New York's hush money case against former President Donald Trump is in serious trouble after star witness Michael Cohen reportedly "torpedoed" the case, Breitbart reported. The former Trump attorney turned state's witness has been raking in money on TikTok based on his role in the trial.
Legal analysts believe Cohen's online activities are seriously undermining the state's case, which is already on thin ice. He has been livestreaming on the app nightly to talk about Trump's trial.
Cohen has yet to take the witness stand in the trial but is supposed to be a key witness. "I’d be furious," Chris Timmons, former Georgia prosecutor and ABC News contributor, said.
"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," Timmons added. To make matters worse, TikTok allows content creators to receive monetary contributions from viewers, adding another layer of sleaze to the situation.
The entire premise of the case against Trump is questionable as it is. Now, a witness cashing in on his involvement in the whole ordeal seriously undermines the court's credibility.
Cohen's scheme has created a "major problem for prosecutors," former Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew McCarthy pointed out. "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," McCarthy noted.
Even Michael Avenatti, who previously went up against Trump in court before facing his own legal woes for defrauding his client, recognized that Cohen is a liability. "Michael Cohen, through his narcissism and his ego, may have just torpedoed the case against Trump," the disgraced attorney said.
"Never underestimate this guy’s ability to screw something up due to his ignorance and arrogance. He’s dumber than a box of rocks," Avenatti added.
"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. He had no business commenting on other witnesses’ testimony," Avenatti said.
Despite the obvious problems with fundraising off of this trial, Cohen maintains that he's within his rights to do as he wishes. He refuses to quit regardless of the consequences.
"I am not the defendant in this criminal matter and am not the subject of Judge Merchan’s gag order. Donald is," Cohen claimed.
"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. He presumably will not remain silent on all aspects of the case so that he may continue to work his money stream.
The gag order was another scandalous aspect of the case against Trump. New York County Judge Juan Merchan has silenced the former president and current GOP 2024 presidential contender and recently ruled that "Trump violated a gag order during his trial, holding him in criminal contempt and threatening him with jail time for any further infractions."
Trump remains mired down in the proceedings in this kangaroo court. It seems every new revelation about it backs up the notion that this is nothing more than a political witch hunt pushed by the worst kind of people, not the least of whom is Cohen.
