Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump’s disgraced former personal lawyer and fixer, is reportedly set to use public testimony this week to finger Trump with a series of accusations, including that the president engaged in possible criminal conduct, used racist language, and was misleading about his net worth.
It is unclear whether Cohen has any real evidence to back up his allegations, with multiple reports claiming that Cohen will provide some sort of undisclosed evidence. Cohen’s previous anti-Trump charges relied almost exclusively on his own credibility-stained testimony.
Cohen is speaking about two months before he is scheduled to begin his three-year prison sentence, spotlighting the massive credibility issues for the convicted criminal and accused liar.
Below, in no particular order, are seven major credibility issues faced by Cohen.
1 – In November, Cohen pled guilty to, among other things, lying to Congress in two separate prosecutions.
One of those prosecutions involved the so-called Russia collusion conspiracy being investigated by the office of the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III. The other was a case before federal prosecutors in Manhattan. After being convicted for lying to Congress, Cohen is scheduled to testify to Congress yet again, this time in a televised hearing before the House Committee on Oversight and Reform on Wednesday.
2 – Cohen pled guilty to violating campaign finance laws and financial crimes, including multiple counts of tax evasion and bank fraud.
Despite being a convicted fraudster, Cohen is set to make serious accusations against Trump on Wednesday, with some or most of those allegations likely to rely on Cohen’s own word.
3 – The 40-page sentencing memo from New York prosecutors in Cohen’s campaign finance case paints Cohen as a deceiver who repeatedly lied.
The same memo laments that the Court “had to press Cohen to acknowledge that he understood he was lying to a bank.”
4 – Manhattan prosecutors further say Cohen possesses a fleeting sense of wrongdoing, little remorse and a tendency to place blame on others.
The memo charges that Cohen’s “consciousness of wrongdoing is fleeting, that his remorse is minimal, and that his instinct to blame others is strong. While he has legally accepted responsibility, the Court should consider at sentencing these transparent efforts at minimizing Cohen’s false statements and criminal conduct.”
5 – The Southern District of New York also charged that Cohen lived a “double life.”
“For all of Cohen’s outward rectitude, he has lived a double life,” prosecutors argued in their sentencing memo. “While Cohen has submitted letters describing his good nature, the evidence collected and witnesses interviewed in this investigation paint a decidedly different picture — a picture of someone who was threatening and abusive when he wanted to get his way.”
6 – Cohen once declared, “I’m the guy who would take a bullet for the president.” Less than a year later, however, Cohen accused the president of wrongdoing in testimony and in a series of interviews and other public statements.
Cohen made his loyalty statement about the president during an interview with Vanity Fair. “I’m the guy who stops the leaks,” he claimed to the magazine. “I’m the guy who protects the president and the family. I’m the guy who would take a bullet for the president.”
7 – As an attorney, Cohen secretly taped his own client, Trump, and released one of those recordings to the news media.
The recording, which was made during the 2016 presidential campaign, was first broadcast by CNN in July 2018. In it, Cohen and Trump can be heard discussing alleged hush money payments to former Playboy model Karen McDougal. The tape did not make clear whether Trump actually engaged in any wrongdoing. Even the Washington Post questioned the ethics of Cohen secretly taping Trump. Twelve more audiotapes were reportedly seized by federal agents who raided Cohen’s home last year.
Aaron Klein is Breitbart’s Jerusalem bureau chief and senior investigative reporter. He is a New York Times bestselling author and hosts the popular weekend talk radio program, “Aaron Klein Investigative Radio.” Follow him on Twitter @AaronKleinShow. Follow him on Facebook.