POLITICS
Who is Michael Cohen, the former Trump lawyer who paid Stormy Daniels and a witness in the ‘hush money’ case?
The former lawyer of Donald Trump is the star witness of the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office and will play a major role in the case.
Last year, Donald Trump became the first former president of the United States to be indicted on criminal charges. The trial for the ‘Stormy Daniels case, which included 34 charges for the former president, is set to begin this week.
Who is Michael Cohen, the former ally of Donald Trump?
Michael Cohen is a key witness in the case. He was a long-time collaborator and former personal lawyer of Trump for over a decade, but has now become one of his biggest enemies. In a 2018 interview with The New York Times, he admitted that he paid Daniels in advance to prevent her from making any accusations against the former president
.For its part, Trump’s company redirected the reimbursement to Cohen for the money he paid to Daniels to cover the payment, according to federal prosecutors who charged Cohen in 2018 with criminal charges.
Cohen is believed to have received approximately $360,000 along with a $60,000 bonus. The Trump Organization allegedly fraudulently recorded these payments to Stormy Daniels and the lawyer as “legal services.” Cohen served three years in prison after admitting to these facts and has been cooperating with the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office. Trump has accused him of being a “rat” and denied any responsibility for the events.
Cohen ended up in prison in 2018 after pleading guilty to violating the Campaign Finance Law and committing perjury in Congress, after stating that he had received orders from Trump to deliver the money and that he had covered up for the then-presidential candidate out of loyalty. Cohen was released from prison in 2021.
“I was working for a man who ultimately became president of the United States, and, yes, there are things that we did that were wrong -- for example, the hush-money payment -- but I never expected that democracy would be on the line as a direct result of the former president,” Cohen explained to ABC News, when asked about his assessment of Trump’s mandate, which ended with the Capitol riot on January 6, 2021.