Donald Trump’s former fixer Michael Cohen continued giving evidence at his fraud trial on Wednesday in another combative day in which the disgraced lawyer alleged the former president instructed him and other executives to inflate his apparent fortune.
In an often theatrical performance, Trump’s attorney Alina Habba painted Cohen as a serial liar and a perjurer who was angry to have been spurned by Trump. “You have made a career of publicly attacking President Trump, haven’t you?” asked Habba. “Yes,” replied Cohen.
Habba asked Cohen is he had “significant animosity” towards Trump – stretching every syllable of the words. “Yes,” Cohen replied.
Cohen’s allegations are at the heart of the prosecutors’ case against Trump, who has repeatedly and vehemently protested his innocence. Speaking to reporters outside the courtroom on Wednesday, Trump once again called the trial a “witch-hunt”.
“We have the facts on our side,” Trump said. “The company is much stronger than they anticipated.”
Lawyers for Trump sought to have the case dismissed, arguing that Cohen was a perjurer. “Absolutely not,” replied Judge Arthur Engoron, who said he did not regard Cohen as a “key witness” in the trial. “There’s enough evidence in this case to fill this courtroom.”
On the first day of his testimony, Cohen described how Trump would select an “arbitrary” number – $6bn rather than $4.5bn, for example – and instruct his executives to increase the value of his assets to reach it. Trump sat in court throughout the hearing, often shaking his head seemingly in exasperation.
Engoron has already ruled that the former president and his family business committed fraud. This trial, which is focused on the remaining claims of conspiracy, insurance fraud and falsifying business records, will settle the punishment.
Until Tuesday, Trump and Cohen had not been in the same room since the latter turned on his boss five years ago. Cohen, Trump’s personal attorney for more than a decade, pleaded guilty in 2018 to felony charges, including tax evasion and lying to Congress during an investigation of Trump’s ties with Russia.
Trump has sought to discredit Cohen, whom he described as “a proven liar” on his way into court on Tuesday. “Heck of a reunion,” Cohen told reporters during a break in proceedings later that day.
Habba repeatedly pressed Cohen on whether he had lied in previous statements and under oath. When Cohen objected to Habba’s line of questioning, she shot back: “You can’t object, that’s not how this works! If you still had your law license you could do that.”
Cohen’s congressional testimony in 2019 – during which he alleged that Trump “inflated his assets when it served his purposes” – led the office of the New York attorney general, Letitia James, to pursue its fraud case against the former president.
As prosecutors laid out their case during opening arguments earlier this month, they showed a video clip of Cohen telling investigators that Trump “wanted to be higher on the Forbes list”, and had directed him to increase the value of assets to “accommodate” a higher net worth.
The trial is a bench trial, with no jury. Engoron is presiding over the case, and will be the sole decider. Because this is a civil trial, Trump will not be sent to prison if found guilty. He is not required to appear in court.
