Reuters/Mike Segar
- Michael Cohen testified that he would financially benefit if Donald Trump is acquitted.
- It gives him more to talk about on his podcasts and in a future book.
- Cohen isn't shutting up any time soon — he said he might run for US Congress.
Michael Cohen wants to see Donald Trump behind bars.
But if the former president is acquitted in his ongoing hush-money trial, it'd probably be better for Cohen financially, he testified Monday morning.
Asked by Trump's lawyer Todd Blanche whether a conviction would benefit Cohen financially, he said the opposite was true.
"The answer is 'no,'" Cohen said.
If Trump walks free, Cohen may be able to make more money from his podcast and a potential third book.
"It's better if he's not, for me, because it gives me more to talk about in the future," Cohen said.
Blanche completed his third day of cross-examining Cohen Monday, seeking to depict him to jurors as a liar and scoundrel out for vengeance against Trump.
The Manhattan District Attorney's Office accused Trump of falsifying 34 business documents in order to reimburse Cohen for hush-money payments made to Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 election. Trump's lawyers have said that Cohen went rogue when making the hush-money payments and that Trump wasn't involved in the scheme.
Cohen, a former personal lawyer to Trump and Trump Organization executive, has had his own share of legal trouble.
He pleaded guilty in 2018 to breaking campaign finance laws with the hush-money payment, as well as to an array of tax crimes and lying to Congress about Trump's business dealings.
In the years since Cohen has turned into a wrathful Trump critic. He served a stint in prison, has written two books — "Disloyal" and "Revenge" — and hosts two podcasts about his decadelong journey in Trump's orbit.
Blanche, in his cross-examination, suggested that Cohen's media output gives him a financial interest in the outcome of the criminal trial.
Cohen has testified that he's made about $4.4 million since September 2020, from book sales, his podcasts, and sales of podcast-affiliated merchandise.
Cohen lost his law license as a result of his guilty pleas and testified he had sold multiple properties he owned. Nearly all of his income comes from book sales and podcast deals, with additional funds coming from a lease on one remaining investment property he owns, and an additional negligible sum from TikTok, he testified.
He has also shopped around a reality show about his life called "The Fixer," he said on the witness stand Monday. No studio has picked it up yet, he said.
Cohen said, regardless of how the trial turns out, he would be talking about the case. He said he is considering writing a third book and running for US Congress.
"Whether Mr. Trump is ultimately determined innocent or guilty is not going to affect whether I speak about it or not," Cohen said.
Source : Business Insider
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