A witness in the case of NY v. Trump in Manhattan testified that former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen wanted a job in the 45th president’s administration, although he previously denied wanting a role in the White House during his congressional testimony.
Keith Davidson, a lawyer who represented former pornographic actress Stormy Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal, continued his testimony in court Thursday, when he said Cohen had hoped to get a position as chief of staff or attorney general of the White House. in the run-up to Trump’s inauguration.
Davidson also said Cohen was upset about “not going to Washington” after Trump’s 2016 victory.
“Can you believe I’m not going to Washington after everything I did for this guy? I can’t believe I’m not going to Washington…I saved his a–…” Davidson said of a conversation he had with a “disheartened and saddened Michael Cohen” in December after the 2016 elections.
Michael Cohen, former personal attorney for President Donald Trump, appears in federal court in New York on December 14, 2023. (Yuki Iwamura/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Davidson testified that Cohen called him while he was shopping in a California store memorably decorated with an “Alice in Wonderland” type theme.
The NY v. Trump case focuses on Cohen paying Daniels $130,000 to allegedly silence her allegations regarding an alleged extramarital affair she had with Trump in 2006. Trump has denied having an affair with Daniels.
Cohen lamented to Davidson during the December call that he had not yet been reimbursed for the amount he had paid Daniels, according to Davidson’s testimony.
Former President Donald Trump awaits the start of proceedings in Manhattan Criminal Court in New York on April 22. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura, Pool)
Prosecutors say the Trump Organization reimbursed Cohen and fraudulently recorded the payments as legal fees. Prosecutors are working to prove that Trump falsified records with the intent to commit or conceal a second crime, which is a felony, in violation of a New York law called “conspiracy to commit promote or prevent elections“.
Trump has pleaded not guilty to 34 counts of falsifying business records.
Davidson’s testimony that Cohen sought a job at the White House stands in stark contrast to what Trump’s former lawyer told Congress in 2019.
“Sir, I was extremely proud to be the personal attorney to the President of the United States of America. I didn’t want to go to the White House. I was offered jobs,” Cohen told Rep. Jim Jordan, Republican of Ohio, at a news conference. 2019 during a House Oversight Committee hearing.
Michael Cohen, who is believed to be a star witness in the NY v. Trump case, may have “torpedoed” the case before going on trial by ranting about it on TikTok, according to legal observers. (Getty Images)
“I can tell you the story of how Mr. Trump eliminated Reince Priebus because I didn’t take the job Mr. Trump wanted me to do, which was to work with Don McGahn at the White House Office of the Attorney General,” He continued. “Which I said at the time – and I brought in a lawyer who produced a memo explaining why I shouldn’t go, because there would be no professional privilege. And in order to address some of the issues that I talked about in my introduction, it would be best if I didn’t go in and each president had a personal attorney.”
NY V. TRUMP: HOUSE JUDICIARY INVESTIGATES BRAGG ATTORNEY WHO HOLDS TOP ROLE IN BIDEN’S DOJ
“I didn’t want to go to the White House,” Cohen later added in his congressional testimony. “I retained, brought in an attorney and sat with Mr. Trump, with him for over an hour, explaining the importance of having a personal attorney, that every president has one had one to handle matters like those I was dealing with.”
Cohen’s comments come after he pleaded guilty to five counts of willful tax evasion, one count of making false statements to a bank, one count of making an illegal campaign contribution and one count of excessive campaign contribution in 2018. He pleaded guilty again in November of that year to lying to Congress about his testimony regarding work he had done on a construction project a Trump Tower in Moscow.
A court sketch depicts former President Donald Trump’s appearance in Manhattan Criminal Court, New York, on April 19. (Christine Cornell)
Cohen was sentenced to three years in prison and has since been released.
House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Turner, R-Ohio, and House Republican Conference Chairwoman Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., are currently demanding that the Department of Justice investigate Cohen. They allege he committed perjury and “knowingly” made false statements during his testimony before Congress in 2019.
Turner and Stefanik argue that Cohen is being used as the prosecution’s “star witness” in the NY v. Trump case, despite his prior conviction.
Trump, meanwhile, called the trial a “scam” and “hoax” promoted by the Biden administration and run by a “conflicted judge.”
Former President Donald Trump leaves Trump Tower to attend his trial for allegedly concealing secret money payments related to extramarital affairs in New York on April 22. (Charly Triballeau/AFP via Getty Images)
“It’s a hoax. This is a judge who is conflicted – very, very, very conflicted. I’ve never seen a judge so conflicted and giving us virtually no ruling,” Trump said before the court. courtroom Tuesday morning.
“I’m going to sit in the freezing cooler for eight hours, nine hours or so. They took me off the campaign trail. But the good news is my poll numbers are the highest they’ve ever been. So at least, “We need to get the message out. And everyone knows that this trial is a scam. The judge should be impeached today, and maybe he will,” Trump said.
Brooke Singman of Fox News Digital contributed to this report.
