Donald Trump‘s former lawyer Michael Cohen has branded his ex-boss’ lawyers the “stupidest of all time,” when reacting to news that they had failed to get the New York criminal hush money trial moved to a federal court.
Cohen, who testified in the case against the former president in May, was recording on the podcast, Political Beatdown, which he hosts alongside Ben Meiselas, when the news broke.
On hearing that a federal judge had rejected an attempt to move the case for a second time, Cohen said: “Let me be very clear about something. What Trump and his SLOUT lawyers, stupidest lawyers of all time… what they’re trying to do is to create more doubt, to create some sort of a record so that they could try to appeal it, it’s not going to work.”
Newsweek has reached out to Trump’s lawyer, Todd Blanche, via email for comment.
Michael Cohen reacts to the news that Trump’s attempt to transfer his New York criminal case to federal court has been rejected: He is truly a nonpartisan judge.. Good for Alvin Hellerstein, good for all of us. Not so good for Donald, but good for the rest of us pic.twitter.com/nWSs6xHPaI
— Acyn (@Acyn) September 3, 2024
Trump was convicted in May on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records as part of his bid to win the 2016 presidential election. New York State Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan is scheduled to sentence the former president later this month in a hearing, but he has not yet ruled on Trump’s request to delay the hearing until after the 2024 presidential election. Trump denied all charges and still denies any wrongdoing, claiming it is all part of a political witch hunt against him.
The 34 felony charges all related to a $130,000 hush-money payment, made by Cohen, to the adult film actress Stormy Daniels, shortly before the 2016 election, while Trump was not president, in order to prevent her from talking about her alleged 2007 affair with Trump. Trump denies the affair.
Trump was convicted when he was the presumed Republican presidential nominee before he was later confirmed, at the Republican National Convention.
The U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein ruled on Tuesday against the new effort by Trump’s legal team to move the case ahead of the scheduled sentence hearing. The judgment read: “Nothing in the Supreme Court’s opinion affects my previous conclusion that the hush money payments were private, unofficial acts, outside the bounds of executive authority.”
Michael Cohen, former personal lawyer to Donald Trump, at the Democratic National Convention. Cohen has branded the former president’s lawyers the stupidest of all time in a podcast.
Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
Trump’s lawyers had referred to the New York case as a “zombie” case, due to the Supreme Court immunity decision, when filing their second removal notice with Hellerstein. The former President’s team has argued that because a small amount of evidence used in the cases dated to Trump’s time in the White House, the whole case should be thrown out on the basis of presidential immunity.
Cohen continues in the podcast: “They tried it before, it was denied before, good for Alvin K Hellerstein, in doing exactly what he did, good for him, and as far as I’m concerned, it is a correct and accurate determination based upon the motion that was presented.”
Cohen adds: “There is absolutely no reason in the world, why he should be, why something which had nothing to do with the presidential act, with any presidential act, why he should then be permitted to do whatever he wants without any repercussions. Plain and simple.”
Newsweek has reached out to Michael Cohen for comment.
Mesilas responded in the podcast that Judge Hellerstein’s ruling reflects that Trump’s conduct was “clearly outside the scope of even any presumptive immunity.”
Mesilas then notes that it is “not the first time,” Hellerstein has been asked to rule on this, and that he did so in July 2023. “Trump tried to strategically get the case removed to federal court, there was an evidentiary hearing that was held before Judge Hellerstein, even before the supreme court made it’s ruling on absolute presidential immunity by about 9 months or so, Judge Hellerstein had the foresight to say, this conduct is not official conduct at all.”
He continues, calling it a “brilliant judgeship,” and adding that “Judge Hellerstein even saw, what was gonna happen a year, more than a year later, and then can cite his own opinion.” “That’s why I rejected it back then, that’s why I’m rejecting it now.”
Cohen responded “He rejected it back then because there was no basis for which to grant it. Alvin Hellerstein, if in fact there was a basis to grant it, to grant any part of that motion, he would have done it, he is truly a nonpartisan judge.”
Cohen then adds, “Good for Alvin Hellerstein, good for all of us. Not so good for Donald, but good for the rest of us.”
Cohen worked for trump from 2006 to 2018, serving as Trump’s personal attorney and was often referred to as his “fixer.” Cohen’s tenure with Trump ended amid the special counsel investigation in the 2016 U.S. election, where his legal troubles and decision to cooperate with investigators were seen as a betrayal by Trump, ultimately leading to his dismissal.
Cohen went on to serve prison time, after he pleaded guilty to eight criminal counts, including campaign finance violations related to the alleged hush money scheme.
Newsweek has reached out to a representative for Trump via email for comment.
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