All week long, the media has been gushing over Michael Cohen and how "insightful" his testimony has been during this trial.
That ended on Thursday when Trump's defense team completely exposed Cohen as a liar.
Talking Points…
- Cohen lulled, then destroyed
- Media reaction
- Analysis
Defense attorney Todd Blanche just conducted a cross-examination that will now allow him to charge whatever fee he wants for his next client. For most of the day on Thursday, he sent subtle jabs to Cohen that were lulling everyone to sleep. It was all a setup, however, as Blanche was merely using those jabs to set up a monster left hook that came out of nowhere.
After almost a full day of setting the table, Blanche went in for the kill with about 20 minutes left in his cross-examination, leaving Cohen confused and stammering and those in the court with their jaws hanging down on the floor. CNN's Anderson Cooper described it best, stating:
"There was a lot of kind of meandering cross-examination or seemingly meandering cross-examination by Todd Blanche, but the last 20 minutes of court today right before the lunch break, it was incredible.
"I mean, it was Elie Honig on my program last night had talked about on a cross-examination lawyers want to kind of put the witness in, build a box around the witness, and then slam it shut. That's what Todd Blanche did to Michael Cohen."
MSNBC host Ari Melber did not sugarcoat how things went for Cohen in court this week. He is one of the few that was not overtly gushing over Cohen when the man was clearly getting creative on the stand during the week. Melber questioned the integrity of Cohen's testimony earlier in the week, as well as how he was just being flat-out exposed during Thursday's session. He stated:
"I think the punches are building cumulatively. I think Tuesday there were bruises and today there's blood, to extend the metaphor.
"I think the collective view is these are moments the jury will remember and they are instilling or adding possible doubts about Michael Cohen's long-term credibility."
Cohen told at least one lie, but probably more like 10 while on the stand. At one point, Cohen denied that he wanted to parlay his role as Trump's fixer into a White House post, something he had previously admitted he was trying to do so that he could cash in if Trump became president. Former White House Communications Director Alyssa Farah Griffin pointed that lie out, stating:
"I was working for a number of Republican lawmakers at that time, several of whom would go into the administration, including Mick Mulvaney as [Office of Management and Budget] director, and it was widely known and believed. Now, Michael Cohen never told me firsthand, 'I'm going into the White House, I want to.'"
"But it was widely discussed that he was angling for attorney general or to be White House counsel. That's, I mean, there's dozens and dozens of people around Washington who could corroborate that."
Attorney Alan Dershowitz made another great point about a witness that Bragg refused to call. He was speaking of former Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg, who even Judge Merchan wanted to hear from. Dershowitz suggested the Trump legal team demand "missing witness instruction" to make note of how Weisselberg could prove that Cohen was lying during certain parts of his testimony. He explained:
"The person who could have corroborated Cohen's testimony if it's true, if it's true, that's the key, is Allen Weisselberg, he's sitting in prison under the control of government. The government snaps his fingers and puts him on as a witness. He could be called as a witness. The government has chosen not to call him as witness, and this issue should be litigated very extensively by Trump's lawyers.
"So, it starts by Trump's lawyers making a motion calling for missing witness instruction: 'Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, if there was a witness under the control of one side and that side declined to call them and his testimony would have been relevant, you can presume that the testimony would have been unfavorable.'"
As I had stated in previous reports, some publications, such as Politico, were hanging on to every word that Cohen said as though there was no question he was telling the truth. Trump's attorney blew that idea out of the water on Thursday, and virtually every major media outlet had to admit that Cohen was exposed, caught lying, and may have just burned Bragg's case about Trump. We will find out just how badly very soon, as summations are expected next week unless something unexpected takes place.
