Anthony Scaramucci, the ex-White House communications director under Donald Trump, said this week that Michael Cohen was a “groupie” to the former president.
On Monday, Scaramucci appeared on CNN’s Trump Hush Money Trial special to talk about the former president’s criminal trial in Manhattan and testimony from Cohen, who previously served as Trump’s former lawyer.
When asked by host Anderson Cooper about Cohen’s loyalty to Trump in the past, Scaramucci said, “I think there’s a big underlying lesson in this: don’t be anybody’s groupie.”
“I think what Michael did was got on the Volkswagen van with Donald Trump and he hung out with the band and thought he was part of the band and he wasn’t,” Scaramucci said. “So, when he got kicked to the curb, and that is exactly what Donald Trump does to everybody…loyalty is a two-way street.”
The context:
Monday marked the start of the fifth week of Trump’s ongoing criminal trial in Manhattan where he is accused of making hush money payments to Stormy Daniels, a former adult film star, in 2016.
In April 2023, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said Trump had “fraudulently falsified New York business records to conceal crimes that hid damaging information—including a $130,000 hush money payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels—from the public during the 2016 presidential campaign.”
The former president has continued to deny any wrongdoing in the case and says that it should be dismissed.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump returns from a break during his trial for allegedly covering up hush money payments at Manhattan Criminal Court on May 13, 2024, in New York City. On May 13, 2024,…
Steven Hirsch-Pool/Getty Images/Getty Images
What we know:
Cohen took the stand on Monday to testify against Trump and said that “it’s fair” to describe him as a “fixer” for Trump when the two worked together.
Newsweek’s Katherine Fung, who has been inside the courtroom, reported on Monday that Cohen was introduced to the former president by his son, Donald Trump Jr.
Eventually, Cohen was offered a position “whereby I would only answer to him,” as Trump’s executive vice president and special counsel, Fung reported.
During his testimony, Cohen also spoke about working with David Pecker, the former publisher of the National Enquirer, and Dylan Howard, then editor-in-chief of the National Enquirer in connection to attempts to shut down a story that Trump allegedly had an affair with former Playboy model Karen McDougal.
Views:
In a post to X, formerly Twitter, Trump’s son Eric Trump responded to the ongoing trial and testimony from Cohen saying, “I have never seen anything more rehearsed!”
Earlier on Monday, Cohen’s legal adviser Lanny Davis appeared on MSNBC’s Morning Joe and said that Cohen would have evidence, including text messages, to corroborate his claims against Trump.
“You’re also going to see everything, everything that Michael Cohen testifies to, after spending years with these prosecutors, behind closed doors, Michael and me, everything will be corroborated,” Davis said. “By text messages, by documents, even by witnesses loyal to President Trump.”
What’s next:
Trump’s criminal trial in Manhattan is expected to continue over the next few weeks.
Cohen will likely continue his testimony throughout the day on Monday.
Newsweek reached out to Trump’s spokesperson via email for comment.
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