Michael Cohen testifies it would be better for him financially if Trump gets acquitted: 'It gives me more to talk about'
Donald Trump's not getting convicted would give Michael Cohen more to talk about on his podcast, Cohen testified.
Reuters/Mike Segar
- Michael Cohen testified that he would financially benefit if Donald Trump is acquitted.
- It would give him more to talk about on his podcasts and in a future book.
- Cohen isn't shutting up anytime soon — he said he might run for Congress.
Michael Cohen wants to see Donald Trump behind bars.
But if the former president is acquitted in his ongoing hush-money trial, it'd probably be better for Cohen financially, Cohen testified on Monday morning.
Asked by Trump's lawyer Todd Blanche whether a conviction would benefit Cohen financially, he said the opposite was true.
"The answer is no," Cohen said.
If Trump walks free, Cohen may be able to make more money from his podcast and a potential third book.
"It's better if he's not, for me, because it gives me more to talk about in the future," Cohen said.
Blanche on Monday completed his third day of cross-examining Cohen, seeking to depict him to jurors as a liar and scoundrel out for vengeance against Trump.
The Manhattan district attorney's office accused Trump of falsifying 34 business documents in order to reimburse Cohen for hush-money payments made to Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 election. Trump's lawyers have said that Cohen went rogue when making the hush-money payments and that Trump wasn't involved in the scheme.
Cohen, a former personal lawyer to Trump and executive of the Trump Organization, has had his own legal trouble.
He pleaded guilty in 2018 to breaking campaign-finance laws with the hush-money payment, as well as to engaging in an array of tax crimes and lying to Congress about Trump's business dealings.
Since then, Cohen has turned into a wrathful Trump critic. He served a stint in prison, has written two books — "Disloyal" and "Revenge" — and hosts two podcasts about his decadelong journey in Trump's orbit.
Blanche, in his cross-examination, suggested that Cohen's media output gave him a financial interest in the outcome of the criminal trial.
Cohen has testified that he's made about $4.4 million since September 2020 from book sales, his podcasts, and sales of podcast-affiliated merchandise.
Cohen lost his law license as a result of his guilty pleas, and he testified that he'd sold properties he owned. Nearly all his income comes from book sales and podcast deals, with additional funds from a lease on one remaining investment property he owns and a negligible sum from TikTok, he testified.
He's also shopped around a reality show about his life called "The Fixer," he said on the witness stand on Monday. No studio has picked it up, he said.
Cohen said that regardless of how the trial turns out, he'll be talking about the case. He said he was considering writing a third book and running for Congress.
"Whether Mr. Trump is ultimately determined innocent or guilty is not going to affect whether I speak about it or not," Cohen said.