MANHATTAN (CN) — Feuding lawyers in Donald Trump’s Manhattan fraud trial erupted in multiple vicious shouting matches on Wednesday during the testimony of Michael Cohen, Trump’s ex-lawyer-turned-enemy who testified that Trump directed him to commit fraud on his financial statements.
The most dramatic day in court thus far culminated in Trump storming out of the courtroom after Judge Arthur Engoron denied the former president's motion to dismiss the case.
In an all-day cross-examination of Cohen, the former attorney went toe-to-toe with Trump attorney Alina Habba. Fielding questions from Habba, Cohen admitted in open court for the first time that he pleaded guilty to crimes he didn’t commit.
Habba used Cohen’s admission in an effort to thwart his credibility after testifying against Trump the day prior.
Habba claimed that Cohen “perjured” himself during Tuesday’s testimony in admitting that he lied to U.S. District Judge William Pauley III when he pleaded guilty to personal tax evasion in 2018. The phrasing drew objections from lawyers at the attorney general’s table, who claimed that using the word “perjury” was incorrect and intimidating to the witness.
Trump’s lead attorney Christopher Kise disagreed.
“A serial liar is a serial liar,” Kise said. “Perjury is perjury.”
Engoron agreed that Cohen’s admission was “the definition of perjury: lying under oath.”
Throughout her cross-examination of Cohen, Habba tried to paint the former lawyer as a serial liar, a vengeful ex-employee and a public figure whose limelight relies on criticizing Trump.
At times, Engoron struggled to maintain order in the courtroom thanks to Cohen’s quips and the feisty arguments between Colleen Faherty of the attorney general’s office and Trump lawyers Kise and Habba.
Faherty repeatedly interrupted Habba’s cross-examination with evidence objections. This irritated Kise, who stood up from the defense table to counter Faherty’s objections each time.
At one point, Engoron asked Kise to be respectful. Kise exploded.
“They’re not being respectful to me,” he shouted. "That group of attorneys over there —" he pointed at the attorney general's table "— they asked your honor to sanction me… I have suffered an extraordinary amount of disrespect.”
The court eventually came to order, and Habba continued hammering Cohen with questions about his criminal history, his media relevance and his past relationship with Trump. She read excerpts to the court from Cohen’s book "Disloyal," where Cohen admits to using his proximity to Trump to better his business opportunities.
“Was I cashing in on my relationship with Trump? Of course I was. What would you do?” Cohen wrote in the book.
Habba reminded the court that Cohen is a disbarred attorney and former convict, who makes his current living through political commentary that’s undoubtedly abetted by his past relationship with Trump. Since splitting from Trump in 2017, Cohen has become one of the former president’s biggest adversaries.
“You have significant animosity towards Donald Trump don’t you?” Habba asked him
“Yes. I do,” Cohen said.
Cohen also later conceded to making “a career out of publicly attacking President Trump.”
After an extraordinary return from lunch that saw Trump take the witness stand to testify about a gag order violation, Cohen was brought back to the stand to continue sparring with Trump’s lawyers.
This time, Trump family attorney Clifford Robert tagged in for Habba. Robert pulled up a transcript from Cohen’s 2019 deposition before Congress’ Permanent Select Committee, where he was asked the following:
“Did Mr. Trump direct you or Mr. Weisselberg to inflate the numbers for his personal statement?”
“I’m sorry,” Cohen was quoted as responding. “Did he ask me to inflate the numbers? Not that I recall.”
Cohen begrudgingly agreed that the earlier testimony was “correct,” seemingly countering what he told the Manhattan court Tuesday.
Robert huddled with his fellow defense lawyers for a moment, before asking Engoron to drop the case altogether, noting that the attorney general’s “key witness” just contradicted the whole case.
“Denied,” Engoron said, barely skipping a beat.
Trump then stood up from his chair and stormed out of the courtroom, flanked by Secret Service, court officers and his son Eric.
Engoron later clarified that this case “has evidence all over the place,” regardless of Cohen’s credibility, and denied the assertion that Cohen was a “key witness” for the state. He adjourned the court early after the defense attorneys wrapped up their lengthy cross-examination.
Cohen gave a brief press conference outside of the courthouse, where he called Trump “a defeated man.” With his cross-examination complete, Cohen likely won’t return to the courtroom. It’s unclear when Trump will.
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