Michael Cohen claims Trump will seek to ‘create violence’ after hush money guilty verdict
Former Trump lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen said that his former boss will seek to cause violence after his historic hush money conviction, but that most Americans won’t care.
“Will he look to create violence? Sure,” he said during a Thursday evening interview with MSNBC. “Will it happen? I don’t think so. I don’t believe that the American people are as invested in him as he believes.”
“No one is going to allow him to create the havoc that he wants everyone to believe he has the ability to create,” he added.
The Independent has contacted the Trump campaign for comment.
Cohen has no love lost for his former boss.
During the hush money trial, in which Trump was ultimately found guilty on 34 counts, the lawyer testified that Trump directed him to pay $130,000 to adult film star Stormy Daniels weeks before the 2016 presidential election so she wouldn’t go public with allegations of a past alleged affair, then conceal the payment through a series of reimbursements.
The trial saw some embarrassing moments for the attorney, and numerous attacks from the Trump defense team seeking to undermine his credibility.
On the stand, he admitted to stealing tens of thousands of dollars from the Trump Organization as part of the reimbursement scheme for the hush money payments he made.
Cohen also told jurors he had once been “knee-deep in the cult” of Trump, when Trump’s lawyers asked about his past praise for his old boss.
Following the verdict, Cohen claimed the decision was an “important day for accountability and the rule of law” and warned the various political leaders vying to be Donald Trump’s vice-president about the risks of working for him.
“Anybody that goes into his orbit loses everything,” Cohen said.
“I was not a rags to riches story thanks to Donald,” he added. “I was a riches to rags story thanks to Donald.”
The lawyer was sentenced to three years in federal prison after pleading guilty to lying to Congress and campaign finance and tax violations in 2018, in part related to the hush money scheme.