Michael Cohen, former President Donald Trump’s ex-personal lawyer, said the 45th president will “absolutely” go through standard arresting formalities should the Manhattan district attorney’s office indict him.
“Do I think that Donald will be fingerprinted, swabbed, mugshotted? Absolutely,” Cohen said in an interview with Alex Witt on her Sunday MSNBC program. “Do I think he’ll be handcuffed? No. And in fact, I don’t want to see Donald Trump handcuffed and paraded through… because I respect the institution of the presidency.”
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Cohen’s remarks come as several reports indicate District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office is gearing up to charge Trump for hush-money payments he made through Cohen to porn star Stormy Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford.
The lawyer, who pleaded guilty in 2018 and served three years in prison over the alleged payment, told lawmakers Trump reimbursed him in monthly installments. Bragg’s case hinges on whether Trump authorized his team to falsify business records to list the payments as legal expenses.
Cohen testified before the Manhattan grand jury this past week. Trump announced on Truth Social on Saturday morning that he expected to be arrested this Tuesday, decrying “illegal leaks” and a “highly political” prosecutor.
“Illegal leaks from a corrupt and highly political Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, which has allowed new records to be set in violent crime and whose leader is funded by George Soros, indicate that, with no crime being able to be proven, and based on an old and fully debunked (by numerous other prosecutors!) fairytale, the far and away leading Republican candidate and former president of the United States of America, will be arrested on Tuesday of next week,” Trump said. “Protest, take our nation back.”
Several lawmakers and legal experts have referred to the possible indictment as targeting political opponents or chasing a vendetta. However, Cohen insists his hope to hold the former president accountable is not on account of his personal feelings.
“This is about Donald Trump being held accountable for his own dirty deeds,” Cohen said. “I don’t want to see anyone, and that includes Donald Trump, indicted, prosecuted, convicted, incarcerated, because I fundamentally, or the country, fundamentally disagrees with so much of what comes out of his mouth.”
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He added that publicly handcuffing Trump would be humiliating for the presidency as an institution and would not send a good signal to both allies and adversaries.
“I don’t want to see Donald handcuffed and paraded through… because it’s an embarrassment to our country,” Cohen said. “Could you imagine our allies and our adversaries, how they could either enjoy this or despise us as a direct result?”
