On Saturday, ex-President Trump insinuated that the Manhattan district attorney was deceived by "star" witness Michael Cohen, Trump's former attorney who was disbarred in 2018 after admitting to numerous felony charges, including five counts of tax evasion, lying to a financial institution, lying to Congress, and two violations of campaign finance laws.
Last week, a letter from 2018 surfaced revealing that Cohen's lawyer informed the Federal Election Commission that his client utilized his personal funds to issue a $130,000 "hush" payment to Stephanie Clifford (also known as Stormy Daniels or, as Trump calls her, "Horse Face"), apart from any reimbursement by Trump. The revelation, coupled with Cohen's questionable credibility, further casts doubt on the reliability of his testimony.
Following a rally he held in Waco, Texas, on Saturday evening -- the first official rally of his 2024 presidential campaign -- Trump said: "I think they’ve already dropped the case … they have absolutely nothing."
"It’s a fake case. Some fake cases, they have absolutely nothing," Trump continued.
Later, he took to his Truth Social platform to declare: "The Manhattan D.A. Witch Hunt against me is DEAD, no evidence at all, & it has been conclusively proven that I did nothing wrong! The evidence against their 'Star' witness, however, is overwhelming. An already disbarred lawyer & convicted Felon, the only question left is will the D.A.s Office sue him for lying & fraud. They should!"
Trump also told reporters on his plane that he wasn't trying to incite violence with a recent Truth Social post warning of "potential death and destruction" if he's indicted.
"No, I don’t like violence, and I’m not for violence. But a lot of people are upset," he said.
According to The Epoch Times, Robert Costello, a former attorney for Trump, stated that he informed the grand jury in the Manhattan case that Cohen was a discredited witness against Trump.
Cohen provided testimony against the 45th president in an investigation that allegedly pertains to the "hush money" payments made to adult performer Stormy Daniels during the 2016 presidential campaign. When contacted for a response, Cohen's attorney declined to comment, but Cohen himself stated on MSNBC last week that Costello never represented him and challenged the accuracy of his testimony.
During the last week, the only public statement made by Alvin Bragg's office was in response to a letter from House Republicans requesting testimony and details about the Manhattan DA's case, including whether Trump would be arrested. The general counsel responded in writing, stating that it was Trump who generated an unfounded expectation that he would be indicted the previous week but did not offer any further information.
Constitutional law expert and former Harvard University Law School professor Alan Dershowitz thinks that Bragg could be disbarred if he brings forward charges against Trump now.
“I don’t think an indictment can actually come forward now after the comments made by Costello,” he told Fox News' Sunday Morning Futures.
He said that “he has proved that the main witness is going to be a perjuring liar on the witness stand, and that puts the district attorney in a terrible position.”
“If he uses Cohen as a witness, he could actually lose his bar license. It’s unethical to put a witness on the stand who you know is lying, and he has to know that Cohen will be lying. Or he tries the case without Cohen, which would be very difficult, or he does the right thing: he drops the case,” Dershowitz added.
During his rally, Trump proclaimed that his adversaries were determined to impede his progress, stating that "our opponents have gone to great lengths to dampen our morale and shatter our determination." He went on to inform the audience that Bragg was conducting an investigation into him for "something that is not a crime, not a misdemeanor, not an affair."
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