Trump said on Monday that Michael Cohen is ‘lying’ following his hush money trial, which tests the court order again.
Trump stated on Monday at the Manhattan courthouse that Cohen lied in the previous trial and called for scrutiny on that.
This came after the opening statements in his hush money trial in New York, where he is accused of illegally covering up a hush money payment made by Cohen to hide an alleged affair before the 2016 election.
Trump is facing 34 counts of falsifying business records in connection with reimbursements to Cohen after he paid Stormy Daniels $130,000 in October 2016 to keep quiet about the alleged affair.
Cohen, who is likely to be a witness in the case, pleaded guilty in 2018 to federal charges and was sentenced to three years in prison.
The charges were related to the payments made to Daniels as part of a nondisclosure agreement, which Cohen claimed he did at the direction of a “candidate for federal office.”
Judge Juan Merchan, who is overseeing the hush money case, implemented a gag order on Trump last month, preventing him from publicly attacking witnesses, jurors or others during the trial.
In the order, Merchan stated that Trump must refrain from "making or directing others to make public statements about known or reasonably foreseeable witnesses concerning their potential participation in this investigation or in this criminal proceeding."
The gag order was recently expanded to also limit Trump’s attacks on the family members of Merchan or Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg (D), who helped lead the hush money investigation.
It is not immediately clear if Trump’s remarks violate Merchan’s gag order. A hearing on the matter will be held Tuesday to determine if the former president’s recent social media posts violate the order.
Prosecutors asked Merchan last week to fine the former president $3,000 for violating the gag order in three recent Truth Social posts. Merchan did not immediately rule on the prosecutors’ request filed on April 15, but scheduled a hearing on the matter for Tuesday.
The posts in question targeted Cohen and Daniels, and Trump’s legal team argued that they do not violate the order. Attorney Todd Blanche contended that Trump was "responding to salacious, repeated, vehement attacks by these witnesses."
Trump’s legal team also criticized Cohen during
Monday’s opening statements, questioning Cohen's trustworthiness. Blanche told jurors they can’t trust Cohen, who has since turned against the former president. He referenced Cohen’s past guilty pleas, portraying him as a liar who is now making a livelihood off attacking Trump on his podcast, book, and cable news.
“Given this, you cannot give [a] serious decision about President Trump relying on the words of Michael Cohen,” Blanche said in court.
Trump’s legal team also emphasized Cohen's lack of credibility during the trial.
