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By Hugh Cameron
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Donald Trump has reacted to his former attorney, Michael Cohen, saying that he felt "coerced" by New York prosecutors into providing negative testimony against the now-president.
"I felt pressured and coerced to only provide information and testimony that would satisfy the government’s desire to build the cases against and secure a judgment and convictions against President Trump," Cohen wrote in a Friday post on Substack.
Trump reacted to Cohen’s comments via Truth Social, writing: "These horrible Radical Left people, doing everything possible to destroy our Country, should pay a big price for this!"
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The president went on to call the investigations into him by Letitia James and Alvin Bragg a "SET UP from the beginning," and said New York courts were "embarrassed by what has happened."
Newsweek has contacted the Attorney General’s office and the DA’s office via email outside of regular hours for comment.
Why It Matters
Cohen was a key figure in multiple cases against Trump, due to his direct role in and knowledge of sensitive legal and business matters concerning the president, and his later turn as a star witness for the prosecution. His testimony was especially pivotal in the hush-money case and helped secure Trump’s 2024 conviction on 34 felony counts.
The president has long-maintained that the investigations into him—which saw his businesses incur hundreds of millions of dollars in financial penalties—were politically motivated, repeatedly dubbing these a "witch hunt."
And Cohen’s latest comments, as Trump has already suggested, could result in further retaliation against the prosecutors in his case.
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In what Cohen himself has called a "retribution tour," Trump’s Justice Department has already pursued legal cases against figures like former National Security Adviser John Bolton and former FBI Director James Comey, as well as New York Attorney General James over alleged mortgage fraud.
What To Know
On Friday, Cohen said he was motivated to speak out amid Trump’s ongoing efforts to move the hush money case—which saw Cohen himself sentenced to three years in prison in 2018—into federal court from state court. This follows an appeals court in November urging U.S. District Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein to revisit the case and his ruling that it should be kept in the state court.
Cohen said he was not attempting to defend the president, but said he hoped to shed light on "how these cases are actually built, who they rely on, and what happens behind closed doors long before a jury ever hears a word."
The first case in which Cohen testified was a civil action brought by New York Attorney General James alleging Trump misrepresented the value of his assets between 2011 and 2021 to secure favorable loan terms. The second, brought by the Manhattan DA, related to Trump falsifying business records to conceal a $130,000 payment made by Cohen to adult film actress Stormy Daniels to keep her from speaking publicly about an alleged affair with Trump.
Cohen said he immediately felt "coerced" by lawyers from both offices to provide negative testimony against Trump. He added that, in the case of his first meeting with prosecutors from the Manhattan DA’s Office in 2019, he hoped his involvement would help reduce his own sentence and secure an early release from federal prison.
"During my time with prosecutors, both in preparation for and during the trials, it was clear they were interested only in testimony from me that would enable them to convict President Trump," he wrote on Friday. "When my testimony was insufficient for a point the prosecution sought to make, prosecutors frequently asked inappropriate leading questions to elicit answers that supported their narrative."
What People Are Saying
Donald Trump, via Truth Social: "These horrible Radical Left people, doing everything possible to destroy our Country, should pay a big price for this! It was a SET UP from the beginning. New York Courts, with many fair and wonderful Judges, are embarrassed by what has happened! We cannot let this pass."
What Happens Next
Trump’s bid to shift his hush money case to federal court is still awaiting a decision from Judge Hellerstein. According to Cohen, Trump views federal court "as more favorable, particularly as it would allow him to argue that presidential immunity shields him from criminal accountability."
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