Michael Cohen Is Becoming a Problem for Alvin Bragg

Michael Cohen, the star witness in former President Donald Trump's criminal trial, is becoming an issue for Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's office.

As he awaits his turn to take the stand, Cohen, the former Trump fixer who paid Stormy Daniels a $130,000 hush money payment ahead of the 2016 election, has presented prosecutors with several problems. The DA's office is not only struggling to control him from speaking out about the case but is also faced with troubling testimony that has given the jury a less-than-rosy depiction of Cohen.

"Michael Cohen is a complete mess as a witness for the prosecution in the current state fraud trial," former federal prosecutor Michael McAuliffe told Newsweek.

Trump is facing 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in connection to the payment that was made to Daniels. Prosecutors argue that Trump, Cohen and former publisher David Pecker orchestrated a scheme to influence the 2016 presidential election by concealing negative stories about Trump, including Daniels' claims that she had an affair with the then-Republican nominee. Trump has pleaded not guilty and denied Daniels' allegations.

Newsweek reached out to Cohen via phone for comment.

Cohen has loomed large over the trial that's been taking place in the Manhattan Criminal Court. Trump was fined $9,000 for violating his gag order, which bars him from attacking any "foreseeable witnesses" and jurors after the former president railed against Cohen and Daniels outside the courtroom.

Trump's attorneys tried to argue that he was allowed to respond to Cohen's remarks but were ultimately unable to point to specific comments that Cohen made about Trump.

Cohen, who has emerged as a vocal Trump critic since his fallout with his former boss, has continued to speak out about the case despite the fact that he's expected to testify in the trial. Just last week, Cohen took to X, formerly Twitter, to address Trump as "Von ShitzInPantz," telling Trump that "your attacks of me stink of desperation."

Cohen has also discussed Trump and the trial during his nightly livestreams on TikTok, making comments like, "Trump 2024? More like Trump 20-24 years." This week, ABC reported that Cohen is profiting off these hours-long livestreams.

McAuliffe said that Cohen's past comments about Trump and his "often bizarre publicity stunts" make Cohen "less and less useful as a source of credible evidence."

"By constantly puffing up his anticipated role as a Trump-slayer, he makes it much less possible to be one," McAuliffe said.

The prosecution has already faced the difficult task of centering their case around Cohen, whose reputation is far from flawless. During their opening arguments and throughout jury selection, prosecutors addressed the elephant in the room, carefully telling jurors about Cohen's history of lying, not only to the media but also in court and to Congress.

"Will you keep an open mind?" lead prosecutor Joshua Steinglass asked prospective jurors about Cohen's "baggage."

The defense, on the other hand, has sought to undercut Cohen's credibility, telling jurors that Cohen is "obsessed" with Trump "even to this day" and that he's seeking to blame his friend-turned-foe for "virtually all of his problems."

Trump's legal team also used Cohen's podcasts and public comments about Trump to argue that Cohen's "entire financial livelihood" depends on Trump's "destruction."

"You cannot make a serious decision about President Trump under the lying words of Michael Cohen," Trump attorney Todd Blanche told the jury last week.

Even if jurors put aside what they knew of Cohen before the trial began, the testimony that's been offered about the former Trump loyalist has been unflattering. Not only have several of the witnesses testified about how difficult Cohen was to work with, but Gary Farro, Cohen's former banker at First Republic, said he had no reason to suspect that Cohen was doing anything shady when he set up the LLC account to pay Daniels.

Farro said Cohen would not have been able to open the account for his Essential Consultants LLC had he believed that his client was creating a shell company. He also said there would have been "enhanced due diligence" if the bank knew that Cohen was making a wire that would benefit a political candidate or an adult film star, testifying that such transactions could be delayed by this information, or even blocked altogether.

"The fact that Cohen successfully misled the bank into thinking everything he was doing was hunky-dory, at least in my view, unless I am missing something, help the defendant," legal commentator George Conway tweeted on Tuesday.

"[Cohen] was already a convicted felon and admitted liar, but his portrayal by other witnesses who have testified has been less than flattering," former federal prosecutor Neama Rahmani told Newsweek.

"He misled his banker on the phone and on forms, and Daniels' lawyer did not want to work with Cohen because of Cohen's attitude," Rahmani said. "The prosecution is going to have to corroborate Cohen's testimony with independent, irrefutable evidence such as emails, text messages, and recordings. Cohen commenting about Trump may also open the door for Trump to do the same without violating the gag order."

Farro also described Cohen as a "challenging client because of his desire to get things done so quickly."

Farro's testimony was followed by that of Keith Davidson, the attorney who represented Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal, who described recalled "trying like hell to avoid" calling Cohen.

On Tuesday, Davidson complained that Cohen repeatedly came up with excuses and contradictions to not make the $130,000 payment, calling it a "great source of frustration," and testified that Daniels' manager, Gina Rodriguez, had described Cohen as a "jerk" and "asshole" who was "very aggressive."

"The moral of the story was no one wanted to talk to Cohen," Davidson said on the stand.

But despite Cohen's "mostly self-inflicted limitations as a witness," McAuliffe told Newsweek that he was in the thick of the events that led to Trump's charges. So, his testimony could still be helpful to prosecutors.

McAuliffe added that it's "critical to remember" that Cohen probably "had the same traits when Donald Trump hired and relied on him as an enforcer of Trump's interests, legal or illegal."

"The jury may well conclude it was a perfect match. The prosecution team is counting on it," he said.