Staff Reports
Following the denial of Michael Cohen's petition to terminate his post-prison monitoring for tax evasion, the former attorney was subjected to an intense cross-examination alleging "perjury" just before his testimony was scheduled in a criminal hush money trial that also involved former President Donald Trump. Judge Jesse M. Furman in Manhattan cast doubt on the veracity of Cohen's claims when he denied his request for early release from court supervision following his three-year incarceration for charges including tax evasion, deceit towards banks and Congress, and violation of campaign finance legislation. Cohen was profoundly disheartened by the ruling, which additionally threw his credibility as a "star witness" in the imminent criminal proceeding against Trump into question.
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The judge focused his attention on Cohen's testimony provided in October 2018 during Trump's civil fraud prosecution in state court. Cohen unequivocally denied any culpability for tax evasion, despite having previously pleaded guilty to the charge in 2018. Cohen responded unequivocally in his autumn testimony when queried about whether he had lied to the federal judge who sanctioned his guilty plea: "Yes." Cohen's testimony, according to Furman, "raises two possibilities: Cohen pleaded guilty under duress before Judge Pauley, or Cohen provided false information in October 2023."
Cohen will continue to be obligated to comply with his three-year supervised release until November, due to the ruling of Furman. Cohen is required to maintain regular communication with a federal probation officer, who has the authority to oversee his location, employment, and residential circumstances, as stipulated in this provision.
Nevertheless, the occurrence of the order this week may prove advantageous for Trump's legal team, given that they are anticipated to depend on Furman's judgment in the hush money trial that Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg has initiated. The former president's legal representatives might have employed the order in an effort to taint Cohen's credibility in his capacity as a witness before the jury.
Bragg's office relies heavily on Cohen's testimony concerning the manner in which Trump utilized him as an intermediary to remunerate pornographic actress Stormy Daniels with $130,000 (allegedly to obfuscate a seditious relationship between the two during 2006, a month before the 2016 presidential election).
Criminal charges have been filed against the presumptive Republican presidential nominee in relation to the $420,000 reimbursement that Trump allegedly paid to Cohen. Trump is charged with 34 felonies on suspicion of fabricating business records to obfuscate the transaction.
"As confirmed by Judge Furman, Michael Cohen committed perjury and should be prosecuted," stated Trump attorney Alina Habba, a pivotal figure on his team throughout the New York civil fraud trial against the Trump Organization.
Wednesday, Cohen's attorney, E. Danya Perry, released a statement clarifying that Furman's censure for perjury is "not a judicial determination" and denouncing his position as "both legally and factually incorrect." Furthermore, Perry maintained that Cohen entered into the plea bargain under duress and that the "fundamental facts" regarding his conduct were never in dispute.
As reported by the Washington Examiner, Jonathan Turley, a law professor at George Washington University, asserts that Furman's decision concerning hush money "merely emphasizes the overall weakness of his case." In addition, he stated that it is "not uncommon" for prosecutors to summon convicted felons as witnesses. Nevertheless, Cohen's questionable accuracy could pose a difficulty.
Despite Trump's objections, hush money trial judge Juan Merchan upheld the admission of Cohen and Daniels as witnesses two days prior to Furman's order. The initial March 25 commencement date for Trump's hush money trial, which will be the first of three criminal trials in his career, was postponed as a result of documents being released at the eleventh hour by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York.
