Cohen slams DOJ for lack of transparency in Trump hush money case
Michael Cohen, the ex-personal attorney of former President Trump, slammed the Department of Justice (DOJ) for a lack of transparency in the New York hush money case ahead of a hearing Monday.
Cohen, Trump’s former fixer, joined MSNBC’s “The Weekend” Saturday where he said he is “very angry” that there’s been “absolute silence” to his request for documents in the case, while his former boss puts in a request and “all of a sudden” documents appear.
“I’d like to know what’s going on. I’d like to know what’s going on with the SDNY, which is problematic, I’d like to know what’s going on with the DOJ,” he said, referring to the district court.
“What’s going on here? Those documents belong to the people and they should have been released on the FOIA because I’ll tell you what those documents are going to show,” Cohen continued. “It’s going to show that Donald Trump, through a willing and complicit bloviating Attorney General, went ahead, weaponized the United States Department of Justice and unconstitutionally remanded the United States Constitution.”
The trial was scheduled to begin Monday, but has been delayed several weeks after new relevant documents came to light. It could still head to a jury soon, becoming Trump’s first criminal trial.
Instead, Judge Juan Merchan scheduled a hearing on Monday, to address the last-minute evidence presented by Trump’s lawyers. His lawyers asked for a minimum 90-day delay to review the more than 100,000 pages of records federal prosecutors turned over.
Prosecutors estimate that only 270 documents, which are related to Cohen’s federal criminal case, are relevant and were not previously disclosed.
Earlier this week, Merchan ruled on more than a dozen requests between the two sides to exclude various evidence in the case against Trump. The ruling will allow Cohen and adult film star Stormy Daniels to testify at the trial, despite Trump’s objections.
The ruling means Daniels, who said she was paid hush money by Cohen to stay quiet about her alleged affair with Trump, will be included in the case. The actress claimed in a recent documentary that she only took the money because she feared for her life.
Trump, the likely GOP nominee for president, has been charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records connected to reimbursements he made to Cohen for a hush money payment to Daniels before the 2016 election. The former president pleaded not guilty.