Donald Trump’s attorney Alina Habba continued her courtroom assault Wednesday on the real estate tycoon’s one-time consigliere, Michael Cohen, zeroing in on the way she got him to admit that he previously lied to a federal judge—a potentially new instance of perjury that could be a crime.
“And when you lied to Judge Pauley under oath… that had nothing to do with Donald Trump, correct?” Habba said.
Assistant attorney general Colleen Faherty fiercely objected, claiming that the new accusation was pure “showmanship.” When the judge demurred, another member of Trump’s legal team jumped in.
ADVERTISEMENT
“He admitted for the first time in open court that he lied to Judge Pauley, right across the street. In open court, he’s now admitted to perjury,” Kise said.
“It’s only now coming to light,” Habba told the judge. “It’s not showmanship… the press is just hearing it for the first time.”
The aggressive move to discredit the person who was once Trump’s trusted legal counsel—and potentially subject him to new charges—marks a turning point in the former president’s defense at his bank fraud trial in New York. Trump’s defense lawyers are now launching a full-on attack against the New York Attorney General’s key witness, accusing him of committing a new crime that not only calls into question his testimony, but also potentially opens him up to prosecution by the feds who ran the case that sent him to prison for years.
That is, if the perjury isn’t outside of the statute of limitations. There are already questions about the timing of Cohen’s previous testimony and whether it would fall outside of the five-year window. (Cohen’s confession before U.S. District Judge William H. Pauley III, who has since died, occurred in August 2018. Depending on how the clock is counted—sometimes there are events that can pause the tolling—Cohen could be in the clear.)
Still, Habba’s attacks will undermine Cohen as a witness—though New York AG’s lawyers may also argue that Cohen is risking it all to tell the truth now.
Regardless, Cohen’s testimony has become a flashpoint in the trial, both from a legal standpoint and as a point of personal revenge for the former president. Habba picked up Wednesday right where she left off the day before, picking apart the way Cohen tried to minimize his federal conviction for tax evasion and violating campaign finance laws—the latter of which he did on Trump’s behalf while he was still the billionaire’s lawyer.
On Tuesday, Cohen tried to disavow his previous guilty plea and distance himself from his past crimes. But in doing so, he dismissed the way he acknowledged his guilt to a federal judge, as recorded in a federal court transcript. Habba then got him to admit that he lied to the judge.
Cohen doubled down on that Wednesday, claiming yet again that he did indeed lie to the judge who sentenced him.
Justice Arthur F. Engoron acknowledged that Cohen is now admitting to yet another lie, but he pushed back on allowing Trump’s lawyers to invoke a legal term that could bring new criminal repercussions.
“Let’s not use the word perjury,” the judge said.
Trump’s defense lawyers expressed shock that they were being limited this way, adding to their long list of grievances that they plan to bring up when appealing the entire trial.
“There’s nothing wrong with calling a liar a liar,” Kise told the judge. “That’s the definition of perjury… a serial liar is a serial liar. And since the entire case of the Attorney General relies on this perjurious witness… I think that’s highly relevant… perjury is perjury.”
Trump’s team grilled Cohen for hours, going over his long history of sycophantic statements about his then-boss to ABC, CBS, Fox News, and others—and countering that with the way he has reconfigured his career after losing his law license to make money off Trump. Habba pointed to his two books, which both discuss the former president on the cover, and his two podcasts, in which he regularly talks about politics and trashes his former client.
But as she finished her cross-examination, Habba managed to get Cohen to admit to yet another instance of lying under oath—pointing to his 2019 deposition with the Senate Intelligence Committee in which he discussed what he and the Trump Organization’s then-CFO, Allen Weisselberg, did behind closed doors.
In that interview, Cohen was asked, “Did Mr. Trump direct you or Mr. Weisselberg to inflate the numbers for his personal statement?” According to the transcript shown in court, Cohen responded, “I'm sorry. Did he ask me to inflate the numbers? Not that I recall.”
“Were you telling the truth then?” Habba asked.
Cohen, shaking his head and visibly flustered, began to formulate an explanation.
“I was in the camp of Donald Trump,” he started, before he was cut off and directed to answer the question.
“Mr. Cohen, were you being honest before the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence?” Habba asked.
“No,” Cohen replied.
“So you lied, under oath, in February 2019? Is that your testimony?” Habba asked.
“Yes,” Cohen said.
Habba then ended the session with a personal insult disguised as a question.
“Did you ever ask President Trump to pardon you while he was in the White House?” she asked.
“No,” he replied.
“He didn't pardon you did he?” she pressed.
“No,” Cohen said.
The judge then ordered everyone to take a lunch break. Outside the courtroom, The Daily Beast asked Trump whether Cohen’s past lies—while he was still loyal to Trump—essentially undercut his defense and actually bolster the state’s case that he faked his wealth on paper.
“He wasn’t working for me at the time that he lied when he was doing testimony… before Congress. He was not even working for me, he had already left,” Trump said.
The Daily Beast followed up with a question about whether he’s kept an eye on other lieutenants who’ve flipped on him, like MAGA attorneys Sidney Powell and Kenneth Chesebro who just pleaded guilty in his election interference case in Georgia.
“They were offered a deal and they’re taking deals. But from what I understand, they’re saying nothing bad about me at all,” he said.
Later in the afternoon, Cohen backtracked and decided to stick to his statement to the Senate Intelligence Committee—saying that Trump did not, in fact, direct him to lie. By then, he was clearly beaten down from his hours-long boxing match with Habba. But another defense lawyer on Trump’s team, Clifford Robert, continued to pound him.
"So, Mr. Trump never directed you to inflate the numbers?” Robert asked. “Yes or no?”
Cohen reversed his previous statement, and clarified that Trump never told him to inflate the billionaire’s finances on paper.
Robert immediately asked judge for a "directed verdict," a total win mid-trial, claiming that "the state's key witness" just countered their entire case.
"I can't think of anything more appropriate now," he said.
"Denied," Engoron shot back.
With that, Trump stormed out of the courtroom. The judge was left flabbergasted, shaking his head and lifting both hands in the air.
“The witness just admitted that we won the trial. And the judge should end this trial immediately,” Trump said outside the courtroom, and walked away.
Minutes later, with Trump now gone, Cohen clarified what he meant when he spoke to the Senate Intelligence Committee.
“Donald Trump speaks like a mob boss. He tells you what he wants without specifically telling you... that's what I was referring to,” he said.
The entire Trump legal team later repeated their request for the judge to decide the entire bank fraud trial case in their favor, and Engoron swiftly shot them down again.
“Absolutely not. This case has evidence, credible or not, all over the place,” he said. “That's absurd, Mr. Robert… no way no how is this case being dismissed over statements by one witness who I don't consider a key witness.”
