What you should know
Michael Cohen He is set to testify as a key witness in the civil fraud trial that threatens to upend Trump’s real estate empire and image of wealth. Trump is expected to be in court for the highly anticipated testimony. Cohen has said it will be the first time he will see Trump in five years. Trump attended the trial for two days last week, having planned the trip when Cohen was expected to testify.
Michael Cohen once proclaimed that he would “sacrifice himself” for Donald Trump, but now, after ending his professional relationship with the former president amid his own legal problems, he will testify this Tuesday as a key witness in the civil fraud trial that threatens with upsetting his former boss’s real estate empire and image of wealth.
Trump is expected to be in court for the highly anticipated testimony, deviating from his usual campaign haunts to go to the Manhattan courthouse for the sixth day this month.
Cohen canceled his expected testimony last week, citing a health problem. Cohen has said it will be the first time he has seen Trump in five years.
Trump attended the trial for two days last week, having planned the trip when Cohen was expected to testify. The former president was also in court for the first three days of the trial in early October.
The trial did not take place Monday due to issues related to an apparent COVID-19 exposure. Trump is expected to testify later in the trial and all of his trips to court so far have been voluntary.
Each time, the favorite for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination has complained before the television cameras in the courtroom hallway about the case he has derided as a “farce,” a “scam” and “a continuation of the greatest witch hunt of all time.”
New York Attorney General Letitia James’ lawsuit alleges that Trump and top executives at his company, the Trump Organization, conspired to increase the business mogul-turned-politician’s net worth by billions of dollars in states financial services provided to banks, insurers and others to make secure offers and loans.
Judge Arthur Engoron already ruled that Trump and his company committed fraud, but the trial involves pending allegations of conspiracy, insurance fraud and falsifying business records.
As punishment, Engoron ordered a court-appointed receiver to take control of some Trump companies, calling into question future oversight of Trump Tower and other major properties, but an appeals court has blocked it for now.
Trump denies wrongdoing. He says his assets were actually undervalued and maintains that the disclaimers in his financial statements essentially told banks and other recipients to check the figures themselves.
Cohen spent a decade as Trump’s fiercely loyal personal lawyer before turning on him in 2018 amid a federal investigation that sent Cohen to federal prison. He is also a key prosecution witness in Trump’s separate Manhattan hush money criminal case, scheduled for trial next spring.
James, a Democrat, has credited Cohen with spurring her civil investigation, which led to the fraud lawsuit being decided at trial. She cited Cohen’s testimony before Congress in 2019 that Trump had a history of misrepresenting the value of assets to obtain favorable loan terms and tax benefits.
Cohen provided copies of three of Trump’s financial statements to the House Oversight and Reform Committee. Cohen said Trump gave the statements to Deutsche Bank to inquire about a loan to buy the NFL’s Buffalo Bills and to Forbes magazine to substantiate his claim for a spot on its list of the world’s richest people.
Cohen went to prison after pleading guilty in 2018 to tax evasion, lying to Congress and campaign finance violations, some of which involved his role in arranging silence payments for women during Trump’s 2016 campaign.
Earlier this month, Trump dropped a lawsuit of $500 million which accused Cohen of “spreading falsehoods,” causing “great reputational harm,” and breaking a confidentiality agreement by speaking publicly about hush payments.
But a Trump spokesman said he had only decided to “temporarily pause” the lawsuit while he mounts another campaign for the White House and fights four criminal cases, but said he would refile it at a later date.
With Trump expected to appear in court for Cohen’s testimony, it will be the first time the former president has attended the trial since Engoron fined him $5,000 on Friday over a derogatory social media post about a key member of the Court staff remained on his campaign website for weeks after being ordered to remove his post.
2023-10-24 13:08:28
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