Donald Trump and his legal problems are starting to look quite serious.
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Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump’s estranged former attorney, said he will meet with Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.
The meeting will coincide with a grand jury hearing testimony regarding Trump’s involvement in a hush-money payment – which Cohen allegedly facilitated – to porn actress Stormy Daniels.
Cohen, appearing on the podcast Political Beatdown, said “it’s now the 15th time that I’m heading in to discuss this and several matters with the DA’s team and I am looking forward to it.” Cohen continued, taking a dig at the opposition for leaking information. “When it comes to whether it’s the district attorney, the AG’s office … they all have people inside that office that leak information out. And so I feel it’s fair that our Political Beatdown family should know it as well.”
Bragg is considering whether to bring minor criminal charges against Trump for trying to cover up the hush-money payment made to Daniels during the 2016 presidential campaign.
The money was given to Daniels with an agreement that she would not disclose having had an affair with then-candidate Trump.
Remember Michael Cohen?
In 2018, Cohen pled guilty to evading campaign contributions related to the Daniels payment. Cohen admitted to giving Daniels a $130,000 payment “at the direction of” Donald Trump. Cohen was reimbursed – but the reimbursement was improperly classified as a legal cost.
Cohen’s podcast appearance also coincides with former Manhattan prosecutor Mark Pomerantz’s new book release, People vs. Donald Trump: An Inside Account.
Pomerantz has been claiming that he quit the DA’s office after his then-boss, Bragg, stopped a grand jury from investigating Donald Trump last year.
Pomerantz says he believes Bragg’s decision was politically motivated, not legally motivated.
“I do believe that Alvin Bragg is serious,” Cohen said. “I believe that whatever occurred in the past is the past and I think he legitimately believes that there is a case to be made against Donald Trump … Now of course we’ll see. I’ll let everyone know at our next live event how everything went. Obviously I’m just speculating at this moment.”
As you might imagine, Donald Trump has disowned Cohen.
Hush Money Case is Least of Trump’s Problems
The Daniels case is significant only in that it would represent the first time in U.S. history that criminal charges were brought against a former president.
But, otherwise, the nature of the case is insignificant relative to Trump’s other legal dramas.
First, the Justice Department is weighing whether to bring charges against Trump for insurrection. The Democrat-controlled House of 2022 recommended that the DOJ do bring charges, but whether Attorney General Merrick Garland decides to prosecute remains to be seen.
Second, the Justice Department is weighing whether to bring charges against Trump for mishandling classified documents. The FBI raided Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate last August and recovered a variety of documents that were not supposed to be in Trump’s possession.
The documents case has recently been complicated – because it turns out Biden and Pence were also in possession of classified documents.
The Stormy Daniels stuff is relatively insignificant in the grand scheme. But it all contributes to an aggregate legal landscape that supports the idea that Trump is corrupt and dishonest.
Liberals find validation in Trump’s ever-swirling legal drama; conservatives are growing increasingly fatigued with the fact that their back-to-back presidential nominee can’t stay out of legal trouble for five minutes straight.
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Harrison Kass is the Senior Editor at 19FortyFive. An attorney, pilot, guitarist, and minor pro hockey player, Harrison joined the US Air Force as a Pilot Trainee but was medically discharged. Harrison holds a BA from Lake Forest College, a JD from the University of Oregon, and an MA from New York University. Harrison lives in Oregon and listens to Dokken.
