MANHATTAN (CN) — In a reunion five years in the making, Michael Cohen gave his long-awaited testimony at Donald Trump’s civil fraud trial on Tuesday while the former president, arms crossed and sitting just a few feet away, stared him down from the defense table.
The bombshell testimony by Cohen, a onetime member of Trump's inner circle, was damning for Trump and spelled out a threat to his real estate empire.
Cohen said on Tuesday that he, along with former Trump Organization finance chief Allen Weisselberg, had been regularly tasked with “reverse-engineering” Trump’s statements of financial condition to “achieve a number Mr. Trump asked [for]."
Trump told Cohen and Weisselberg, “I’m actually not worth $4.5 billion, I’m worth something like 6 [billion dollars],” Cohen recalled.
Referring to a list of Trump’s assets on his 2011 statement of financial condition, Cohen explained how he and Weisselberg would go down the list, line by line, to inflate Trump's assets until they hit the target number.
“I would sit down with Allen and we would make the changes,” Cohen said. “That document would then be photocopied that had all of the changes, at which point in time Allen and I would return to Mr. Trump and demonstrate that we had achieved close to the number that he was seeking.”
The doctored financial statements were used for a variety of business purposes, Cohen said. The figures were given to a journalist writing a story about Trump’s net worth in 2013. They were also used in Trump's failed bid to purchase a National Football League team.
“When Mr. Trump was interested in putting in a bid for the Buffalo Bills, we used that statement in order to demonstrate his ability to purchase the team,” Cohen said.
Trump even used the statements of financial condition when negotiating with insurance companies, Cohen testified, corroborating a claim from the prosecutors that’s gone largely unaddressed since the trial began.
He said that a Trump Organization staffer would set up in-person meetings with insurance company executives.
“Allen would provide each and every one of them with a copy of the statement of financial condition,” Cohen said, and the executives would be “encouraged” to take notes on the document throughout the meeting — but they couldn't keep it.
During those meetings, Trump frequently undertook a choreographed effort to showcase his wealth, Cohen said.
“For the most part, about three quarters of the way through the meeting, Mr. Trump would then come in,” he testified. “And there would be a conversation about his extensive net worth, [how] he’s actually richer than the insurance companies.”
It was the first mention of Trump using his scrutinized statements of financial condition to game insurance companies into more favorable premiums, one of Attorney General Letitia James’ key claims against the former president and his namesake organization.
Cohen, Trump’s former lawyer-turned-staunch critic, is perhaps James’ most important witness of the trial. After all, she cited Cohen’s 2019 testimony before Congress as the inspiration behind the investigation of Trump’s finances.
The now-disbarred Cohen was supposed to appear in court last week, but was unable to testify due to an “incredibly painful” medical condition. He took the stand in the at-capacity Manhattan courtroom just after noon on Tuesday, where he recounted the first time he ever worked with the former president.
“I was introduced to Mr. Trump through his son, Don Jr., and it emanated from a dispute that took place at one of the properties,” Cohen said. “The goal was to remove the board and replace the board with a more favorable board. We did it successfully, and as a result I was asked to handle a few other matters for Donald Trump.”
Cohen walked with a slight limp on Tuesday, and excused himself at one point to move around while on the stand — but health concerns notwithstanding, he was animated throughout the day and stopped to joke with the press outside of the courtroom.
“Heck of a reunion,” he told reporters when leaving for lunch, in reference to Tuesday being the first time he had seen Trump in about five years.
During his testimony Cohen appeared confident, and at some points feisty. Trump attorney Alina Habba cross-examined him for the last hour of the day, aiming to paint the ex-lawyer as a liar who pleaded guilty to tax evasion in 2019 and admitted to lying to Congress.
“You have lied under oath numerous times,” Habba said to Cohen Tuesday. Echoing Habba, Trump’s lead attorney Chris Kise called Cohen a “serial liar” in response to an objection.
When Habba again accused him of lying, Cohen got particularly quippy.
“Asked and answered,” he shot back, mimicking an objecting lawyer.
Kise wasn’t amused.
"Your Honor, this witness is out of control,” he exclaimed as the courtroom erupted in laughter.
Cohen will return to the stand on Wednesday to continue his cross-examination. Trump, too, is expected to be back in court.
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