Michael Cohen confirms he will be rebuttal witness in Manhattan district attorney hush money inquiry
Ryan King
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Michael Cohen, the ex-lawyer and fixer for former President Donald Trump, confirmed that he will be available as a rebuttal witness for Manhattan prosecutors on Monday.
A grand jury investigating an alleged hush money payment made to adult film star Stormy Daniels is expected to hear from lawyer Robert Costello. Cohen was unsure whether he would come before the grand jury or just meet with prosecutors.
MICHAEL COHEN’S FORMER LAWYER LIKELY TO TESTIFY IN MANHATTAN TRUMP INQUIRY: REPORT
“I was asked to make myself available and to be at the DA’s office tomorrow as a rebuttal witness,” Cohen told MSNBC’s Alex Witt on Sunday.
Costello briefly gave legal advice to Cohen around the time of an FBI raid on his home and office back in 2018 and has since fallen out with Cohen publicly. Cohen has already waived attorney-client privilege claims with Costello, paving the way for his testimony, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Multiple reports revealed Costello’s identity on Sunday, but in the run-up to that, his identity was kept under wraps, and a New York Times report indicated there was at least one more witness set to deliver testimony before the grand jury on Monday.
“I don’t know who the person is. Obviously, once I find out who the person is, I’ll know what the issue is because I was personally involved,” Cohen said during the interview.
At issue is an alleged $130,000 hush money payment to Daniels during the 2016 cycle in exchange for her signing a nondisclosure agreement to stay quiet about an alleged affair with Trump about a decade earlier. Prosecutors are also examining the alleged falsification of business records related to the payment.
Cohen pleaded guilty in 2018 to charges pertaining to the alleged payment to Daniels, also known as Stephanie Gregory Clifford. Costello did not represent him on that deal.
“It is the district attorney of Manhattan who is breaking the law by using the fake and fully discredited testimony (even by the SDNY!) of a convicted liar, felon and jailbird, Michael Cohen, to incredibly persecute, prosecute, and indict a former president, and now leading (by far!) presidential candidate, for a crime that doesn’t exist,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
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Trump has denied wrongdoing and decried the inquiry as a witch hunt.
He was invited to deliver testimony before the panel but has not taken up the opportunity, according to NPR. On Saturday, Trump suggested he “will be arrested on Tuesday” and called for “protest, take our nation back.”