Michael Cohen and Trump face off: Everything to know before the former lawyer takes the stand
Michael Cohen, a former personal lawyer and fixer for Donald Trump, is ready to confront him face-to-face Tuesday at the former president's New York trial for civil fraud.
Cohen went to prison in part for arranging hush money payments for Trump to a porn actress and a former Playboy model, which remain at the heart of a pending criminal case against Trump. Cohen has previously testified before Congress in February 2019 that Trump inflated property values to secure loans and insurance.
Now Cohen is prepared to bring his insider view of the Trump Organization to a trial where a judge has already ruled Trump committed fraud for years and ordered the cancellation of Trump's business certificates. New York Attorney General Letitia James is seeking $250 million.
"It appears that I will be reunited with my old client @realDonaldTrump when I testify this Tuesday, October 24th at the @NewYorkStateAG civil fraud trial," Cohen posted on Threads. "See you there!"
Here is what you need to know about the tumultuous relationship between Cohen and Trump:
What is Trump's New York civil fraud trial about?
New York Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron has already ruled Trump committed fraud for years.
One of his findings was that Trump valued rent-controlled apartments at Trump Park Avenue, where Cohen lives, at millions of dollars more than their appraised value because of their potential to eventually be sold as market-rent units.
Engoron canceled Trump’s business certificates, but an appeals court put the impact of that decision on hold while the case is argued. Engoron is presiding over the trial to determine penalties for Trump and his business.
Trump's lawyers vowed to appeal the ruling. Trump called the decision "ridiculous and untrue."
What did Cohen do for Trump?
Cohen, who once said he would “take a bullet” for Trump, worked as an executive vice president, special counsel and personal attorney for him for more than 10 years.
"I wound up touting the Trump narrative for over a decade," Cohen told the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. "That was my job. Always stay on message. Always defend. It monopolized my life."
Cohen served 3 years for Trump-related and personal offenses.
In August 2018, Cohen pleaded guilty in federal court to concealing more than $4 million in personal income from the IRS, making false statements about a home equity loan, and "causing $280,000 in payments to be made to silence two women who otherwise planned to speak publicly about their alleged affairs with a presidential candidate, thereby intending to influence the 2016 presidential election," according to court records.
The hush-money payments to one of the women, Stormy Daniels, remain at the heart of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s criminal case against Trump, for allegedly falsifying business records to repay Cohen.
Cohen also pleaded guilty in November 2018 to lying to Congress about a Trump project in Moscow.
Cohen was sentenced to three years in prison, but served about half the term in home detention because of COVID-19.
Cohen told Congress about Trump's alleged real estate fraud
Between his conviction and the start of his prison sentence, Cohen delivered a searing account of his dealings with Trump to the House Oversight Committee in February 2019, when he called Trump a “racist,” a “con man” and a “cheat.”
"It was my experience that Mr. Trump inflated his total assets when it served his purposes such as trying to be listed amongst the wealthiest people in Forbes and deflated his assets to reduce his real estate taxes," Cohen said.
Asked how Trump reduced his real-estate taxes, Cohen said, "What you do is you deflate the value of the asset and then you put in a request to the tax department for a deduction."
Trump disputed Cohen’s testimony, tweeting from a foreign trip that Cohen was a convicted liar.
“He is lying in order to reduce his prison time,” Trump said in the tweet.
Trump drops $500M lawsuit against Cohen
Trump and Cohen remain at odds over litigation including the attorney general's fraud case.
Earlier this month, Trump abandoned his lawsuit seeking $500 million from Cohen over his earnings from a memoir about their relationship.
Trump had filed the case in April, arguing that Cohen gave "fictionalized accounts" of interactions with Trump that were barred by a confidentiality agreement through Cohen's 2020 book, Disloyal: A Memoir.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Donald Trump expected to confront Michael Cohen at NY fraud trial
