Lawyers representing Michael Cohen said this week that the guilty verdict reached in Donald Trump’s Manhattan criminal trial is unlikely to change the former president.
On Tuesday, E. Danya Perry, a former federal prosecutor and Joshua Kolb, a former Senate Judiciary Committee law clerk, published an op-ed in MSNBC, discussing how they represented Cohen as he testified as the prosecution’s star witness in the case against Trump.
“As the lawyers representing Michael Cohen in the criminal trial of Donald Trump, we had a front-row courthouse seat to the historic trial. The monumental nature of the guilty verdict is self-evident,” the op-ed said.
The op-ed goes on to discuss different aspects of the trial and the criminal justice system in New York State and states “Not that this outcome will deter Trump. In fact, it might have the opposite effect on him and his most dangerous followers.”
“On Friday, NBC News reported that Trump supporters are already attempting to reveal jurors’ identities—and Merchan and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg are already facing renewed threats. If anything, this trial and verdict confirm just how dangerous the coming months could be,” the op-ed said.
“As the country enters the heart of the election season, many who are merely fulfilling their legal and constitutional obligations will most likely face the former president’s wrath.”
Last week, a jury in New York City found Trump guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records related to a hush money payment allegedly made to adult film star Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 presidential election. Cohen served as a star witness for the prosecution as he was alleged to have helped arrange the hush money payments.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg alleged the payment was meant to prevent her from speaking publicly about her claims of having an affair with the former president. Trump, who has long denounced the prosecution as a “witch hunt,” has said he is innocent of all charges in this case and other criminal and civil cases he is facing.
Trump has continued to deny any wrongdoing in the case and has already announced plans to appeal the verdict.
During a speech after the verdict was reached, Trump spoke about Cohen without mentioning him by name.
“This was a highly qualified lawyer, now I’m not allowed to use his name because of the gag order,” the former president said during his speech, apparently referring to Cohen. “But, you know, he’s a sleaze bag. Everybody knows that. Took me a while to find out but he was effective, he did work.”
Newsweek reached out to Trump’s spokesperson via email and Cohen via text message, for comment. Newsweek also reached out to Perry via email for comment.
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