Donald Trump returns to Manhattan courthouse to face off with former fixer and personal lawyer Michael Cohen who is set testify against the president at his $250M fraud trial
Michael Cohen will come face to face with Donald Trump for the first time since their relationship soured when he had to testify against the former president in his $250 million fraud trial in New York.
The former attorney, 57, was seen Tuesday morning leaving his Park Avenue apartment to head to Manhattan Supreme Court for the fourth week of proceedings in the civil case.
“This is about responsibility, plain and simple,” Cohen told reporters as he entered the courthouse, adding that it was up to the judge to make any decisions in the case.
Trump — who is not required to attend — has also returned to court for long-awaited testimony, taking a detour from his usual campaign spots to the Manhattan courtroom for the sixth day this month.
Former President Donald Trump arrived at the Manhattan Supreme Court on Tuesday, where his ex-lawyer and personal fixer are expected to take the stand
Michael Cohen, 57, was seen leaving his Park Avenue apartment and heading to court for the fourth week of Trump’s $250 million fraud trial
Cohen, who has become one of Trump’s most outspoken critics after years serving as his personal lawyer and fixer, was originally scheduled to testify last week but had to postpone his appearance for health reasons.
Tuesday’s confrontation is the first between the two since 2018 — when the president’s staunch defender turned on Trump amid a federal investigation that sent Cohen to federal prison.
Cohen will also serve as a key prosecution witness in Trump’s separate hush-money criminal case in Manhattan, which will go to trial next spring.
New York State Attorney General Letitia James, a Democrat, has credited Cohen with sparking her civil investigation, which led to the fraud case being decided at trial.
She is seeking $250 million and wants to effectively shut down Trump’s real estate operations in New York state for allegedly inflating the value of the empire by more than $2 billion a year.
During opening statements, Trump’s lawyers called Cohen a “serial liar,” citing his two guilty pleas in 2018 to felony charges including tax evasion and lying to Congress during an investigation into Trump’s ties to Russia.
A judge has already ruled that there was fraud and the trial must determine what the punishment should be.
The testimony marks the final chapter in Cohen’s transformation from a man who, as he once put it, “would take a bullet for Trump” to one of his greatest tormentors.
Cohen worked as Trump’s lawyer for more than a decade, during which time he was deeply involved in his personal affairs and his real estate activities.
The testimony marks the final chapter in Cohen’s transition from Trump’s most loyal confidant — who once declared he would “take a bullet” for the president — to his sworn enemy.
Media and camera crews can be seen outside the courthouse ahead of the highly anticipated proceedings
New York Attorney General Letitia James arrives at the New York State Supreme Court on Tuesday morning
He sometimes behaved like a mob henchman and once threatened to do “something disgusting” to a journalist who wrote about his former boss.
But Cohen split from Trump in 2018 when he cooperated with prosecutors investigating the former president’s $130,000 hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels.
He was jailed for three years in 2019 after pleading guilty to tax crimes, campaign finance violations and lying to Congress.
As Cohen walked into the court in New York, Trump sat with his lawyers
Cohen’s testimony before Congress in 2019 was the spark for the New York State Attorney’s Office investigation, alleging that Trump inflated the value of his properties to get better interest rates on loans and insurance.
In his testimony before a House committee, Cohen said his “blind loyalty” to Trump led him down a “path of darkness instead of light.”
He said: “I am ashamed of my weakness and misplaced loyalty – of the things I did for Mr. Trump in an effort to protect and promote him.
Trump is not required to attend the proceedings, but he has appeared sporadically during the trial this month. He was pictured in court last Wednesday with his legal team
“I am ashamed that I chose to participate in covering up Mr. Trump’s illegal actions instead of listening to my own conscience.”
Cohen wrote a memoir titled “Revenge,” in which he continued to deride Trump as a “cheater, a liar, a fraudster, a bully, a racist, a predator, a con man.”
In July, Trump settled a $1.3 million lawsuit brought against him by Cohen over legal fees stemming from his time working for the former president.
Cohen claimed that Trump stopped paying his legal bills when he began cooperating with prosecutors.
Trump has since sued Cohen for $500 million for allegedly violating attorney-client privilege during his frequent media appearances and on his podcast.
Before the hearing, Cohen mocked Trump by posting on the social media site Threads: “Looks like I will be reunited with my old client @realDonaldTrump when I testify in the @NewYorkStateAG civil fraud case on Tuesday, October 24th.”
In Trumpian fashion, he added, “Goodbye.”
Trump has attended the trial for several days, even though he is not expected to be there, and has made frequent statements outside the court.
Last week, the judge overseeing the case fined him $5,000 for posting about his law clerk online, which he expressly forbade the week before.