Michael Cohen, the ex-personal attorney of former President Trump, said his former boss should be sanctioned for violating his gag order in the hush money case and calling both Cohen and porn actress Stormy Daniels “two sleaze bags.”
Trump’s hush money trial is set to begin Monday. Cohen sat down for an interview with Politico ahead of the April 15 start date and continued his criticisms of the former president.
“I’m not the defendant in this case. The defendant in this case is the former president, Donald J. Trump. So, what does he do? He starts to attack. And despite the gag orders that have been put on by the judges, he nevertheless continues to do what he wants,” Cohen said.
“He will say whatever he wants. He violates the gag order. And like a petulant child, there appears to be no repercussion. He legitimately just posted something calling me a sleazebag,” he continued. “And of course, he attacked Stormy Daniels, as well. It’s called witness intimidation and obstruction of justice.”
Cohen was responding to a post from Trump on Wednesday in which he called Daniels and Cohen “two sleaze bags who have, with their lies and misrepresentations, cost our Country dearly!”
Daniels and Cohen are set to serve as key witnesses in the case against Trump, which alleges Trump illegally falsified business records reimbursing Cohen for paying Daniels to conceal an alleged affair ahead of the 2016 presidential election.
Trump has lashed out at the New York judge, the judge’s daughter and others in the case, even after he was hit with a gag order, arguing the order is not fair when other people “can talk about” him.
Cohen told Politico he doesn’t “have the right” to ask Judge Juan Merchan to enforce the gag order but said he thinks Merchan and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg (D) should restrict the former president “specifically so as to ensure that the case, once it starts on Monday, operates in a respectful manner and one that does not place witnesses — myself included — in harm’s way.”
Although the trial is set to begin Monday, Cohen doesn’t expect to testify for a while. He said his role will be more like “cleanup” because he’s “like a fourth or fifth batter” in the lineup.
Tyler Mitchell