Ex-President Donald Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen has described his old boss as a “defeated man” after testifying for two days in his civil business fraud trial.
While a summary judgment has already found Trump liable for committing fraud in New York, the trial continued on Wednesday to determine the extent of any penalties for the former president. Shortly after testifying during what was an eventful day, Cohen and his attorney Danya Perry spoke to the press outside the courthouse.
Cohen, who in 2018 pleaded guilty to tax fraud and campaign finance crimes that occurred while he was employed by Trump, said that he made direct eye contact with the former president “several times” during his testimony. He suggested that Trump looked like he had resigned himself to the trial marking “the end of The Trump Organization.”
Former President Donald Trump on Wednesday is pictured during his civil fraud trial in New York City. Former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen said that when he looked into the ex-president’s eyes, he saw “a defeated man.”
Spencer Platt
“I saw a defeated man,” Cohen said. “I saw somebody that knows that it’s the end of The Trump Organization: Already found guilty of fraud, the license will ultimately be taken, and now this entire case is merely about how much. This is merely about how much disgorgement [New York Attorney General Letitia James] will be seeking.”
Newsweek reached out for comment to Trump’s office via email on Wednesday.
During one particularly tense moment of the trial on Wednesday, while Cohen was testifying, Trump reportedly rose out of his seat and stormed out of the courtroom following New York State Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron’s refusal to grant a request by Trump’s lawyers to dismiss the case.
Trump was followed out of the room by Secret Service agents. The gesture was unexpected, even for the former president’s lawyers, and sparked audible gasps from those present, according to NBC News. He returned to the trial with his lawyer Alina Habba a short time later.
Cliff Robert, another lawyer for the ex-president, requested that Engoron dismiss the trial for a second time upon Trump’s return. Engoron denied the request again, saying that it would “absolutely not” be granted because “there’s enough evidence in this case to fill the courtroom.”
The moment came after Cohen said that he could not “recall” being specifically asked by Trump to artificially inflate numbers on Trump’s personal financial statement. He later clarified that, while Trump did not ask specifically, he operated like a “mob boss” and used intimidation to get what he wanted without being explicit.
Cohen suggested that Trump’s dramatic gesture of leaving the courtroom may have happened because the former president knows that he could ultimately face “accountability.”
“You may have seen Mr. Trump storm out,” said Cohen. “He stormed out because they wanted to make a motion to dismiss the case. To which the judge responded, ‘yea, absolutely not.’ You know why? Because he will ultimately be held accountable. And as I said the other day, that’s what this is all about. It’s accountability.”
Trump was also fined $10,000 for violating Engoron’s gag order on Wednesday. The violation happened earlier in the day, when the former president told reporters gathered outside that Engoron was “a very partisan judge” who was seated next to “a person who’s very partisan.”
Engoron found that Trump was referencing his law clerk, calling the comments a “blatant” violation of his order since he was specifically instructed not to discuss the clerk. Trump took to the witness stand and argued to Engoron that he was referring to “you and Cohen.”
“The idea that that statement would refer to the witness, that doesn’t make sense to me,” Engoron said, according to Reuters. “Don’t do it again or it will be worse.”
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