Michael Cohen hasn’t even taken the stand in former President Donald Trump’s trial, and his credibility — already under scrutiny due to his history of lying under oath — was questioned during another witness’ testimony.
David Pecker, former National Enquirer publisher, made several statements during his testimony last week that indicated his belief that Cohen was less than reliable. Pecker agreed that Cohen, Trump’s former personal attorney, was “prone to exaggeration.” The remarks exacerbate existing concerns Trump’s attorney’s have voiced about the credibility of Cohen, who has admitted to lying to Congress and to a federal judge, as Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg looks to him as a star witness.
Bragg is expected to soon put Cohen on the stand to corroborate key aspects of his case, which alleges Trump falsified business records to repay Cohen for hush money payments made to porn star Stormy Daniels in the lead up to the 2016 election. Trump’s attorneys have called Cohen a “liar” in court filings and urged Judge Juan Merchan not to even allow him to testify, a request the judge denied.
Pecker agreed during his testimony that Cohen’s claim that Trump had former attorney general Jeff Sessions “in his pocket” informed his view that Cohen is prone to exaggeration.
Under cross-examination by Trump defense attorney Emil Bove, Pecker also recalled an instance when Cohen requested he send paparazzi to photograph a meeting between him and Shark Tank star Mark Cuban with the understanding that it would “put pressure on Trump” to treat him differently.
Cohen pleaded guilty in August 2018 to a handful of charges, including making false statements to a bank and tax evasion, along with campaign finance violations related to the Daniels and Karen McDougal payments. In November 2018, he pleaded guilty to lying to Congress in 2017 statements made to the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence about efforts to build a Trump Tower in Moscow.
In March, a federal judge suggested Cohen committed perjury while testifying at Trump’s civil fraud trial in October. Cohen said during the trial that he was not guilty of tax evasion, stating that he lied under oath to a federal judge when he pleaded guilty to it in 2018.
“[Cohen’s testimony] gives rise to two possibilities: one, Cohen committed perjury when he pleaded guilty before Judge Pauley or, two, Cohen committed perjury in his October 2023 testimony,” Judge Jesse Furman wrote in an order denying Cohen’s request to end court supervision early.
Cohen also mistakenly supplied his lawyer with fake cases created by the artificial intelligence tool Google Bard, which his attorney then cited in a motion filed on his behalf arguing for ending court supervision, according to The New York Times.
Cohen told ABC News on Monday would stop commenting on the Trump case. But on Tuesday, he was discussing the case on a TikTok livestream, according to the outlet.
“Trump 2024?” Cohen said, per ABC News. “More like Trump 20-24 years.”
Despite Cohen’s public attacks on Trump throughout the case’s duration, Trump is under a gag order that prevents him from speaking publicly about witnesses like Cohen.
Trump’s attorney took multiple shots at Cohen’s credibility during opening statements on Monday, saying Cohen’s “entire financial livelihood depends on President Trump’s destruction” and arguing he “has a goal and an obsession with getting Trump.”
Cohen’s attorney did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
