Trump Argues Letitia James’s Gargantuan Fraud Case Against Him Was Built on Coerced Testimony From Michael Cohen

A new argument is emerging in President Trump’s effort to dismiss the fraud verdict against him secured by New York’s attorney general, Letitia James — and it centers on testimony from the disbarred lawyer Michael Cohen. Mr. Trump contends in a brief filed last week to New York’s Supreme Court — a trial-level tribunal — that Cohen’s testimony “is at the heart of this case and a crucial component of the 2024 judgment by the trial court.” That judgment resulted in a finding of persistent fraud involving the overvaluation of real estate properties, including Trump Tower and Mar-a-Lago. Judge Arthur Engoron imposed a judgment for some $500 million against Mr. Trump and his two adult sons.The penalty was overturned by New York’s intermediate appellate court, which in a fractured ruling determined that the size of the judgment violated the Constitution’s prohibition on “excessive fines.” The Appellate Division of the New York State Supreme Court, though, preserved Judge Engoron’s finding of fraud. Both Mr. Trump and Mrs. James appealed that split decision to New York’s highest court, the Court of Appeals.Now Mr. Trump wants the government to turn over more material related to the testimony of Cohen, the president’s erstwhile fixer turned antagonist. Cohen’s account contributed to Mr. Trump’s criminal convictions in the Stormy Daniels case. Earlier this week, Mr. Trump dangled a pardon to Cohen, who was convicted on federal charges in 2018 relating to the payments to Ms. Daniels. Mr. Trump has claimed that Cohen is prepared to recant that testimony.Cohen was also a witness in the fraud case, and he wrote in a Substack entry in January that he “felt pressured and coerced to only provide information and testimony that would satisfy the government’s desire to build the cases against and secure a judgment and convictions.” Mr. Trump contends that the essay amounts to “newly discovered evidence and the sought records are vital to evaluating a potential motion to vacate the judgment.”Judge Matthew Grieco refused Mr. Trump’s request to order Ms. James to turn over any further testimony relating to Cohen’s testimony — but he has commanded her to explain, in writing, her preservation practices. Judge Grieco writes that “it would not be unduly burdensome for plaintiff to detail for defendants its preservation efforts, including what its standard litigation hold procedures are and whether they have been followed in this case.”Ms. James, who ran for office vowing to “shine a light” into Mr. Trump’s real estate business, declares that the Cohen files contain “nothing new;” that Mr. Trump “could have sought to compel disclosure prior to trial;” and that “it would be burdensome to review all files now.” The Brady Rule, which mandates that prosecutors turn over all exculpatory evidence to defendants on pain of dismissal, has been held by the Supreme Court to apply only to criminal cases. Mr. Cohen wrote in his Substack that “I have witnessed firsthand the damage done when prosecutors pick their target first and then seek evidence to fit a predetermined narrative. I have lived inside that process. I have suffered from that process. My family has suffered from that process.”Last month Mr. Trump joined Cohen on his new radio show, “When You Know, You Know … with Michael Cohen” on 77 WABC Radio. Cohen opened the broadcast playing the song, “Why Can’t We Be Friends,” and the parley marked the first time in eight years that the two spoke publicly. Cohen has called his former boss a “cheat,” a “con man,” and a “Cheeto-dusted cartoon villain.”Mr. Trump’s case to dismiss the verdict contends that the “only supposed ‘victims’ here are a handful of ultrasophisticated banks and insurers that have never claimed to be injured, were eager to do business with President Trump and his family, and made over $100 million from these transactions.” He argues that under Ms. James’s theory of liability she could “second-guess any business transaction in this State on almost any imagined grounds.”

Trump Argues Letitia James’s Gargantuan Fraud Case Against Him Was Built on Coerced Testimony From Michael Cohen

Trump Argues Letitia James’s Gargantuan Fraud Case Against Him Was Built on Coerced Testimony From Michael Cohen

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