorneys have pointed out his prior thefts from the Trump Organization and his allegiance-based lying.
Attorney Todd Blanche pressed Cohen on whether it would benefit him financially if Trump is found guilty.
“It’s better if he’s not, for me, because it gives me more to talk about in the future,” Cohen said.
Blanche confirmed with Cohen that he’d like to get revenge on Trump and has said “revenge is best served cold.” Cohen confirms he meant it when he said it on his podcast and now again in court.
At another point, Cohen confessed to stealing $60,000 from Trump, claiming it was a form of “self-help.”
When Todd Blanche, the defense attorney, questioned the convicted liar, he admitted to a bizarre plot to rig a popularity poll of the “most famous businessmen” in Trump’s favor.
“So you stole from the Trump Organization, right?” Trump’s lawyer asked Cohen.
“Yes, sir,” Cohen replied from his seat at the defense table, some 15 feet away from Trump.
Cohen later testified that he stole as a form of “self-help” in response to Trump slashing his bonus to $50,000 from the $150,000 he had received.
“I was angered because of the reduction in the bonus so I just felt it was almost like self-help,” Cohen said.
Cohen testified that he had lied to a CNBC poll of well-known business titans, claiming at a pivotal mid-January 2017 meeting at Trump Tower that he needed to be reimbursed $50,000 for fronting money to a tech company called Red Finch that created fictitious online accounts to help his billionaire boss rise the rankings.
Cohen acknowledged, though, that he only gave the company $20,000, giving the CEO of Red Finch cash in a brown paper bag, after Trump “refused” to provide the company with the entire sum because he had only moved up to ninth in the poll.
Paid to Cohen by the Trump Organization, the $130,000 hush money payout to Daniels was combined with it.
It also doubled the sum, in a tactic known as “grossing up,” to cover taxes Cohen would owe by reporting the money as income rather than a tax-free reimbursement, he informed the jury.
“You didn’t just steal the $30,000, right, it was actually, because it was grossed up, it was $60,000?” Blanche asked.
“Yes, sir,” Cohen replied.
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“Have you paid back the Trump Organization the money you stole from them?” Blanche then asked him
“No,” Cohen replied.
Cohen claimed that although he reported the theft to “multiple” Manhattan District Attorney’s Office prosecutors, he was never charged.
