Michael Cohen Admits to Stealing $60k From Trump; Whole Case Against Trump Crumbles.
They are trying to demonstrate that he is always trying to monetize his relationship with Donald Trump.” - former Manhattan prosecutor, Michael Bachner
![Courtroom sketch of Michael Cohen Courtroom sketch of Michael Cohen](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F9e8ac0bb-b5a0-416f-9cbb-fb80b686dafe_760x575.jpeg)
Yesterday, Michael Cohen, 57, Trump’s former lawyer and star witness in Alvin Bragg’s case against Trump and his business dealings, has just admitted to stealing from Trump during a cross examination.
“The People of the State of New York v. Donald J. Trump,” is New York County District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s brainchild but the hush money kangaroo trial is falling apart from the seams.
A bought and paid for judge, a porn star, and a liar all enter the room with President Trump; the judge is disliked by the jury, the porn star can’t stop talking about Trump’s pecker, the liar gets caught in a cross-examination and President Trump goes on to rightfully win the election like he should have in 2020 (unless the Democrats steal the election again).
So what’s the actual story behind the cross-examination that led to Cohen’s downfall?
Well back in 2016, Cohen said that he gave $20k in a brown paper bag to the CEO of Red Finch, a multifaceted company that has its hands in numerous areas of industry and tech, such as polling results. The alleged crime that Cohen was paying for, allegedly using Trump’s money, had to do with rigging the 2016 election polls in Trump’s favor.
When Trump’s then finance chief, Allen Weisselberg, asked Cohen if he needed a $50k reimbursement for fronting the cash, Cohen went along with it and was paid a total of $60k in income to account for the taxes that would be withdrawn from the amount. What Cohen was actually paying for from Red Finch was never actually specified and could have been a multitude of things that weren’t poll rigging. $20k to rig polls seems a bit cheap.
And this is what ultimately led to Trump’s lawyer, Todd Blanche getting Cohen to admit that he stole money from Trump:
“You did steal from the Trump Organization based on the expected reimbursement from Red Finch, correct?”
And Cohen answered:
“Yes, sir.”
Now to us and the jury, this is revealing news, while many of us have had our opinions over whether or not Trump and Cohen worked out a shady deal (I had my doubts), this was irrefutable proof that Cohen stole money from Trump in order to singularly financially gain from their relationship.
But why did Cohen finally tell the truth?
Well it has to do with the fact that Cohen could have been charged with 2nd degree larceny for stealing an amount over $50k. This is considered a class C felony and the charge carries a maximum sentence of 15 years.
However, Cohen told the courtroom that he never plead guilty to larceny, despite telling multiple prosecutors in the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office about the incident. Cohen also admitted that he never attempted to return the stolen money to Trump.
Jeremy Saland, a criminal defense attorney and former Manhattan prosecutor revealed why it Cohen was never arrested for the larceny:
“Practically speaking this would never get prosecuted unless Donald Trump cooperated.”
The larceny charge has a 5 year statute of limitations and it expired in 2021, however, Saland stated that Trump wouldn’t likely agreed to press charges in a case against Cohen for the theft because:
“It would expose him to what appears to be misconduct.”
Saland stated that Cohen’s confession was:
“another data point that we have a lying, conniving, stealing, jerk of a witness that a jury shouldn’t trust or like.”
Michael Bachner, another former Manhattan prosecutor and criminal defense attorney stated that Blanche did a “good job” of demonstrating:
“That not only is [Cohen] a liar and a thief but he’s motivated by money in everything that he does. They are trying to demonstrate that he is always trying to monetize his relationship with Donald Trump.”
During several court days on the stand, Cohen, once considered the star prosecution witness, admitted to numerous misdeeds, lies, and crimes to the jurors.
Cohen was sentenced to 3 years in prison in 2018 for tax evasion, making false statements to a bank, campaign finance violations, and lying to Congress. Cohen got out in 2021, however, he was subsequently disbarred because of his convictions.
Bachner stated:
“This type of information has a cumulative effect. Eventually a jury could feel this is the straw that broke the camel’s back. I think the evidence is there to convict [Trump] if they believe Michael Cohen.”
Alvin Bragg and his group of cronies claim that Trump falsified business records by trying to cover-up that he had Cohen pay porn star Stormy Daniels $130k in the lead up to the 2016 election to keep her quiet about her claim she once slept with Trump, however, she ended up losing her lawsuit against Trump and ended up owing him almost $500K in legal fees.
Trump has denied all the charges against him despite the ongoing legal cases. He has always maintained his innocence and against the establishment machine has come out on top.