Cohen says Trump calls for protest against Manhattan DA probe signals desire for 'violent clash' on his behalf | The Hill
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
by Julia Shapero - 03/18/23 5:29 PM ET
Former Trump attorney Michael Cohen said on Saturday that former President Trump's calls for a protest against the Manhattan district attorney's probe signals a desire for "another violent clash" on his behalf.
"It's eerily similar to the battle cry that he put out just prior to the January 6th insurrection, you know, especially including the call, you know, for protest," Cohen said in an interview with MSNBC. "And I agree … it would have been smart for Donald to write 'peaceful protest,' but he doesn't want a peaceful protest."
Trump said in a post on Truth Social earlier in the day that he expects to be arrested next week as part of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's investigation into a hush-money payment made to adult film star Stormy Daniels during his 2016 campaign.
The former president claimed that "illegal leaks" indicate that "the far & away leading Republican candidate & former president of the United States of America, will be arrested on Tuesday of next week" and called for his supporters to protest and "take our nation back."
Cohen, who testified before the New York grand jury earlier this week, made a $130,000 payment to Daniels shortly before the 2016 election to buy her silence about an alleged affair with Trump.
The former president's longtime fixer pleaded guilty in 2018 to violating campaign finance laws in connection with the hush-money payment.
Cohen told MSNBC on Saturday that Trump or his team was likely contacted by the district attorney's office, rather than gaining the information via "leaks" as the former president suggested in his post.
"Knowing Donald the way that I do, I don't see a reason that Donald would have put out the statement unless he has, or his team, has been contacted by the district attorney's office and advised accordingly," Cohen said.
"This is exactly him reacting to information that he has and not leaks, as he would like to say, by the district attorney's office," he added. "There is no leaks coming out of the DA's office, that I can tell you for sure. This is all coming out of Trump camp."
He also suggested that Trump's calls for a protest likely stem from the belief that it could give his 2024 campaign a boost.
"These fools that are representing him, this clown show of lawyers, what they believe is that this will propel him into the White House by having another violent insurrection," Cohen said.
"But more importantly for Donald, it's all about the great grift," he continued. "He will look to profit from this action by soliciting contributions in order to protect him, your favorite president from the racist Alvin Bragg and all of the, you know, left wingers."
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Next comes Trump's perp walks and mug shots.
Plural
New York, Atlanta and Washington are coming...
Unlikely,
You are right. He'll slither in in darkness...
Pro and anti Trump protests are planned.
Maybe Bragg meets him, with handcuffs!
Maybe, Bragg can use some good publicity.
Why? Because MAGA hate him? Nope...
Do some research- Bragg is one of the worst DA's in the US- which is saying a lot with all of the Soros rejects out there.
Bragg is the epitome of George Soros DA's.
Punish victims and reward criminals. The Democrat motto.
Who says Putin isn't still in Trump's corner?
Been hearing that for 6 years now. Every time it's ended in failure. I'm guessing, with the history of the TDS driven, this will end the same.
No ex-president has ever been indicted,
Until tomorrow...
Doesn't change what I said.
Bragg will be the next in line of the many TDS ridden east coast liberals shot down in flames by Trump. Crash and burn Mav, completely augered in .....
And we'll see another round of whining and crying from the rest of the TDS community.
I'm not going to hold my breath but am hoping against hope that the dominoes will finally start to fall.
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I am confident that this will simply embolden MAGA sycophants. In the grand scheme, it is counterproductive. I would much prefer Trump be indicted for his Big Lie campaign and fallout of same. That at least is productive for our nation as a whole.
Considering no ex-president was ever indicted.
I've got to say at least it is a start for Trump...
After all this not the only indictment coming.
New York wants the first shot at nailing him!
Hard to say, JBB. I would not be shocked if the DoJ has made a political calculation resulting in no indictment for Trump. After all, it is better for the Ds if Trump has GOP power.
I do not believe that is an issue for Dems.
Interesting.
So you think todays DOJ is biased in favor of Dems?
I agree.
I am of the opinion that the DoJ leadership will naturally be biased towards the party holding the presidency and/or most political power in Congress.
It is an unfortunate consequence of the highly partisan nature of our times.
In short, and in general, justice is influenced by politics (and power).
Except if the DOJ harbors a bias then that is reason to end the DOJ as we know it. Was Bill Barr biased?
But it is an issue for republicans. And they have stated as such.
I do not know the man personally, but if he was not biased towards the GOP and Trump then he would have been quite a rare government official.
I do think Barr has as much integrity as anyone operating in this realm, but your question reads as though Barr is either entirely unbiased (purely objective) or entirely biased. I think he (like everyone else) is between those extremes and leans more towards objective.
But, sure, I expect that Barr made decisions considering the political impact and that he favored the GOP.
So the DOJ is basically an oxymoron eh?
Reality is not all nice and neat like a fairy tale.
Lol .... that is hilarious coming from the left.
Barr is a right wing ideologue who thought he could use Trump to advance his ultra conservative legal theories. He was willing to suffer Trump as long as he had influence along those lines. When it fell apart he turned on Trump. I dont think Barr is all that honorable of a guy. He also deliberately misrepresented the Mueller Report, which was a travesty on his part.
And now it begins. We shall see if the MAGA is willing to do 'anything and everything' to protect Donald J. Trump.
They are.
Nah but the TDS ridden are certainly willing to do whatever it takes to bring him down. Lie, cheat, deflect, propagandize, obfuscate..... whatever it takes.
Except the 'TDS' only applies to those that believe, trust and idolize the Mar-a-Lago man. There lies the derangement.
Opinions do vary, greatly in this case.
I don't worship him. I don't have a derangement syndrome.
Misuse of words like “worship” and “derangement” is just part and parcel of being a triggered, TDS ridden liberal.
It's amazing the number of people who want to believe a convicted felon with nothing to really back himself up.
If Trump is indicted I doubt very much that he will be seen handcuffed and perp-walked as so many people want to see. Instead the Secret Service will coordinate a place for Trump to surrender and it will all be behind the scenes. Regardless of your feelings or opinions of the man, he is still an ex President and as such does deserve some consideration.
I'm waiting to see if an indictment is handed down and wondering what the charges might be. There's been guesses made but that's all they are is guesses. From book keeping to campaign finance violations. As Bragg is a local DA I suspect any charges are more in line with book keeping issues as campaign finance issues are really a federal matter and the FEC would be the outfit to charge him in that case (and those issues usually result in a fine).
Of course if charges come out, then everything gets handed over to the defense and that's where it really gets crazy. Would still need to go thru a court of law and if the strongest witnesses are a convicted and admitted felon and Stormy Daniels who was also on record a few times saying the "affair" did not happen, who knows how it will end up. But for all the prognostication going on, somehow I doubt it will really end up with prison time. But we shall see.