Disgraced ex-Trump lawyer Michael Cohen reacts to former president’s guilty verdict
Donald Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen — who served as the prosecution’s star witness in the 45th president’s Manhattan hush money trial — celebrated the conviction of his old boss Thursday.
“Today is an important day for accountability and the rule of law,” Cohen said in a succinct statement after Trump was found guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records.
“While it has been a difficult journey for me and my family, the truth always matters,” he continued, thanking his attorneys for their “invaluable guidance and support.”
Cohen put out the statement not long after sharing a clip of himself “awaiting the Trump verdict.”
The stone-faced lawyer sat on the floor of his living room and took a deep breath in as live coverage of the trial played on his television.
Once the verdict was reached, Cohen raced to X to react.
“Guilty On All Counts! #TeamCohen,” he wrote, alongside an image of MSNBC’s guilty counter — a post that racked up more than 856,000 views.
What happens next after Trump is found guilty in hush money case
- Donald Trump, who was found guilty on all 34 counts, will remain free until his scheduled sentencing on the morning of July 11.
- The former president does not face any travel restrictions until the sentencing.
- Trump’s attorneys said they plan to appeal the verdict “as soon as we can.”
- If Trump loses an appeal with the mid-level appeals court, he’ll likely seek to have the state’s highest court hear his case, which could take an additional year.
Here you can read more about what happens next following the historic guilty verdict and what Trump potentially faces.
Trump, 77, was found guilty of falsifying business records throughout 2017 by lying that he was paying Cohen for phony “legal services” when he was actually reimbursing him for the hush money that kept porn star Stormy Daniels from speaking out about having sex with Trump inside a Lake Tahoe hotel room in 2006.
He was convicted on all 34 counts of falsifying business records, felonies that each carried a possible sentence of up to four years behind bars, in the case brought by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office — making him the US president to become a convicted felon.
Cohen — a convicted perjurer who testified that he lied under oath in the past to “protect” Trump — was Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s star witness.
Cohen testified that he altered financial records to create shell companies that he used for the payoff to Daniels and others.
Follow the latest on Donald Trump’s guilty verdict in his hush money trial
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While on the stand, he admitted to a slew of lies he had made while working for the ex-president, including that he secretly recorded Trump while they were discussing plans to have then-National Enquirer publisher David Pecker “catch-and-kill” Playboy Playmate Karen McDougal’s story that she had a month-long affair with Trump, by having her paid $150,000.
Trump has already doubled down on his claims of innocence, telling reporters outside the courthouse that he was subjected to a “rigged, disgraceful trial.”
“The real verdict will be Nov. 5 by the people … I’m a very innocent man,” the glum ex-president told reporters, blaming the ordeal on President Biden, Bragg and the judge who oversaw the trial.
