President Donald Trump touted his former attorney Michael Cohen for retracting his 2024 testimony in Trump’s hush money trial, insisting that the justice system was “weaponized” against Cohen.
In a much-anticipated radio interview, Trump and Cohen reunited after years of turmoil. Their relationship started as a closely allied lawyer-client relationship and turned into a feud where Cohen testified against the president. Prosecutors hailed Cohen as a key witness in People of the State of New York v. Trump, which led to Trump being found guilty on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records related to hush money payments.
In the friendly interview, Trump said New York Attorney General Letitia James and Manhattan prosecutor Alvin Bragg weaponized the justice system against Cohen.
“Tish James and Alvin Bragg, what they did to you, and they used you, and what you did was actually a brave thing, because you said what they did was wrong,” Trump said to Cohen. “You agreed that your testimony — they forced you to say things that you didn’t want to say. They forced you to say things that were false because they have a threat with jail and every other thing.”
“They weaponized government against you and against others, Michael,” Trump continued. “There were plenty of others too, and it’s a disgrace. And I think it’s so amazing that you came out and you told the story, and people respect you for doing it.”
Trump and Cohen remained in each other’s good graces throughout the initial 15-minute segment of the 77 WABC interview that aired Thursday, with the remainder set to air on Sunday. Their positive rapport showed a massive swing in their relationship from when Trump called Cohen a “rat” in 2018.
“I respect the fact that you recanted everything you said,” Trump said to Cohen. “That’s a big, that’s a big thing that you did. That’s a very big thing. It’s very good for the country.”
Trump took to Truth Social after the radio segment aired, reposting a comment by the Washington Examiner’s Byron York, who paraphrased a quote from CNN legal analyst Elie Honig: “CNN legal analyst Elie Honig: Michael Cohen’s latest statements demolish the factual basis of the hush money prosecution and conviction of President Trump.”
In a clip on Thursday, Honig spoke to Cohen’s retraction, saying “anyone who cheered that hush money prosecution of Donald Trump two years ago has nothing left to stand on.”
WHERE TRUMP’S HUSH MONEY APPEAL STANDS TWO YEARS POST-CONVICTION
“Now Michael Cohen has said publicly that he ‘felt’ important, ‘felt pressured and coerced by prosecutors.’ So where do you stand on Michael Cohen now?” Honig said. “If you believe he’s a truth teller, then he felt pressured and coerced by prosecutors. That’s not acceptable. If you believe he’s a liar, then your case is built on a liar.”
Trump’s hush money prosecution is currently going through an appeals process in multiple courts, two years after the unprecedented conviction came down in the Empire State.