Michael Cohen reveals last message from Trump before being abandoned to face charges alone: ‘Everything’s going to be ok’
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When Michael Cohen’s Manhattan home was raided in 2018 as part of a criminal probe, then-president Donald Trump reassured him “everything’s going to be okay” – and then never spoke to him again, the former attorney told the court during his second day of testimony in Mr Trump’s hush money trial.
That last communication between the two men was a canary in the coal mine for the demise of their relationship, paving the way for the one-time loyal “fixer” to become one of the former president’s harshest critics.
The raid was connected to the ongoing criminal probe of Cohen, in part related to a criminal investigation over potential campaign finance violations stemming from the hush money payment made to adult film star Stormy Daniels to silence her over an alleged affair she had with Mr Trump in 2006. This $130,000 payment lies at the heart of the former president’s criminal trial where he is charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records.
The former president has pleaded not guilty to the charges and has repeatedly denied that the affair took place.
On the witness stand on Tuesday morning, Cohen testified about the FBI’s raid of his New York City apartment in April 2018, recalling how they took documents from his law office, tax books and his two cell phones.
Prosecutor Susan Hoffinger asked Cohen how he felt after the raid.
Cohen looked down, sighed, and paused before responding: “How to describe your life turning upside down. Concerned, despondent.”
Following the raid, he told the court that he asked Mr Trump to call him. And the then-president did.
Cohen recalled Mr Trump reassuring him that “everything’s going to be okay”.
“Don’t worry. I’m the president of the United States. There’s nothing here. Everything’s going to be okay. Stay tough. You’re going to be okay,” he said he told him on the phone.
That was the final time they spoke, he testified.
Cohen then told the court that the call from Mr Trump was “extremely important” to him because he was “scared”.
“I wanted some reassurance that Trump had my back — especially with issues that related to him,” he testified.
Ms Hoffinger then asked how that phone call affected Cohen going forward.
“I felt reassured,” Cohen testified. “Because I had the president of the United States protecting me. His justice department should go nowhere. So I felt reassured that I remained in the [Trump] camp.”
The world now knows that Cohen and Mr Trump’s relationship would never be the same after that phone call.
Just before the raid, Cohen had admitted in a public statement in 2018 that he had used his “own personal funds to facilitate the payment of $130,000 to Stephanie Clifford,” aka Ms Daniels, “in a private transaction in 2016.”
In the public statement, Cohen exonerated Mr Trump from the matter: “Neither the Trump Organization nor the Trump campaign was a party to the transaction with Ms Clifford, and neither reimbursed me for the payment, either directly or indirectly.”
In court on Tuesday, Cohen described that statement as “inaccurate.”
Cohen testified that he paid $130,000 to Ms Daniels on behalf of Mr Trump in order to prevent Ms Daniels from coming forward with her story about the affair “to ensure that the story would not affect Mr Trump’s chances of becoming president of the United States.”
Earlier in the day, prosecutors presented 11 monthly invoices and checks worth $35,000 made to Cohen in 2017. The documents showed that the payments were marked as a “retainer” fee, but Cohen confirmed that the descriptions were “false.”
He fully laid out that the payments were in fact made for the “reimbursement of money to me for the hush money fee,” and other money he was owed by Mr Trump. He was paid $420,000 in total, the documents showed.
This testimony, and accompanying evidence, could serve as a nail in the coffin for the prosecutors, tying together the key elements of the case against the former president.
During the first day of his testimony on Monday, Cohen demonstrated his near-unwavering loyalty to Mr Trump.
The former fixer told the court how he worked with former AMI boss David Pecker to kill damaging stories about the then-presidential candidate that could hamper his path to the White House. To accomplish this, in part, he put his own money on the line and formed a shell company to make the hush money payments so as to “separate” Mr Trump from them.
On Tuesday, Cohen succinctly said that he lied on behalf of Mr Trump “out of loyalty and in order to protect him.”
But Mr Trump repeatedly did not return the favor, Cohen said.
Mr Trump slash his Christmas bonus one year by two-thirds. He also didn’t consider Cohen for a top role in his White House administration. And although he reassured Cohen after the FBI raid that “everything’s going to be okay,” Cohen wound up in prison.
Cohen pleaded guilty on August 21 2018 to campaign finance violations, tax evasion, and lying to Congress. One day after Cohen’s guilty plea, Mr Trump solidified his distancing from his former personal attorney in a tweet: “If anyone is looking for a good lawyer, I would strongly suggest that you don’t retain the services of Michael Cohen!”
He was sentenced to 36 months incarceration followed by 36 months of supervised release, which he is still serving.
While Cohen was in prison, Mr Trump remained in office.
The pair have since become sworn enemies who often air their grievances with one another in venomous posts online. Mr Trump has called Cohen a “sleaze bag” and a “liar” while Cohen has called his former boss as ““Von S***zInPantz” and a “con man.”
