Michael Cohen claims he was forced and given '48 hours' to plead guilty to hush money charges
MANHATTAN, NEW YORK: Defense attorney Todd Blanche interrogated former Donald Trump lawyer Michael Cohen about his 2018 guilty plea for lying to Congress.
During the heated testimony in the hush money trial in Manhattan on Thursday, May 16, Cohen claimed he was forced to plead guilty to the charges, according to ABC News.
Michael Cohen says he shouldn't have been criminally charged in hush money case
Cohen asserted that he was pressured to accept a plead guilty to charges in 2018 including the hush money payment to Stormy Daniels.
"No one indicated you threatened you to be guilty correct?" asked Blanche.
"As I stated previously, I was provided with 48 hours within which to accept the plea or the Southern District of New York was going to file an 80-page indictment that included my wife, and I elected to protect my family," replied Cohen.
"You do feel you were induced to plead guilty?" the defense attorney asked.
"I never denied the underlying facts, I just do not believe I should have been criminally charged for either of those two -- or six -- offenses," said the former Trump lawyer.
He stated that prosecutors never directly threatened to indict his wife and explained that he learned of this potential threat from his lawyers.
"I accepted responsibility," said Cohen.
Todd Blanche asks Michael Cohen if he lied due to his loyalty to Donald Trump
Blanche also sought to portray Cohen as evasive, suggesting that he is shifting blame for his past dishonesty onto Trump.
"The reason why you lied was because of your loyalty to President Trump?" said Blanche.
"We crafted this document, a two-page document, in order to stay on the message we all knew Mr. Trump wanted, including Mr. Trump's attorney at the time," said Cohen.
"Are you saying you accept responsibility or blaming the joint defense agreement," Blanche asked.
"Accepting responsibility…" Cohen said.
Todd Blanche questions Michael Cohen's podcast slamming Donald Trump
Blanche further questioned about Michael Cohen's 'Mea Culpa' podcast as the courtroom speakers played an excerpt about Trump's indictment.
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In his podcast, Cohen said, "I want to thank the Manhattan district attorney's office."
"He is about to get a taste of what I went through. And I promise you, it's not fun. What an embarrassment it is to the office of the presidency,"
In the recording, Cohen said Trump's indictment "filled me with delight and sadness."
"I truly f*****g hope that this man ends up in prison. You better believe I want this man to go down and rot inside for what he did to me in my family," the disgraced lawyer said in another clip.
