Cohen signals Trump won't testify in hush money case: 'Not going to happen'
Former President Trump’s ex-personal attorney, Michael Cohen, said that the former commander-in-chief will not testify in the hush money case, arguing it is “not going to happen.”
Cohen, a former ally of Trump who turned into a vocal critic of the former president, shut down the idea that he would testify in the New York case, the trial for which is set to begin on Monday.
"The likelihood of Donald Trump being on the stand is equal to the likelihood of me waking up tomorrow 7'6" and playing center for the New York Knicks—it's not gonna happen," Cohen said during his Saturday appearance on MSNBC “The Weekend.”
His Saturday remarks come after Trump said on Friday that he would “absolutely” testify in the case where he is facing 34 felonies.
Cohen also added that Trump is not a “good” defendant and that he would love to see the former president take the witness stand and try to defend himself in “a case that's indefensible.”
“We also know that he's not a good defendant,” Cohen said on Saturday. “He's not a good witness. We watched that with the E. Jean Carroll case when he couldn't even identify E. Jean Carroll and confused her with Marla Maples."
“He is not a good witness,” he continued. “He's not going to take the stick. In fact, I hope that I'm wrong. Because I think that would be absolutely classic for America to be able to see Donald Trump on the witness stand trying to defend himself in a case that's indefensible.”
The former president is starring down 34 charges of falsifying business records related to the hush money payment made by Cohen to porn actress Stormy Daniels to keep her quiet about an alleged affair with Trump ahead of the 2016 election. Trump has pleaded not guilty in the case and has denied the affair.
Judge Juan Merchan tossed another of Trump’s attempts to delay the trial on Friday, ruling that the trial will go forward as will the jury selection.
“Jury selection is largely luck,” Trump said on Friday. “It depends who you get. It’s very unfair that I’m having a trial there.”