Former Donald Trump attorney Michael Cohen, who once declared that “he would do anything to protect the former United States president,” is now scheduled to testify as a key witness as his former client is accused of making illegal payments of hush money. Formerly a top executive at Trump’s real estate firm, Cohen testified twice before a Manhattan grand jury that on Thursday indicted the president in a case involving payments made to porn star Stormy Daniels prior to the 2016 presidential election in an effort to quell allegations of a previous extramarital affair.
Cohen, who is now known as Trump’s ‘outspoken antagonist’ after once being viewed as his devoted ‘fixer,’ claims that the president requested him to give Daniels $130,000 so she wouldn’t talk about their 2006 sexual encounter. Cohen will therefore be a crucial witness in the event that Trump’s case proceeds to trial.
According to his own records, Cohen joined Trump’s company in 2007 as an executive vice president and special counsel. He possessed a fleet of yellow taxis and practised malpractice law prior to joining Trump.
Cohen provided Trump with legal counsel regarding his 2016 election campaign. Up until 2019, when a sudden, dramatic change in his attitude was noticed, he was close to the businessman turned politician after he was elected US president.
Cohen claimed he had paid Daniels with his own funds when the aforementioned case first gained attention in 2018 but had not received reimbursement from Trump or his company. He was sentenced to three years in jail for making excessive illegal campaign donations after entering a guilty plea to breaking the law by paying Daniels, among other charges.
In the meantime, Trump has refuted every accusation made against him and referred to Cohen as a “convicted felon” and “serial liar.” Prior to the 2024 election, he described the situation as “political persecution and election interference” in his presidential campaign.
