OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
CNN anchor Kaitlan Collins was shocked when former President Donald Trump’s attorney, Michael Cohen, revealed in court Trump’s reaction to the possibility of Melania Trump learning about his alleged sexual encounter.
Cohen’s testimony, as a key witness in the prosecution’s case, focused on Trump’s alleged falsification of business records, which is seen as an attempt to interfere in the presidential election. Among the revelations from Cohen was Trump’s casual response when asked about how Melania Trump would react to the story of his sexual encounter with Daniels coming out.
“He goes, ‘How long do you think I’ll be on the market for? Not long.’ He wasn’t thinking about Melania. This was all about the campaign,” Cohen said.
During a segment on CNN’s coverage of the trial, Collins and CNN Chief Legal Analyst Paula Reid were shocked as they read out live updates from reporting inside the courtroom, and Collins wondered how Melania Trump would react upon hearing the testimony.
Below is a partial transcript of the exchange:
KAITLAN COLLINS: Michael Cohen said that, quote, “Donald Trump wasn’t even thinking about Melania. This was all about his campaign,” and that he raised Melania to to Donald Trump. And Trump said, “Don’t worry. How long do you think I’ll be on the market for? Not long.”
Oh, wow! That’s basically Michael Cohen saying that Trump was essentially arguing that if Melania Trump was upset over enough of this to leave him, that it wouldn’t be a problem for him.
PAULA REID: He’d find a fourth wife or fourth girlfriend. That’s what it seems to be insinuating there. That’s how I read that. Pretty callous comments. Would be interesting to see from our reporters inside how Trump responds to that.
KAITLAN COLLINS: I mean, a reminder Michael Cohen went and had lunch with Melania Trump after he lied to her about the Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal stuff to apologize to her. When he testified to Congress, he said one of his biggest regrets was lying to the first lady because he said that she was a good person and that she didn’t deserve it, but he was saying he was lying on Donald Trump’s behalf.
I mean — it is a question of how Melania Trump, who has been paying attention to this trial, I’ve been told by sources, how she’ll react to a comment like that from Michael Cohen, where Donald Trump was saying, “Not only am I not also worried about Melania and the campaign, I’m not worried about Melania Trump’s reaction to this at all. I’m only worried about the campaign.” That is what Michael Cohen is testifying in front of the jury right now.
WATCH:
CNN is now doing DRAMATIC READINGS of Michael Cohen’s testimony. This level of coverage of the Trump trial makes one wonder whether Jeff Toobin is running the network 😬 pic.twitter.com/1ckPXtQ5my
— Jorge Bonilla (@BonillaJL) May 14, 2024
CNN is not even buying it.
“I’ve never seen a witness who’s lied to Congress, who’s lied to court, who’s lied to the IRS, who’s lied to the Southern District of New York, who lied to his banker. The entire prosecution witness team has been lied to by Michael Cohen.”… pic.twitter.com/0bcWBpKkWW
— MJTruthUltra (@MJTruthUltra) May 13, 2024
A paralegal from Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office testified on Friday that three pages of phone records between convicted liar Michael Cohen and Stormy Daniels’s lawyer, Keith Davidson, were deleted from their evidence.
At the same time, former President Donald Trump’s legal team was not notified about the removal, according to reports.
According to CNN, Trump attorney Emil Bove questioned paralegal Jaden Jarmel-Schneider on Friday concerning deleting three pages of 2018 phone records between Davidson and Cohen by Bragg’s office.
The Epoch Times also reported that additional phone records involving conversations between Daniels’ manager, Gina Rodriguez, and then-National Enquirer editor Dylan Howard, regarding Daniels’ claims about her alleged affair were deleted as well.
The reports said the altered call records were submitted as evidence, but Bragg’s office failed to inform Trump’s defense team that three pages were missing.
Tampering with evidence is a class E felony in the Empire State under New York Consolidation Laws, Penal Law § 215.40, which states in part:
A person is guilty of tampering with physical evidence when: Believing that certain physical evidence is about to be produced or used in an official proceeding or a prospective official proceeding, and intending to prevent such production or use, he suppresses it by any act of concealment, alteration or destruction, or by employing force, intimidation or deception against any person.
In a post to the X platform on Friday, Donald Trump Jr. described the development as “insanity.”
“How on earth is this not a felony committed by Bragg and his minions? It sure would be if team Trump did it,” he wrote.
“I’d love if we had actual journalists that would report on this ongoing travesty. Sadly, proper journalism is dead. They’re just scribes for the regime,” he added.
Bragg, who ran for office with a platform that included pursuing legal action against Trump, indicted the former president in April 2023 on 34 felony charges of falsifying business records.
Bragg claims that Trump’s lawyer at the time, Michael Cohen, made a payment to Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election to silence her regarding an alleged affair that Trump denies.
According to Bragg, this payment was aimed at influencing the election outcome and should have been recorded as a campaign expense, not a legal expense.
Multiple legal entities, including the Federal Election Commission and the federal prosecutors in the Southern District of New York, examined the allegations years ago and determined that there was no merit to them.
Bragg initially refused to charge Trump when he took office but appeared to engage in legal gymnastics to charge the former president later.
