Donald Trump’s former personal attorney, Michael Cohen, said Friday he believes he will be called “soon” to testify before a New York grand jury gathering evidence in the former president’s criminal investigation.
Cohen commented, Manhattan District Attorney’s Officeis conducting an investigation into hush money paid to two women who said they had had sexual relations with Trump.
Kellyanne Conway, Trump’s former top adviser, met with the DA’s office on Wednesday. new york times report.
“I look forward to speaking and being presented before a grand jury,” Cohen told NBC News and other reporters.
“I have some work to do today, but I think it will be over soon,” added Cohen.
Cohen arranged payments to porn star Stormy Daniels and Playboy model Karen McDougal, and remained silent about alleged liaisons with Trump before the 2016 presidential election.
In the case of Daniels, Cohen paid her $130,000, while in McDougall’s case, the then-parent company of supermarket tabloid National Enquirer paid her $150,000.
In his 2020 memoir, Cohen said that when he paid Daniels, “I called Trump to make sure the deal was done and the paperwork was in place, but he didn’t answer my calls. In hindsight, it’s obviously a very bad sign.”
However, Conway “called and said he would bring the good news,” Cohen wrote.
Cohen pleaded guilty in 2018 to federal criminal charges related to the compensation of two women and other misconduct.
Trump denies having sex with either woman or any other wrongdoing.
Times This week, former Enquirer publisher David Pecker and former Enquirer editor Dylan Howard reportedly testified before a grand jury. So did Keith Davidson, Daniels’ former attorney, the paper reported.
Cohen’s attorney, Lanny Davis, praised Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg and “his prosecution team” on Friday.
According to NBC News, Davis said, “I was very impressed with how meticulously detailed the documents, text messages, and many pieces of evidence that have been constructed around this story about Stormy Daniels and the hush money. I was impressed.
Asked by a reporter whether he believed Bragg would be indicted in the case, Davis said, “I don’t use the word indictment. We’ll see.”
“But there is no doubt about the way they are going about this,” Davis said. “Michael is the key to all of this…and he will be a key witness, and Trump will ultimately be held accountable before his fellow jurors,” Davis said. said. “So let’s see if he’s guilty or innocent.”
A lawyer for Trump did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In addition to the Manhattan Attorney’s Office investigation, Trump faces three other criminal investigations.
In Atlanta, a local district attorney is investigating Trump, his campaign lawyers, and others in connection with his efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss to President Joe Biden.
Also in Washington, D.C., special counsel Jack Smith is investigating Trump’s attempt to undo Biden’s Electoral College victory and his campaign leading up to the Jan. 6, 2021 riots by Biden supporters. oversees Department of Justice investigations into the conduct of Joint Congressional Session Proving Biden Won.
Smith is also investigating whether Trump obstructed justice and broke the law. When Trump resigned, he obtained hundreds of government documents, many of which were classified, and kept them at his club, Maralago, in Palm Beach, Florida.
Trump has denied wrongdoing in all these cases.
