Former Trump attorney Michael Cohen's TikTok fundraising recordings may have "torpedoed" the former president's prosecution in New York, according to legal experts.
ABC News published an article on Sunday regarding the potential issue of Michael Cohen capitalizing on the Trump trial through TikTok livestreams, as Breitbart News reported.
Via ABC News' report:
As he awaits his turn to take the witness stand, Cohen has discussed Trump, the ongoing trial, and the testimony already underway during nightly livestreams on TikTok which appear to be earning him financial benefit through viewers’ donations, according to hours of his streams viewed by ABC News.
And while the undertaking doesn’t appear to run afoul of any court order, experts say it hurts the already-blemished credibility of an essential witness in the case.
“I’d be furious,” said ABC News contributor and former Georgia prosecutor Chris Timmons. “As a prosecutor, the last thing you want your witness to do is to be talking about the case in a forum other than the courtroom.”
TikTok enables users to make monetary contributions in the form of "gifts" while they watch continuous livestreams.
Former Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew McCarthy described Cohen's antics to Fox News as a “major problem for prosecutors.”
”It is not a problem for Cohen’s credibility because he has none — he is a convicted perjurer and fraudster whose current ‘defense’ of his fraud convictions is that he wasn’t telling the truth when he pled guilty,” said McCarthy.
Even disgraced lawyer Michael Avenatti expressed regret over Cohen possibly ruining the prosecution's case.
“Michael Cohen through his narcissism and his ego may have just torpedoed the case against Trump,” Avenatti told Fox News from federal prison.
“Never underestimate this guy’s ability to screw something up due to his ignorance and arrogance. He’s dumber than a box of rocks.
"The state can’t win the case without him and because of his conduct in reviewing trial testimony in violation of the court’s order, which [he] just admitted to when speaking with ABC, the court must strike him as a witness, declare a mistrial, or both,” Avenatti continued. “He had no business commenting on other witnesses’ testimony.”
Professor William A. Jacobson of Cornell Law School agreed that Cohen's conduct could likely have severe repercussions.
“Profiting off the trial adds another conflict to that pile. Whether it’s the straw that breaks the camel’s back when it comes to the jury remains to be seen, but it certainly is fodder for cross-examination,” Jacobson told Fox News.
Cohen promised to stop doing livestreams, according to ABC News.
“I am not the defendant in this criminal matter and am not the subject of Judge Merchan’s gag order. Donald is. Nevertheless, I elected, out of respect to the court and the prosecutors, to cease commenting on Trump and this matter; which I have done,” Cohen said.
